The Taming

Creature Comforts

"Are you running from me?" She called after his retreating back. Laughing loudly in an exaggerated mimic of how he often laughed at her when she fled their discussions.

Halfway across the room he rounded. "Fine, Elsabet. Women do fall at my feet. They do beg for my attention. But I want the one woman in all of Ardae who isn't falling at my feet. I do everything I can to get closer to you. Yet you won't give me an inch. Of course, your constant anger, your fear, your endless rage cannot hurt me."

She straightened.

"Isn't that what you already think?" He asked a bit quieter.

She hasn't hurt me. She's crushed me. But those were words, power, he couldn't give to her.

She didn't answer. Which was answer enough for him.

Groaning in frustration he stalked from the room. But it was clear to Elsabet, and every wolf within hearing range, that she had hurt him.

Rhyers wandered down the hall. Passing her room and finding the door still ajar. With her sitting on the edge of the bed, looking forlorn.

As he stopped there, her head lifted. "I don't need your preaching."

"No." He walked in to stand before her. "No preaching."

Her gaze fell back to the floor.

Rhyers caught the back of her head and pulled it to his stomach. Holding her to him.

She stiffened at the suddenness of it. But after a moment she went limp there. Not hugging him back but soaking in his comfort.

"You're not upset I've hurt him?" She murmured tearfully.

"Don't confuse us with heartless beasts, Elsabet. His hurt isn't the only that moves us."

Elsabet did not hug him back but she didn't reject his comfort. It was the hug of an older brother, offering comfort to an aching little sister.

He eventually pushed her back and crouched before her. "Would you want me to get you out?"

"He'll never let me go." She mourned.

"It doesn't matter. If Deragan insisted you were free, you would be."

She was silent a long while. "I know that."

"Is it what you want?"

"It's not the same."

"You want it to be him, that sets you free."

"He can never know if he trusts me, if he doesn't trust me enough to find out." She said sagely.

Rhyers' expression was empathetic. He nodded in understanding. Catching her cheeks and dropping a familial kiss to the top of her head.

As if she were a grieving child.

***

Many hours later, she was still sitting motionless in her chamber.

Is she okay? Sebastian wondered from down the hall. He sat just beyond the curtain at the end of the hall, atop the bench that perched beneath the expansive stained-glass window.

He heard her footstep when she rose and began wandering the empty rooms along the corridor. Not noticing his silent presence.

Looking for Quandary, no doubt.

Her steps were heavy, as she studied the ground and behind the doors. She entirely missed the golden glow of eyes watching her from the shadows. She searched endlessly. The time lengthening and her desperation growing more apparent as she wrapped her arms around herself. Trying to soothe whatever pain plagued her. Her step was becoming more frightened as she struggled to find him.

Sebastian tipped his head back against the wall. Giving an inward sigh before relenting.

In the meager light of the moon seeping into the corridor, his pupils slitted to see her. Cursing himself for a fool, Bast turned twisted behind the curtain. His gold mane darkened to pitch. Becoming the same shade as the threatening night. He shucked his clothing and set it on the bench. Smooth fur shined over his chest. Running in a line down his stomach. Then up his back. Those hairs unconsciously rippled back and forth, as he peeked around the corner in order to verify she was still progressing toward the other end of the corridor.

She was.

His neck cracked. His step was soundless as he shifted. His legs thickened and began curving as he moved. His black fur lengthened. Stretching from his skin to pour down his back. His spine bent dramatically, forcing him to put his palms on the corner of the bench and brace himself. His fingers flattened, then curled into the thick lines of a feline paw. He made the final changes to fully become Quandary.

As he moved to take his first step, he felt the weight of the dragon pendant against his thick neck. It swung side to side.

Quandary furtively walked the shadows. Holding tight against the wall as he crept down the hall. Seeing she still searched one of the chambers. He dipped into his chamber and tilted up to set his front paws on the corner of his bed. Tilting his body sideways he hooked the chain of the pendant over the bedpost. Ducking his head. The pendant eased over him the settled softly, moving with its own floating volition to lower until it dangled against the wood.

Quandary padded from the chamber on silent paws. Intent on finding his lady of the castle.

To give her the solace she needs.

***

Rosewynn Manor in Meadowbrook, Mane Country

It was the following night that Bast arrived in Meadowbrook. Sensing his alpha's urgency about an hour ago he knew he was needed. He'd reverted back to the form of a man. Swept up the chain he'd so carefully discarded last night and went straight down the mountain toward the center of the country.

Last night still rolled through his mind. The painful words he and Elsabet had shared lingered in his ears.

"What is it?" Bast said. Finding Deragan outside on the lawns, scanning the trees bordering the fenced property line.

He's still worried.

"Sebastian." Deragan lowered his head in greeting.

It was impossible to miss that acrid odor lurking in the wind. Carried out from the trees to the south of the grounds. Wafting like an obscene haze.

"It's too dense to be a cimmerii."

"Yes." Deragan said. His dark features hardened. "It's Radix."

"Him or something strong enough to carry his energy?"

"Not sure yet." Deragan was looking everywhere beyond them.

"To intimidate her?" Sebastian was worried.

He's just found her.

He always worried that losing her one more time might be enough to fracture the captain completely. That he might finally lose his mind.

He's already endured so much.

"Or to grab her." Deragan said uneasily.

"Why now?" Sebastian queried hesitantly. "She hasn't begun to ascend yet."