Indrik's Pov
"Blaire!" I repeated, my voice faint. "Indrik!" She called excitedly, the torch clattering to the ground as she reached through the bars and embraced me as well as she could. I did not return the awkward embrace as I was still wondering what she was doing here. The prisoners were not exactly helping matters either as they resorted to showing their displeasure by banging their fists on their prison doors. "Blaire!" I called again, confusion evident in my voice. "What are you doing here?" I asked unable to understand why she would be here. She would surely be in trouble if she was caught and it would not exactly help my case either. "How are you doing? My gosh! You smell horrible. Give me a minute, will you?" She avoided my questions as her words came out in a rush. She disentangled herself from me and groped around the floor for something. I soon discovered the something to be a key as she found it and inserted it into the keyhole and with a couple of turns pulled it open. Without a word, she dashed into the cell and gave me a proper embrace this time. She reeked of lemons and roses and everything else that was beautiful. Everything that seemed to be a world apart from me now. Because the torch was lying on the ground, I couldn't see much but I saw enough to see tears rolling down her cheeks as she pulled away from me. "Come on, I will get you out of here." She muttered, a tone of urgency in her voice and to buttress her point, she started to pull me along after her. I had stepped out of the cell and I must say, even here, I could feel a sense of freedom. That room really was hell but it was where I needed to be. I stopped moving. "What are you doing, Indrik? We have to get out of here quickly." She was almost screaming to be heard above the sea of voices. "I can't." I sighed as I slid my hand out of hers. "What do you mean you can't? You won't survive here!" I could hear her voice breaking even in the din but I couldn't afford to lose sight of why I was doing what I was dot. "And where will I go if I leave? And you? You will get into trouble to. I'm sorry Blaire but I have to stay. And you don't have to worry because I won't be dying anytime soon." I started to head back to the cell. "Indrik!" She cried as she threw her hands around me from behind, resting her head on it. My back hurt even more but I didn't tell her that. I rubbed her palms and sighed. "I want you to know that I really appreciate your effort but I really can't leave. I have to stay and finish my sentence so...." I let the words hang as I pried her hands away from me. When she finally pulled away, I could feel my shirts having grown wetter from her tears. I sighed, feeling terrible for making her sad like this but there really was nothing I could do to change the state of things. Around us, the prisoners seemed to be growing tired as the intensity of their voices reduced. I was starting to walk away again when she placed an arm on my shoulder. "Atleast, let me check your wound." She muttered sadly. I nodded. If that was what it would take to make her feel better then I would go with it although I wasn't exactly sure about what she could do given that she wasn't a doctor nor was she learning to be one. We walked back into the cell and even in the dull lighting, I could see her grimace. I had to stand against the wall but she managed to peel off the cloth. I groaned. Dried blood had glued it to my back making taking it off a real hassle but she finally managed to. She released a soft sigh as she went out and returned with a medical kit. Where she got it from, I had no idea but I sure was glad she brought it along as she started to treat my wounds. It took a while but she was finally done. She applied some bandages before helping me out my clothes back on to avoid the guards seeing it. Then she brought in a package of food. My stomach rumbled like it had been waiting for it all day. I almost didn't notice when I wolved down the first round of food. "You want more?" She asked as I chugged down some water. I knew that piling food was never a good idea but I was pretty certain that missing food was just as bad an idea and I had done that all that so I figured it couldn't be that bad. Finally, it was time to leave. I made sure she left nothing behind that could put her in trouble. "I will be back tomorrow." She promised but I shook my head. "Don't Blaire! I really appreciate what you did for me tonight but please, do not put yourself at risk for my sake. I will be fine, I promise." I hoped I sounded convincing enough because my tummy really did not agree with that. I noticed that the prisoners had all fallen silent. They seemed to have gotten tired of creating a commotion. In the silence, the sound of the dripping water had become a significant presence once more. I squeezed my hand softly around Blaire's, hoping she would listen to me. She pulled away from me and gathered her stuff as she locked my door. "I will be back!" She muttered with a tone of finality and left before I could protest. As she drew farther away, the light grew dimmer and dimmer until darkness reigned supreme once again. I sighed as I got used to my solitude once more.Blaire's PovWalking away from the dungeon with all its filth and stench should have made me feel relieved but what I was feeling would probably be fittingly described as the direct opposite. Leaving left me feeling more awful than I had been before going. Seeing the unhealthy conditions that Indrik had to put up with made me feel sick to my stomach. Coming out from the underground cell, I was glad to find that my luck had held although I don't think I would have been scared if I had come out to find a circle of wolves. If they will, they could throw me in the dungeon as well. At least then, I would be able to be close to Indrik. Somewhere in the back of my mind though, a voice that wasn't clouded by my anger told me I would be more useful free than imprisoned. I shut the door silently and snuck out of the palace. For a moment, my eyes caught on the images from earlier and I blinked as the memories rushed in, fresh as when I first saw them. I blinked again as the images seemed to be
Luna's Pov"It is a beautiful day." That is the first thought that crossed my mind as I awakened to a choir of birds singing happily in the tree behind my window. Hearing their melody seemed to be reassuring me that everything would be alright. Nevermind that I had another nightmare most of which I could not recall although I could not forget the terror that coursed through my veins. I stretched my limbs to a satisfying chorus of cackles from my muscles and rose on to my knees as I turned toward the window which I had either left open or opened sometime in the middle of the night. I placed my elbows on the windowsill and my mind wandered as I watched the small hummingbirds Twitter as they leapt from flower to flower. Of course they were happy. Who wouldn't be when they had that much resources at their disposal? I on the other hand could not say as much for myself. I was still lost in thoughts when I heard a knock at the door. I got out of bed and waddled to the door. I rubbed my ey
Luna's Pov"What is she doing here?" Blaire scowled as soon as we arrived before them, her eyes glowing with anger as she did not even bother with trying to hide her displeasure. "Come on, B! Be nice, will you?" Jamil chastised softly but that word was obviously alien to her as her expression grew even darker. She turned her gaze to me as her eyes seemed to bore a hole right through me. "I warned you to stay away from me, didn't I?" Her voice was haughty in a way that reminded me of "The Haven." I inhaled sharply as I forced myself to take my eyes off her and focus on the ground before me. That drew my attention to the area as I found out it was a garden or something of the sort at least in the middle of which we were standing right now. Taking a peek at the door from which I had just come, I saw two patches of beautiful blooming plants that served as the pathway. These went round in a wide circle in the midst of which sat the tree and the benches. On further inspection, I saw that
Luna's Pov "And there is the entrance to our pack." I could barely contain my excitement as I stared at the huge golden gates that looked on the top of a hill. The gates that were the key to my freedom. I imagined running up and out of this cursed place but his next words dashed my hopes completely. "It always remains closed unless we have urgent business to attend to outside. That is to prevent outsiders from finding this place." "You mean to say you have no dealings with the outside world? Like you don't trade or..." I let my words hang in the air between us. He chuckled. "Of course, we do. There are trade routes." I waited for him to say more but it soon became obvious that was all he was going to say. I gritted my teeth as the gates that had looked so pleasing to me just a moment before now seemed like an evil machination intended to keep me bound in here forever. The gates stood atop a hill. A design that was as strange as it was effective. Strange because most of the te
Luna's PovI turned to look at the man who had spoken. I recognized him instantly from his role in passing judgement on us. Just like the first time, he was sitting down which prevented me from seeing just how tall he was. He still seemed pretty intimidating though as his eyes blazed, commanding respect. I remained at the door from where I had been admiring the room but even from here, I could feel his displeasure washing over me in waves. I shuddered subconsciously as I noticed that not only his but all the eyes in the room were focused on me. Us, I had forgotten Jamil was still standing beside me until he grabbed my arm and pulled me into the room. We arrived before the Beta at the head seat and following Jamil's lead, I bowed. "You are late." Up close, his voice sounded deeper and more intimidating. "You didn't tell her that we do not condone lateness here?" He asked and I raised my head a little bit only to return to my former position when I saw that Jamil was still bowing. "I
Luna's PovIf there was anything worse than serving people who hated your guts, it was eating with them. Knowing that malicious eyes are following your every move is a sure recipe for a loss of appetite. I managed to force down some food which went to sit at the bottom of my belly like a couple of bricks. After that, I just turned the food in my plate, my cheek propped on the other hand as I stared at it like I was looking for something that was embedded deep within it. "Ahem!" I was pulled out of my revelries by the Beta clearing his throat. I looked up at him, blinking as I tried to come back to the present. "Breakfast is over. You all can leave now." My heart soared with joy as I rose to my feet, the chair skittering noisily. Great! Another reason to make them hate me more. Already, I could see them pinning their gazes on me as if to say, "we get the point. You are dumb. Now, could you stop making it so obvious?" "Not you!" My heart plummeted to the bottom of my belly about as fa
Luna's PovOutside the tall rooms and passageways of the palace, the world looked large, golden and endless under the touch of glowing sunlight. Or perhaps, it was just my happiness at being free that was tainting my vision. Outside the palace, the courtyard sprawled before me, all a glowing shade of white. Apart from the three main buildings that took main focus in the palace, there were a couple other buildings on the other end of the enormous courtyard. Smaller and less impressive but beautiful nonetheless. Most were honorary buildings, only ever used when some guests visited, Jamil would not tell me who. Others though were used by the part of the army that was not stationed at the borders, a fancy term for palace guards really. "I see you are finally out and would you look at that. You are in one piece!" My eyes widened as I wheeled into Jamil who seemed to have materialized out of nowhere. "What are you doing here?" I hissed breathlessly, the breath knocked out of my lungs from
Blaire's PovI was sitting in my favorite spot in our hangout spot. A swing that was made with a log of wood with two long ropes running out of both sides of it which were tied to one of the tree's sturdy branches. I sat on it, gently swaying it back and forth, my eyes seeing nothing as I wandered in the world of thoughts and worries. I still could not get the horrible condition Indrik was in out of my head. "There you are!" A voice that sounded like it was coming from somewhere deep within the tree called. I was slow to respond, partly because I was still lost in thought and partly because I did not want to speak to the owner of the voice. "Scoot!" He ordered but I ignored him, treating him like he wasn't present. "Hey!" He called again, snapping his fingers before my face. Seeing that there was no way I could send him off with the silent treatment, I stopped the swing and gave him the coldest look I could muster. "Have you seen Ulo around? I couldn't find him in his room." Jamil