A New Threat

Preparations

The night of Princess Mía's birth had been traumatic for many people for many reasons. It had been the worst storm Rosas had seen for a century, leading to mass flooding of numerous farms, and many people had to be rehoused temporarily while repairs were made. It had been traumatic for Eliana and Nicolás, who huddled together in Eliana's canopy bed, hearing their mother's cries of pain echo down the corridor. Their nanny, a stern but kind woman, wouldn't let them leave the bedroom, assuring them that their mother was going to be fine, and it wasn't until at least eight years later that they found out just how close they had been to losing Amaya forever that night.

Magnifico and Amaya suffered their own great trauma that night. Amaya had been so close to death that she'd found herself in a strange limbo, greeted by those she loved who encouraged her to turn back, to wake up for Magnifico. The King suffered, possibly most of all, as he was forced to watch his wife, the love of his long life, hang on the brink of death, not knowing whether she was going to awaken or leave him forever.

When Amaya did eventually wake, reunited with the man whose very existence kept her from passing into the afterlife, she told Magnifico of all she had seen, passing on messages from his late parents and wiping away the tears he cried at their words. But beyond the tears and the words of love, Amaya woke from that experience with one niggling thought in her mind that wouldn't leave even as weeks turned into months - they needed a new dog.

The King loved his Queen more than anything, and he would give her anything her heart desired. He knew that in the strange 'world beyond' that Amaya had been taken to, she'd been reunited with Perrito, her childhood pup, the dog who had become their first 'child' when they married and moved to Rosas and built their Kingdom, the canine they both held in their hearts even centuries later. Perrito had been Amaya's ever-present companion through all she had been through, at her side through her ups and downs.

But time did as time does, and they lost Perrito fifteen years after they founded Rosas, burying him in the castle gardens, beneath a large rosebush and a small stone carved with his name. They'd never gotten another pet after that, though neither of them could really explain why, there had just never been space among the growing Kingdom and the wishes and all the effort it took to make Rosas thrive.

But now, Amaya felt a dog-shaped hole in her life and Magnifico decided to fill it.

So along came Lupita, a beautiful half-dog, half-wolf with dark fur and darker eyes who became Amaya's shadow, always watching, always protecting. When Eliana turned fifteen, and Magnifico presented her with the puppy that would grow to be her own canine companion, Lupita seemed to take the pup under her wing, teaching him the ways of a faithful guard dog.

Lupita's need to protect those that she thought of as her 'pack' ultimately led to the poor canine's demise. While relaxing in the garden at Amaya's side, the wolf-dog watched as ten-year-old Mía played with Armando in the long grass, before suddenly lurching to her feet with a bark and running towards the young princess.

Amaya looked up from her book at the sound of Mía's yell as Lupita knocked her to the ground, but it was the sound of the dog's cries of pain that brought Amaya to her feet and she arrived at Lupita's side as she fell to the ground, a dead snake in her mouth. The ever-faithful dog had saved Mía from a venomous snake bite by taking it herself.

Eliana found herself thinking of Lupita often as she watched Armando, usually when his protective nature kicked in and he felt the need to 'assess' those within proximity of the Princess. He had learned so much from the dog he'd eventually thought of as his mother but deep down, Armando was far more dopey than Lupita ever was. Eliana realised that again as the large black dog sniffed at Benjamín, deciding whether or not he was good enough to be near the Princess, all of his training forgotten as Benjamín's olive-skinned hand reached to pet him.