The Maiden's Moon

6

After a long hot bath, with water she had painstakingly drawn bucket by bucket and heated to boiling over her fire, Rusalka had lain down in bed. Her long winter nightgown bunched up around her knees to allow her feet to stay cool. The nights were staying warmer, and it was almost time for her to trade the wool gown for a lighter cotton shift. She tossed and turned a bit, unable to sleep, but Sterling had climbed into bed and snuggled up to her, making her feel safer. Sleep came fast after that, and she lay dreaming of a life where her wolf was human again and they were happy together. She missed his black, wavy hair and sparkling green eyes.

The click of the latch on the door jarred her awake, and she pried her eyes open. Her hand instinctively stretched out across the straw mattress to where Sterling would sleep on top of the covers, but he was not there. She sighed, thinking the clicking must have been him letting himself out. She remembered when she painstakingly rigged the door latch in a way that he could both let himself out and back in so she wouldn't have to wake every night to do so. Then they had devised the scheme to create the hole in the wall to avoid the gate. But after the breach and sealing the hole, he was back to letting himself out the front door for his nightly strolls and toilet breaks.

Rusalka turned over and yawned. She always waited until he returned to be sure he was safe before she nodded off, but after the night of no sleep, her eyes were too heavy. When she felt the bed shake, she patted the spot beside her without even opening her eyes.

"You left your shawl at dinner."

The sound of Heinrich's voice in her house in the middle of the night when he was uninvited and Sterling was not there sent a cold chill down her spine. She didn't move a muscle. Frozen with fear, she cracked her eyelids just enough to see his silhouette standing over the end of her bed. He was holding something that was draped over his arm. He wreaked of ale and the scent of body odor. She didn't know what to do, so she pretended to be sleeping.

"You left without me." He hiccupped loudly, and the bed shook again. "I toljew I would walk... you home, and you just lef without me. You lef... the king's house 'lone." The more he talked the more she realized he was completely intoxicated. His words came out slurred together and mixed with hiccups and long pauses.

She opened her eyes and looked up where he had been, but he was gone. Her eyes searched in the dim light of the day-old savage moon shining through her window and saw the shape of his huge form at the foot of her bed, but he was sitting on the bed. She couldn't tell what he was doing, but he was leaning forward.

"And—" hiccup "—you are disrespec'ful to your father."

Rusalka felt her body tense when he turned around and began crawling toward her on the bed. Her pulse raced and she scooted backward, pushing herself to a more upright position. Her mouth went dry instantly and she fought back a scream. What on earth was the man doing?

Sterling nudged the door latch with his nose, and it clicked open. He was grateful Rusalka had created the latching system to allow him to let himself out at night. He knew it was wearying to her to wake all the time, and now with the wall sealed up, he was more grateful than ever. He pushed the door with the top of his head, and it opened slowly, creaking as it went. The hinge needed oiled with the bear fat Rusalka kept in a jar on the top shelf in her storage pantry, but he couldn't reach it. He knew things that other wolves didn't but couldn't live like man. That had been the hardest part of being trapped as a wolf. He knew what to do, but the doing of the things was impossible.

He walked into the darkness inside the domicile and heard a muffled cry. His keen eyes could see in the dark better than his human eyes ever could, and they darted to the bed where he had left Rusalka sleeping soundly. Thinking she was having a nightmare, he slowly pushed the door shut and waited to hear the satisfying click of the latch before he trotted the bed. To his surprised he found the mattress shaking and Rusalka thrashing about. The stench of Heinrich filled the small space. Why he hadn't sensed this the moment he walked through the door, he would never know.