Silver Secrets

Chapter 35: Mel

We're ready to leave the day after Celyn and I spoke to Ed and his sister, and Aster still isn't here, about a week after I told her about our return to the city. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. The snow will be much heavier up at her place. She probably decided it was too dangerous.

I tramp over to the knot of people gathered in the middle of the road, stomach churning with apprehension. Otto is in charge, not Rowan, and he's insisting we can make it back to Moon Bay in two weeks, as more time dawdling means more missing werewolves. He's right, but this is going to be a hard journey.

Rowan pushes through the crowd towards me. "Ready to go?"

I jerk my pack up higher on my back, even though I only have the bare essentials. "Yep. Bree and Ed?"

"They're set." He drops his voice. "Keep an eye on them. Otto doesn't like them being here."

"Neither do I, but I'm going to need them." I glance to the side of the road, where the archer and his sister are already mounted on stocky horses borrowed from the pack's tiny stables. Ed scowls right back at anyone who glances his way, but Bree sits with her head hanging down, her shoulders trembling with suppressed sobs. Apparently she burst into tears as soon as she was told she could ride, but Ed insisted she did. Maybe she's afraid of horses.

"You know that if there's any sign of trouble, Otto will..."

I grimace. I don't doubt what Otto is capable of, but I vow to myself that he will have no reason to hurt Ed or Bree. I'll make sure of that.

Rowan puts his hand on my hip, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Mel, are you sure you're all right to do this?" He reaches under my hood and brushes my hair away from the small poultice secured behind my ear.

I bat his hand away. "Hey, it's fine. I'm fine."

"Do you think that helps?"

I shrug. "Your healers knew what they were doing when they helped you. What was the harm in letting them try?"

"Yes, but you have magic migraines. I doubt any of them have healed that before."

I start to laugh, but stop when the pain flares up again. I grit my teeth against it, and that's when I hear her.

"Mel? What's wrong?" Rowan says urgently.

"Head just hurting. It's fine," I say, loud enough that the couple of werewolves who looked up at Rowan's exclamation quickly lose interest. Then I think to him, It's Aster. She's here.

Rowan reaches for his sword, but I grab his wrist to stop him. The last thing I want is to make Otto think she's a threat.

"It's all right. Please, Rowan, you have to trust me," I hiss.

"Mel, what were you thinking?"

"She won't hurt me, I know she won't. I promised her she could get revenge on Captain Holanan."

His shoulders slump. "That's why you're really coming with us, isn't it?"

I kick at a bit of snow. "Sorry. Well, it's not the only reason."

"You know it was probably him who killed King Lysander, don't you?" I'd told Celyn about Lysander's murder straight after I found out, and it only made the werewolves more desperate to get rid of Captain Holanan. If he really wanted to purge all the werewolves from the city, there's going to be barely anything holding him back now. I don't know how Princess Cassandra feels about magic, but at least Lysander didn't totally hate everything not quite human. Luckily, Celyn didn't ask too many questions about how I knew, just accepted it as a psychic thing. Well, she wasn't wrong.