The King's Remorse

Run

 I sit up and look down at my arm. There are two neat dots on my elbow, which appear to be mostly healed. Dove looks up when he hears me moving.

"Oh. Hey, Wolf. How are you feeling?"

"Fine. What were you saying earlier?" He hesitates, debating over his words.

"What were you saying?" I repeat when he doesn't respond.

"I was... Maybe... Maybe look at your head," Dove says slowly, wincing a bit.

"That's impossible." I look at him flatly.

"I-I know. But... Look, Wolf. I'm not really sure how to word this without freaking you out." He sits down beside me.

"Without freaking me out? What's that supposed to mean?" My voice rises slightly.

"Calm down. We can't attract the Guard and Soldiers."

"You'd better tell me what you were talking about, Dove." I stand up, and Dove follows.

"Take a dee-."

"What were you talking about?" A mixture of anger and fear simmer within me.

My hair shifts as I glare at my brother. Wait, what? How'd that happen? I frown and reach up. Half of my hand touches hair, but the other half touches fur.

"Wolf, don't freak out. It's alright," Dove starts, but I cut him off.

"What happened? Why are there wolf ears on my head?" My heart rate spikes.

"Remember that wolf spider?" Dove's voice trails off.

"How do you know that? You shouldn't know that; you weren't there. Wait, but you do. Were you there? Did you follow me? Do you have some magical power? Can you see the future? Can you see something when you're not there? Did you follow me? Do you not trust me? How could you! What did I ever to to y-."

"Wolf, quiet. You're yelling. I didn't follow you, I promise. I wasn't there. I stayed in our tent the whole time."

"Then how? How did you know there was a wolf spider?" I glare at him.

"It's... Well... This-this has happened before." Dove rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, and he doesn't meet my gaze.

"Liar. This hasn't happened before."

"It has. I swear I'm telling the truth. You and me, we're trapped in a loop. Every time this happens, you get killed, and it starts all over again. I know I sound insane-."

"You do."

"You've gotta believe me, Wolf. You gotta believe me."

"But why? It doesn't make any sense. Why do I even have wolf ears?" I tug at one of the ends of them.

"You're going to turn into a wolf."

"Really?"

"Yeah. The ears are just the start."

"So tomorrow I'm going to have a tail and fangs and claws and fur and stuff?"

"Probably just one or two, but yeah." Dove nods.

"That's bizarre." I look down at my hands and try to imagine them covered in fur.

"Wolf. We've gotta go. Guard and Soldiers at four o' clock." Dove grabs my arm and pulls me into motion.

I spring into motion, running after him. Branches slap at my legs as I sprint away from the Guard and Soldiers who are shouting for us to stop. I soon lose track of how long we've run for. The fir trees gave way to what appear to be maple trees a while back, and those are now thinning out to bushes.