by Logan Keys
“You are my love for another lifetime,” I reassure him. “My marriage to the wolf will unify our realms, make our pride stronger. Two kingdoms will be better because of this.”
“Then you’ve already decided?” He leans into me, his face inclined as he sniffs me. “I wonder, Liana, if this is a sacrifice for our pride or something you’re willingly being led to.”
I push him away from me, taking several large steps backward to put distance between us. “Does it matter?”
“Yes.” His grave tone hits me like a sledgehammer and I wobble on my feet.
“I have to marry Noble. The king and queen demand it.” Putting a calming hand on his arm, I squeeze and whisper, “My mother and father ask it of me. For the pride.”
“For the pride.” He scoffs, a bitter sound that makes the hair on the nape of my neck rise.
Stepping into me, he invades any distance I wanted to put between us. I take in his scent - ferocity, affection, and possessiveness tangling with the other. It makes my head swim, my senses heighten. He digs his fingers into my long hair and pulls back. Teeth graze over my neck and when he bites, I gasp.
“A mark for the wolf to find.” Crede’s voice pulsates in the air, darkening the space around us.
I turn away from him, my vision blurring with building tears. My body tremors and as I walk away from him, I slant my head to face him.
“I’m not yours to mark, Crede,” I say, my voice stern. “I belong with Noble now. It’s best you remember, lest you want to end a decade of peace between our two realms.”
“Ah.” He nods, a despondent laugh reverberating from his chest. “Spoken like the new heir of the mighty wolves.”
The wind plays and weaves through my hair as it howls in my ear. The unassuming sound reminds me of my wolf. His eyes, a shade of gray like no other. Like the lingering ashes of a dwindling fire. The wind whirls around me, guiding me forward as I leave the man who will rule all of the realms behind without a second glance.
Chapter 13
Noble
“This is an outrage! Noble, you can’t be serious.”
“Hear, hear!” Others join Oren who’s standing across from where I am in the hall, no doubt thinking what he probably always does. If his father’s, father’s great-grandfather, had beaten our line once upon a time, he and I would be in opposite places. We are the same age, the same unmarried status, and the only thing that separates us is the blood-soaked snow where his great-great-great-grandfather lay slain by mine hundreds of years ago.
Neither of us had any stake in that. Yet, it is fresh in our minds every time we are in this room. And some day, hopefully not too soon, he will kneel to me at my throne. And I know just how miserable Oren will be in that moment. He craves my place.
But it is mine.
“I know this is unprecedented,” I try.
“Unprecedented!” Oren shouts, hands raised high. “Unprecedented would be marrying a commoner, Noble, oh prince of the wolves. This is a little more than that.”
The last is said with sarcasm. He pushes further every day.
“You’ve said your piece, Oren. And your place as our ward has served us well.” A small slap on the hand by using his current place as a ward as a reminder, commoner indeed, and I see him wilt. “And yes, unprecedented, but decided,” I say this with bite, my wolf growing inside of me, a thing they would sense in warning.
With care now, the following members of the wolf council begin their questions once again. “But what will she rule? She cannot know our ways. How can she run with the pack?”
Little do they know I rarely run with the pack myself.
Toliver nods his head in agreement and asks, “Isn’t it already hard enough to keep our boundaries as it is, and now with lions come to visit?”
“Visit?” Oren says, “She will live here! Some day as our queen.”
And brought back to that difficult point the entire assembly breaks out into arguments and angry shouts.
“Silence,” I say quietly, and no one pays me mind. I meet eyes with Emilie where she stands just ahead of everyone else, as her right.
She’s watching me, and I see a flicker of something in her eyes. She nods some sort of encouragement.
I frown and wonder, could it be that she is on my side? Perhaps she’s just glad not to be in Liana’s place herself.
She nods again and steps forward, urging me to do something.
“I said silence!” My voice rings through the hall.
I can’t help the inner flinch at the sound. I’ve never yelled at our members before, or anyone else in the great hall for that matter. The yelling is reserved for my father. I’ve never had reason to do more than listen, at times speak over simple things for the assembly, but now I sound…like him. Like the great black wolf.
As if summoned by my thoughts once again, he comes into the back of the hall with a twinkle in his eye, sneaking in unseen.
That he’s returned from the southern borders sets my mind at ease. We share a look of understanding. My father’s eyes speak clear enough saying, “Go ahead, boy. I’ve waited for this moment most of my life.”
Passing the torch to me has always been a dream of his.
Where I’m standing now, that’s where my father has scraped, and fought, and worked to place me. With me going rogue, he’d doubted that dream would ever come true. Never said as much, but I saw it in the worried set of his large shoulders. I, too, thought I’d never see the day.
Is it possible that this marriage will give me that opportunity? Help me to hide my curse that much longer?
Pride grows across the heavy features of the great black wolf, and I see the burden lift. His young wolf cub, a man now, would marry a lioness, a woman who would rule the realms if she was not forced to stand by my side, and is this how he saw it? I suppose he does not mind.
Me taking my place in any sort of way, to him, that’s enough.
“I will marry the lioness,” I say now into the quiet. “I will marry Liana. And she will be treated as one of us, as our queen in the future. She will rule here by my side, and the two of us will forge a thing not seen in a hundred years between our realms. There is doubt among you, but it has been this way before, and there were great times of prosperity when it had. We, as shifting people, have crossed a divide once in our past.”
“Othar,” Tolivar says with a begrudging nod.
“And Ulia,” Emilie adds, and the assembly makes a sound of growing positivity.
“Yes,” I say. “The great bears and tigers of long ago had done as Liana and I will do. They bridged a gap between our realms. And though that has fallen into nothing but history…we wolves…”
I pause because our motto is always what follows.
They call out to me, “Wolves remember the most.”
“The Wardens of Winter!” some call followed by our old motto, “Wards of the realms!”
I smile. “Agreed. We were once the protectors of all the realms. Who hears better than we? Who senses a threat or is able to alert the realms better than we?” I see a few wardens of the borders stand taller. This is their history. This is who they are. “None, but the pack, work together as well as we do. And we should be honored to show the lions once again what we can do. Lions have might. As do bears. But we wolves, we are the ones who have our strength in numbers. Always.”
Some look subdued at my statement. It brings a remembrance of what was lost. The tigers are gone. The bears might as well be. There are none left in the realm such as lion, such as wolf.
“Which brings me to my next point. It has always been taught as famine and plague and war broke out between the realms---a thing we call The Great Time of Darkness---but I tell you now there is another thing we face. I ask you to suspend your disbelief, for me, for your prince.” I look to my father who confirms it. He’s gone to the village and back to see for himself. He nods to me, eyes serious.
It takes my breath away.
So, it’s true.
<
br /> I steady myself. “Prepare yourselves my wolf brothers and sisters, because I tell you grave news from our southern border. Wolves have been poached and killed.”
“See,” Oren yells. “The lions strike already!
“No, my brother,” I say without warmth. “This was hunters.”
Chapter 14
Noble
It is the middle of the night that I should decide to make my move. I am leaving my realm, and I will not bring the wolves with me. After all, a rogue must embrace himself if he deigns to change an entire tradition. And that’s what this wedding will do. Bring a new union. Pouring over the history after our meeting, looking at a time when hunters must have attacked us before, forcing the realms to band together.
Though it had been hidden from us, the truth that is smothered beneath talk of war and famine for unknown reasons, I am seeing how much stronger we were as a joined realm. All of us marrying outside of our kind. We had all worked together. No borders.
And now we can begin again.
If only our people will let us, we must try. Lions and wolves, like the tigers and bears of the past, can start a new bond that will be a force to be reckoned with.
For selfish reasons, I want her, Liana, to be my warmth and fire in the land of Winter, but for my realm now too, I see potential. An unstoppable front against this new enemy.
But first, there is the matter of securing her hand. And I will not sit idly by and ignore the weakness that it will purvey to her realm if I do not challenge for that hand. I would never have their respect. Or hers.
So, it is with that in mind that I sneak past the guards and wardens as I so often do in wolf form, but only now I am myself. Riding my horse to the southern boundaries, I do not tie him, but rather remove his bridle and send him loose back to home. Just in case I should not return.
I try to ignore the guilt creeping up, the grief my family will be put through, should I fail. My mother would despair, my father would understand more, but equally blame himself. But, it is done already. I am committed to it.
For the betterment of our union, there cannot be any other way.
I risk changing into a wolf I can hardly trust, but I mentally try to impress upon him my purpose, so he will go where I direct for once. Inside my mind, I plead with him to head in the right direction. Because only as a wolf will I be stealthy enough to approach the lions alone.
This time, it’s as if he allows me to see more than usual, lets me into that side. Not for control, but perhaps to share what it is he sees during these ventures.
For the first time, I imagine myself being able to find some balance to this nature of mine. Maybe there is a treaty of my two halves to be had.
In the night, the prairie is nothing like winter. Our wolves prowl unceasingly at the borders. Though nocturnal cats may be, they stay close to their pride for strength in the dark, and they rarely leave it unless there is trouble. They’ve only a few guards miles apart so I make my way easily into their realm.
It troubles me that a hunter, too, could enter the same way. My first instinct, even as a wolf, is to protect Liana better than this. I could offer the king some wolves to help but hopefully without offending.
Also, their ability to sense me would be less than a wolf. Not less keen, perhaps, but more easily masked in this hot climate that would dull the senses with so many bright smells of the plains.
Even now I am bombarded with wet marsh smells, blossoming trees, everything that grows and enjoys the beauty of the sun. It hides devious entry.
The night is warm, and immediately the heat clings to my coat from humidity, a full winter fur so thick that I can lay in the snow without worry. But here, it slows me down. I’m not fully healed yet either. As I trot along the prairies, I feel doubt begin at my grand idea.
I get close to the pride when I sense that I’m being stalked. A large male lion has flashed in the pathway before me only to disappear into the brush once again.
Pretending I hadn’t seen him, I rush through the trap, and he pounces on me, but this time, I am prepared. Being on the road for the castle, no brush to hinder my stride, I take off at a run. Lions are fast, but I am lucky this is a male, heavy, brutish almost, he can’t keep up with the lightning swift pace of a wolf.
I make it to the palace, and I change back into myself at the gate. Naked now, I’ll have to beg clothes before I see the king. I call up to the servants at the tower and tell them who I am.
The male lion catches up finally and changes back as well.
Unworried about our nakedness, he seems unbothered by it in the least. In our realm, we would seek clothes immediately lest we freeze
“You must be Noble,” he says, trying not to seem out of breath.
“I am.”
“Crede,” he says motioning to himself.
When I don’t recognize him, he pushes out his chest. “I am soon to be king of this realm. Of all of the realms. You should recognize your future king of all kings.”
“Is that how we greet our guests, Crede?”
We turn to find Liana there, watching us, arms crossed, that chin stuck out. Her beautiful eyes shift between the two naked men at her gates. Her color is high, so it must not be as easy for her to go around in her skin as it is this male lion.
For some reason that relaxes me. I’d prefer it if every male in this realm has not seen my bride before I had. I have a moment to notice the keen jealousy I already feel for my future mate and enjoy the feel of it. Something about Liana screams “nobody’s” and that instantly pushes me to want to claim her as mine.
Crede, I see, is busy in his own assessment of the princess. This is the lion that has already been wanting to claim Liana as his own. He’d been betrothed to her or will remain so if I fail.
If I lose her, then the two realms will be tense over the attack and possible death of the wolf prince. Peace might only be a memory.
“I am here to see the king,” I say and Liana looks at me, really looks at me, with her narrowed cat eyes. She takes a deep breath, and I don’t see dislike sitting in her gaze. I see quite the opposite.
Crede notices, and he practically shifts back into lion so fast that I don’t see the change. The giant beast stalks into the weeds, but not before making a growl and hissing sounds so loud I feel it rumble through my chest.
“Come with me,” Liana says. “Let’s dress you.” Her mouth twists up into a smirk.
I follow her into the palace. “That might be a good idea.”
She walks ahead of me with her hands linked behind her back. Her hair is long enough to cover her backside. She walks like a princess of great privilege, although I suppose I must do the same. She is not lithe in her movements, more graceful and poised, but she is strong, more than feline, in her stature. There is nothing small about her. Not a thing.
Her lineage, I’d looked it up, is all warriors and warrioresses.
The great hall of theirs is littered with flags of each family line. She points hers out and I stare at it wishing for clothes, but interested in her history first hand rather than through tomes written by strangers. Makes sense that her shields are covered with a lion whose hair turns to flame. I smile and give a small laugh.
“What?” she asks, her eyes stern.
Good. She sees no comedy in her history. I like that she respects it. “I merely think the flame on your crest is…fitting, my lady.”
“Oh,” she replies, her mouth pursing prettily into a circle while her cheeks flare with color. Liana’s eyes wander my form boldly.
“Clothes, my lady?”
She brightens even further and rushes off to find the servants.
I wait in an alcove, hiding from the rest of the staff until they bring me something that fits well enough. Albeit with the stench of lion on each article. And then I am granted access to the king even at this late hour.
We approach the main room and I mutter, “So, it’s true then.”
“What is?” Liana asks.
I motion at the thrones. There are more than one. “You have three queens. How…does that work? It seems…”
Her mouth twists again when I don’t say the word, but she supplies it for me. “Barbaric…?” Liana sighs. “Yes, three queens for every king.” Her words are spoken softly but I feel some reluctance.
“You don’t approve?”
She stiffens. “Of what? It’s how it has always been.”
“But you’d change it, if you could.”
Her eyes shift away then back and stare deeply into mine, weighing my worth of her truths. She decides something from what she finds there. “To be honest, I would.”
Liana’s gold eyes are frank and open. No secrets. No manipulation. None of the wolves’ coy play. She’s a breath of fresh air. How she’ll survive in Winter, however, is another matter.
She goes on, “I’d rather there be one to a…”
“Bed?” I supply, and she cringes.
“Yes. What do you think of it, Noble?”
Is she fishing for more information about me? Does she wonder if I’ll have others in my bed? Seeing the lions, and their comfort with shared…everything, I bet that it’s a question on her mind. Do we take mistresses? Many of the wolf leaders have. Would I? Never. I was raised by a woman who believed in morality just slightly below love.
Deciding something myself as well, I pull Liana back to the alcove and inside. She stiffens in surprise, but then lets me tug her to the wall and speak into her ear. “My lady, if you and I are to be married, then I shall bed with you and you alone. Winter is cold. It is a lonely palace at times. I very much look forward to your sunshine in our court. I will promise you now, even before we are wed, that you and I will warm only each other. Share our bodies together and be one.”
She pulls back from me, her eyes wide.