“Things were getting worse, and I decided that it was time to collect everyone from the witches cottages that were the only homes left on the ground. While I didn’t doubt the witch magic would hold against the wolves, it was growing harder to protect and move supplies to the cottages. I was making daily runs, and it was getting exhausting to keep both the cottage and the tree people safe. I asked everyone to move into the trees. There was one family, though, that didn’t come when I asked, and I went to find them. The wife was almost nine moons pregnant, and she couldn’t make the journey to Azren.They had decided to stay in their cottage until the baby was born.”
Sera stopped eating and stared at Red. It seemed that I wasn’t the only one Red had never told this story to before.
“I was fine to let them spend another moon there, but I made sure I was always around to keep them safe. In neglecting my duties to the rest of the kingdom, someone very important to me was bitten. In normal times it would have been several moons until he became a wolf and a monster with the curse, but something was different with him. I have a feeling it was because he spent so much time with me. Maybe something with the Red magic. I’ll never know because he was instantly a monster, and because he was so close to me, he was the worst kind. It was like all the good in me turned into bad in him. And to top it off, he knew my every move. He knew what I would be doing and when, and he hunted me like there was no tomorrow. He was relentless, and he was dangerous to everyone. He was once my best friend, and he became instantly the king of the monsters. Everyone started calling him the big bad wolf because only I knew who it truly was.”
Red took a sip of her coffee and looked outside the window like she remembered a different time.
“What became of him?” Sera asked.
Red shrugged. “He’s no longer alive. But that wasn’t the point. The point was what happened with the family I chose to protect. He followed me there, and I knew the only way that child would be safe would be to give her my Red powers. While no one around had ever seen a transfer of power, I knew how to do it, and I did. It was then that I marked you as the next Red, Sera. And then I faced my friend. I was prepared to die to save that family, and I refused to kill the one person that always believed in me. The one person that had befriended me and always stood by me. He wasn’t the monster he became in the night. He was my friend. And I wasn’t going to kill him.”
Red had a friend. That just kept repeating in my head as she paused to collect her thoughts more. I couldn’t imagine that. Micco was the closest I had ever seen, and she still kept him at arm’s length. What she was talking about was way more than that. She’d had an actual friend.
“But then something changed. I don’t even know what. The curse was gone and over. I really have no idea or clue how it happened. At first I thought it was something to do with me marking Sera as the next Red, but as time has gone on, I think I was only able to do that because something had changed first. I’ll never forget what happened next.”
Sera and I exchanged a look as Red nodded to herself.
“I was given a gift I never knew I wanted.”
Red finally looked up and directly into my oddly colored eyes that had never made a difference to her. While the people of Elder never really accepted me, Red always had, even if we didn’t always see eye to eye. I knew now what she was talking about, even if Sera was confused.
“What?” Sera asked.
“Castiel,” Red replied. “Less than a day after I saved you from my friend, two hooded women, whose faces I never even saw, handed me a baby boy wrapped up in a blanket. They told me that the curse was over, and the wolves would be normal again as long as I accepted him and raised him as my own.”
Red took a deep breath, and she looked between our shocked faces.
“I never planned to live long enough to have a family, and yet I was instantly a mother. I saved Sera one day and the next I had a baby of my own. It wasn’t a job I wanted or had any idea how to do, but I am thankful every day that I got to be your mother. We might fight about things every now and then—.”
Sera coughed, and Red laughed.
“Okay, Castiel and I fight about everything. But I wouldn’t want it any other way. I wish I had the answers to help you find the cure, but I know one thing. We will find it. I might not have created you in my own womb, but I did raise you to be the competent man you are. I should never have worried about you with the wolves because we both know there’s nothing to worry about. You are strong, Castiel. Stronger than any person I’ve ever met, and that isn’t just physical. You grew more than I could have ever imagined or pushed you to be. You have a strong mind and an even stronger heart. If anyone can find an answer, it will be you. I know it.”
I was never good enough, but it seems that maybe that was more on me than her. I had no idea how to respond. I had spent my whole life not feeling I met her standards, and here she was telling me I exceeded them. I was shocked and stunned.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t the mother you deserved, but all I can say is thank you for being the son I know I didn’t deserve.”
I was out of my chair without a second thought and hugging her for a second time in only moments. Red had done her best, and I never doubted that, even when I didn’t agree with her. She was a good mom and better than I ever gave her credit for. I could feel the air shifting. There were no more secrets or lies between us. She had been truthful, and I understood so much more now. She would never know how much I appreciated her. All I could do was hug her. We were going to find the answers together.
14th March
Red’s office was more than a little cramped as I paced around it. Papers were strewn everywhere, and Sera sat facing Red in her chair. I don’t know when Sera had moved in, but it seemed like half the mess in the room was Sera’s. They both continued to look at papers and pass them back and forth as they talked. I was left in the corner with only room to walk three steps before running into something. The office of the Red wasn’t made for two people to share, that’s for sure.
Red seemed not to care as we waited for the healer to come, but I didn’t have time to wait. She had sent her letter yesterday and gotten a response that the healer would be here in the morning, but it was already past breakfast, and she hadn’t yet arrived. I had no idea what morning meant to the healer, but it was getting past morning to me.
I tried not to huff as I stood there, but I couldn’t help it. Every moment we spent waiting was another moment my friends could be in trouble. If this healer was as powerful as Red said she was, then we needed her here now. She very well could end all of this for my friends, and she was taking her time.
“Sit down, Castiel,” Sera ordered me.
I couldn’t help but glare at her. Whatever truce we had going was gone since we had returned to the trees. Sera and I were never going to see eye to eye, and I wasn’t about to be taking orders from her. Grace was utterly crazy that there was anything between us but hate, lesser hate on a good day, but still hate.
“We don’t have time to wait,” I pleaded with Red instead.
Red nodded as she looked over another paper like she was just trying to appease me. How in the world could she just wait? She was as anxious as I was to help the wolves but didn’t seem to show it at all. Was she just pretending the day before?
“She will get here when she gets here,” Red explained as she continued to work on something that had to be pretty important if it kept her attention.
“She said morning,” I pointed out.
“Mal has never been one to run on a time schedule.” Red looked up from her paper as she spoke.
With a poof of purple smoke, a dark-haired woman appeared right in the track of where I was pacing. I was standing just paces from the mysterious healer Red called to for help.
“You can say that again, old friend.” The lady laughed as she shared a look with Red.
The woman looked like she was only a couple of decades old, yet her voice was rich and held the power
of someone who had lived much longer. If not for the few gray strands of hair and the knowledge that this had to be the woman Red was waiting for, I would have guessed she wasn’t much older than me. She looked like she was barely of marrying age, yet she was the most potent healer Red knew. It was strange to see an older person in such a young body. I knew she was older than she looked but still I stared in awe at the woman who had just magicked her way into Red’s office.
Red jumped up from her chair and rushed around her paper-heaped desk to hug the woman. The woman opened her arms to Red. They laughed as they hugged.
“Mal, it’s been too long,” Red said into the hair of the woman, getting a mouthful in the process.
Surprisingly, the powerful witch my mother had called for help wasn’t much bigger than my short parent. They both laughed as they pulled back to smile at each other. It was like I was seeing a completely different person. I almost needed Sera to pinch me to be sure. My mother wasn’t the giddy laughing type at all, and here she was smiling and laughing two days in a row.
“You know whose fault that is. I told you any time you wanted; you could come visit me.”
“Sure. I’d rather take my chances with the wolves of Elder than the ogres of Arcadia.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing out on.”
The eyes of our guest twinkled, and I got the feeling that she wasn’t entirely human. My mother didn’t explain precisely who or what her guest Mal was, but I could just sense it. Something was different with the mysterious lady before us.
“So, what was so urgent you couldn’t tell me in a message?” Mal pulled Red to a small two-seat couch against the far wall in the room.
“We’ve run into a bit of a problem with the wolves,” Red replied. “They seemed to be sick, and I was hoping maybe some of you magic could help them out.”
“Sick wolves?” Mal raised an eyebrow like she knew that Red was leaving something out. “I can take a look, but you know my specialty is with two-legged animals, not four.”
“We can arrange for them to be on two legs,” Red replied, and Mal laughed.
Mal seemed to understand completely without Red telling her more. I had a feeling that Red’s explanation that Mal was an old friend wasn’t a comment on Mal’s age but rather that they had been friends for a long time.
“Do you remember that one time,” Mal began, but Red stopped her by placing her hand over the dark-haired woman’s mouth as she began to laugh.
I could see there was a history between the two women. Red had mentioned Mal when I was growing up, but I had never met the woman. She was from Red’s life before she was the Red. I always had a hard time picturing my mother as just a girl. She was younger than Sera when she was chosen to be the Red and start her training, but for some time, she was just a normal girl. Mal knew that version of my mother. If it were any other time, I would have wanted to get some stories out of the healer.
I had a feeling Mal might be the only person that knew the real Red. She knew her from before the power and responsibility. She knew what Red was like before she had to care for everyone else before herself. I wish I knew that Red. By the way the two of them were laughing, I was more than sure Mal might have been one of the only true friends my mother ever had.
Red had spoken of Mal as a healer, but I could see there was more to that. Her long deep red gown almost sparkled on the lady as she tried to take Red’s hands off her mouth. The two of them laughed more as she finally won.
“I’ve never been introduced to your son,” Mal said as she stood and walked towards me. I was still frozen in my spot watching my mother behave very unlike the Red I’d always known
“Mal, this is Castiel,” Red replied with a wave of her hand towards me. Her serious face was falling back into place. “He will escort you to the wolves. They won’t take kindly to you if you just show up, no matter if you are there to help.”
“He can lead me there?” Mal asked, and Red nodded.
“I should go with them,” Sera added from beside Red’s desk, where she stood looking like she was in as much shock as I was at this side of Red.
“No. He will be fine with Mal, and it’s better if just the two of them go. Our energy can mess things up,” Red explained what wasn’t very clear to me or from the look of Sera’s face to her either.
“I suppose you want me to do this sooner rather than later,” Mal raised an eyebrow at Red. “Or I could tell them both some great stories of our youth. There’s the one with us, the elemental lynx, and that young man….”
Red actually blushed.
“Yes, it would be better for you to head off now,” Red interjected before Mal could say more.
“Too bad. I ran into him the other day, and he asked about you.” Mal grinned at my mother’s red cheeks. “I thought about telling him you are available.”
“Castiel, take her to Micco and explain it all to her there.”
I had never seen Red get so flustered. I kind of wanted to stay around for, at least, a little bit more to see something I would probably never see again.
“Young man, if you could take my hand,” Mal held her hand out to me.
I had no idea what the lady wanted but did as she asked.
“Now, think of an exact spot you want us to land.”
“Land?” I asked.
“Think, boy, and I’ll do the rest.”
I gave her a quizzical look, and she just waved her free hand as if to hurry me up.
“Close your eyes if you have to. I can’t travel places I’ve never been to. You have to lead us.”
She still wasn’t making any sense, but I would do whatever she asked if she could heal my friends. As she suggested, I closed my eyes and pictured the village in my head. I thought of standing just inside the wolf village, right where I usually entered when I was coming from my house. I had been there hundreds of times, so it was easy to get a mental image of the place.
“Good enough,” Mal said as I felt a tingle come over my skin.
My eyes shot open, and I went to pull my hand back. She smiled at me with what could almost be described as a predatory grin.
“Tsk, tsk. Too late for that, dear boy. Welcome to how I travel.”
I was standing in the middle of the wolf village. My stomach heaved as the magic she used seemed to slide off me. I knew that some people could travel that way, but I never heard of someone being taken along for the ride. Still feeling the need to puke, I tried my best to suck it up and stood to look around us as Mal gasped.
“The wolves have been sick for only a short time,” I explained as I looked at the nearest person. They were so thin that bones were sticking out where there should have been muscles and fat to hide them. Arms were boney, and collar bones sunken into chests all around me. Everyone we could see looked like they had been starved for moons, not days. The wolves were withering away.
“I swear,” I told her as I looked around for someone that looked healthy.
“Castiel?” someone said quietly as I turned around.
Grace sprinted from the nearest hut and jumped into my arms. Her energy seemed to be back, a little bit, at least.
“Let go of her,” Mal commanded me before I could respond to my friend.
A blond wolf at our feet looked up at Mal and growled.
“Nikkan?” I said as I recognized my friend.
He obviously didn’t like the tone from Mal. His wolf eyes glared at the woman who had indeed come all the way into the forest of Elder to help.
“This is a friend of Red. She’s here to help. She’s a healer and a pretty great one if you ask Red. She came all the way here from Arcadia.”
Nikkan still let out a low growl. Mal was pulling at me to leave the wolves alone.
At least, I hoped she could help. All it took was one meeting, and she was acting like all the other people of Elder. Why was it so hard for people to see that the wolves were just humans too? Grace wasn’t going to turn into a wolf and bite my head off righ
t now, at least, not during the day.
Nikkan still didn’t seem to agree that Mal was helping and placed himself between Grace and the healer.
“We need to leave now,” Mal told me as she looked around the camp. Her eyes dashed from one person to another. She began to look frantic at all the people that were now staring at us, but she had to expect that much. If you magically poof into someone’s home, they are going to stare. “This isn’t a disease. This is magic and strong magic at that.”
Mal grabbed my arm, and with more strength than I could imagine a woman of her size having, she dragged me toward the outskirts of the village. It was like I weighed nothing to her.
“We didn’t get to speak to Micco,” I complained as I tried to get my arm out of her grip. I couldn’t even move a finger width. She was strong.
“He can explain this more to you. They are sick and need help. That’s why my mother called you here.”
“Trust me, boy. We need to leave here now before the magic damages us. This isn’t a sickness. It is dark old magic. It will attack any being that has a bit of magic in them, not just your wolf friends.”
Could the curse hurt us? That wasn’t possible. The curse only affected wolves. It had never done a thing to humans. There had never been a single recording of the curse hurting anyone else. The curse was for the wolves. Everyone knew that.
Mal didn’t stop pulling until we were outside the village. Nikkan and Grace followed us but stayed back at the glare Mal was giving them. Nikkan returned her glare with a growl.
“If you value Castiel’s life at all, you'll stay back away from him until this curse is broken,” Mal warned them. Nikkan and Grace stared at me in confusion.
I was confused too. Mal didn’t make any sense. The curse had been affecting the wolves for hundreds of winters before Red broke it. It never once transferred to a human that wasn’t a wolf. Mal wasn’t letting us explain it to her.
Throne of Night Page 4