Wolf

Chapter 3

~Sam~

Finally the morning sun streamed through my bedroom at the palace. The black wolf was mysterious, but I still had to go home and pretend that I wasn't a wolf. The only way that I could do that was to lie and say that I hadn't seen a wolf.

I got out of the bed and walked over to the mantle in the room. The wood was still warm from the fire that I burned the previous night. I left it burning while I left for the change so that it was warm when I returned, and it was.

I stretched my back and cracked my legs. Everything in my body always ached after my transformation, and it was always painful to wake up and pretend that nothing was wrong. Ever since birth, I was cursed. My mother knew all about the curse, seeing that she had some part in it, telling the witch to help me. According to my father I'm not the only person that has ever had a curse. There was another Queen that died and the only way to save the baby was to place a curse on her. Its a legend that goes around the Palace every now and then. Now every full moon I turn into a wolf for the hour of midnight, then return home as human, but with limbs stretched painfully.

I change into a light white shirt and some long brown trousers. For breakfast, we don't have to dress formally, but for the rest of the day, we do. So I try to make the most of not wearing anything tight or uncomfortible, especially after the full moon.

I open the wooden door to my room and walk into the hall way. Some of the maids are already out and working through the rooms, serving breakfast to those that won't come downstairs to get their food at the table. I walk down the flight of stairs to the dining room. The pallace is about four stories high, not including the turret in which the witch lives. I have never spoken to her, for I have never really felt the need, though I don't care that she even breathes.

The huge wooden table, always set for twelve, stretches in the dining room. I always sit at the head of the table on the right side. It's the place that I grew up sitting in, I even drew on the underside in ink when I was three.

 A maid walked through the kitchen door, speedily walking towards me as though there was nothing more important than giving me the food in her hands. The silver tray balanced evenly on her arms as she carried a slice of freshly baked bread, some eggs from the chickens in the barn and some fresh orange juice. I smiled as she placed the silver wear infront of me and breathed in the strong aromas of the food. Though I wasn't a wolf anymore, the day after the full moon always left me with heightened senses. The food smelled extra strong and tasty, as I took the first bite.

The bread was still warm from the oven, though I knew that both my parents had had breakfast already, and that they had had the same thing that I had had. The maid quickly left the room and back to the kitchen, bowing her head as she did so. I smiled at her, not trying to seem ungrateful for all the things that I had. I knew that the maids were paid well, but I always felt bad when they did all the things that I didn't want to do, just because I was the prince.

I quickly ate the food, trying not to rush, though I was extremly hungry and just wanted to lay in my bed and write in my diary, as I did every day after the full moon.

I wiped my face on the paper napkin as I left the table and walked back to my room. The hallway was still, so I knew that nobody was ready to start the day yet. I wouldn't have to do anything, as mother knew that I would need to relax now and just not do anything.

I sat at my table in the library, filled with books piled around on the thick shelves. My desk itself was just wooden with a huge chair at it. It sat at the last corner of the library, so that nobody would see it and desturb it. A simple oil lamp lit it at night, though during the day, a skylight lit it up. There weren't any rooms above it, though it was on the first floor. It was a very clever design, if I do say so myself.