The Blood in Our Veins

Chapter Forty One - Suspicions

I whirled around to face the source of the voice. I instantly relaxed. "Mason! Don't scare me like that!" I cried. He shrugged.

 "Its what I do." His strong arms wrapped around my small frame. I pulled off the mask that hid me. "High King Gallahein informed me you were injured. May I see?" Nodding, I bent down next to the river. When the burns were under the surface, I slowly removed the bandages so as not to touch the fresh wound. I lifted my arm from the water and bit my lip when it began stinging again.

 "May Tara heal it?" I asked hopefully. Mason shook his head.

 "This has magical origins. She can try, but I doubt she has the ability." he said.

 "Can you fetch her? I don''t think I can mask the pain for much longer." Less than a second later, Mason was gone. I stood and waited. After several minutes, Tara was standing before me. I held out my arm. The child's hands hovered over it, glowing with a golden light. The blackened places became as red and thoroughly scarred as the rest of the area. The pain disappeared entirely. By the time she took her hands away, all that was left were the red, swirling scars, almost like the flames that had caused them. I smiled.

 "Thank you, Tara. I appreciate your effort." I told her.

 "It is my duty to protect the royal family from physical harm." she said in a monotone voice. "It is I who should be thanking you, for recognizing my use to the throne." She walked back to Mason and took his hand. I did the same. In a split second, I was standing back at one of the fire pits in my camp. I turned to face my husband.

"I look forward to your return." he said, smiling. "I'll be waiting." I returned his grin. I felt a tug on my pant leg. I looked down to meet Tara's gaze. Once I had bant down to her level, she wrapped her arms around my neck in an enormous embrace.

 "He hides everything from you. He's even made you forget who you are." she whispered. "Find your Pack. Kian will help." I put her at arm's length.

 "What are you talking about?" I questioned. Before she could answer, Mason grabbed her arm and they both vanished. My what? Who's Kian? I sighed and got to my feet, pulling my mask over my face once more. That girl had quite the imagination. A loud yawn sounded behind me. My eyes met the sleepy ones of Marius. When he spotted me, he seemed surprised at my appearance.

 "Well. Look who decided to come back." he said. I rolled my eyes. "Where've ya been, Snowflake?"

 "You have no right to know." I told him.

 "He may not," someone said behind me. "But I do." I looked over my shoulder to face Dimitri. He stood with his hands on his hips and an eyebrow arched. I sighed heavily.

 "I got lost, okay?" I announced quietly.

 "Getting lost doesn't account for that." he pointed out, gesturing to my arm.

 "Tara took care of it. It doesn't matter anymore." I told him.

 "Tell me anyway." he ordered. I groaned in annoyance, but I had to admit, the man was persistent.

"I was attacked by some of the freedom fighters. Some guy blasted me with fire. I wasn't too close, so don't get worked up." I finally admitted.

"It wouldn't have mattered how close you were. You had your mask on." Regret tore through me. If only I hadn't touched that stupid panflute. Marius finally spoke up.

"You did have your mask on, right Frost?" he asked. I said nothing. Dimitri let out a deep breath, in an effort to calm himself.

"Let me get this straight." he began, with his head in his hands. "You were alone and unarmed in enemy territory with no disguise what-so-ever." I pretended to think about it for a moment, then nodded.

"Yup. Pretty much." I stated. Marius' hand connected with the back of my head. "Hey! Don't blame me! I wouldn't have been detected if it  weren't for that giant creature." Dimitri snapped to attention.

"Don't ever go near their beasts. If they catch your scent, we're done for." he informed me. I cast my gaze to the dirt.

"I think it already did. That's how it found me."

"YOU IDIOT!" my Trainer roared, no doubt waking up the rest of the camp. "THEY'LL FIND OUT WHO YOU ARE! THEY WON'T REST UNTIL YOU'RE DEAD!!" As Dimitri continued his deafening rant, I pulled out my panflute once more. Without a thought, I played the same haunting tune as before. After about twenty minutes, my trusted friend fell silent. I replaced the instrument in my pocket.

"Are you done now?" I questioned calmly.

"Yes."

"Good. Now may we please move this conversation to someplace more private?" I suggested, gesturing to the men that had come to watch the argument unfold. Without another word, I stepped into Dimitri's tent. Once I was sure he was inside with me, I turned to face him.

"Why is it so important that I avoid contact with the wolves?"

"They're dangerous."

"That doesn't stop the rest of the soldiers." I pointed out. I smirked. Fear was hidden in his eyes.  "You're hiding something. I want to know what."

"I hide nothing from you, Princess Sindri." he stated, voice wavering slightly.

"I think otherwise." I told him. "Everyone is feverishly attempting to keep me blind. Don't forget. I can see with my eyes closed." I left Dimitri standing alone in the tent. I ignored all that I passed, heading into the forest. I kept walking until I reached the clearing where I Trained. What did he know that I didn't? Why were such important things kept from me?

I released my frustration in a loud rumble of thunder. A bolt of lightning struck one of the targets. Out of habit, I pulled myself down into first position. My fingers wove great patterns of white bolts. I pulled the raw energy together into a sphere and slid into second position. I pushed the orb forward at breakneck speed, and gasped as it missed the practice dummy and headed straight for the foliage. Before I could stop it, the lightning smashed into one of the thick trunks. In seconds, a fire was blazing, of which swiftly spread to the rest of the trees.

I tried to run back to camp, to warn the others, but a flaming log fell in my path. It's official. Fire and Sindri don't mix. Instinct took over and I ran. There seemed to be no escaping from the red tongues of heat. Black smoke filled my lungs and burned my throat. I coughed loudly in a failed attempt to expel the ash from my body. My eyes stung and my vision blurred.

The fire cast odd shadows in the few places where darkness could survive. I finally spotted an opening in the flames. Just before I could leap through, they flared, forcing me to skid to a halt. I bolted to the left. Before long, it was clear that I wouldn't escape; That didn't mean I was giving up. I frantically searched my surroundings for one last way out. I came up with nothing. The unavoidable death that was swiftly approaching was too much for me to handle.

As all sense fled my mind, I scrambled up a nearby tree to get away from the fire that began to close in. For one last time, I lifted the panflute to my lips and played a shaky tune that I hadn't heard in a long time. I couldn't quite catch the lyrics. The music cut off abruptly as I broke into another fit of deep coughs. Flames had engulfed the trunk of the tree. The wood cracked beneath me. I jumped from the leafless boughs before it could collapse under my weight... heading straight toward the raging fires below me. I closed my eyes and welcomed my demise with open arms.

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On that note, the chapter ends. Don't worry. The story is anything but over. Before I forget, HAPPY MONDAY!! Enjoy the rest of the week's pop quizzes and homework! (If you can't hear the sarcasm, I somewhat pity you. Sarcasm makes the world go 'round. XD)

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