Luna of the Beastly Lycan King

Chapter 11. Who is he?

☉DANIKA

Even though Finarfen had pushed me away, I would not relent, and as the days led up to his coronation, I applied myself even more steadfastly to his person, hoping to find something, hoping to change his mind… hoping.

Sonia had long since detached herself from me after the statement Finarfen had given in the presence of the others, but that made me even more determined to uncover the truth—at least, I hoped there would be a truth.

“Good evening,” I said, my speech affectedly different. I had put on a shawl to hide my face, and I was pretending to be a commoner now. The disguise was to hide in case there were people from the palace at this kind of place. My red hair would have been the first thing they would notice, so now that it was safely tucked under my shawl which covered most parts of my face, I only needed to change the way I spoke.

“Well, a good day indeed it is if a most thoughtful lass such as yourself should address me.” The man leered. His name was Tarly and Andras had informed me that he would be at this inn which was some distance away from the palace.

He was of no consequence, even shorter in person, different from the description of Andras, but he was a thoroughly sodden fellow and his breath made me fear for my life.

I pressed on, changing the way I sounded so I would not be recognized. “I wonder if I can join you.”

“OF COURSE!” Tarly roared. “Otis! Mead for the dainty lass.”

I thanked him for his kindness, but he suddenly looked as if he was going to burst into tears. He sniffed long and loud, then rubbed at his very red eyes. He was terribly drunk.

“The Goddess blesses all.” He said. “Now eat, for you sound like you have journeyed far.”

The mead arrived in large metal mugs and the man, Tarly, began guzzling his drink down again, occasionally tearing into large chunks of meat on his plate.

The inn where we were was weathered and battered, and more than half of the men who were here looked shady and talked funny, like they were not completely Cynthronian. Even Tarly’s speech was different now than it had been ten mugs of mead ago. Now his words were florid, and his accent was different… almost akin to the tongue spoken in my pack which was a long, long way away.

I nibbled at the food placed in front of me and sipped gingerly. I had no thoughts about getting drunk or indeed following this man to spend the night, but I needed information. I needed to be sure that Finarfen was still the same.

I could not ask anything of those at the palace. They all looked at me with deep scorn, especially after the incident with the Crimson-horned Stag. They were people of the court after all. But these men here in this inn were not nobles. They had no business with who I was. I was certain that I was going to get some information here. Even though it was… chaotic.

“Hey, three cheers for the Alpha!” Someone suddenly roared. A rowdy cheer went up and the dull thunking of several mead mugs bashing against the other and raucous laughter went up.

“Alpha?” A reedy voice challenged. It was a tall, thin man who had climbed to the top of his table, mead mug tipping dangerously as he gesticulated. “I call tripe! The way he moves and behaves, all mighty? I piss on him, and I piss on his stag! I’ll give my balls, daresay I can challenge him.”

“And what use would the Alpha have for your shriveled nuts?” A buxom woman laughed. Everybody joined her, drowning out the thin man’s protests. More mugs thunked heavily against each other and one or two men fell over the woman in their happy drunkenness.

“I’m telling you—I’m telling you…” the thin man protested until he was pulled down from the table and more mead was slapped against his chest. Soon he was gabbling and cackling again with the others, chorusing bawdy verses and swaying.

“Lord Tarly,” I started shyly. “I just wanted to ask—”

“Goddess and skies above, lass! I’m no lord.” Tarly exclaimed, face red.

“Then what shall I call you? I feel terribly indebted to you tonight.”

Soft music floated around in the inn and in the lamplight, Tarly’s face was as red as a beet. I knew that he would soon pass out. Andras had laughed when he shared this particular information with me. Tarly was a man who could not stomach alcohol but seemed to enjoy indulging.

Tarly hiccupped. “I only do what I must in the service of our prince and Alpha, the most noble Finarfen.” He raised his mead mug in a toast and hiccupped again, but I had stuck my teeth in meat.

“You all really do love your King.”

“Oh, we adore him. He is everything that we hoped he would be: kind, righteous, faithful… and at the Battle of Rites, he was simply magnificent! No one knew he was that strong, or that he could move like that. It was a most beautiful spectacle. More mead?”

“The Battle of Rites—“ I probed. “What’s that?”

Tarly’s face took on a dreamy look. “Oh, it is the most ancient tradition of Cynthros. Everyone vying for the crown must enter the contest, even the crown. There can only be one winner. The mightiest warrior becomes Alpha of Cynthros and during the coronation, is crowned king of Cynthros. Now if only they would permit me to join—”

“And this Finarfen was the one who won the last one?”

“Oh, he did more than win it. He was glorious. We thought he had been knocked out of commission. But then he rose, like a totally different person…” He downed the rest of his mead. “It was glorious. Everyone’s been talking about it since then.”

I had finally hit the topic I needed to ask about. I rambled, “Did you think he seemed different? Do you think Finarfen’s still okay? I mean… what do you think?”

Tarly groaned for the longest time, then fell off from his chair. Completely out. I cursed my luck and looked around the inn. It was a while after I had finished eating and making sure that Tarly was awake again before I left, more disappointed. No one had been of any help. No one had noticed anything. Of course, they wouldn’t. I was the only person that was close to Finarfen.

I was the one who had been with him there when his heartbeat slowed. No one could possibly know that he was different from the Finarfen that I knew. The journey back to the palace only served to infuriate me more.

When I got into the castle, I threw off my disguise with unconcealed anger and bowed my head against the door of my room.

“I don’t suppose there’s a reason we’re fighting with our doors?” Andras sidled up to me. I gave him a look. He chuckled and stepped away. “Were you able to find what you were looking for in town?”

I had not made it clear to him that I was looking for proof that Finarfen had changed—I had only told him that I wanted to ask around about what happened at the Battle of Rites—but Andras was smart. He would have surmised as much.

“They had really good food in town,” I said and brushed past him.

“I told you to have a little faith. Most people, when they become saddled with new responsibility, tend to change… and the food in town isn’t really fit for a lady of the palace.”

I turned to him, wondering how much he really knew, but his smile was infuriating. He was Finarfen’s closest guard. He was supposed to know things. Not act like some happy-go-lucky whelp.

“The food was good in town, Andras. Now I’m going to bed.”

As the time for the coronation drew closer, I tried my best to walk always with Finarfen. Cynthros was becoming more and more festive by the day. Lights were being put up in the streets, and if you paid keen attention, you could see festoons of colored fabric adorning most parts of the city, and everyone generally seemed much happier, much livelier.

Everything was slowly turning perfect. But I could not shake off the wrong feeling from my gut. Finarfen seemed even more changed by the day. He would not spend time with me no matter how hard I tried to sequester with him.

He was always with Fergal and Andras now, and more annoyingly, the people of the court. They worshipped him. I was pleased that they seemed to want to genuinely follow their leader, but where did that leave me?

“For the last time, woman, leave me be. And make yourself scarce from my presence.” Finarfen drawled at me. “You’re pestering, like a stubborn, improperly-done seam at the hem of my cloth. Do you know what is done to bad threading? It’s snipped. Now leave me be.”

I wouldn’t quit, though. I was more than just a weak red-haired lady of the court. It was useful. I was important to Finarfen and he knew it. He knew it before. I decided that if he was not going to remember, then I would do the remembering for him.

Every time I appeared in his presence, I tried to get him to remember our past. I reminded him of how he had found me and the many good things that he had done. I described the histories of Cynthros to him and even fed him news of what his people thought of him.

He did not seem particularly averse to me during these times and it made my heart leap because there was a chance that he would finally go back to the way he was before. But those hopes were crushed daily. Especially today.

I was walking some distance behind Finarfen, because he had instructed both Fergal and Andras to walk on both sides of him. We had just arrived at a hall when Kendrick, his physician met us.

“My lord,” Kendrick bowed genially.

Finarfen only stared, eyes devoid of expression. They were both standing, offering no words. Fergal and Andras looked on, with too much apathy than I could consider. I stumbled to Finarfen’s front, addressing the physician.

“Thank you for coming, Kendrick. You still remember to check on Finarfen even now.”

“It is always a pleasure to see you, Danika. May that youthful blush of health remain forever your sheen.”

I turned my face away shyly so they would not see me go red. When I had recovered, I turned to Finarfen. “Kendrick will begin the examination in your room. Let us head there now—”

“I did not ask for you to come in today, Kendrick,” Finarfen said. His voice was steely and I wondered what had come over him. Kendrick must have also been taken aback because he tensed.

“My lord?” Kendrick stuttered.

“I did not ask for you to come in today or any other day. Why are you here?”

Kendrick looked lost. I stepped in again. “Finarfen, Kendrick has always looked into your health, right from when you were younger. It is his job to examine you.”

“Those are no grounds for him to impose himself whenever he so wishes. And I did not speak to you, woman. You would do well to remind your red-haired brain of that.”

Then to Kendrick, he said, “I have not asked of you; you will only present yourself before me when I am in need of your services. I am in health, and only if the Goddess permits and I am ever in ill health—the likelihood of which is improbable—will I send for you.”

Kendrick was appalled. He began to stutter, but Finarfen silenced his words. “You may leave now.”

Kendrick stood for a while, then he bowed deep and stiff, and said, “As it please you, Alpha.”

His robes swept as he walked away, leaving me to ponder in my heart, just what was wrong with Finarfen.