Use Me, Royal Stranger (mxm)

Chapter 2 - Meeting the Royal Stranger

Media: Paul Wesley as Royal Stranger

        Carlen sat down on the rock formation by the stream he had wandered to. Wiping the sweat off his forehead, Carlen breathed heavily. He was glad that he finally found a good spot to rest under some shade. His back was killing him from the back basket that was almost filled to the brim with useful herbs and some exotic flowers that he knows his Nana will love.

        Looking around, Carlen tried to memorize the route to this part of the woods. He had been collecting herbs with Nana for as long as he could remember, but he had never wandered off course until today. Nana had always set a general direction she liked to hike towards and gather herbs at, but today, Carlen decided to follow his instincts (and avoid the hotter spots in the woods) and it led him here.

        Nana. Carlen couldn't help but reminisce about his life with Nana. She was his world. She was all he knew. Nana had told him how she found him as a baby outside an inn and thought that he looked pitiful. A poor abandoned baby that would not be able to fend for itself. Before she knew what she was doing, had carried him home and named him Carlen. Nana insisted that his inner wolf was the one at fault, calling to her motherly instincts and making her bring him home and caring for him. 

        She taught him everything he knew. How to read, write, and speak; which was rare for someone like him, an abandoned baby. She taught him manners, and the ways of a healer. Learning to be a healer was the biggest blessing that Carlen felt he could ever receive from the Moon Goddess. Like Nana, Carlen believed he had a penchant for helping people. He liked to be useful (especially to Nana) and healing was something that helped him achieve that. While he was still considered an inexperienced healer, Nana says he's bedside manners were much more refined than some skilled healers she knew. It was enough encouragement for him to keep up at it. 

        Carlen thought he was most fortunate to have been picked up by Nana rather than any other stranger, because she served in the royal castle. There was nothing more prestigious than to be associated with someone from the castle, especially someone who frequented the inner castle. 

With that prestige, Nana was able to bend the rules and bring him into the castle and raise him like her own child. Being raised in the castle had given him opportunities growing up that he would probably never have dreamt of, if he had been picked up by anyone else. 

        Nana, or rather Naomi, is a royal healer at the castle, working for the King and his servants. Carlen remember Nana telling him how his first words, even though she tried teaching him to say "Naomi", became Nana instead. At first she thought she had heard wrong, that Carlen was calling her "Mama", but found it strangely endearing that he were to call her Nana, so she never corrected him for calling her that. However, in front of other people in the castle, Carlen was careful to call her Healer Naomi. The castle was not a tolerant place to grow up in, but Carlen treasured every moment of it.

        Looking up into the sky and how the rays hit the trees to cast a shadow on the ground, Carlen knew it was about time to get back to his Nana. She was sure to worry if he waited any longer to trudge back home. Taking a deep breath of the clear air in the woods, Carlen pushed himself off the rock he was sitting on and began to pull his back basket upon himself with a grunt.

        Rustle.

        Carlen froze. Even though it was close to mid-day, these woods near the castle are known to host beasts and wild animals that crave meat. Any kinds of meat. Animal meat, human meat, and werewolf meat. It didn't matter the time of day if they were hungry. A meal was a meal.

        Carlen's hands shook as they reached for the shearing tool by his feet. He needed something to defend himself with. He was weak in his wolf form and prefer not to even think about being a wolf in this situation. For a moment, Carlen wondered if it were a full moon day, would his senses be heightened enough for him to identify the beat that was coming towards him?