From The Ashes

Chapter Eleven

A few hours later, I flopped down in the long grass of a meadow about a half hour's walk from the castle. My tongue flopped out of my mouth and I was panting heavily. Sienna had been running around with Aislinn's wolf, Vera, for a while and had finally begun to tire out. 

Vera plopped down beside me and rubbed her sandy blonde snout against my own. I looked over to her and gave her a toothy grin. I could tell she had needed this just as much as Sienna had.

A twig cracked behind us, making my ears twitch back, but the familiar scent of the guards who had accompanied us wafted by and I was able to settle. After a few more moments of rest, Vera prodded my side and gestured to where we had left our clothing. I took the hint and followed her over to shift back. 

Once we were dressed again, Aislinn spoke. 

"When you asked me to show you where to run, I wasn't expecting that I would be joining you. That was a lot of fun, thank you. I'm so glad I was assigned to you." She beamed at me. 

"You're more than just my lady in waiting, Aislinn, you're my friend," I told her sincerely.

Her eyes shone for a brief moment before she threw her arms around me. It took me split second before I was hugging her back. It was nice to finally have a friend here. We began to make our way back to the castle. 

"Hey, so I wanted to ask you a question," I started. She shifted her gaze to me. 

"Okay, shoot."

"Valen and Von seemed on edge today before they left. Is there something going on?" She paused for a moment and bit down on her lip before answering. 

"Well, I shouldn't be telling you this," she glanced back at the guards behind us and lowered her voice.

"But there have been wolves stalking just outside of the kingdom's perimeter. They don't come close enough for us to attack and get a scent on them, but they don't seem afraid of us either. I believe they went out there to try and frighten them off, but I'm not sure."

I thought for a moment. 

"Well, why doesn't someone just go out there far enough to catch their scent and see what they want?"

"Because, regardless of our pack's reputation, we're not going to attack first. Especially not so close to our borders. There are a lot of wolves to protect."

"Okay, I can see that. But what if someone who, say, isn't a part of the pack yet, went out and did a little recon?" I asked while trying to feign a blank expression. She gave me a side-eyed glance. 

"Indigo, I know you well enough now to know what you're thinking. That wouldn't be a good idea, either. Listen, the paper work for you to join the pack is already underway, regardless of the outcome of the ball. They really do want you here. To go out alone on a mission like that? It could get you killed. Or be seen as treason against DarkBlood. It's just not a good idea." Aislinn shook her head at me. 

"Besides, do you really think the princes would let you leave alone?"

I sighed. "You've got a good point. It was just a thought, is all." She smiled at me and put her hand on my shoulder. 

"You definitely think like a warrior, I'll give you that much. But there's just too much going on right now to risk it." I just nodded and smiled back at her as we continued on to the castle. 

Little did she know, I knew exactly what I had to do.

***

That night, I waited silently in my bed while straining my ears to listen as the last member of staff retired for the night. When I heard the last door click closed, I waited a few minutes longer to make sure there were no more footsteps roaming the halls.