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THE ROYALTY OF WOLFES 37
A carriage takes us, and it is escorted by not two, as always, but four guard wolves. I have chains on my feet and they cannot be seen under my tunic dress the color of fresh moss. I also have shoes. They bother me. I think all the time about kicking them away, but I don't know why I don't do it. I just follow with Reeina by my side, like a doll.She washed, combed and braided my hair with colorful ribbons.I notice there isn't much lilac in it anymore. The strands are almost completely colorless, and I notice that unfortunately this doesn't matter much to me.I don't care about much today.I barely think.Through the carriage window I see people jostling outside the circular building, trying to catch a glimpse of the spectacle taking place.I wonder if they are here out of curiosity or sadism, after all wolves die in this place.Reeina said that three contestants have died so far and only the Princes and another man remain who I didn't bother to learn the name of.The guards surround
THE ROYALTY OF WOLFES 38
Of course it is.She's used to it. She is one of them. I am not. Everything in this world is strange and scary. I want to go back to my island. To my bed, where I'm not chained up all the time. Where I'm not surrounded by violence and death threats. Where I don't want to die. Where my Mothers and Sisters look like me. Where I'm not an outsider and I understand everything they say.— Lyn Kim?I push his hand away and stand.My heart beats in my throat. I try to run, but the chains that bind my ankles stop me, so I can only take short steps between the chairs.I feel everyone looking at me.Wolves. Wolves. Wolves.The guards move when they see me and bar the door.They question. They push their stupid cylinders at me.Reeina comes skidding from behind and starts arguing with them to let me pass. I understand the words tzauri and Mig.Finally they go to the side and I move forward as fast as my chains allow. But I'm not going far. My captor is there in the hallway. He holds an enormous h
THE ROYALTY OF WOLFES 39
He could eat me, I think, but the disturbing thought doesn't scare me. It doesn't scare me much.The door opens again and Reeina enters, preventing me from being alone with my thoughts.— Feeling better, Lyn Kim? — She asks with clear hesitation, keeping a good distance between us.I don't know what to answer, so I make an ambiguous gesture with my shoulders and hug my own body.It's cold here, but inside I feel warm.Maybe that's why my legs have goosebumps as if I'm feeling chills.— Prince Miguel will be next in the arenas — she says, barely containing her excitement. — If Lyn Kim wishes to leave, we will go now — she lowers her gaze to the floor in subservience.— No... — I respond a little too quickly and clear my throat. — No, Reeina. Let's see the fights.She smiles, satisfied, even though she's still looking at the floor, and from where I'm standing I can see her pointy teeth.I'm among wolves.**Reeina is so silent that I find it strange, but in the end I realize that she ac
THE ROYALTY OF WOLFES 40
Darebor celebrated for three days.Reeina said that House Tarus was generous to the inhabitants and the other houses who came for the competition, roasting cattle and boar meat in the central square, distributing fruit alcohol, and metals that they call coins or tins to celebrate the dawn of a new Wolf King.The Prince did not return to his private rooms.Reeina informed me that he is with the healers being treated for the injuries he received, and suggests that they are very serious, but not life-threatening.— His Superior Majesty, King Mig, will recover — he says as if this were a certain thing, because after all “he is the king”.Each day she gives me some report on the state of my captor's health. Things he heard from other auri fen. Things that I don't ask, but that I feel calmer knowing.On the fourth day Reeina announces that we will leave soon after lunch back to Tarus'dei, as the healers she calls mekrai have allowed my captor to travel.I don't see him until I'm ready for t
THE ROYALTY OF WOLFES 41
I make a movement with my hand so the maid stops talking.— Slowly, Reeina — I ask. — I don't understand anything you're saying.Your face flushes slightly.— Oh, Lyn Kim, I'm so sorry. I'm babbling nonstop and without thinking that you don't understand many things about our people.I nod. She does the same as if she were making a deal with me.— Hm... Let's see — He rests his index finger on his chin, thinking about where to start. - Oh yeah. Before, when you bled during the bath, I told you very little about how this works for a cannis female, like me, for example. Well, I know that human females — he points at me — have one heat a month, but we only have one a year. We call this erben.— Heat? — my voice comes out a little high-pitched when I ask.— Yes, when your body is ready to receive a male and have puppies.For a moment I think she's talking about animals, not humans, but after all wolves are very close to their animal ancestors, aren't they? Do humans have animal ancestors t
THE ROYALTY OF WOLFES 42
Now there's a dark stain on Reeina's cheek as she says goodbye to me at the stone flower-decorated doors of what she calls the dassbat.She says a maid in your position cannot come with me here.She says this is a sacred place for her people, where Prince Alpha takes care of his tzauri. Before leaving, he tells me that I am safe here, that no harm will come to me, and that the Wolf King will come and get me as soon as he can stand up, “because I am important to him”.I want to believe everything Reeina tells me when I enter the dassbat.She also assured me that she will be back soon to see if I am settled in properly and need anything.— Most Auri Fen speak your language, lyn Kim. If you need something, call them.This makes me calmer.I advance through the narrow corridors of the dassbat.Here the air smells sweet and spicy, and there is a kind of low music being played on a stringed instrument that I don't recognize. There were few instruments on Goddess Island, and all of them were
THE ROYALTY OF WOLFES 43
As always, that damn curiosity gets me into trouble.I begin to feel as if the heat is coming from within me, not from the environment, directly from my belly, tightening. It's not a colic. Not exactly. It's like a pulse. Hot agony.I take a deep breath, trying to focus on something else, anything other than this pulse, and then my lungs fill with a delicious smell, like wet wood in the sea. A salty, warm, damp, enticing scent.I turn my face to the left, but I bite my tongue when I see that it's my captor.That smell comes from him and I can feel it because of the effect of the flower. Oh, no... I'm so silent that the wolf asks twice if I'm okay. Last time my response was almost a scream. I want you to leave me alone in your private rooms and disappear for the rest of the day. But of course he doesn't do that. No. Instead of leaving me alone as he usually does, he takes off his heavy armor-like coat and places it on the back of the chair after securing me in the floor vise.I have no
THE ROYALTY OF WOLFES 44
I hold my breath, apprehensive, and realize almost happily that yes, my captor has returned alone.He frowns when he sees me standing there and starts to say something that I push away as I step forward and proclaim what has been rattling around in my head all day.— I want you to release me. Now.The wolf closes the door and begins to unbutton the metal buttons on his coat almost lazily.His previous casual expression is replaced by a mask of irritation.— Your tone is dangerously close to a demand, female. Why would I do that?I fill my chest with courage.I lift my chin.— You are the king of wolves and I saved your life.I do not need to say anything more. He understands where I'm going.He lets out a long breath through his nose and moves his huge shoulders as he takes off his coat and throws it on the bed.“Reeina,” he murmurs.I retreat inwardly.Of course he knows who gave me this information.I fear for her.That wolf wouldn't hurt you, would it?“It's my right,” I say.— Did
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