Lies Dressed In Lace

Untitled Part 22

When I get back to the inn the room is still empty and Wolfie gives me the bed for once. I pull the little red book out, Wolfie looks up interested.

    "Don't look at me like that, yes I stole it from Valtok. He wont miss it and I want to know what is in it." He gets off the rug and lays his head down beside me. "Good." I open the front cover, I find that it's handwritten and older then I expected. It seems to be an origin story of the beings that lived in that temple. They weren't people, they weren't even Fae not truly. They were the only things that could ever hurt or even end the Fae but they were more peaceful than monks, they couldn't hurt a fly. They knew what utopia was and they lived it everyday teaching anyone who would come to them. I flip through the pages until I get to a page that has a little cut out in the back cover, a little piece of fabric covering it all. Peeling back the fabric I see a little bit of tarnished bronze in the shape of a coin that sits snuggly in the palm of my hand, a dragon engraved into it curling around the middle of it, the carving is warn down enough that some lines of its neck and body are missing but I couldn't miss the dragon because it's the same dragon burned into the flesh of my arm.

    The fabric slips from the disk and out of my hand as the dragons eyes begin to glow like fire and my arm burns along with it. Red lines appear around the edge of the coin like words but it's a language I don't know, yet I have seen it all my life around the castle and carved into a stone that sits below the fountain of a dragon in our gardens. It reinforces the fact that everything I have ever been told is a lie and I've just been letting them lie to me. I put the coin back and place the cloth over it then close the book.

    "Was that informative enough for you?" I look up stashing the book under the blankets as Valtok stands in the doorway.

    "What?" I try to play dumb.

    "Your little walk earlier, the one that ended in you talking to the leader of the rebellions sister." He snaps shutting the door behind him. "I knew I should have talked to you about who we were looking for but I didn't think you would be drinking with them first night. No wonder you think hanging out with a wolf is smart, you have no intuition at all." I roll my eyes.

    "You're being a little dramatic, so what I had a few drinks with her, she trusts me now this is a good accident. So calm down a little." He sighs and comes in further. Wolfie growls and Valtok backs up.

    "Can you put that thing on a leash."

    "No, you should probably go though he's hungry." Valtok's eyes widen.

    "Perhaps, should I bring food back before bed?" I shake my head wishing he would just leave. He nods and backs out watching Wolfie intently. Once the door shuts I pull out the book again and stash it in my cloak and then hang it on the chair by my bed. I crawl back into bed and curl up under my nest of blankets falling asleep to the dull throb of my arm and the questions swirling in my mind that throb in time with it.

    The next morning I wake up to the sun shining in through the little window. Wolfie lays happily on my feet on his back in the sun. I laugh reaching down to rub his belly waking him up with his tail wagging. My broken arm sits awkwardly in my lap cradled by my thighs, it throbs still and with every movement pain burns through the limb but I've already gotten use to it, even though thinking about it makes pain spike through it. Wolfie sits up and crawls on his belly to me laying close to my good arm and on most of my body, his big head leans close to my broken arm and gently sniffs it then whimpers.

    "It's ok, it'll heal soon and I'll be all better. Although I should go see a healer for this just incase anything else happened." He sticks out his tongue licking my pinkie. I yelp trying to scare him, he jumps back whimpering louder and kneading the bed nervously like he wants to help. I burst into laughter making my arm actually hurt but its worth it. "I'm sorry, I just had to scare you." I cackle as he glares at me. He doesn't stay mad for long and licks my face making me laugh more. I lay back into my pillows once I'm done and he lays his head on my stomach. I put my bad arm on his head finding it feels much better up like this. The door opens a minute later to Valtok carrying in a tray of food.