The Books of the Shadows III- Silver Tiger

19

Two shadows were galloping like the wind in the open field, when they noticed the bear attacking Silver. In the horse's chase, they noticed that he had no weapons to defend himself from the beast and it attacked him incessantly.

When the bear put him to the ground for the second time, and rolled him, his saruman materialized, but the two shadows were already in full swing and they both clung to the bear's fur, from behind, one on each side and already one of them had grabbed it by the head so it wouldn't have a chance to bite Silver. The other, with a more massive stature, grabbed it from behind and put his arm blocking the animal's head and right paw at the same time.

-Iris, check it out! Silver's father shouted at his mother, who had already jumped down in the grass, leaving the bear in his care. She knelt in front of Silver and took his head in her hands, looking at him, then examined his body to see if he was bleeding somewhere.

His father growled with the bear who could not free itself from his grip, for his legs were wrapped around the body of the beast, and he pulled the bear's head back so hard that he heard a squeak of his bones. and broke its neck.

The bear's body fell inertly to the ground, near Silver, while his father came smoothly with his feet on the ground and in a few short jumps came near him to examine him in turn. "He's not bleeding, he's not moving," his worried mother said. His father tried to turn him over and they saw the marks left by the bear's claws on his right shoulder.

-That's going to leave a big scar ... his father said worriedly, almost in a whisper, to his mother, who nodded in approval.

-Here, his father pointed his hand, showing his mother a place that was already reddening. Two broken ribs here, that's clearly your son, my dear ... he smiled at her as she looked so unhappy and worried. The moment his father touched him near the broken ribs, Silver opened his eyes and moaned in pain and his mother slapped him on the shoulder angrily:

-I don't want to hear you! Don't you even dare to make a sound, you did it with your own hand!!

His father did not have to look at his mother to agree with her, and he nodded his approval as he pulled a small cloth bag from his chest where he had the emergency medications. His father was a healer, and he knew very well how to help him. He looked at a few leaves and heard Silver struggling to contain his pain and not moan. He decided not to give him anything for the pain for a while at least.

-You will feel it to realize the consequences of your actions, directly on your skin.

Silver couldn't say his parents weren't right, but he wanted his father to help him stop feeling what he was feeling now. Once he felt bad, that it was irresponsible of him to leave like that, alone and without weapons to hunt, what was in his head? He really didn't think a bit, he simply acted on instinct.

Just like a small child!!

He was ashamed of him and ashamed of his parents who didn't even look him in the eye right now and looked upset and worried.

He didn't hear any more heavy words on their lips, but he shouldn't either. His parents were the best parents in the world, they had always encouraged him and loved him unconditionally no matter what he did.

And now he felt disappointed and felt this for the first time in his life about them. And the physical pain was not helping him much. He didn't understand what had happened to him for behaving so irresponsibly.

His demon must have been out of his mind putting him in danger like this!

No, sadness has begun to fill his heart, he should not blame the demon, that was his behavior even if the demon started it, he should have known better. So many years of training with his mother, he should have known better and controlled it. Today, he put himself in danger but tomorrow? He will put his loved ones in danger? He could not accept that from himself.

His father was right, he had to stay away from his little brothers too. From everyone! He has become leverage, for now, his family's weakness.

Weak?? Weak was not his favorite word, and he hated that.

He caught his mother's eye on him; she felt him most of all the members of the family.

Although they all had their common space to share thoughts and feelings, their mother had this special power to feel them all before they realized how they felt. And he knew that his mother felt and knew exactly what he had in mind now.

She knew he didn't want to hurt her.

What saddened him most was to see his mother with that sadness in his eyes, a sadness he had only seen in her eyes twice or thrice in his life. But he felt it on such a deep level that it hurt so much and he couldn't imagine how much it hurt her. And now, he knew that he was responsible for that sadness that had only seen her in her eyes, and that brought him down.

His father helped him up and his mother called his horse. His beautiful black horse shone in the sunlight and sat obediently across the field, waiting to reach behind him. His father lifted Silver on his horse's back and he mounted him, enduring the pain resolutely, as punishment, even though he wanted to scream.

Leaning in, he patiently waited for his mother to ride and his father to tie the bear's leash to his horse, and for him to ride to the capital. On the way, his parents fell silent and trotted shoulder to shoulder, flanking him.

-I'm sorry, he managed to mutter Silver to his mother, but without being able to look at her because of the shame.

His father half turned to look at him, while his mother did not utter a word and did not even stop to look at him, continuing on her way.

-My prince, it's the hardest thing for you now. But as you get used to your demon's drives, you will be able to control it better.

-I didn't want to run away, I don't know what happened to me, you know I would never do something so ...

-I know, my Prince. But you have to understand that you are vulnerable now. And when you are vulnerable, we are all vulnerable. Do you understand?

-Yes. Is that why you told me to stay away from my brothers? But you know I would never hurt them ...

-Know. But now, your saruman is in control, and you still do not fully control his power. You need to work on this and it takes time. Like hunger pieces of training, remember? How long did it take you to master it?

-Yes, Silver bowed his head. I understand.

-When you are at war with your needs and those of your saruman, you are at war with yourself.

-But these are not my needs! I didn't ask for a mate now!

His father smiled at him and looked at his mother who snorted briefly and contemptuously at them.

-I wonder when I heard exactly the same words in my family ...

Silver's mother looked at them both out of the corner of her eye and Silver looked at her curiously.

Was it true? Had she been through this, too, and was it this thought on her, just as it is for him, now? As his mother whipped the horse and took it forward, looking slightly offended, his father began to speak to him.

-Your mother also told me the same words just as you spoke them, when her saruman started showing signs of feeling me. At the time, she didn't know it was me, and she tormented me for a long time until she realized she was okay with accepting how she felt. And she had a rough time with this period of accommodation and it took me almost a whole year to make her accept me.

-Whaaat? A whole year? I can't stand that much! I can not! Here's how I coped in two days!!!! Silver screamed desperately.

-I know, trust me, his father tried to calm him down with his calm voice, touching his hand gently and smiling at him with kindness. I know, but you can. You can, and you will! Because you are my son and hers. Look at your mother!

She was riding in front of them and from behind, she was riding like she was part of the horse's body, determined and graceful, that you could not know she was with a child on the way, almost ready to be born. Silver loved his mother, he was seeing perfection every time he looked at her.

-She took it just as rough as you are feeling it now. She has killed the entire War Council...

-EXECUTED!!!! she yelled at them with the wind.

-Yes, well, she executed the entire War Council...

-She... did what???

-You are NOT allowed to EVER do that!! Do you understand?

His mother slowed the horse's trot, letting them catch up with her so she could talk to him. If you shed the blood of a house, you are obliged by law to bring heirs in the bloodline of the house to which you wronged. You are not allowed to execute your War Council. Not all of it... anyway...

-Your Highness... The Lord Commander smiled at her. Do not teach your Prince wrong! I beg you!

-But... what did they ask you to fix then?

-Oh, they fought for her, all the houses tried to get her to put heirs into their bloodline!

-So how did you end up together?

-I was lucky that my mate had asked for my hand just in time, his mother answered him.

-She was already thinking about executing the new council again...

-What???

Silver was finding all this new information about his mother incredible.

His mother was always in control of her saruman, he had never, ever, ever seen her out of her mind. He even saw with his own eyes how her mother slammed her saruman once, grabbed it by the throat, and just slammed her into a tree for not obeying SOMETHING he did not know what she said to her. He could not believe that his mother could have ever been out of control, just like he was feeling right now.

-Yeah, luckily she has accepted me. She did not know it by then that I was her mate, she thought I just made up a plan to save her from the punishment of the houses.

-What?? And what did you do? Silver turned to his father but then he changed his mind and not giving him a chance to answer him he asked his mother instead. What did you do when you found out he had no plan? He turned to his mother, anxious, waiting for her answer.

His mother grimaced and curled up half of her lips almost growling, and he found that so cute. His mother was such a dominant personality and so cute all the same.

-I got mad and went hunting.

-She trashed the hunting territories that day, as I remember.

-I was hungry... she tried to find an excuse in order not to show weakness.

-You, My love, were out of control, and your saruman was giving you a hard time because you were trying to keep her away from her needs too much... just like our prince here...

Silver was amazed that his mother had behaved at the time in a way that now could not even be questioned, how calculated and wise she was. She had made mistakes too, and that didn't seem to detract from her value, but made her more human in his eyes. He loved his mother more than anything in this world, and she seemed perfect in everything she did. And to hear now that it had not always been so, gave him hope for the future.

-I didn't want to upset you today, he apologized in front of them, bowing his head and admitting his mistake. I will not do such a thing again, he whispered as they reached the courtyard of the fortress, at the top of the stairs, where Moon was waiting for them with a worried face.

-We know, my Prince, said his father warmly, titling the horse's bridle so that he could dismount.

-I know for sure you won't do it again, said his mother, but sharply, looking at the guards and waving at them. Take Prince Silver to the dungeon, where his apartment will be for the next few days until he calms down! and to his surprise, the guards took him by the arm and dragged him by force behind bars, and he could not object as much as he would want to, because of broken ribs.