The Lord of the Crows

Part 28 - Mesmerizing

"I never found out who she was or who the boy with her was. I didn't even know if she survived that day or not. I did not dare to ask anyone, to mention her to anyone. I don't know why, but I was looking for her in the faces of the prisoners, in the faces of the killed, for so long that all those faces merged into one and I finally forgot what she actually looked like. On the way back I met a detachment of Crows. It was easy to convince them that I caught a woman who slaughtered my friends and threw her in the Lake Winter after I was done with her. I also convinced them I remembered the way back and led them back to the city straight into the battle that was almost over. Lagrenian girl had saved my life for the second time that day. Maybe, maybe she wouldn't if she knew ... Damn, I hope she never found out what a monster I became. But..."

"But?" Daina whispered, interrupting me for the first time.

"In every girl, I saw her trembling in my arms, seeking, expecting salvation from the enemy, in every child, I saw my sister's son and the beaten boy from the Lagrenian labyrinth. You, my dear lady, have found a way to cure injustice. I just turned it into a safe, quick death. Forgive me, I couldn't have done better."

She kissed my neck and slowly moved away from me. I grabbed her by the wrist, not allowing her to move away completely.

"Death is coming. That's what they called your guard. In the Second Strife War, my detachment took part in a minor conflict. When I saw the Red Crow's flags on the horizon that day, I closed my eyes and thanked all the Lagrenian gods, because I knew I would die honorably. I was not the only one."

She sighed and continued.

"That's where I got a scar on my back, a wound that actually saved my life that day. I was lying in a ditch, half submerged in water. You rode just a few steps away from me, thinking I was dead, just one of the corpses lying around. I heard your voice and realized whom it belonged to. I opened my eyes only to see you riding by as the master of the Guard and nearly paid with my life for it. You looked at me, from the horse, issuing orders, you must have seen me. But you just turned your horse the other way and kept going. As if you did it on purpose."

I didn't remember that, so I just shook my head.

"Is that why you took me off the rock?"

"No, my Crow. I took you off because I knew who you were."

I got up, turned around leaning slightly towards her, trying my best to keep my eyes fixed on her face.

"The guards assigned to protect me and my brothers and sisters, my cousins, and to take us to the upper corridors, were surprised by some strayed Crows. They came from all sides, desperate and frightened, and the labyrinth that was supposed to represent our salvation became our biggest nightmare. I watched as they killed and dishonored everyone I ever cared about in front of my eyes. The boy you saved, my uncle's son, was the only family I had left, something most valuable we had, and I was determined to fight bloodily for him. When, when I saw you in the corridor, I thought it was over, that we were dead. And then..."

She fell silent. I looked into her eyes and quietly fought the tears. I stepped away from her and finally looked down at her naked breasts. The scar was there, rough, wide, exactly as my hands pictured it. I ran my fingertips over it and slid to the other side. I wanted to see, to make sure. I moved the hair that covered her shoulder and held my breath. It was there - starry, shriveled, rough. The black arrow scar.

I shivered and closed my eyes.

"The boy survived the war?" I muttered, not knowing what to say.

"He did. Do you want to know his name? "She asked quietly.

I nodded.

"Ruf, for family and friends, where you are somehow included now. For the rest of the world, he is Rufus Rali Laokon."

I staggered in shock. I knew that name. Everyone on the bloody Strife knew that name. He was a man who made sure that the Bloody Gorge put an end to the decades-long wars. I had to take a few deep breaths before I came to my senses enough to phrase a sufficiently understandable question:

"I-I saved the damn King of Lagrena?!"

She smiled and hugged me around the waist.

"You saved the boy, who was a prince who would one day become a king who would sign the peace treaty."

She laid her head on my chest.

"Above all, you saved me, my Crow."

I hugged her and dived my face into her hair. It smelled nice, the gentle scent of grass and flowers, but it wasn't the scent I kept looking for.

"Smell ... How?"

She raised her head and smiled, a little sadly.

"Over time, we realized that the smell gave us away, but also that the sweet smell could be hidden by equally sweet food, although not quite. A trueblood shifter cannot completely remove his or her smell traces, unless one stops shifting, but ... no trueblood person really wants that. Unless he or she is somehow forced."

I remembered the sweet smell that accompanied her and the fruit and honey she ate all the time. Maybe she would deceive someone with that, but I knew the smell of the trueblood beast too well, I would feel it.

"Did you stop shifting because of me?"

She shook her head.

"Then why? Because of what happened on the Day of the Fall?"

"No. Not really."

I stepped away from her a little. She seemed so uneasy about it.

"Daina, why did you stop shifting?"

"I am a member of the Lagrenian royal family, and ..." she sighed.

Her beast was somehow a disgrace.

"Shift."

"I ..."

"Please, I want to see you," I whispered, stroking her hair.

I let her out of my arms and almost immediately regretted it. My whole being objected to her moving away from me and longed for her. But now and here it was time to finalize our story.

She turned her back on me and pulled herself together, leaning toward the bed. No matter how many times I saw it, I never had the opportunity to observe the transformation up close and in peace.

And I realized the truth as soon as it started.

It didn't last long and it wasn't as disgusting as I thought it would be. My heart was pounding. She was truly beautiful and the end result was equally beautiful. I stared at her, completely mesmerized by her.

By my crow.