Divinity. Mortality. War.
Silva, Queen of Wolves, Lady of the True Woods, seeks her only friend Etan, who, along with other deities of the Council of Divinity, has gone missing for reasons unknown. Her search traps her on a world where the wolves ha...
The sun was setting on the castle in Daetus City when the messenger rode through the gates, horse sweaty and breathing hard.
He'd come as fast as he could from Heartpin with his message for the Duchess. He didn't relish giving it to her, but it was his job. Who else would do it? His elderly mentor?
No, it was now Chaellen's job to deliver the messages out of Heartpin. Nimes could handle things within the town and the farmlands, but an extended ride to Daetus couldn't be made as quickly for the older man.
Chaellen slowed his horse to a walk as he approached the stable. A stablehand was already coming out to meet him.
"Evenin', Messenger," the woman said, grabbing the horse's reins from him. Chaellen graced her with a smile and thanked her for taking his horse, for he had urgent news for the Duchess.
"Of course," she said, smiling back, a small blush rising on her cheeks. She was quite fetching. Perhaps Chaellen would seek her out tonight. "Your ride will be well-attended." Her smile turned a bit wicked and he thought he saw her wink before she led his horse away.
Yes, he'd definitely seek her out that night.
Clearing his throat and straightening his uniform, Chaellen strode into the castle.
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She was curled in her chair, looking through her fingers to the walls, where the light from the torches played together like fairies. She smiled at their antics, a show put on just for her. Duchess of Min.
Innis stretched, then, uncurling her body like fiddleheads into ferns. Just another twenty minutes before she could retire for dinner and the receiving room was so drafty.
"Bring me a blanket," she said to her aide and a few moments later Innis had a thick wolf fur wrapped around her legs, keeping her warm while she waited. It was high quality; made by her cousin the hunter. She loved the fur as much as she loved him, which was quite a bit.
She hated having to sit and listen to petitioners all day. Luckily the day was almost over. She was so bored with it all. Commoners are so common, she thought, then giggled a bit madly.
She'd learned, early on in her education, to keep those sorts of thoughts to herself. But she could not hold back her laughter, small expressions of what she was lacking within.
Innis looked to her right. Her advisor sat beside her.
He was a strange man. So pale, compared to most Minae. His face was pinched and worn, and had been for as long as he'd been here. That was a long time. He'd been the advisor for Innis' father, the Duke Dryrr, and for Innis' grandmother Duchess Maeaneth before Dryrr. There wasn't a time in Innis' family that this man had not sat by their side, advising them how best to rule Min.
Legend said he'd been around since the very founding of Daetus City itself. That he'd helped stop the wolf invasion, and saved her people.
She didn't know if any of that were true. All she knew was that she couldn't rule without him.
