Stealing the Wolf Prince

by Elle Clouse

  When he came back, they waited. Lachlan held her hand; it calmed her. She kept trying to say something, but she mumbled too softly for him to hear.

  After the required hour of soaking, Flann added the black root to the kettle and watched it very closely. “It won’t be long now,” he said.

  Kiera mumbled again, loud enough for Lachlan to make out the words. He perked up. Flann turned from preparing his tincture.

  “Did you catch that?” Lachlan asked.

  “Yes.” He poured the black root tea into a mug and brought it over to Lachlan. “I’m a little out of practice, but it sounded Aosi.”

  “Well? What did she say?”

  “I will have to look it up, my prince.”

  “Please do.”

  Flann stepped out of the room. Lachlan tasted the liquid to make sure it wasn’t too hot and wrinkled his nose at the smell. It was cool enough, so he slid his hand under her head and lifted her so she could drink. She was ghostly pale, her grip on his hand weakening. She muttered something again and tried to turn her face away.

  “Drink. Kiera, please drink.” He moved the cup to her lips again, and this time she opened her mouth. He let a small amount spill onto her tongue. She swallowed it but wrinkled her face. “More.”

  She tried to turn her head again, but Lachlan wouldn’t allow it. He pressed the mug to her lips and got her to drink the antidote despite her protests. Lachlan then eased her back onto the pillow, and rested his head in his hands, exhausted. She dropped off into sleep again.

  Flann returned, a book in hand, and stood next to the fire.

  “How long will it take?” Lachlan ran his hand over his face, massaging away the ache from his tired eyes.

  “It’s up to her now. We’ve done all we can. We must wait.” Flann flipped through the book, then set the encyclopedia before Lachlan and pointed. “Here. This is a translation of the Aosi that she was speaking in her fever.”

  Lachlan bent over the musty text and read the translation. Then reread it several times, hardly daring to believe the words on the page. She had called him the dew to her morning. She loved him.

  Flann replaced the shattered servants’ door with a draped blanket as best he could, then exited, leaving Lachlan alone.

  Lachlan tucked Kiera in again and watched her shiver.

  Chapter 12

  Kiera was vaguely aware that she was in bed, warm, comfortable, and in someone’s arms. Her head rested on one strong arm, and another draped over her waist, holding her tight. Her rump rested in a lap.

  Lachlan. Even though she wasn’t completely awake, she recognized his masculine scent, his warmth. How pleasant it was to wake in his arms. She opened her eyes and saw that she was still in his room, in his bed, and the sun was rising.

  Then she looked out the window.

  The sun wasn’t rising, it was setting. She had slept the entire day. She sat up in surprise. Her head spun, and she lay back down. Her movement woke Lachlan. She turned over and buried her face against his chest.

  “Why does my head hurt so much?” she whispered. Her words boomed in her skull.

  Lachlan brushed her hair out of her face. “You were sick last night,” he said quietly.

  She knew it wasn’t too much champagne. “I wasn’t just sick. What happened?”

  He took a deep breath. “Someone poisoned my water. We gave you the antidote at dawn. You’ve been sleeping this entire time.”

  “I had such horrible dreams.” She pressed herself against his chest. Lachlan hugged her tighter and made her feel safe.

  “I’m so sorry. The poison was meant for me.” He stroked her hair. “Melchir was asking to see you today.”

  “Who?”

  “Melchir,” Lachlan repeated. “The Aosi who claims to be your father?”

  “I don’t want to think about him.”

  “Kiera...” Lachlan lifted her chin with his finger. “When you were asleep, you were speaking in Elfin. Flann translated it. Where did you learn Elfin?”

  “I don’t know Elfin.” Kiera sat up again. Her tunic clung to her skin, so she pulled the linen from her chest. Dried perspiration covered her whole body. She wanted to bathe very badly.

  “You spoke it well enough.” Lachlan sat up with her.

  Kiera let her legs dangle over the side of the bed and stared off into the distance. She tried to remember her younger years; all of her memories were of Tomas. Her mother had admitted she had loved another man before her father but had never said more of it.

  “How am I supposed to deal with this?” She dropped her head into her hands, the situation overwhelming her. “I spoke elfin?”

  “Aosi, yes,” Lachlan inched closer and rubbed her back. His thumbs massaged away stiff muscles. “It was unexpected to be sure.”

  “I’ll have to talk to Melchir soon, won't I?”

  “Mmm-hmm. Brogan was asking to see you as well.”

  She welcomed time with Brogan. With all the bizarre goings-on, she would feel better knowing he was close by and safe.

  “Brogan was the one who suggested you come here. You will have to tell me the full story sometime.”

  “Later. Right now, I need a bath.” She lowered herself to the floor and wobbled to the wardrobe for a clean shirt. From the bed, Lachlan sat up and watched her. She felt his eyes follow her every movement. As she retreated to the bathroom and closed the door, her cheeks were burning.

  “WELL, THAT WAS JUST wretched.” Ayden plopped onto his bed in the rectory. “Not only did he show up at our masquerade, but he brought her with him. I thought you said they weren’t going anywhere.”

  “No, you said they weren’t going anywhere.”

  Ian took a seat in a plush armchair facing his brother.

  “That’s it?” Ayden’s eyes narrowed. “That’s all you’ve got to say? First your hired thugs fail at their job, then they escape an inescapable dungeon and nothing?” He made a motion as if to punch an invisible foe. “And how the hell did they avoid the poison?”

  “That girl drank it.”

  “But she’s still alive! A little worse for wear, but alive. There is only one person that could know the antidote to my concoctions.”

  Ian looked at his brother expectantly.

  “Flann,” Ayden sneered. “He’s been getting in our way entirely too much. We need to do something about him too.”

  “Perhaps if you hadn’t brewed the most exotic poison you could think of?”

  Ayden scowled. “Flann will not be so easy to dispose of, either.”

  Ian rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you just try to kill everyone in the castle?”

  “Now there’s an idea. But then who would be my subjects? What we really need to do is get the old man out of the picture. However would we do that so that it doesn’t look suspicious?”

  “If Father dies of anything other than old age, it will look suspicious.”

  They looked at each another, at a deadlock.

  “What to do, then?” Ayden asked finally. “What has been done is done, and there will be no forgiveness now, no going back. You have already committed to this, dearest brother. You will be king and I shall rule with a firm hand. One way or another.”

  THE KING WAS SITTING near the fire with Flann at his side when Lachlan entered. A cup of tea rested on the side table, steam wafting upward.

  “There is my boy. Come sit near me.” The king smiled at his son. “Flann was telling me Kiera was not feeling well?”

  “No,” Lachlan answered and sat in a chair next to his father. “She was not, but she is better now.”

  “That’s good.” The king reached for his tea. “Now that you are back with us, we should start planning the coronation. I’m ready to retire, to pass the crown on to you. Ian would never make a good king, and Ayden is out of the question since he joined the temple.”

  “The temple,” Lachlan snorted, remembering Ayden’s behavior at the gala. He had been dancing and flirting with many young ladies. “He took the vow
of celibacy?”

  “He took it.” The king sipped his tea. “But he never did keep it. He’s never kept any promises he’s made. Ian has no backbone, either. He cannot make up his own mind, has to have Ayden do it for him. Ian cannot be king because then Ayden would rule through him.” Another sip. “I am glad that you are back, Lachlan. I can truly rest knowing the kingdom is in good hands. I was worried I’d never see you again.”

  Lachlan took his father’s hand and squeezed. The king’s new found strength was encouraging.

  “And hurry up and get married to that girl.” The king laughed. “I need grandchildren.”

  Lachlan completely disregarded that last comment. “What to do about Ian and Ayden, though?”

  The king waved away his question. “Let them sweat for a while. Sooner or later they will make a mistake, and then we can expose them.”

  “Or we can just lock them up in the caves.”

  The king smiled at that. “It’s good that your sense of humor is returning.”

  “That wasn’t a joke,” Lachlan muttered. “Those two were responsible for poisoning Kiera.”

  The king looked at his son, not with alarm but with knowing eyes. “Can you be sure?”

  Flann answered. “The poison that was used is very hard to make, and the only one in this area that can make it is your youngest son. He’s the only one with the resources, the knowledge, and the motive.”

  “That does make things more complicated. I don’t suppose that there are any witnesses to the act?”

  “I have been questioning servants all day and not a word from any of them,” Flann answered. “The princes knew better than to involve the servants, I suppose.”

  The king sighed. “Well, I want to visit with Kiera when she is well enough.”

  “You will have to get in line,” Lachlan replied. “There is an elf here, Melchir. He claims to be Kiera’s father.”

  “Melchir,” the king repeated. His eyes went wide. “Melchir Laelithaar? He is the high chancellor of the Aosi Mons. What rooms do you have them in?”

  “The state rooms,” Flann answered. “As guests of honor.”

  “Another strange twist,” the king said. “If what he says is true, and I don’t want to call the high chancellor a liar, then Kiera is a princess indeed, one that outranks you, my son. Imagine that.” He laughed wholeheartedly.

  Lachlan scowled at the joke.

  Chapter 13

  Kiera soaked until her fingers grew wrinkly and the water cold, then climbed out of the kettledrum bathtub. The plush towel she’d wrapped around herself could only absorb so much. A trail of water droplets followed her all the way across the hand-woven rugs to the door. When she peeked out, Lachlan was gone but a dress was laid out on the bed.

  She had to meet with Melchir. She wanted to get it out of the way sooner rather than later. The gown was simply decorated and plain blue. She dried her hair with a spare towel, then braided her hair down her back.

  Flann waited for her outside her door and escorted her to a sitting parlor where Melchir and his son Ardhor waited. Both stood in the center of the room and ignored the tea and biscuits provided for them. She took a seat on the dark leather sofa and looked at Melchir expectantly.

  He held his hands at his sides while he spoke. “Your mother stayed with us when she was a young woman. She was a pupil at the magic academy, and she was brilliant. When she learned all that she could, she decided to stay instead of returning to her family.”

  “She stayed because of me. I was her instructor.”

  “It was improper for us to have a relationship. I was already married to another, and I took advantage of my position. When I found out she was with child, I promised to make her life comfortable so that you could be raised among your people.

  “Your mother stayed for a while,” he continued. “I think you were about five years old when she left. She never told me why she left or where she went, and she made me promise not to contact her. I am only here now because she sent a letter to me when she knew she was not long for this world. All she said was she was dying and her daughter needed to be looked after. She did not say where you were or how to contact you. And so my search began, and it has led me here.”

  Kiera crossed her arms. “You still haven’t given me any proof of any sort that you are who you say you are. My mother never mentioned any of this to me.”

  “You are fair, like me,” Melchir reasoned. “And your ears are pointed, an obvious sign.”

  Kiera sighed in frustration.

  Ardhor said something in Aosi. She kept her face carefully blank as she realized she understood. He thought it was stupid to try to find her; she was just a loose end.

  Melchir answered with something about her still being family.

  Ardhor spoke again, but Melchir cut him off and turned back to Kiera. “Your full first name is Kieralei,” he said. “It means light of the moon, and it was my great-grandame's name. You were named after her. Fiona, your mother, wanted you to have an elfin name. And she wanted you to have this.”

  He handed her a small box of carved wood with intricate vine designs. Inside lay an ornate leaf pendant, an exact copy of her mother’s. She had said it was a sign of home, and that when she saw it again she would know it to be true.

  “This is my family crest. I gave this pendant to your mother when she decided to leave. It would guarantee her access to any Aosi encampment and safe haven. She sent it to me with her letter and told me to give it to you when I found you again.”

  Kiera picked it up and ran her fingers over it. It was indeed the same necklace with the same scuffs, most of them from when she had played with it as a child. She had been torn to pieces when the necklace had gone missing. She thought it had been stolen when her mother’s health was failing.

  He was telling the truth, and he was her real father. Why the deception from her mother, though? Why hadn’t her mother told her sooner? And why hide her from Melchir?

  “As an Aosi, you have the right to study at the academy, as your mother did. I understand that you are literate?”

  “Yes.” Kiera wondered how much Brogan had told him.

  “Good. Your mother knew the importance of an education, although why she decided to rejoin this society I do not know. If you will return with us, you can study as much as you please. And you would have your own suite in my estate.”

  What an opportunity to be able to learn at an elfin academy. But she couldn’t leave now... Not when Lachlan might need her.

  “Why do I not remember any of my time among your people?” she asked, trying to piece together the fragments of her childhood and his words.

  “What is the last thing that you remember with clarity?” Melchir asked.

  Kiera tried to focus on any memory from before her mother’s passing, but as usual, just as something seemed to solidify in her mind, it disappeared. Finally she shook her head. It was time to admit that maybe there was something wrong with her memory

  “I remember facts. Like where I lived and who my friends were. Every time I try to recall more, the memory disappears. I can recall things offhand, in the heat of a moment, but I can’t look back and purposely remember.” She slouched as the frustration weighed on her.

  “I think that you may be under some sort of enchantment.” Melchir studied the space around her. “It’s very subtle.”

  Ardhor stepped closer as well, his brow furrowed in concentration. She felt like a bug in a jar. “I can’t be certain,” Ardhor said, “but it looks to be a memory incantation.”

  “I think that you are right,” Melchir agreed. “And it was cast by Fiona.”

  “You are saying that my mother cast a spell on me?” Kiera gasped in disbelief. “Why would she do such a thing?”

  “Probably to help you forget something. She probably meant to remove it eventually. It is a minor enchantment. It’s already starting to wear thin and fall away.”

  Kiera thought of the elfin she had spoken. It sort of made sen
se. Her mother had said some odd things in her final hours. Kiera thought it was the fault of the fever, but perhaps it had been more than that.

  “I can easily dispel it,” Ardor said, bringing Kiera back to the conversation before her.

  “It might make this whole situation easier,” Melchir agreed. “It would help if you can remember your time with us, although you were quite young.”

  Kiera’s mouth was dry. “I need some time. This is quite a bit of news to cope with, and I’m too involved here at the moment.”

  “With Lachlan.”

  Kiera didn’t protest his assumption.

  “Do you know my position in the council of Elves?”

  “No.”

  “I am the high chancellor. Which makes you a princess among our people.”

  Kiera chuckled. She’d gotten in trouble impersonating a princess when she actually was one.

  “That means that if you married Lachlan, you would be marrying below your station.” Her feelings for Lachlan must have been more transparent than she thought. Melchir had barely proven himself to be her real father and he was already telling her whom she couldn’t marry. The unexpected change in situation made her smile.

  Lachlan was going to be king and she was the daughter of a high chancellor.

  “That is still my decision to make.” Kiera stood to take her leave.

  Ardhor spoke in Aosi, saying it was a ridiculous endeavor and they should just leave her here.

  “Yes, please do,” she replied, addressing Ardhor directly. The surprise on his face lasted only a second, then changed to flushed embarrassment.

  Kiera smiled. She left, not asking to be pardoned.

  IT WAS STRANGE TO BE able to hear Aosi and understand it. She had been exposed long enough to learn it, but she could not recall that time in her life. Trying to remember something so specific made her head ache until she gave up. She walked back to Lachlan’s room, ready for bed. She had been awake for a couple of hours since the sun set, but already she felt fatigued.