Brotherhood

Chapter 4

As she watched the werewolf disappear, her blood wouldn't stop pulsing through her veins. Amy had never been so close to a werewolf in her life, and then all of a sudden in the same night, she had been face to face with two of them. Something was going on, and quite frankly, it scared her.

Even so, she followed Geric's same path that he disappeared and stooped down to pick up his mask that he had dropped. Who was the man behind the mask and why had he come to see her in her own home? There was something different about him than the first werewolf who had threatened her. Could Geric be telling the truth?

She shook her head at the thought and returned to the ballroom, noting all the exits and all the guards in the area. Every guard was required to have a sword made of silver with them at all times which helped her feel at least a little bit safer. However, if two werewolves managed to get past security so easily, she wasn't sure how safe she had been after all.

Amy squeezed the mask tighter as she looked up at all the billowing figures dancing and talking and laughing around her, and it almost seemed as if Geric hadn't been there at all.

There had been something so vulnerable, so honest in Geric's eyes. And she knew she shouldn't, but she desired to run into him again. The encounter could either result in her death or give her a sense of a thrill that the palace life could never offer her. She wouldn't go looking for trouble, but if trouble accidentally found her... Well, no one could fault her for that.

As she once again joined the throng of people, she couldn't shake off the memory of Geric's beautiful amber eyes, the way he made her laugh, and especially the way he made her feel. If anything, meeting him only made her want more, as dangerous as it was.

A grin pulled up on her face as she adjusted her mask to help hide her blush. Tonight, she had to be Ameline Auclaire the princess. Tomorrow, she could just be Amy.

. . . . .

The Hunt.

Two words that fueled Amy with giddy excitement as she hopped up on the saddle of a very enlivened horse with her bow and arrows at the ready, stationed on her back. If her mother ever found out she did this with her father, the queen would have her head.

Amy sighed as she caught sight of her father trotting toward her with three others in tow. It was usually only her, her father, and sometimes a couple of his friends on the hunt, but this time he brought along Princes Charles and two other counts. The day just got worse and worse.

"Whoa there," Charles said as he took in Amy with interest. "This is no woman's sport. I'll escort you back to the castle if you'd like."

She just held her head high and stared at him with a stony expression. "Is this your way of telling me you're scared to be outmatched by a woman?"

The other men chortled, making Amy feel even more satisfied at Charles' faltering expression.

"Not at all, Princess. Carry on."

King Merek and Amy walked their horses side by side, leading the group toward the forest. Many people were afraid of the forest, but not her. She loved it. If her parents ever knew how often she had snuck away to be enveloped in its boughs...

The sounds of the forest greeted them as they made their way inside the shadowy abyss, and every single fiber of Amy's being became alert. She listened to the birds and the wind and the trickling stream. It was here in the forest that made her feel the most alive.