Promised to Wolves

éna

Though winter had not yet settled over the city, there was an icy chill in the air and I pulled my cloak tighter around me as I trudged through the row of stones. The blades of untouched grass were still damp from the dew that had settled there and the dampness was creeping into my boots, freezing my toes. Even the morning sunshine was hidden behind a spread of grey-tinted clouds.

But the icy chill helped to numb my emotions and I slowly fell to my knees, reaching out to trace the golden letters engraved into the slab of granite.

Eliana Cirillo

Her face came back to me in an instant. Her tired, golden eyes, her untamed, aureate hair and the stunning smile that had slowly faded away. I could picture every curve and colour to her face, down to the placement of each eyelash. If I could paint, I would have captured her likeness on a canvas.

Blood, tainted with silver, seeped into the image and I pushed my thoughts deep down again, not daring to recall her cold, broken body. I knew where that path would lead.

Instead, I allowed myself to be consumed by the grief that had built up over the past year, letting it pour out of my shaking body and seep six feet into the earth where her bones lay. Tears streamed out of my glistening eyes. Hands that could fling a knife into the smallest of targets shook violently and lungs that would not protest for hundreds of miles of strain trembled and quivered.

My mother, the one who had been by my side for as long as I could remember, lay six feet below the ground in a coffin fit for a Queen. The same place she had been since twenty seven years ago when I had watched the coffin being lowered into the grave.

"I'm sorry, mother," I whispered. "I wish I could have saved dad. I wish I could have saved you. But I was weak and useless." Pausing as my emotions threatened to tear me apart, I took a few deep breaths to calm my racing heartbeat, then continued. "I'm strong now. I'm a warrior, just like father was."

The blurred memory of my father forced its way into my mind and I recalled the way he had picked me up and swung me through the air like I was made of paper. Three days before his death, I had told him that I wanted to be a warrior too. Like the stubborn child I was, I declared I would be the first female warrior in the Lycaon army and no one would stop me. He smiled and said nothing would make him happier. The next day, he was called to fight and never came back.

"I know he would be proud of me. He was so excited when I told him I wanted to be a warrior, he ran out and told all his friends about how I was going to kick their asses one day. They laughed at him and told him a woman could never be a warrior. But that didn't matter to him. He would have fought canine and claw to make it happen."

Wiping the tears trickling down my cheek, I sniffled and leaned forwards to press my forehead against the cool gravestone.

"I miss you. I miss both of you." My jaw was clenched tightly as I spoke, suppressing the urge to scream. "But one day, when my time comes, I will see you again. We will run, play and hunt in Aiónio Dásos alongside father and we will be happy. But, until then, I swear I will keep my promise. I will wait until it is my time."

"Artemis," a voice called from the edge of the graveyard and I found myself choking on words as I struggled to reply.

Slowly, I took a deep breath and wiped the tears from my eyes. I reformed my face into the emotionless facade I always wore and I slowly rose to my slightly shaky feet, turning my back to her grave and looking across to the source of the voice. Stood under the stone-arch, which marked the entrance to the Delectus Graveyard, was a tall, muscular man covered in scar tissue.

"I know it is the anniversary of her death, but you need to go and get ready," Fabius told me sympathetically. "You cannot keep the royal family waiting."