Candlelit Shadows

Chapter 9

“Hush, darling, don’t cry. I know you’re scared, but I’m here now. Everything’ll be okay. Believe me, okay?

      “Good girl. Now, I talked to Miss Evonne. Why didn’t you tell me your classmates were bullying you? Oh, silly, why would I be mad? Your teacher said she’ll punish them, but it was wrong of you to try to get back at them yourself. And look where it’s gotten you! Come, let’s go home, and I’ll see what I can do about those wounds.

      “Revenge was never the right way, you know. Maybe I should tell you a story to get your mind off the pain. You like the idea? Haha, good! You see, you weren’t the first one to try to get back at another for an injustice they’d done.

      “The owl was impartial and mostly disinterested in the Battle. It was known she sided Lonarr, and thus had no reason to join a strategic move against him. But halfway through, she suddenly switched sides. What had truly happened will probably forever remain a mystery, but everyone presumed he had done something to betray her. And though like most creatures of the night, she never did let her emotions show, it was clear he had broken her in more ways than one.

      “Soon after, she swore a secret allegiance to Lord Solis. In return for a secured place in the final Twelve, she would keep an eye out for her other ex-comrades that might have retained even just a little loyalty towards Lonarr. In this way she was invaluable to the end result of the Battle, but she didn’t always make it in time. The wolf, for one, had fought his way by tooth and claw to the near apex before Solis had to finally pick him out personally.

      “But though she had won the respect and trust of her new Master and gotten back at her old one, she had lost all love from her comrades-in-arms, new or old. Even the winner of the Tournament had little or no care for her, except as his Master’s right-hand woman. When she had gained the most stature and sweet revenge, she was also the loneliest soul in the world.”

*

The more the young mistress of Nyctea thought about it, the more she was sure she did not belong here. Though not everyone was aware of it, she knew of her birthrights a long time ago—and also how she got them.

      It certainly was not unusual. A son of one clan to secretly meet the daughter of another. When the child was born, they would determine by the stars which bloodline was stronger, and the child was handed over. After that chances were slim they would ever meet again, and many preferred not to.

      But she was different. She was part of a whole, one half of a pair of twins. For all she knew, her parents had taken the wrong one when they parted ways. For all she knew, she belonged with the mother she had never met.

      …Would she ever meet her?

      Father had never told her who her mother was, or even which clan she came from, though as his daughter she could hazard a pretty good guess. It had to be a clan of high stature—because they sure were not. Living in a wooden hut on the outskirts of a half-dead rainforest, right now the Nyctea clan had hit rock bottom.

      Well, maybe not. At least there was one clan below them.

      “Lady Aella!”

      The guilt in her heart that came with that thought was twisted in deeper at the sound of his familiar voice. Forcing a smile, she turned to face the youth beaming at her, and slowly her cold smile began to adopt some of his warmth.

      “Lycan! How many times have I told you, you can drop the ‘Lady’! Call me Aella, dammit!”

      But I would prefer just ‘El’, like Father calls me, was what she could not bring herself to say.