by Elissa Daye
With perseverance, her charm and daring smiles warmed more than just the serving girls. Some of the ladies of Blackwolf were willing to engage in conversation during the afternoon sewing circle. Lysandra’s fine embroidery skills were admired by many each day as she shared ways to create new stitches with them eagerly. Lysandra was starting to feel a little more relaxed each day, but she knew if she wanted to win the hearts of those in Blackwolf Keep she would have to be trusted with whatever secret they hid from the world outside.
Her nights were spent in Aiden’s arms learning to harness the passion he created within her. Every night differed from the last, and when she thought he would have his fill of her, he gathered her that much closer, as if he were reaching for her as an anchor from the darkness that clouded his face.
Aiden’s demeanor this morning had been quite alarming. He was barely able to keep his agitation beneath the surface. Lysandra paid close attention to him as well as the people of Blackwolf. Everyone seemed to suffer the same affliction, everyone except the outsiders who walked even more cautiously than normal as they dodged angry words left and right. It finally sunk in that today was the full moon, and that for some reason, it affected the mood of the people. It was strange to see something so small as the approaching night wear deep on the shoulders of the people.
Dinner was served much earlier that night, and when the food was clear Lysandra was intrigued to find that the servants that had confided in her on her wedding day were nowhere in sight. “Where could they be?”
Lysandra made her way to their bed chamber and decided to get out some of her embroidery to work on. She was making a new tapestry for the hall and so far had only been able to work in the fine gold designs on the edges. She planned on making two wolves woven intricately together, much like the wolves on Aiden’s headboard. She was lost in thought when Aiden entered the room. Her eyes lifted to his and the ferocity she saw inside made her take pause. “Aiden, what is it?”
“You’re to remain here tonight. Do not leave this room.” He did not want to worry about what could happen to her if she was running about this night.
It was clear that Aiden meant business. “Are you all right?” She refused to answer his command in the way that he expected. He was so distracted that he took her question as a confirmation when she planned on doing nothing of the sort. She would find out what mystery lay behind the walls of Blackwolf Keep.
Aiden paced for a few moments then turned back to her. “I will be out for the evening, Lysandra. I will return on the morrow.” He left the room swiftly, not bothering to turn back.
Lysandra put on her darkest cloak and slipped out of the door a few moments behind him. She knew if she were careful he would never sense her there. When the moon cast its light bright through the trees of the forest Lysandra huddled closer to them to hide her own shadow from being cast on the ground. She saw Aiden stop in the midst of his tracks and wondered what he stopped for. He took off his clothing, placed them gently on the ground, and his entire body was bathed in moonlight. She felt the same pulse of excitement at the base of her throat that she felt every time she saw his perfect body, but when she saw him convulse painfully in front of her she almost broke her stealth to run to his aid.
Under the dark, starless sky, Aiden struggled not to scream out in pain as he changed into the shape that haunted him when the evil rays of the moon fell menacingly around him. He concentrated hard and felt his skin being torn in every direction like the skin of a drum being stretched across its base. He thought his body might pull apart piece by agonizing piece. He twisted and contorted violently as the beast inside threatened to make its way free. Bones were snapping. Hair sliced through every pore like blades of grass poking out of freshly laid dirt. The rest of his skin continued its metamorphosis as painfully clawed hands gripped the skull that throbbed viciously underneath. He had done his best not to cry out this time, but a painful howl passed through his mouth and shattered the silence around him. He heard the echoed howls answering his. His people were in the forest with him tonight.
A twig snapped in the darkness and Aiden turned to its sound. He could see the shape of Lysandra’s body peering out from behind a tree. He expected to see horror, a base loathing on her face or, at the very least, the same fear that most outsiders held when they found out the secret of Blackwolf Keep. Her expression was hard to read. Anger leaped inside of him, the beast no longer contained. He felt a searing flash of distrustful fire burning inside him. Not only had she disobeyed his command, but she was also putting herself in grave danger. Aiden crouched low to the ground, then crept over to the opposite side of the tree and gnashed his teeth in a low, dangerous growl, one that would scare anyone else, but Lysandra just looked at him serenely.
“You do not scare me, Aiden Quinn.” She looked at the magnificent beast in front of her. Aiden had transformed before her very eyes, and while she should be afraid in the darkness, should be terrified of this wildness he displayed, she actually felt more kindred to him than ever before. She finally understood why the people of Blackwolf Keep disliked outsiders. Werewolves were very secretive people who were feared and hated in nearly every corner of the world. She had been warned of their kind from a very young age, but Lysandra had always been intrigued by the tales that Moessa had shared with her, much to the horror of her young maid.
Aiden grabbed onto her dress with his teeth and tugged hard. He let go of it and pointed his nose in the direction of Blackwolf Keep. He flashed his teeth once more and growled threateningly at her. When she refused to move he grabbed her hand in his mouth and guided her away from the tree. He was careful not to nick her delicate skin as he led her back to the safety of Blackwolf’s walls.
Lysandra understood that to disobey Aiden further tonight would be more than foolhardy. Before she entered the keep she ran her fingers gently down his soft coat and whispered, “Your secret is safe with me, Aiden.” She bent down and kissed the top of the grey wolf’s head before turning toward the keep.
Neither one of them saw Anna’s glowing eyes peering at them from among the shadows. The hair on her back rose angrily as the anger fumed inside her. She dashed off quietly before either one of them could notice the plotting eyes that had turned away.
Oblivious to the rest of the world, Aiden turned to watch her enter the keep then headed deep in the forest. He joined his people and they commenced their prowl of the forest floor. They were not the only clan of werewolves in this area. Thoughts of Lysandra ran through his mind. She was definitely not an ordinary woman. She was much more courageous than most of the outsiders he had met. While he was angry that she had chosen not to listen to his orders, part of him was relieved that she had followed him tonight.
Lysandra kept watch from her window for most of the night. She could hear the howling in the forest and prayed that Aiden would return to her in one piece. There was a reason he had ushered her home. While she knew the people of Blackwolf would never attack their lord there was something else hiding in the darkness of that forest. She had begun to feel it the moment she put one foot inside it, but her curiosity had overtaken her fear. She slid the chair up next to the window and propped her elbows on the windowsill to see if she could see further. When she could see nothing more than the dimming light of the moon she crawled in to bed and fell into a deep sleep.
Chapter 23
It was late morning before Aiden returned back to Blackwolf Keep. He ordered a food tray and a warm bath delivered to his chambers before he climbed the stairs. When he entered through the door Lysandra was still asleep underneath the covers and he was not particularly surprised. The chair near the window indicated that she had been up gazing out of it for most of the night. He made as little noise as possible while he bathed in the soothing hot water that Millie brought up to the room. He washed away every last inch of dirt from his night in the forest. He wished he could wipe the curse of his people from his skin too. Werewolves, shape-shifters, demons. They had many names, all of wh
ich isolated them from the world around them. The people of Blackwolf Keep were descendants of one of the very first werewolf clans.
Their history went as far back as the first curse of Aesov, the heart breaker, and destroyer of the virtuous. Foolish Aesov had made the mistake of wooing the wrong woman, Bridget. He used her recklessly and then dumped her to the wayside like pretty much all the women he had taken before her. Bridget’s innocence was shattered and her heart shriveled up like a sun-dried raisin. In her heartache she created the curse that still plagued his descendants to this day. She likened him to a wolf in sheep’s clothing, worse than any deceiver. If he wanted to act like a callous beast to every woman he met, then he should be treated as such from the rest of the world. Her curse worked with great speed. Aesov, his people, and every generation after were transformed every time the moon would rise full in the sky as a reminder of Bridget’s broken heart by the light of the full moon so long ago. It was enough to make his people outcasts to the rest of society.
Their feud with Terryn’s clan had actually started many generations ago when Aesov’s Blackwolf clan had diverged from its original foundry. Tamil Tibalus was Terryn’s great grandfather who created the Tiberon Clan. He’d tired of the Quinn name running Blackwolf. The Quinns had been the closest line of Aesov’s descendants and had held the position as Blackwolf’s leaders for what seemed like an eternity. Tamil tired of the peaceful nature of the Quinns. He found favor with the Lair, a werewolf brethren. Tamil lead an insurgence against the Quinns, but had been unable to take the castle and he’d died at its gates. The Tiberon Clan then built a castle several miles away on land that had been pillaged by the plague and recklessly abandoned.
The next Tibalus generation had learned to tap into a darker magic that allowed them to transform into their wolf shape at a moment’s notice. Terryn led the new Tiberon clan as he continued to thirst for power over the world around him and found that his roots to Blackwolf tainted the power that flowed in his veins.
Aiden could not understand the contempt that the Tiberon clan had for him. Aiden had been attempting to keep Blackwolf’s vision of peace going strong and had supported its growth through prosperous commerce. For now, the Lair did not seem to pose an imminent threat to the countryside, but it would only be a matter of time. The Lair seemed to grow stronger after every encounter, but Aiden and his allies did the best they could to fight them off. This was why he kept a constant vigil over their defenses and why any foray into the forest on the full moon could result in a confrontation from Terryn’s people as they battled over their territories.
* * *
Lysandra awoke to the smells of food swirling around her nostrils. Her stomach rumbled loudly and she pulled back the covers to investigate the source of the wonderful smells in the room. She saw Aiden sitting at the small table eating from the tray of breakfast delicacies. She sat down at the chair opposite him and started to pick at some of the food from the tray. She said nothing to him, assuming that he was probably quite upset at her for following him into the forest. She finally gathered enough courage to sneak a peek at his face and went back to staring at the food in front of her.
“I won’t bite, Lysandra. Not today at least.” A quirky grin lit up his face. He had never actually been in this position before. He had never had to risk his secret with another before since he had dealt mostly with other werewolf clans, but he supposed he could no longer look at her as an outsider. She was his wife, for better or worse, and she was sitting here in front of him as if nothing had happened last night.
“Aiden, look I…” Lysandra did not know what to say to him. She needed him to know that his secret was safe with her, but had they known each other long enough for him to feel as if he could trust her?
“What’s done is done, Lysandra.”
“Aiden, your secret is safe with me. I know your people consider me an outsider, but I would never use their secret to harm them.”
“They consider any of those not from Blackwolf outsiders.”
“Because of your secret, right?”
“Our secret. Our curse.”
“But we all have secrets, Aiden. We all have demons we fight every day, some more than others.”
“What secret could you have that’s more dangerous than ours?”
Lysandra sighed deeply. It was time to share her story. She told him about Elkliss, her mother, father, and about the life that was ripped from her limbs before she could even have a chance to fight. She told of her ancestry of Adrianic Magic passed down from her mother’s lineage. She told of her uncle’s destruction, and his evil plot that must have started years before she was even born. When she was done she looked up at Aiden, finding the courage to read the expression in his eyes. Relief passed through her when his eyes showed understanding rather than disgust. Any and all magic was looked badly upon throughout most places and the prejudice of the world around them deeply affected the women of Elkliss, much like this curse that tainted the people of Blackwolf.
“That explains a cloudless storm.” Aiden was reflecting back to their wedding night when her emotions were so tightly wound that a storm was building inside her.
“And?”
“And what?” Aiden’s eyes looked at her quizzically.
“You’re all right with this? Would your people understand this?”
“They’re your people now, Lysandra, but this is your secret. I’ll not expose it.”
“There’s something else, Aiden.”
“What is it? What else could there be?”
“Now that I am no longer an innocent child, it is time for me to develop my skills. I need a place that is free from prying eyes, somewhere away from the keep. Is there such a place?” She felt a nervous energy bubbling beneath the surface. She was not being completely honest with him with her request. This place was not going to be just for her. She required a place where anyone with gifts could go to get away from the world, somewhere safe from ostracizing eyes.
“I’m not sure I like the thought of you leaving the walls of Blackwolf, Lysandra.” Aiden’s eyes narrowed. It was often unsafe outside the walls of Blackwolf Keep. If Terryn’s men were on the rampage any number of things could happen.
“You don’t trust me then.” Lysandra could not help the accusatory tone in her voice.
“Hold on. I said I don’t like it. I didn’t say no. I will find you a place, but I’ll not be letting you go there without some kind of guard.”
Lysandra sniffed irritably. “I’m not a child, Aiden, and I won’t run off.”
“I didn’t think you would, Lysandra. I trust you. It’s the world outside of these walls that I don’t trust. I’ll do what I can to help you in this quest of yours.”
Lysandra knew this was the best he would be able to promise her for now. She would wait until he had located a place for her before she let the others know her plans. She knew that even just having a place to talk without prying eyes would make a big difference. One day, the people of Blackwolf Keep would learn to accept the outsiders they had brought within their walls.
Chapter 24
A few weeks had passed since that full moon. Aiden had not told any of the people about her appearance on the forest floor that night. In fact, neither one of them had spoken of that day since their talk. Lysandra was becoming more and more agitated with Aiden. He had said he would find her a place to start practicing her ancestral magic, but as of yet there were no prospects. That was what Lysandra was left to assume, for they had also not discussed this topic since the morning after the full moon.
Lysandra made her way to the small garden at the back of the keep and sat down on one of the marble benches. It was a small garden, but at least it provided serenity for her thoughts. She’d brought her sewing out with her today and was glad that she was quite alone. Layla had offered to come out with her, but for some reason Lysandra desired the solitude. She desperately needed a moment to think.
Aiden had been very preoccupied lately. He lef
t early in the morning from the walls of the keep and took a small retainer of Blackwolf’s soldiers with him. He sometimes joined her for meals, but would leave subsequently. In the nights he returned tired and their lovemaking had almost become non-existent. Sometimes by the time he came home she was already asleep and, even though she was tired from the work she participated in each day within the keep, she still very much craved the physical closeness of their relationship.
Last night she had only pretended to be asleep, and when she rolled over to face him he had snored loudly in her face. She contemplated beating him with her pillow, but settled for cuddling up next to him and putting her head on his shoulder. Her touch seemed to make him move his position and the snoring stopped.
Lysandra felt the swarm of energy around her as the wind blew past her face. It was not the quiet stillness she had felt when she entered the garden. It spoke to her in ways that only she could understand. Something horrible was about to happen. She felt it with every hair that prickled on her arm. She hurriedly packed up her sewing and went in search of Aiden. He was nowhere to be found, so she went in search of Garrett, Aiden’s second in command. When she found him in the barracks he looked up at her in question, as women were never expected to pass through the door.
“Garrett. Something is wrong. Where is Aiden?”
“He’s out.” Garrett refused to meet her eyes.
“Blackwolf is in danger, Garrett.”
He turned to her, soundless laughter lighting up his eyes. “From what? Our guards are keeping watch every hour of every day, my lady. You’re perfectly safe.”