Vermillion & Silver

Chapter Twenty || Obstacles

The warmth of the fire caressed Selene's back, chasing away the cold that had seeped into her bones. The fireplace in the dining room was kept alive all day and the room was exceptionally hot. It was so inviting and comfortable that Selene almost hummed with happiness. It was exactly what she needed to feel better about her day.

That morning, she had visited the temple and on her way back she got caught in yet another storm. She had never thought of snow as violent until that day when it covered her in a blanket of frost that she couldn't fight against. She had made it back safely, but she hadn't escaped Freya's scolding when she saw her wet and shivering.

"I could eat an entire deer," Erik said as they all settled around the table in their usual places.

"The boys gave you trouble?" Anja asked.

"It was my fault. I challenged them to take me down," he explained before gulping down his ale. "They teamed up against me."

Everyone laughed. It was a joyous sound that blended perfectly Selene's discreet chuckle with Ragnar booming laughter.

"Like a true pack," Kaspian said with a smile and began serving their meal like he did every night.

This time Selene handed out the bread.

The wolves were in high spirits and their cheerfulness was contagious. It was enough to make Selene forget about her disastrous morning. The only thing that dampened her mood a little was the bowl of food Kaspian placed in-front of her. Linn was a good cook, but she had served the same meal for five consecutive days. It was venison stew, again.

"Is something the matter?" Kaspian asked her.

Selene hadn't realized that she'd been frowning, but she quickly schooled her face into a smile and said, "It's nothing. I'm just not hungry."

"You have to eat," Freya said, pointing her spoon towards the princess with a serious look in her eyes.

"I will," Selene answered and took a mouthful.

The stew was good, it was hot and the dried herbs that were mixed in did a good job balancing the strong taste of the wild meat, but Selene had stopped appreciating it's quality after the third day. If there was something to be missed about court life, it was the food, the castle tables were always filled with an array of new and interesting recipes brought from different corners of the kingdom. Selene particularly missed the sweets.

"The weather is getting worse," Ragnar commented after a strong wind shook the windows. "The mountain pass will be blocked soon."

Kaspian nodded. "We will have to leave sooner than I wanted to."

All thoughts of food and Arcadia left the princess' mind when she heard the Alpha's words. Were they leaving? Selene knew packs were nomads, but she had assumed that Kaspian's pack was different, they all seemed settled in the castle and the adjoining village. The idea of having to move filled her with dread, the first journey had been hard enough, she didn't know if she could survive another one.

"Are we going somewhere?" she asked, her voice sounding a lot more tentative that she would've liked.

They all turned to look at her with confused expressions as if she'd asked about talking trees.

"Ragnar and I have to go to Ulverg," Kaspian said. "It's nothing you should worry about."

"Oh." She was relieved. She was finally beginning to adapt and she didn't want to start over in some other ruin or cave.

The rest of the dinner passed as it usually did, with light conversation and a recount of everyone's day. Selene had learned a lot about the wolves thanks to those moments. She now knew some interesting things about them, like the fact that Ragnar was bonded and had two children, or that Erik liked being in his wolfskin more than he enjoyed being on two legs. She'd also figured out that Anja was impatient and she disliked having to deal with the children in the pack for too long, Freya, on the other hand, acted as a surrogate mother to a couple of orphaned younglings. The only one who remained a mystery was Kaspian, he wasn't very talkative and he rarely offered any information about himself.