The King's Gamma (#Wattys2024)

Forty Two

I smirked as the spear slowly dissipated from between his legs before he slumped to the ground, his body weak and sweating.

"What a p..." A hand clamped over my mouth before I could finish speaking.

I twisted to see both Felix and Helia had returned, and both had a hand on my mouth.

"Princess, you look like you will enjoy a stroll outside."

They lifted me off of my feet and carried me out of the hall like they had become accustomed to doing over the past few years every time I pissed Lavin off with my words.

Finally, I was out of the dress and in my favourite armour, and tinkering away in my workshop.

As always, the twins were standing off to the side and watching me as I worked. Lavin had assigned them to be my personal guards almost as soon as I had arrived.

I was completely immersed in my work, humming a tune I haven't heard since I was originally taken from my own time, and adjusting my hair every time a strand came loose.

I twisted, holding a hand out as the correct tool appeared in front of me, and continued what I was doing.

It took a while, but when I was finished I held the weapon up to make the last few adjustments before smirking over my shoulder at the twins.

"Call everyone to the archery range."

They nodded and left to call those willing to come and see.

Outside I could see that the sun was coming up, meaning that I'd once again worked throughout the night.

I waited a total of two hours, resting against a pillar I soon found myself near passing out.

My eyes closed against the warmth of the morning sun, and I soon found myself losing consciousness.

However, as almost every single time that this happened, I instead remembered my past.

I was standing in my home, watching my brother train his magic, sensing every bit of power as it traversed through his entire being.

I had watched him from a young age, always keeping an eye on his power and the way he used it.

I twisted to look at my father who was  busy removing his clothes in order not to tear them when he shifted. Seeing men and women near naked was nothing new, but as my father had taught me I kept my eyes above the more private parts. My eyes drank in the way his body morphed into his large black wolf.

I looked down to my own slender body. I was five, but because of my mother's blood I looked ten by now. I looked back up at my father and brother, however almost immediately I felt a strange heat rising through my body.

My leg suddenly snapped, the sound catching the attention of my father, brother, mother and family friends who stood around as it was unexpected.

I looked down in confusion, seeing that my leg was twisted strangely.

It quickly reverted thereafter.

I looked up to see my father's wolf right in front of me.

I reached out to him when my spine suddenly shifted fiercely, the bones breaking skin as hair pushed through. My body was forced to contort in strange ways under the force of the shift.

Shifting took less than a second, but this was extremely shocking to everyone. Even veterans took some practice to shift this fast. But here I was, a five-year-old shifting the first time, and the shift was so fast that it was almost a fluke. However, the most shocking part was that my wolf was bigger than my father's, looking down on him as though he was the pup instead.