Raiden
It took longer than I expected, but I had to do it right. The tarians were strange people, but they were right: a change is much needed. I knew most of my alphas wouldn't support my choices, so I had to make sure that at least Alpha Darian would remain on my side. He was very young and inexperienced, but he was calculated. He could see the big picture and had a brilliant mind, and those qualities will take him far one day.
I didn't expect him to embrace my ideas of change so openly, but what stunned me was his unwavering support and loyalty, given the fact that I was the one who killed his sire some years ago. He understood my reasons; his father was one of the alphas that ambushed me and Rhys after the treaty with the nixians.
In the night i spent at his keep I thought I heard my little angel calling me, telling me to come back to her. But it was impossible. It was only my imagination.
Shaking my thoughts of her out of my mind, I stepped in my territory undetected and made my way to the old hall house, 'the King's seat'. I chuckled. It looked like a peasant's barn compared to the tarians' construction.
Once in the great hall, my steps carried me towards the solar. It is only then they noticed me, and that turned me angry. Anyone with a bit of skill could sneak unnoticed.
I slammed the door open with blood boiling in me. Rhys nearly jumped from my seat. If looks could kill, he would've been dead.
"What's wrong?" He asked at seeing my sourness, his smile disappearing under a concerned layer.
"What's wrong..." I repeated low, "Everything is wrong!" I shouted. "We were supposed to be the best guarded territory of all Dirae, we were supposed to be the most powerful, and no one, NOT EVEN ONE BLOODY TRACKER SAW ME COMING!"
Rhys lowered his head in a display of shame, a strange thing for him to do.
"There are things you must know, Raiden."
I closed my eyes and pictured her face. Imagined her scent. For no logical reason, I felt my anger dripping off me and a sense of calmness embraced my being. I needed her.
"Where is she?" He knew well whom I meant.
"She's safe, Raiden. I need you to listen."
I nodded my head and took a seat.
Rhys handed me a full cup and told me what happened while we were gone, but I had a feeling that he kept something away. With an icy stare, he waited for me to explode.
"Who do you suspect?" I asked with a deadly calmness, taking in what he just related. My hand went to the back of my neck and rubbed some of the tension out. I was tired. Not tired, but exhausted. With no rest in the last couple of days speeding up from Taria, all I needed was rest. And her.
"That's the problem. No one!" Rhys stated. "But I have a feeling, that whoever helped her escape will reveal himself soon. We just need to wait and pay attention."
"Someone must pay for this, Rhys. He threw a feast. A bloody feast, that's how stupid he is! He was in charge while I could've walked into a trap."
My second kept quiet for a few moments, thinking. "He needs a punishment he won't forget. A lesson." He glanced at me, the room slowly filling with heaviness. The heaviness of punishing our own kind.
"He's not the only one, and you know it. The cell's guard, Alar, is as guilty as him. And the trackers, you found them sleeping on duty." My voice was calm, but under the thin layer of control I was ready to spill blood. "When we'll find out who helped her, his fate will be worse than death. I will see personally to that!"
"All of them, Raiden. Some sleeping, others reeking or shiting. The wine was tainted. And the culprit- WE will make him dread the day he was born!"
I squeezed my mind, thinking and rethinking of everything. These were stormy waters, and I needed to do everything in my power to make sure that we won't drown. The stone's day was fast approaching. My First Aga was a foul and my warriors a shame. The tarians wanted a change, and the nixians were lurking in the shadows for the smallest show of weakness.
And on top of everything, the changes I was thinking to make could actually bring an internal war to my doorstep. Last time I did a 'change', I had to kill four packleaders.
"Gather them all in the morning." It was a command, not a request.
"What will you do?" The prince asked, narrowing his eyes in a concerned glare. I sipped quietly from my drink, failing to provide an answer.
After he mirrored my action, he broke the silence.
"So... what about your little trip?"
I gestured towards our cups and he brought up the flask to refill them.
After I told him everything, his concern grew.
"So what have you got in mind? You know how hard is for the packs to embrace anything new..."
"That's why I had to speak with alpha Darian, to make sure he is on our side in this."
"In what, Raiden?"
"From now on, I'm going to give the same chances to every prisoner, dawner or not. The whipping pebble will remain in the pouch for the draw, and we will accept payment for their lives. And from now on, that payment will be the only way we get slaves. No more taking as we please from the lowers, no more kidnappings."
Rhys' face blanched. "You know what that means, Raiden? It means we need to prepare for war. A war with our packs. The hatred with dawners is too deep. You remember what happened the last time you brought a change? They came to kill us!"
"And they are dead now!" I raised my voice in frustration. Not because perhaps I was wrong, but because he was right. But I had no other choice.
Changing the subject, I instructed him to send letters to the packs, asking for prisoners. The stone was waiting for fresh blood, and the equinox was just around the corner.
"So you secured her?" I asked.
"Yes. And no one else knows about." Rhys said.
"Keep it that way. Someone is going to have a surprise."
Rhys nodded, and I had a feeling that he wanted to add something. I waited.
"She's in my room."
.....
Dawn
Sitting here, in the prince's den, was strange. I did not know what his plans for me were, and I was afraid. Will he tell Raiden of where he found me? Of course he will. Will all the wolves be punished for mother's escape? Do they suspect me?
But my worst fear was about mother. Is she safe now?
All I could do was hoping and praying. Soon the day will equal the night, and that was the second harvest time. It was also the time when the cursed stone was asking for blood.
I always feared that day and felt a deep pain inside me for all the lives that have found their end there. Mother never allowed me to attend, but she told me how it was. And it would've been her fate too, if not for our plan's triumph.
Lost in thoughts, I stared empty into the flames. An image flashed before my eyes, a lake with water of hot ambers and a man with fire in his eyes. Sitting on his boat and leaning on a paddle, he seemed angry. Then I heard his voice. 'The debt of life must be paid with death, daughter of the Moonlight.' I felt a hand holding mine, and I turned my head to see. Green moss eyes were smiling dawn at me, and a beautiful smile that was. I felt my palm pulsating, and I remembered. Charon. The warning.
Jayce!
My heart pumped faster. In the Land Between, the boatman called me 'my lady'. And now, in the flash I just had, he addressed to me as 'daughter of the Moonlight'...
My breath came out faster, and I felt dizzy.
As my eyes closed, I felt two arms around my body. Scared, I looked behind me.
"I've missed you, angel," the king spoke, turning me slowly and pulling me closer to him.
His finger traced the contour of my face, light as a feather, barely touching. Goosebumps build up on the skin of my arms. I closed my eyes again under his soft gaze and my lips parted. He lowered his head and his lips touched mine, asking permission. My heart thumped even harder and I pressed myself into his warmth as I returned the kiss. Time lapsed and everything else faded away. Bliss engulfed me, and nothing else mattered in that moment.
"I missed you too, my King."
Holding my hand, he took me to his chamber.
As we lowered onto his dark fur, chills run up and down me. The room was chilly, no fire lit, but it wasn't that.
I now knew what occurs between a man and a woman, and how painful it was when he loved me. Sitting face to face, I lowered my head. I didn't want him to see my lip quiver, nor the fear. I wanted to be brave.
He lifted my chin with one finger, but my glance avoided his.
"Why don't you look at me, Dawn?"
Debating whether or not to tell him, I decided to be honest.
"I longed for you, lord."
"Raiden for you, my sweet angel. Then what is wrong?"
"It's just that... when you... I... it was... and..."
His large palms cupped my face, and his lips kissed the tip of my nose.
"Are you afraid of making love to me?"
"Y-yes..." I stammered.
"Is only the first time that can be painful. I know I rushed you and I could barely control myself, but I want you to want this. I want you to allow me to show you what making love means, Dawn."
He planted another kiss on the tip of my nose, and another on my forehead. Diverting his attention to the door, he growled.
After an abrupt knock and Raiden's annoyed 'come in', Uma walked into the room, bowing.
"My lord, good to know you back!" she declared, heading towards the fireplace with an arm full of wood, giving me a worried glance. "Supper is ready in the hall, and they are waiting for you," she announced.
Raiden looked at me.
"Tell them to eat, I'll sup in here tonight."
"As you wish, lord. I'll send water as well, if you wish to bathe."
Raiden nodded in approval. "Send her supper too," he added, looking at me. "And wine. Good wine."
Uma lowered her eyes to the ground under the sarcasm of his voice. I felt the guilt tugging at me, but I wouldn't have succeeded other way.
After Uma left, Raiden got up and grabbed a flaming twig to light the candle on the old wooden chest.
I watched him in silence and confusion. For this roughed man, feared by so many, for this 'beast', my soul longed. I couldn't understand what it was, or why... but I felt that his heart belongs to mine. And mine to his.
"Angel, I need to tell you something." He broke the silence. I looked at him, waiting.
"The second harvest is in a week's time, and some prisoners will be brought from my packs for the stone. As a new slave, you must attend the sacrifice."
A knot rose to my throat, and I gulped.
"I don't want this for you, Dawn, but is our law. You must hold the pouch with the punishments for them to draw, and you must hold the drawn stones up for everyone to see. I am sorry."
"If you are sorry, then why you do it? Can you not give them more chances? I understand that many of the prisoners don't deserve this... can you not...forgive them?" I uttered with my head low, unsure if maybe I have spoken out of place.
He lowered himself on the fur near me, his hand caressing my arm.
"Not even a King can spare all. I try, that's why we never had over five prisoners at a time for the stone, but that's the best I can do. And you know what happens if the demon is denied fresh blood."
"He'll ruin the crops, cast disease upon us and take the breath away of the newborns..."
"Exactly. The autumn equinox is for us to feed the demon. Come spring, is the vampires' turn." Raiden said.
"May I ask... why is this hatred, lord, for the lowers? Why we can not live in peace? There is enough room for all of us..." I found myself asking.
"Do you know how the packs were formed, Dawn?" He asked. "Before, a long time ago, the wolves were living amongst humans. Some good, some bad- as we all are. The humans feared us, for we were different. Half wild and strong. They called us beasts and they hunted us down. And this is the root of it."
I wanted to cry. We, the humans hunted and killed them for being different.
"For our fear and ignorance, we drew blood, and now we, as our children and grandchildren, will pay with blood, in a never-ending circle of revenge." I sobbed, leaning my head onto his chest as he took me into his warm embrace.
"I was one of the last rogues, a wolf without a pack, wandering in the Midland, and I meet Rhys. We kept low, not because we feared the lowers, but because we feared for them. When I rely on my wolf nature, I am deadly. So far, I am the strongest wolf, and I became king with the blood of the old king. Blood always must be spilt in this world we live. But, when time comes, I don't want you to look. You will search my eyes and focus on my gaze. I don't want you to see, angel."
I didn't want to see either. And I knew he was wrong, but I kept quiet. Blood is spilled because this is all they know, but what if they are shown different?
I thought of mother again. She, at least, was far and safe. In a year I will see her beautiful smile again and hear her soothing voice. But I will miss Him. My heart was sad, for I knew I can't have them both. Oh, how I wished for him to be a simple man and not a king, to live together simple and happy at the hut with the apple tree, with a garden and a few animals... and how I wished for mother to find someone good for her soul, and maybe live nearby so I would drink her magic brew every morning and hug her for the day... Far away from difficult choices, from kingly duties and from the demon...
Soon, the super was brought. Wasn't much, but it was more than what I was used to. Many nights, me and mother went to bed with our bellies empty to save the little food we had for breakfast. She would tell me to drink more tea, just to cut the hunger.
Not long after we finished, some of the girls came in with steamy filled buckets and a metal tub for the bath. Raiden motioned for it to be placed at the side of the fireplace, close enough to have the warmth of the fire and a bit distanced from the fur. The girls dressed the tub in a white linen and poured the hot water.
Quick to leave, they bowed before they shut the door. Raiden never took his gaze off me.
"What colour do you favor?" He asked.
My eyes widened. Why would he ask me this?
"Blue... but I also love the pink of the peony blooms... and the light green of spring buds..."
"Would you like to bathe first, angel?"
He touched the fabric of my dress, not more than a stained rag now on my body. I smiled shyly, looking at the steam rising up to the ceiling.
"I will have a new dress for you, and a thick cloak. The cold weather will fall soon upon the land."
I was stunned. For a few seconds, I forgot to blink. Why would he do that for me, a mere slave?
"T-thank y-you."
He captured my lips in a quick kiss, then he rose, lifting me up on my feet.
"And a pair of boots. You can't keep walking barefoot."
The surprise on my face made him chuckle. As his fingers worked at the strings of my dress, in no time I stood naked in front of him. My dress felt on the floor and I tried to cover myself with my hands, feeling embarrassed and exposed. His large hands covered mine, leading them to the sides of my body. "Do not cover yourself in front of me."
Discarding his clothes as fast as mine, he drew me closer to him.
My muscles stiffened and my posture went rigid as I eyed his lower parts, especially the massive thing in the middle.
Noticing the change, he added: "I want you to get used to me, little angel. I won't do anything but help you wash, if you allow me. Of course, unless you wish anything else."
I took in a deep breath. He said only the first time hurts. I wanted to be with him, but I was still afraid. Lowering myself into the heavenly water, my eyes closed. I felt him rub gently a soaped cloth on my skin, and a dreamy lavender scent fill my nostrils.
I opened my eyes and studied him. The ink on the short trimmed sides of his head, his heavy brows, the strong nose, his deep scar. And those thick lips... the way they felt when touching mine...
"Show me, Raiden. Show me what making love means..."
.....