White Stag

Chapter 10~Village

Several hours later, we leave the training room. My hands are still burning white, but the glowing subsided after the healing was complete. Axel and I sit on his bed casually chatting.

"Would you like to see the village?" Axel asks. My eyes widen.

"There's a village?" I exclaim, "Of course, I do!" Axel gives me a weird look.

"Let me explain first. This one is different from human villages."

I point at him. "They're called cities, not villages, Axel."

He gives me a goofy grin and continues, "You know what I mean. This village is a village of werewolves and you're their ruler," he says.

I hold up my hand. "Hold on, when you said I was queen, I thought that was just a name. You mean I am an actual queen?"

Axel rolls his eyes. "Isn't that what I just said?" He playfully bumps my shoulder with his. "Next time, you better listen," he teases.

"Can we go now?" I ask excitedly.

Axel nods. "We can go later today, around dusk."

I pump my fist in the air. Finally, I get to get out of this house!

~

Hours later I was rushing about to find Miss Faith. "Miss Faith!" I cry out.

Miss Faith comes running around the corner. "What is the matter, dear?"

Tilting my head up, I survey her through my eyelashes. "I got a nose bleed and it won't stop. I think it's from..." I freeze. Does she know about the White Stag?

As if reading my mind, Miss Faith laughs. "Axel's mother used to get them all the time. It's part of the curse." She grabs my hand and leads me to the kitchen.

Grabbing an ice pack, she holds it to my nose. "Your nose is bleeding from the pressure of the tumor," she tells me.

I grin at her. "I'm going to the village tonight with Axel. Have you ever been there?" I ask.

Miss Faith nods. "All of us that work here are wolves. Most, if not all of us, came from the village that you are going to visit tonight."

"What do you mean most of you?"

She pulls the ice back and bends down, checking for blood. "I'm from an original village."

"There are multiple? Axel makes it sound like there is just one."

Faith looks at me. "Now there is only one. Back then, we roamed and dominated the land. But with the war going on, villages were being destroyed. Master Axel called us to assemble into one large village so we could protect each other."

"Was your village destroyed too?" I inquire as she tilts my head back into its original position. Thankfully, the bleeding had stopped.

"It's gone," she whispers. "They... those monsters killed my family." She looks away.

"I buried my entire family on my own under a great oak tree. One day, I will get revenge and be reunited with my family." She wipes a tear off her cheek.

My jaw goes slack. She had to bury her family? I take her hand in mine and meet her gaze. "Will you take me to your village someday?"

Miss Faith sniffles and wearily answers, "Of course, my queen."

I tighten my grip. "You don't have to call me that." Looking down, I mutter, "I haven't earned that title yet."

Miss Faith puts her finger under my chin and lifts my head. She gives me a half smile. "A queen never lets her head drop; hold yourself high and proud, for you are the White Stag."

Her advice makes me smile. She is the only person so far who has made me feel like I have the power to change this world. A sense of pride flows into me.

"I will make this a better world," I promise her.

Without a word, Faith simply curtsies and leaves with a mysterious smile on her face.

-

Hours later, I barge into Axel's bedroom, annoyed. The sun is setting over the horizon; it's time to go.

Axel looks at me as I enter. "We should grab a cloak before we go. You might want to hide those." Axel points to the top of my head.

I run over to the mirror in the corner. My antlers have grown at least four inches in just one day. "How... what?"

Axel shrugs. "My mother was the same way. Her's grew extraordinarily fast."

I pause. "What happens when they get too long?"

He laughs at me. "Rub your horns against a tree like all the other stags," he jokes. I run over to him and lightly smack him on the cheek.

"I'm not an animal, you wolf." I clutch my stomach, laughing. Axel gives me a small smile.

"Why do I have to cover my antlers?" I ask.

"The wolves in the village will be extremely shocked to see the White Stag after 200 years. Their queen has been missing for a long time." Axel's expression changes into one of warning. "Promise me you will not take it off."

I nod. "Okay."

Axel walks over to his closet and disappears for a minute. When he returns, he is clutching a black cloak with an emblem of a snarling wolf on the back of it. I run my fingers along the emblem when Axel hands it to me. The cloak is laced in a gold string.

"What does this symbol mean?" I look up.

Axel's eyes flicker. "It was my father's symbol for my family," he answers, his voice catching at the end.

His dejected posture stops me from asking him further questions. I stand still as he unhooks the cloak and in a swift movement, wraps it around me.

Axel brushes my hair out of my eyes. "There. You look beautiful," he whispers. He clears his throat. "Now just pull the hood up and cover those antlers."

I nod.. Pulling up the hood of my cloak, I follow Axel to a room with a large copper mirror. Axel growls something under his breath as he approaches the mirror. Then, he briefly closes his eyes and places his hand, palms down, on the polished glass.

The surface shimmers and shifts. I shield my eyes as a bright light flashes into the room. Squinting, I look at Axel, who has started chanting. The mirror's image begins to shift into an image of a forest. There are houses made of brick and wood and in the distance, smoke is rising in the air.

Axel pulls his hand away. "So, you have magic of your own?"

He shakes his head. "It's not magic. I'll explain later." He holds out his arm for me to hold. After a sexy grin and a chuckle, he says, "After you?"

My face heats slightly as I wrap my arm around him and walk into the mirror. The mirror blurs, and the next thing I know, I'm breathing in the smell of pine.