The King & the Stable Boy

XLVIII: Dacre

I instantly am on my feet, ready to fight whatever is chasing my child around the corner when I see Artan bounding past her, holding back giggles as he keeps messing up her hair with the wind magic Samara's taught him. She uses my legs as a shield from him, glaring at him from behind me.

I turn and raise a brow at her, sighing as she raised her arms towards the sky, picking her up.

"Daddy he keeps messing up my hair! Ruby just did it this morning." Knowing Ruby, she might just downright take Artan's head off for ruining her work, as Mira's head looks like it went through three storms and then she got pushed down a leaf covered hill.

I give Artan a disapproving look and turn towards our guests apologetically.

"I'm afraid these two cannot go a minute without causing some form of ruckus. You'll have to excuse them."

Dacre chuckles at this, waving a hand through the air dismissively.

"It's quite alright. I didn't know your son has a casting ability."

"Neither did he until quite recently. We are still trying to figure out his special talent." I say.

"Special talent?" Dacre questions.

"Yeah! King Asher has gold as his."

"A golden wolf."

Artan is practically bouncing on his heals wanting to show off his wolf but I hold up a hand to stop him, placing his sister back down who still holds him in a firm glare.

The king made his sentence a statement, there was no need to further prove what he has already deciphered. I send the two to Nana, feeling a sort of unsettlement at the spiked interest Dacre has taken in Artan. There is very little known of golden wolves. Unlike silver ones, their coats are hardly ever entirely golden, but have golden patterns. Artan's being full gold with silver patches will definitely spike the king's interest more than what's good for us.

"You're quote lucky to have adopted a golden wolf. In my abroad studies in Natus, I studied under Professor Ericks, a man who dedicated his life to learning about atypical shifter pelts, and how they tie to their power. Golden shifters are among the most powerful creatures who walk this earth, but that's only if they can make it past infantry. In his lifetime the professor had only met a select few, many of them being rescued from abandonment from more reclusive packs. He managed to deduce that they were only born or brought to parents who have pleased the Olympians. This is all speculation of course. There aren't enough of them ever alive at once to make such conclusions."

I rose a brow at this. What could possibly drive a man to dedicating his entire life towards studying pelts? I could imagine he got to travel a lot, and met interesting characters, but beyond that, I couldn't see the appeal. Though, I suppose to someone who holds one of those rare pelts, information on their ancestors could serve useful, so who am I to discredit his work?

After a few other sparring comments on the professor conversation quickly shifted towards Asher and I found myself speaking in hushed tones with the king and his son.

"That's insane." I shake my head in disbelief. "Why would the rulers of Natus want you dead?"

"That's what I told him. Father, you're being delusional. No one's after you." Ryland says, looking tired with the matter.

As the king spoke he resembled a madman. He looked much too paranoid that the world was against him, as if it had all the reason to be. It's not as if he was wrong, yet Ryland didn't know this. To anyone without knowledge to our side of this narrative, the king would seem so paranoid that one would question if it's because it's truly the other way around.