Red Wolf

Audaces foruna iuvat - Fortune Favors the Bold

Audaces fortuna iuvat - Fortune Favors the Bold  

"The outside?" Gabe stared at me with his ice blue eyes and his mouth dropped slightly. He ran his hand through a clump of hair and raised an eyebrow, "Since when do you want to go out there? Actually, let me rephrase that, since when are you interested in the outside, period?" 

I scuffled my feet and started to say, "Well..." I thought about it for a moment. Ever since those bodies had appeared, I had felt something that seemed to be calling me, cliche, I know, but it was something that I couldn't stop. I knew that if I didn't go outside of the walls then something would happen. I struggled to find the right words then said, "I...I dunno, ever since that time when I was five, I never really bothered to look outside of the gates again. It wasn't really that I was scared of the forest, it was more, scared of what Emilina would think. But now I think that it might be time for me to make my own decisions, I'm sixteen for God's sake!" I placed my hands on my hips, stood akimbo and waited for Gabe to contradict me, my red cape billowing out behind me. 

Gabe grinned and then said, "You never cease to surprise me Aria. Never." He shook his head and laughed, "Well, what are we waiting for then?" He grabbed me by the hand and led me out of his yard and towards the gate. I felt a tingling sensation as he did so then shook it away and followed his lead. 

After a couple seconds, he stopped, turned around and said, "Do the guards know that your mother wants you to stay in the village?" 

My eyes dropped to the ground and Gabe sighed, "Seriously Aria...?" His hand rubbed his chin again, something he did when he was thinking, "Take off your cloak." 

"What?" I asked stupidly, then looked down at the red fabric and said, "Oh, right." My hands clumsily started to untie the knot around my neck, when it finally came loose, after a couple struggling attempts, I handed it to Gabe. He took the cloak into his hands and folded it into a small square and then said, "Cover your face with your long hair, even though you don't have your cloak on your green eyes are still pretty striking, along with your high cheek bones." 

I nodded and unclipped my hair from my head and let it fall down to my elbows, it was long, for a village woman's hair, most of the women wore their hair up in buns or if they had it down, it was only to their shoulders. I swept my hair in front of my eyes then looked at Gabe through the strands of hair, "Is this good enough?" I grinned as he rolled his eyes and said, "A little exaggerated but who cares." He turned around and we made our way towards the tall gate again. 

When we got there, after dodging a couple carts and family friends, I tried my best to look as inconspicuous as possible, following Gabe silently as we strode up to the guards stationed on the ground, the ones up on the battlements looking down at us. 

Gabe called out a greeting to the guards then asked for them to open the gates, they obliged, sneaking only a single glance at me then calling out mockingly to Gabe, "Hey Gabriel! You gonna go sneak that girl away? Don't want to ruin her man, try your best to be an angel!" 

Gabe stiffened at the pun on his name, Gabriel was a strange name for a woodcutters son, it meant angel but most of his brother's weren't angels, they'd ruined plenty of women in their time, then he playfully socked the man in the arm and said, "Keep your bark to yourself Roofus." He winked, and strode out towards the forest, leading me by the hand. I stifled a laugh as I saw Roofus' face turn scarlet.  

We passed the thin strip of grass that kept the forest from devouring our village faster than I thought we would, in about a minute, we were inside the forest, trying our best to find a spot to sit. A week ago it had started to snow but then four days earlier, it stopped abruptly and the white fluff disappeared. 

Sunlight filtered in through the thin branches of the birch trees and made pools of gold on the carpet of slightly crunchy, slightly mushy leaves. I found a spot by a fountain of light, it was a long tree trunk that spanned at least the length of three homes put together. "Gabe," I called, "Over here, I think that this is a nice spot." 

He glanced over and said, "Sure, why not? I can't find anything better around here. Strange because when I was here yesterday there were plenty of tree trunks to be found..." 

"Silly," I laughed, "You chopped them into logs for the stoves! Now c'mere and bring that bottle of wine with you." 

Gabe handed me the bottle of wine and my cloak then waited as I spread the red cloth across the tree trunk to make something like a picnic blanket. He sat down next to me, took the bottle from my hands and popped the cork out.  

I pushed my long hair back and said, "This is nice...getting away from everything, I can't stand staying inside the house all day." I shuddered and took the bottle away from him and took a swig, swishing the slightly bitter but woody tasting wine around in my mouth, then said, "Cheers." 

"Cheers and happy birthday Aria." Gabe grinned. 

I smiled up at him lazily, stretching my long body across the length of the trunk, enjoying the feel of a warm winter sun on my back. 

Gabe glanced at me, a small droplet of wine dangling on his chin. I reached forward, wiped it off and licked my finger, savoring the taste. Gabe paused for a moment, touched his chin then looked down at me and said, "You know Aria, I don't know if this is a good idea." He suddenly looked flustered and started to stand up. 

I leaped off of the trunk and stepped in front of him before he could take another step. "Why?" I said, challenging him. 

"Because...Ariadne, I don't know." He rubbed a finger across his chin then said, "I really don't know...maybe it's because back inside those walls," He jabbed a finger towards the village, "You have a doting fiance. I know what you are thinking Ariadne but this isn't just some game that we can play until we're tired." His voice grew louder as he spoke. 

I stared at him then said quietly, "Both of us care nothing for each other, so what if I have a little fun sometimes, don't you understand?" 

"No. No I don't understand. Explain to me Aria, tell me what it is you're playing with, because I can't figure it out on my own." He pleaded, desperation clinging to his eyes. 

My hands trembled as I reached for my cloak and I shook my head, "I'm sorry Gabe, you have to figure it out on your own." I started to walk away, tying the cloak around me when a low growl started up from the bushes behind me. I froze and turned around, Gabe stood there, his muscles straining as he tried to keep himself from moving, he whispered harshly to me, "Ariadne, get back, I think that it's a wolf." 

And indeed it was, a large grey wolf that slowly padded out from behind the bushes, it's calm blue eyes staring right at me.