The Maiden's Moon

20

Ariston sat across the table drumming his fingers on the sturdy wood. He eyed her as if he didn't believe what she had said, but he said nothing. She told him everything, the abduction, the beatings she took, how she had failed to escape, then how she had actually escaped. She told him of Sterling coming to her aid, and when she told him how she had awakened to see him as a wolf again, he clenched his jaw and looked down at the wolf who stared back.

"Listen, you don't have to believe me. I don't expect you to. But I need your help. I need to see Severin, but I don't have authority to send a runner now, not after everything that happened."

"Does your father know you're home?" Ariston tapped his thumb and looked back at Rusalka.

"I've sent word with Kurt. They didn't let Sterling in the gate." Rusalka shook her head at the treatment of Sterling. He had risked his life to save hers, and they still acted as if he was nothing more than a filthy animal. She sent him on to the north wall where he could slip through the wall to their home. Our home... She thought the words had a nice ring to them.

"So he hasn't come looking yet?"

"No. I came straight here."

Ariston reached up and ran his thumb across her jaw. She knew the discolored skin must appear ghastly, but she had no way of hiding it.

"And he did this to you?"

She nodded.

"Where is the monster now?"

"In the pine, unless the wolves have seen to his corpse. I smashed him over the head with a large stone." She looked her brother in the eye. Confessing to murder could get her hanged, or worse—quartered. She studied his eyes to see what he was thinking.

"Tell no one. I will see to it that it is disposed of. We will assume he went looking for you after you were lost, tossed from your horse in the pine... Do you understand?"

Rusalka nodded, swallowing the fear she felt. "You think father won't believe my story, that he will accuse me of murder?"

"Your father is a harsh man, Rusalka. If his political career was affected, he would stop at nothing to punish the person who did so. You cannot tell him."

Rusalka did know her father, and she completely agreed with Ariston. "Okay." She looked back at Sterling.

"How did he get in the gate if Kurt wouldn't let him pass?"

Rusalka's cheeks burned, and she felt her palms grow sweaty. "Please don't ask."

Ariston glared at the wolf, but his gaze softened when he turned back to her.

"Get him home and keep him inside. I will send Severin to you, okay?" Ariston patted her knee. "Sis, are you sure you won't come to Dena with me?"

"My home is here, Aris. I belong with the Warricks. I am a Warrick by blood. The Eldonians will never accept me. You know this. And with Heinrich gone, I have no cause to leave. I just need to make one trip to the lake to assure Ovni of my safety."

"I will handle that. She's already sent word by runner that she needed to see me. You need to go home and recover."

Rusalka nodded and stood, gesturing for Sterling to come along. She looked over her shoulder at her big brother. "Aris."

"Yeah."

"Thank you," she whispered.

She made her way across the city back to her home, and when she approached the small domicile, she noticed a kind-looking, older gentleman sitting in the rocker on her porch. She cautiously approached, recognizing the master-manipulator. Unsure how to address him, she stood nervously with her hands folded neatly in front of her.

"Lady Rusalka, your mother sends greetings from Dena of Eldon." Severin stood and held out his hand. Rusalka couldn't contain the emotion and dived into his arms.

"Thank you for coming," she mumbled.

"Yes, well. Ariston has apprised me of the situation," he looked down his nose at her and lowered his chin, "the whole situation."

Rusalka stood back from him and felt her heart race, wondering at the strange magic her brother and the older manipulator used to bypass the laws of time and space.

"I can't help you with the reason why Sterling became a man again. But I found this parchment scroll that you may find of use." He reached into his robe and pulled out a rolled sheet of cream-colored parchment. "The Maiden's Moon prophecy has been fulfilled."

Rusalka took the parchment from his hand and unrolled it, turning it to the light to see more clearly. She felt a rush of wind, and when she turned back, Severin was gone. She glanced around but knew she wouldn't find him. He had a way of disappearing like that. She looked down at Sterling and shrugged, then sat in the rocker and rolled open the parchment again. She rocked back and forth as she read aloud the words of the prophecy given to her by the old sorcerer. Words that were supposedly fulfilled.

The Prophecy

Under darkness hope shall be restored.

Maiden and monster unleash light in the future.

A child reveals the tokens when kingdoms are united in ash,

And the gods require a soul.

The smallest key will unlock the spring,

With it all the tokens bring end to the surge.

Redemption calls upon the goddess to put the manipulation to rest.

The end of the cycle, and united races.

But the one who will end it,

With the purest heart of them all,

Is the one who's spawned from an animal...