Alliances

Chapter 3

Raven~

Ilene was not kidding when she said the work would never stop. It seemed like an infinite loop of dusting tables, scrubbing dishes, washing windows and cleaning sheets. Ilene worked beside me for most of it she seemed fine with all the work, yet then again she has been working here longer than I have.

"Come on Raven, get your head out of the clouds." Someone said from beside me, at this point I was not in a good mood, I did not need someone snapping at me.

"If my head was in the clouds id be on the back of a dragon!" I snapped back, a few chuckles echoed around the vast hallway where we, of course, were scrubbing the tiles on the floor. I wasn't sure if my retort was really that funny, but all the other maids seemed like mindless zombies, a little humor apparently did them good.

Though cleaning was not very fun, my favorite activity was working in the kitchen. Scrubbing the dishes was not the fun part, older woman worked in the kitchen. They told fun tales that almost seemed unreal. They told stories of fairies that lived in trees, giants that slept on mountains and dragons that ruled the sky. Some of my favorite stories were of magical dragons, they seemed so unreal, yet I have seen one. Once. It was far away, just a blur, but it was still an amazing sight.

       Later, I was asked to go to the market, not sure why I have to go but it is nice to get away from the castle. My back is sore and my eyelids feel like bricks, it feels like my hands have been soaked in bathwater for days. So I gladly went.

A cold chill was in the air, a sign winter was coming. It seemed to have driven most people  inside as the market was pretty empty. It didn't matter I was still able to buy the carrots and meat needed for tonight's dinner. I was getting ready to go back to the castle when I heard a voice.

"Excuse me miss?" I turned to the voice to see a young boy, his hands behind his  back with a huge smile on his face. The boy looked to be about 13 years old. "You're Raven right?"

"How did you know?"

"I'm sneaky!" The boy said happily the smile on his face never leaving. Sure he was a cute kid, 'I'm sneaky' is not a valid reason to know my name.

"Okay, im sneaky, how do you know my name?" I asked, he only smiled wider.

"I just heard your name around the castle." He shrugged, "you're the newest member, the news spreads quickly throughout the castle." He added.

"Alright, lets talk then." I was trying to buy more free time. It seemed to work so far. I led the boy around the market, eventually we found city center. There was a beautiful fountain made out of a white stone, it was not running now but it still made the area beautiful.

"What is your name?" I asked the boy, sitting down on the fountain edge. The boy jumped up on the fountain and balanced on the edge, he  began walking around it smiling the whole way.

"I'm Gavin." He replied,

"Where are you from" I asked, Gavin plopped down beside me kicking his feet happily.

"I'm from the castle." He replied, I waved my hand prompting more details. He seemed to grow timid like he did not want to talk about it. "I'm part of the WolfGuard." He almost whispered.

"Really? But you are so young!" I gasped, Gavin nodded.

"Its fine, I am the youngest. Considered the runt." He said looking down at his feet. I put a hand on the boys shoulder.

"You seem upset about it?" I said, Gavin tensed under my touch, as if he feared he was going to be hit.

"I mean the guard is really cool, and its amazing that I'm part of it but... Its almost like the others don't know how to be wolves." He said almost sadly.

"But isn't that a natural instinct?" I asked curiously, Gavin smiled glad he had someone to talk to. He thought for a moment then nodded.

"Some stories go that after the original founder of the WolfGuard left, everything began to fall apart. Wolves began to stop being  wolves, they had no one to properly train them. They all fell apart. The sad part is it's true." Gavin looked at me his messy brown hair falling into his amber colored eyes, they sparkled with something I couldn't recognize. Fear? Uncertainty? Whatever it was Gavin was not going to tell me, I knew that for sure.

"That all seems... Insane. How could wolves forget how to be wolves?" I replied, it all seemed surreal.

Gavin looked up, his eyes showing wisdom beyond his years. "We aren't truly wolves, we only can change into them, at least that's what Lance says. He doesn't seem to believe in the tale of werewolves, he once said the only true werewolves are creatures known as Shifters." He said, looking back at his feet.

I glanced up at the setting sun, "we should probably head back. Will you tell me about Shifters? I have never heard of them." I said sliding off the fountain, Gavin followed.

"Sure, its good to finally talk to someone close to my age." He slid off the fountain edge and followed me, he walked in silence for a second. "Actually im not really sure what Shifters are, they are said to be werewolves that are more powerful than normal ones. Im not sure if its true, it could be folklore or something." He shrugged, speeding up to keep up with me.

"Real or not, i want to meet one." I replied glancing up at the tall towers of the castle. Gavin smiled. "Where is the WolfGuard sleeping quarters?" i asked Gavin, he looked up at me then grabbed my hand.

"This way." He said dragging me away from the main steps of the palace. I let him drag me around the large courtyards of the palace until we were by where i first saw Lance and a few other wolves. He stopped and pointed to a wooden door, it didnt seem so nice. Gavin approached it and opened it with a loud grunt, it was apparently heavy. He dissapeared into the dark room then reappeared and gestured for me to follow. I cautiously did, i went in and held the handle of the door, i looked into the dark space and there i was in the entrance to the WolfGuard hall.