Painted Flowers

Chapter 17 - The Truth

It all happened in a blur. Zain didn't know why he felt the need to safeguard the runaway princess of the Pack of Bright Meadows, yet all his instincts told him this was the right thing to do. Why couldn't he just mind his own business? Stay out of the way, stay invisible, like he was best at? What compelled him to help this stranger...this fraud that had infiltrated his pack?

"You've deceived us!" Feoria exclaimed, looking accusingly past Zain's legs. "We...we trusted you!"

What Zahra had said the night Zain revealed the stranger's identity rang in his mind. She was sympathetic towards Layali, and it must have been in the way he was. Layali was a foreigner, a misfit among the pure-blooded Ash dogs. She would never avoid the whispers behind her back, the ever-present mistrust among fellow hunters. Because of her background, she would never truly belong, in the same vein as the twins with the dark-tipped tails. That's why, Zain realized, he felt so fascinated by this newcomer. The two of them were very different dogs, yet shared in common a big part of who they were, and what had become of them after integrating into the Pack of Falling Ash.

"Feoria...please, calm down," Zahra told her quietly, though her tone betrayed her rising anxiety.

"D-don't hurt her!" Kichea begged, clearly as uncertain as Zain was by how the fiery princess would act.

Everything had been ruined. That mysterious Meadow dog had confronted them and uncovered the truth...what would Feoria do now? Would she tell the rest of the royal family? What would they do? Would Layali be banished, or worse, killed? Zain took a sharp breath, matching the accuser's fierce golden stare, steadying his racing thoughts. It was as if his body had moved on its own accord, shielding the poor outcast who cowered behind him. Would this be considered treason, standing up against a royal like this, putting an outsider's safety above his loyalty to his pack? If so, he wasn't sure he even cared.

Feoria took a few steps forward without taking her eyes off of Zain's. He swallowed against his dry mouth, fighting the familiar urge to show submission to his higher-up. Despite his efforts she suddenly lunged forward, shoving him violently aside with her shoulder and knocking the breath out of him. He stumbled but quickly recovered as he tried to regain his defensive position, but Feoria held him back firmly, nearly digging her claws into his chest fur. Zahra and Kichea continued gaping from the sidelines, inching forward and backwards again and bracing themselves without quite intervening.

"Confess!" the mamoyo barked. "You're cursed, aren't you?"

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"Are you really going to let her talk to you like that?"

"No, I'm not," Layali murmured aloud, not quite sure of whom she was responding to.

Dreamwalker bared its teeth. "Then MOVE, Layali! Defend yourself!"

Layali struggled to her paws. Her head hurt from her panicked reaction and her surroundings were a bit fuzzy, so she had to take a moment to focus on her target. Feoria stood right there in front of her, moonlight silhouetting her fur from the height of the hill, pushing herself in front of a timid Zain as the others fanned out behind her. She practically held fire in those golden eyes, a reaction that Layali had feared all along.

Her cover was blown. They would surely kill her, or she would be banished yet again. Everything that she had worked for, every relationship she had been building up in her new support system, had been completely demolished.

"Your old friend seems to think something is wrong with you," Feoria pressed. "And the Pack of Bright Meadows is a Dark pack. So if you're not cursed, why exactly were you banished, princess?"