The Banished Werecat Princess

7 - Killing Time

Alana

    When I overheard the guards talking about Dane and Emily both getting turned to stone, I couldn’t stop myself from bursting into a fit of laughter.  I laughed so hard, I literally had tears rolling down my cheeks.

    It was a much needed laugh, and I felt surprisingly good when I calmed down.  Although, I think it was partly from the euphoria of knowing that Dane and Emily’s lives weren’t all roses and candy like I presumed them to be.

    The guards talking to each other was how I kept up to date on everything that was going on.  It was comical how much they gossiped.  I swear, they were worse than teenage girls, but it was a good source of both information and entertainment for me.

    Through the guards, I learned that my brother and Snow were crowned as the King and Queen of Werecats.  I also learned about my parents and younger siblings moving out of the castle.  

    I had to admit that I felt a little bad about causing my parents so much grief.  They have always been good to me.  Especially my dad.  But I just had to disgrace both of them, and I was sure they would never forgive me.  The only way to make me think otherwise was for my parents to visit me in the dungeon, which they had yet to do.

    It was strange how I spent so much time alone in the castle over the past year, the time I was spending in the dungeon seemed like a piece of cake.  The only downfall was not being able to see a doctor to make sure my cub was healthy.

    I was looking forward to feeling my cub move around inside my belly.  Once that day came, I would have a little relief from the constant worrying I had been doing in that regard.

      For the time being, the only thing that calmed my nerves was to gently rub my belly and whisper to my cub that everything would be okay.  I had no idea what would happen once my cub was born, but I was determined to make sure he or she came into this world strong and healthy.

    Since Jax was the only man I had been with, I was certain he was the father, and I was able to determine my estimated due date.  Starting the first day I heard my cub’s heartbeat, I took to using a small rock to draw a line on the wall.  That’s how I was keeping track of the days, so I would be mentally prepared when the time came.

    For the time being, I had to simply eat the food I was given, and bathe when I was given the opportunity.  If I had vitamins, I would have taken them for the cub’s sake, but I didn’t have access to anything like that, and I didn’t want anybody to know that I was pregnant until I couldn’t hide it any longer.

Jax

    I was too stunned by what I saw to say a word the entire ride back to Deidre’s cottage.  Even after we got there, I still remained silent.  It wasn’t until she asked if I could help her track down a list of herbs, then I finally used my voice again.

    Hoarsely, I responded, “Sure.  What do you need?”

    She was quick to hand me a list, then she walked away from me without another word spoken.  I looked over the items on the list, and I was happy to see that I knew where to get most of them.  

    When Deidre came back from her bedroom, I asked her where the other ones could be found, and she was able to point me in the right direction.  I took the list with me and the keys to Deidre’s truck, then I went on another journey in search of the various herbs.

    I knew it was gonna take at least a few days to track them all down, but I had high hopes of making it happen with a quickness.  There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t have done to get Alana back.  

    Unfortunately, I ran into some hiccups along the way, and it ended up taking me a whole week to gather everything Deidre needed.  Not only did I have mechanical problems with her truck, I also had a hard time acquiring some of the herbs, because they were located on territories that had high security.  

    Eventually, I bribed one of the members of those packs to get the herbs for me, then I was able to move on to the next one.  However, sometimes it would take hours to spot somebody who was willing to help me.

    When I finally returned to Deidre’s cottage, I was beyond exhausted.  I felt like I could sleep for three days straight, but she had other plans for us.  Luckily, those plans involved another drive to the border of the Jungle Pack’s territory, and Deidre insisted on driving.  

    That allowed me the chance to catch up on a little sleep, and catch up I did.  Deidre wasn’t able to wake me until we were just a few miles away from our destination.  

    Once we arrived, Deidre parked the truck off the side of the road and hidden from anybody’s sight.  With no prying eyes around, Deidre dumped all of the herbs into a large duffel bag, then she used her fingers to gently mix up the herbs.

    After that, she instructed me to stay in the truck, then she vanished from my sight.  It was almost a full hour later when she returned with an empty duffel bag that she tossed into the bed of the truck.

    Next, Deidre stood at the edge of the border and lifted her hands up into the air, then she started chanting words in a language I had never heard before.  This continued for several minutes, then what appeared to be lightning came up from the ground directly in front of Deidre.  The lightning connected to her hands, making her entire body shake for several seconds before she was knocked backward with a puff of smoke following her body.

    I watched in amazement, as the crazy witch slowly stood back up and stumbled over to the truck, where I was still sitting.  When she climbed into the cab, I could smell where the ends of her hair got singed from the lightning.  Also, that crazy hair of hers was sticking straight out all over her head, making the witch look even more mad than before.

    To my surprise, Deidre calmly started the engine of the truck, then she pulled back on to the highway.  After nearly ten minutes of driving, she nonchalantly stated, “There is something extremely powerful binding the Protection Spell over that territory.  I am going to need a lot more of those herbs and several witches to help reverse the spell.”

    “Can you get some of your witchy friends to help?  I’ll go track down more of the herbs if you can,” I blurted out in frustration.

    “Patience, rogue!” she snapped before taking a deep breath, then she more calmly stated, “I will see what I can do.”

    The rest of the trip was spent in total silence.  I don’t know how Deidre was able to stay awake and drive for such a long amount of time.  Especially after taking a bolt of lightning like she did, but that witch seemed to be capable of anything if she put her mind to it.  That’s why I was willing to gather more of the herbs.