Chapter 8
1884 Words
Sullivan walks into the cave and watches Tsura softly talk to Mia. Mia’s eyes make contact with his, and he feels a jolt run through his body. He knows that this girl is not just a seer, as her mother says. There is much more than meets the eye.
“Mia, sweetheart, I need to speak to your mother.” She doesn’t break eye contact before a sly little smile forms on her face. She gives him a little curtsy, and he can’t help but laugh.
If he plays his cards right, that little girl will be a great addition to his pack. As a seer, NOT a pack member. He has been playing her game of knights and princesses, and it seems to be working. As soon as she is out of range, he turns his attention to Tsura.
“I know what you want to ask.” Her voice is calm as she keeps his gaze. She usually lowers her eyes, but something in them is different.
He didn’t notice it before, probably because she didn’t look him in the eyes… He waves his hand for her to walk ahead of him, and she hesitates for a moment before obliging. He wants to ask, but something tells him to wait for her to tell him. He has always been a good judge of character.
Well, he thought so, until the disasters happened.
“The rabbit was spelled, that is why he made your wolf sick. You should send out scouts to make sure he wasn’t tracked by someone.”
“How did you know this?” She hesitates.
Sullivan pushes her up against a tree, pressing his fingers against her throat.
“How. Did. You. Know. This?” His jaw aches with the tension of not biting her.
Something flashes in her eyes, but it’s so fast he can’t place it.
“I saw its spirit!” He lets go of her and takes a step back.
“What are you?” He growls. The last person that could see spirits nearly cost him everything, including his life!
“I don’t have powers as Mia does. I can just see them. That is all.”
“But you resurrected the… rabbit!”
“I didn’t. I simply called its spirit to rejoin its body.”
“So, you don’t just see them. You can also speak to them.” A plan starts to form in the back of his mind, and he slams her back up against the tree. If she wasn’t such a vile creature, and she was a wolf, he might have…
Leaving her behind, he makes his way back to the cave and calls for his guards. If one enchanted rabbit made his way into their territory, how many more could be out there, and where are they from?
***
Ariel strokes the rabbit’s soft ears. A rogue pack in the farthest reaches. Rogues are common and have always been, but when they start forming a pack, it could become a problem. It usually means trouble…
A mysterious man invading Circe’s dreams and now a rogue pack. Something is going on, and she has to find out what before it finds her!
Ariel storms into the house and finds Circe fast asleep.
“Wake up, girl! Come on, get up!”
She smacks Circe’s leg before pulling her upright.
***
Circe wakes up with a start!
“WHAT?!”
“We need to talk. I want to know everything!” Ariel paces the floor and Circe rubs her eyes.
“What are you talking about?”
“Listen here, little girl! I helped you when I thought you were in trouble, but now your trouble is coming closer to my home, and that is a problem for me!”
“What are you talking about?” She feels as if she just keeps repeating herself. Getting up and grabbing a cup of tea while she tries to figure out what Ariel is going on about.
Ariel starts rambling on about the rabbit… And it talks?
“Wait what?” Ariel sighs when Circe hands her a cup of tea.
“Circe! Focus! The rabbit, you wanted to eat, is actually a friend. He was eaten by a rogue wolf.” Circe pulls a face she knows doesn’t look good, but she gives Ariel the chance to explain.
The rabbit told her about a rogue pack that is forming nearby. Circe wonders if her father knows.
“Don’t you get it? First, there is the stranger in your dreams and then there is the rogue pack that just popped up. I want to know what happened to you, and I want to know now!”
“First off, I didn’t know there were rogues around. There haven’t been rogues for a long time. Secondly, I have news of my own… I met the man of my dreams.”
Ariel bursts out laughing, and it takes Circe a moment to realize what she just said.
“Dammit! You know what I mean. I caught him spying on me!”
“Did you see his face?”
“Uhm, I was more preoccupied with trying to find out who he is than looking at his features, although, he is pretty… pretty to look at, but to answer your question… Yes and no. I saw his face, but it’s all a blur.”
She waves her hand through the air and rolls her eyes at Ariel’s grin.
“Tell me more…”
***
Harro is ripped out of the dream and feels utterly confused. It’s not like her to just jump out of a dream. He shakes his head, but her beautiful features keep popping up in his mind.
A soft knock on the door lets him know that Mia is here for her visit. When he opens the door, however, her mother doesn’t look good, and he invites her in. Tsura is fidgeting and looking absent-minded.
“Is everything okay?” He puts his hand on her wrist to stop her hands from shaking a little, and she rips them away so fast, it’s almost as if he hurt her.
“I’m fine. I need to go.” She is out the door before he can say anything else, and Mia has her hands on her hips.
“Were you trying somfin wiff, my momma?”
“No, NO. Of course, not. I am just worried. Is everything okay at home?”
Mia starts to tell him about the knight, and he frowns. She keeps referring to the knight and herself as the princess, but he hasn’t been able to place what or where exactly they live and who this knight is.
It is one of the reasons behind her nightmares. It has to be.
He decides to clear his head, so they can start their session.
***
Sullivan finds a trail and some tracks, and he follows it. They haven’t been able to find his niece yet. Could she have been right under his nose all this time? He sniffs the air to find a scent but even though the tracks are fresh there is no scent. Magic rabbits and scentless tracks.
Then he hears female voices, and he shows his pack to keep quiet. He knows that there are no wolves except for the pack, and they don’t come all the way out here.
The prettiest creature he has ever seen floats into view, and beside her is his niece! She has been under his nose all this time! Why can’t he smell her scent? He sniffs the air again and still, no scent.
He growls softly.
***
Harro sits upright in the middle of meditation! What was that! He felt this huge fear rush through him all of a sudden and two seconds later Mia is glaring at him.
“Who is the lady?”
“Who?” He frowns.
“The lady in your future. The one with the pretty face.”
“How do you…” He gets up and realizes what a huge mistake he’s made trying to help a seer!
“Mia, you can’t tell anyone about this. Please.”
“I won’t.” Somehow, he doesn’t trust her.
That’s twice in twenty-four hours that he was outwitted by a woman. He must be losing his touch. When Tsura comes to pick Mia up, she looks a lot calmer.
They are gone for just a couple of minutes when he starts to wonder what happened. He really needs to get out of here! If he isn’t careful, the royals will find him, and it will be all over.
He looks around his house and starts to pack. After what happened today, he can’t afford to hang around here.
***
Ariel bullied Circe into finally telling her what happened, and the honest truth is it feels incredible to finally let it all out. They go for a walk through the forest to try and calm Ariel’s nerves when she hears something.
“The rogues!” Ariel looks around them. Circe shifts and sniffs the air. Their scent is unmistakable!
Circe scans the woods, then notices movement to the east. She focusses her vision, but it’s one of those damn rabbits again! Then there is a bigger movement, that catches the corner of her eye.
She notices the tip of a torn ear and in seconds sprints, running in that direction.
“Circe! No!” Ariel shouts, but Circe is already halfway to where she saw the movement. Rogues around this area can only mean they want to attack her pack or even go after the little ones!
She has to let her father know…
***
Sullivan runs through the forest, ducking left and right. He can’t lead them to the cave and turns away from the others, so his niece will follow him. Leading her to a trap they laid out for any intruders.
He jumps over the trap and doesn’t look back, hearing her howl in pain. It worked! Who would have thought that a simple thing like a trap would finally help him reach his goals!
If only he knew that from the start, he wouldn’t have spent so much money trying to ruin his brother!
***
Circe noticed the trap just in time before falling into it. She howls in the hopes that whoever she is following would think that she got hurt. Following his tracks, carefully this time, she nearly jumps out of her skin when Ariel pops up in front of her.
“Where are you going?! We need to find out who this is first!”
“Dammit, Ariel, stand aside! My family is in danger!”
“And they will be in even more if you go to them now! Or follow this rogue! Come on, we need to get out of here before they figure out you weren’t hurt.” Ariel grabs her by her arm, throws her cloak over her shoulders, and basically drags her away.
They keep their eyes and ears open as best they can to make sure they aren’t followed. Too much is happening at once, and it’s not safe for either of them! They need to think about possibly getting out of here!
- Writer
