Luna of the Beastly Lycan King

Chapter 29. The Alpha’s order

☉DANIKA

I went into full panic mode.

I had left the study almost immediately after Finarfin left, but I was at a loss as to what I was doing or where I was going. I thought about running out of Cynthros. There was no way on earth that I was going to be able to join Finarfin on his hunt. The last time that I had joined him on his hunt, I had almost been killed, and Sonia had almost died because of me. And now he wanted me to join him on this trip. Again?

I was lost in thoughts and bumping into people carelessly and at some point in time, I had stopped in the hall and screamed – f**k!

I ran my hands over my face several times, trying to slick back my hair. I could not think straight and fear was eating into my very being. I was rounding a bend in the corridor, trying to convince myself that I could actually do the task Finarfin had asked of me when I bumped into someone else. I looked up, tired, and saw a genial face with wide eyes that I knew.

“Are you alright?” Erika asked.

“I am losing my mind, Erika!” I expulsed.

“Okay…?” Erika gave me a look.

“Finarfin just invited me to go hunting with him.”

Erika looked horrified. “The Alpha King? With your swollen arms? How are you going to fight? Your arms have not healed enough for you to even resume training. Going hunting with the king right now seems dangerous.”

I looked at my arms as if I was just seeing them for the time. “I know that. But there’s no way I can go against the word of the Alpha King. He wants me to go hunting with him and I shall.” I exhaled and added, “And you all need to stop treating me like I am completely weak and pathetic.”

I’ve been training—with Fergal, with Sonia… I’ve gotten a lot stronger than I was before. Perhaps. My arms are swollen and I might not be able to shoot the bow properly, but I want to show Finarfin that I am not the weak red-haired woman he thinks I am. I want to show him that I’ve gotten stronger.

“I need to do this,” I told Erika. I could see the concern in Erika’s eyes, but I knew that this was probably one of Finarfin’s tests, no matter how outrageous it was.

“Okay.” Erika conceded. “Just be careful.”

“Thank you.” I almost screamed. I was about to say more, but at that moment, Andras came walking over. He had a bow and a full quiver in one hand. I scowled as he approached, the bulk of his metal armor clanking and grinding as he moved.

“We’re set to go. Are you alright?” he asked. I gave him a look. Erika quickly made herself scarce.

“Now why would I not be alright, Andras?”

“You are not with your bow and arrow. The king has—”

“—asked me to prepare for the hunt, yes. And I’m going to get a bow and arrow, too. I know, Andras. Let me breathe. It’s not every day that I prepare to die on some kingly hunt.” I scoffed.

Andras drew closer to me, eyes eager. “You think you’re going to die?” Now I was irritated, so I snapped.

“Of course not! But everyone is probably expecting me to.” I snatched the bow and arrow out of his hands and fumed at him. Why were they all looking at me this way? Even with the perhaps little training, they still thought I was weak. Anger bloomed in the pit of my stomach and traveled up my body.

I stormed away from Andras. He could go to hell for all I cared. And Finarfin too. And Fergal—he had ditched me in the middle of training and I still had no idea where he was now. I seethed.

I knew what they were all thinking: I was too weak. I was going to die.

But I had been training and I had been getting stronger, preparing myself for a moment like this. All I needed to do now was just prove to them all that I was much better and stronger than the person that they had known before. I was going to make sure that they never thought I was weak again even as that terrified part of me hummed.

Adrenaline surged through my body, lighting up my nerves. I felt energized by the anger I felt, and at the same time, I felt so incredibly light. I knew that I could do this. I had gotten stronger from my training. I had to.

☆☆☆

I found myself standing in the great hall, staring at the monuments and plaques and little mementos—legacies that the other kings had passed down or left behind. I felt very small watching these relics.

“What are you doing?”

The voice was loud and commanding in my ear.

I jumped and shrieked and spun at the same time, arms stretched as though firing an imaginary arrow. A scoff.

“They told me that you shot the king and I didn’t want to believe it. But maybe… perhaps I should worry more that you will actually kill him this time.”

I opened my eyes and resisted the urge to jump at her. “Sonia!” I exclaimed, genuinely relieved. “Fergal told me that you were gone and I didn’t know what to do. I—”

“—will stay away from me until I tell you that it’s okay for you to approach.”

She looked me over. She was dressed in the same garb that she had worn in the fight against the Crimson-horned stag: a chainmail vest and a loose-flowing skirt that had been cut in several places at the hem. She had small knives in the waistband of her skirt and a long sword was strapped across her back.

Her boots made a crunching noise as she walked around me. She suddenly lifted my arm. “These are the arms that fired the arrow that wounded the king? Impressive.”

“I didn’t,” I said. “It was a…” I tapered off and squinted my eyes. “Why are you suddenly here, Sonia? Fergal had told me that you were away.”

“Indeed, I was,” she said and blew hair out of her face. She was a nervous ball of energy, moving around like she absolutely could not be still for more than a moment. “I just returned.”

She would offer nothing more; I had so many questions to ask. Where had she gone? What had she gone to do? What was so important that she would leave my training to Fergal?

But at that very moment, Finarfin walked in, flanked on both sides by Fergal and Andras.

“Let us depart. The day does not wait on us.”

I bowed my head as I marched, trying not to fall over my feet. It was difficult balancing the bow that I had snatched from Finarfin with my swollen arms. Everything hurt.

“Join us, Sonia.” Finarfin boomed and I looked once at Sonia, saw that she was quaking, and averted my gaze. It looked like she also did not want to go on this expedition. She would not meet my gaze. Her head was straight and held high, her gaze fixed solely on the back of Finarfin’s head. Neither Fergal nor Andras would turn in my direction either.

The great doors of the palace opened and a gust of wind hit me in the face. Outside, a retinue of handlers and court people, those who were always on hand when the king went hunting were already here.

I could see a few of the warriors and some palace boys and maids. There was a wagon and horses and several other people who were not warriors that wielded weapons in their hands. The weapons were for the hunt, I guessed. I just wondered what exactly it was that we were hunting.

Everybody looked grim and steadfast. It was nice to see that I was not the only tense person here.

Finarfin did not even turn once to acknowledge all the people who had come for him.

“I won’t be needing all of you, only those I have specifically called. The rest of you can go do whatever else you want to do.” He charged.

A small man ran to the front of the king. He had a body that was made to plead.

“My King, it is customary for the king to go out hunting with a retinue. You will need the weapons bearers and the hunters and the—“

Finarfin’s glare instantly silenced the man.

“Did I not say that I do not require the company of all those gathered except for those I have specifically called?”

“My king?”

“Did I say it or not?” Finarfin roared.

The man shrank and bowed himself low. “Yes, my king.”

Finarfin scoffed as he turned to his retinue who would not now be joining us.

“Then let it be so.” Were the words that hung heavy in the air as he swept away, Sonia, Fergal, Andras, and myself quickly marching in his wake.