Nadine Book 2

44. Fresh Blood

"Mary, is he allowed in here?"

"No, I don't think so. But we're here now. So it's fine. I'll order him safe if I need to."

We go in my apartment. "Mary is he..."

"Stop asking little miss. The answer is no. But where else are we going to leave him?" She starts pulling the jewelry off me and I kick the shoes off.

"Sit down Tye. There are some servants if you need anything."

I get back to the changing room and Mary help me out of the dress. We put a nurse outfit on, and I grab a veil and gloves in case we get close to the village. By the time I get back, Tre is sitting on one of the chairs talking to Tye.

"Hi."

"Hi baby. You can't bring him in here. I get notified immediately. Your dad nearly died. He threw me out the door to sit in here with you."

"I had to change clothes."

"You need to put him in a sitting room unless I'm with you. You can not be alone with another man in your apartment."

"Tre, you are being ridiculous."

"I know. Like I said, your dad threw me out the door baby. I had to come." I smile and he gives me a kiss. "You can leave that bag in here if you want. It will be safe here. Let me know before you leave, and I will come in and get it with you."

Tye sits his bag down. "Thank you."

"You 2 have fun." Tre holds the door until we all leave. Even Mary.

"Hey, we weren't alone. Mary was there."

"They all know I see nothing little miss."

"I really do appreciate that Mary."

"WOMAN."

I wink at Tre and me and Tye head for the exit.

We get out to the barn and the momma horse is screaming. I cover my ears and try to hide.

"You're a bit early, Hypatia. She's about to deliver. Do you want to watch that part?"

I shake my head no as fast as I can, and Tye laughs. I still have my hands on my ears.

"I'll bring butter for you, Hypatia. Are you jumping, shooting, riding, walking? I need to know what horse to give him."

I nod.

He laughs. "I got the horse for him. You 2 can wait outside."

I run out and Tye comes out after a second. "That was horrible. How can? I mean... Why... You know. Is it?"

He raises his eyebrows. "That did sound bad. Hopefully, it will be over for her soon."

"I don't want to go back there."

"Yea, probably not for an hour or 2 anyway."

"Do you deliver baby horses?"

"Yea, I love horses. I've seen quite a few be born. It is amazing to watch a newborn horse."

"You can stay if you want. You don't have to ride with me. But I can't stay there. It breaks my heart to hear that momma."

"Let's ride. I'll see it after it's born."

Zacier comes out with 2 horses ready to go. He gives us each one. "Everything is going right. Nothing is wrong. So don't worry about that."

"Thank you sir."

He goes back in the barn.

"Did you just call a servant sir?"

"He's still a man, and he's a person too. He's not only a servant. His name is Zacier. He loves me and he loves my horses. When I got attacked he was the one..."

"What?"

"Forget that part. I want to ride. I didn't mean to say that."

We start walking. "What happened?"

"Do you have any siblings?"

"2 little sisters. What happened?"

I think about it for a long time. "My brother tried to kill me. He stabbed me and beat me. It was bad. Zacier stopped it. Dipak got to me first. Tre always blamed himself." We stroll down the river. "He was the one who left me with him. But he was my own brother, no one ever thought he would do that. I don't blame any of them except my brother."

"Where is your brother now?"

"Medical area. He was sent away. But he came back a few days ago, saying he missed me. My dragon took over. It beat him with the same rock he beat me with. I woke up covered in his brains. It was not a good look for me."

We both laugh. "No, I imagine not."

"I do feel a little better though. What about you? Any crazy traumatic experiences for you? I'm sorry, I talk a lot and seem to trust people. You don't even know me. What do normal people talk about when they don't know each other?"

"You really are one of kind. You say exactly what you are thinking."

"Right now I'm thinking that we have gone too far, and we are coming up to the torture cave. We should probably turn around."

"The torture cave?" He doesn't move.

I try to force his horse to move, but it doesn't, and he stares at me. "My brother again. That is an extremely long story. But I found it with Dipak. It had torture devices he was using on people. Last time I was there I freaked out and ran into the center of a werewolf village. That's another story though. But I am safe on their lands now. So that's nice."

"Which werewolf lands?"

"All of them. I am allowed freely on any werewolf land. I am protected. And probably the one closest to here, I can take you on. I'm pretty sure my guards are there anyway. Can we go check? Have you ever seen one? Do you want to?"

"Yea, let's do that."

"We might have to go on foot though. We have to cross the river, and it's a bit high. We will be gone for at least an hour if we go on foot."

"I think we can get the horses across this. It's not that deep right here. Just be careful."

"Are you feeling a water pass, Butter?" He neighs at me. I'm nervous but I get across.

Tye gets across no problem. "You did good."

"It was kind of scary. I have never crossed water before."

He smiles. "You have to keep an eye on how deep it is. To much water will wash the horses' legs out from under it. But I knew that was ok."

We stop outside the cave and I get down. "This is where he tortured them. When I first went in. I found a body, it was chained. I panicked and ran. That's how I ended up in the werewolf village." I peek in and there is fresh blood on the wall. I stare at it for a long time. Then I see Tye. I'm scared immediately. I back away from him slow.

"Let's go outside. Come on. You're safe. We'll tell them there is fresh blood here when we go back. But you are safe. I will not hurt you." He watches me but doesn't approach me at all. I climb back on Butter. "You ok?" I nod. "Can I go in for a second? See if I can see where the blood came from?" I shake my head. "That's it then. Let's keep going."

We walk for 15 minutes. I stare at Butters head. "Thank you."

"You're safe."

Then we come up to the werewolf village. I stop in the path. My guards are here along with the werewolf guards. Tye seems very confused but doesn't say anything. "Can you please inform King Ronion that Princess Nadine is here. I seek no audience, we just wish to pass threw. I have a guest. We seek safety while we are here."

The werewolf guard bows. "Of course ma'am. You both may enter."

We take the horses into the center of the village and Decker comes running out. "PRINCESS."

I jump off Butter and give him a big hug. "You have gotten so big since I last seen you. How are you?"

"I haven't seen you in so long, princess." He hugs me again.

Tye stands beside us smiling. "Oh I'm sorry. Prince Decker this is Prince Tye." They shake hands, but Decker is still so small. It's just adorable.

He glares at Tye. "This is my princess. Get your own." I put my hand on my mouth and stare at the sky for a minute trying not to laugh.

Tye busts out laughing. "I'm not trying to steal your princess sir. We are out for a ride."

Ronion comes over. "Decker go find something to do for a bit." He waits until Decker goes away. "Hello sir, I'm King Ronion."

Tye shakes his hand. "Prince Tye."

Ronion busts out laughing. "Do I need to beat this one up and throw him in jail then tell your daddy he was in there all night too?"

Then I start laughing. Tye raises his eyebrows and stares at me.

"No, we're good here, king. Tye never seen this before. I wanted to show him, only a walk through, sir." I don't look at either of them when I say it. "There will be no jail time for anyone today." I rub my eyes and try to stop laughing.

"Alright then. Enjoy your visit."

We both say "Thank you sir." At the same time.

He goes back to his house, and I am looking everywhere but at Tye.

I finally glance at him. "Please don't repeat that to anyone. I will be in jail. And I'm sure they would figure out who the other was fast."

"And it wasn't Tre?"

I shake my head no.

"Ok. I won't say anything. Let's walk around. I've never seen one of these."

We come across the school. He watches the kids play and tackle each other as cubs. It really is adorable. "I always liked sitting and watching things play like that."

"You would love the unicorns, sir. I could open my window and watch them from my bath for hours. They would play and fly. It really was magical."

"Oh the magical place only girls can go." He rolls his eyes at me.

"Tre's been there. You can ask him. It's not fake."

"How?"

"I seemed to have talked myself into something I can't speak about. Maybe someday you will know."

"But not today."

I smile. "Someday."

He smiles and we head back.

We end up in the field with both of our dads watching us. "I wonder why my dad is here. I'll be right back." I nod and he walks off.

Butter is super jumpy. I think I will try that big fence again with him.

"GO BUTTER." I run for it. I push him as hard as he can go. I latch on and jump. He clears the fence and I feel like I am flying again. It's amazing to jump like this on him. He lands it perfectly. "You are the bestest horse ever made. And now you are going to be a daddy soon. This is amazing butter. You are perfect." I pet his head and sides. Then I give him a hug. "You are amazing." All 3 of them are staring at me.

I go over and Daddy says, "You are beautiful out there my princess. You and that horse really make a pair."

"Thank you daddy."

He smiles at me. "Did you go all the way to the werewolf village? You 2 do not smell good."

"Yes, we went over and said hi to Prince Decker and King Ronion."

"And how are they doing?"

"They were happy, daddy, and Prince Decker officially claimed me as his."

Daddy and Tye both laugh. "Ok my princess. And Butter's healthy baby was born."

My eyebrows shoot up, and I take off for the barn.