“Where do you want to start?”
Grace looked all over with wide eyes. Children ran by with jars filled with colorful bugs lighting up inside them. The closest booth had a young man leaning on it, making eyes at the girl cooking the corn. And not even two saplings away, an older man danced slowly all by himself to the fast music playing. Everywhere you turned there were people having a good time.
Grace bit her lip as she took it all in. Compared to the drab sick wolves, this place was a fairy tale come true. She looked like she couldn’t decide what to do.
“Food first?”
Grace nodded as she stared around in awe.
I began walking forward but noticed the crowd could easily split us apart as people made their way in every which direction. I reached back and took her hand to keep her close to me as I aimed for the cooked corn and turkey legs that were roasting over an open pit not too far away. Food was always a good way to start the night.
“Two turkey legs,” I told the young woman at the table serving the food.
It was busy, and she turned her back to us to grab the food. As she turned back to hand them to me, her jaw dropped when she saw Grace next to me. Festival or not, no one was used to seeing a wolf in the tree village. This was going to be a long night. Grace turned away without noticing to watch several children ride the fast lifts to the tree and back down to the ground, so I took the food and thanked the girl before pulling Grace away without her seeing the reaction of the girl at the booth.
“Where to?” I asked Grace as she bit into the food and juice dribbled down her chin. I stepped back to the booth for just a moment for a napkin and handed it to her before we started walking away from the stares.
Dusk was settling, and most people didn’t look too closely to see Grace’s ice-blue eyes, but the girl with the food had, and I hoped that was the worst reaction we’d get. I know as a wolf, Grace was used to it, but the whole purpose of the festival was defeated if they were going to gawk and stare at her for being a wolf.
Grace dabbed at the juice dripping on her chin and pointed to the man doing magic just beyond the red and yellow dressed juggler who currently had eight balls in the air. I nodded and offered my arm to Grace as we dove back into the crowd, food in hand.
The magician was surrounded by children that couldn’t be more than four or five winters old. They all stared in awe at him as he made his buttons on his coat disappear and then reappear. After a few more tricks, he pulled a flower out from nowhere and handed it to the small girl in the front row. Grace smiled and clapped along with the children. Her smile was making me smile too.
With everything that was wrong in Elder, Red was right in that the people needed this. It was too bad not many wolves were a part of it. They could use the break. But it was great for everyone who was there. People all around us were smiling and dancing and having a fun time. If Red wanted the wolves and humans to get along, this was by far the best way to do it.
“What next?” I asked Grace.
“I don’t know,” she replied with her eyes big as she looked around. Music, food, and laughter filled the air.
“Let’s just walk,” I suggested. Grace nodded, and I led the way further into the trees and crowd of people all having fun.
We meandered between stalls, trying a few more foods, and stopping to look at things we could buy. The wolves didn’t trade much with the tree people, but I had plenty to trade, being Red’s son and all. I offered to get Grace whatever she wanted, but she was just happy to look at it as we walked past.
We occasionally stopped for her to look at items or to play a game. There was one man who could keep a ball hidden in cups, and you had to guess where it was. Another man was making a game out of guessing how many winters old you were. Grace had a good laugh at the game where a man was sitting next to a target, and children were trying to hit it to make him fall into the water below him. I had to explain to Grace that he was one of the teachers at the younger school in the village, and almost all of the kids playing were his students.
As we neared the end of one of the pathways, we found dozens of couples dancing around a fire pit. The music was loud, but the laughter and smiles were even louder. Grace smiled at the commotion.
“Want to dance?” I asked over the music.
Grace grinned and nodded. I took her hand and led her into the circle that was still spinning. The people dancing didn’t pay notice to Grace’s blue eyes that gave away she was a wolf and let her into the circle. We began to spin with them, marching to the beat of the loud drum playing in the band. The music picked up its pace, and we turned the other direction. We followed along with the people as we danced to the song. By the time the song ended, most of the dancers had collapsed into giggling heaps. I caught Grace as she was about to be pulled down into a group.
“That was fun,” she exclaimed, a little out of breath as I pulled her from the dancers.
I led Grace back into the next row of booths and was surprised to find Red there, looking through a stand of jewelry.
“Mother?”
Red turned around and grinned at me. She came over and hugged both me and Grace. I stood there in shock as Grace began to talk with her. They chatted like old friends as I continued just to stand there and stare.
“Did you have anything to eat yet?” Red was asking as my shock began to wear off.
“We had some of those little sugar swirly cookie things,” Grace replied. “Those were my favorite.”
“Did you try the brown and red ones yet, those little square ones I saw a couple of booths that way?” Red pointed away from us.
Grace peered around her and shook her head. We hadn’t walked that direction yet.
They continued to talk, and I took a step back. The world had been turned upside down. Sure, I had seen Red happy before, but nothing like this. It was almost like she had drunk a whole barrel of wine on her own. This wasn’t anything like the mother I grew up with and nothing like the Red that watched over the people of Elder. It was more than a little strange to see her talking away with Grace, not a care in the world.
“I see you brought a date,” Sera said from behind me, distaste in her voice.
Of course, if my mother was off wandering the festival, Sera wouldn’t be too far behind. Lately, it was like they were attached by a two-sapling-long invisible rope.
“Date?” I asked, still staring at Red as she talked. Her hair cascaded down her back. I tried my best to remember, but I came up blank, thinking of a time that her hair wasn’t tightly pulled back off her face. It was like I was on a different planet or something.
“The wolf,” Sera replied, pointing to Grace.
“Yes, I brought Grace with me,” I answered.
It wasn’t really like it was a date. I mean, I asked her to come and all, but it still wasn’t something romantic. Grace was an old friend, and being together at the festival just made that clearer. I had nothing beyond friendship for her, nothing like Nikkan felt. I wasn’t sure it would be classified as a date, but I didn’t need to spend my time arguing with Sera. She could argue about anything.
“A wolf? You seriously date wolves? Everyone said there was something off with you, but I think this proves it,” Sera replied. She didn’t seem to agree with my mother’s wolf-loving attitude.
“You and I both know there’s nothing different between a wolf and a tree person. They are people of Elder, just like everyone else.” We had had that argument more than once growing up.
“They are animals. You can pretend they aren’t different, but they are.” Sera talked to me, but every time she turned to Grace, her face soured like she personally disliked the wolf she'd probably never even met before tonight.
I didn’t let Sera get to me. She talked like this every time she was upset, though I really had no idea what was rubbing her the wrong way right now. Maybe she didn’t like to see Red happy. I knew the wolves bothered her, but she didn’t hate them like she pretended to. She just was scared of them like the rest
of the people.
“They are as much an animal as you or I,” I replied before leaving her standing next to the jewelry stand Red had been looking at as we approached.
“So, you guys are having fun?” Red asked, still in her cheery mood.
“Much,” Grace replied with a grin.
Her smile was still rubbing off on me. It actually wasn’t too bad to be walking around all the tree people. For once, they were just having fun and not giving me the glares that had plagued my life with them. Grace got a few stares every now and then when someone caught her blue eyes, but no one besides Sera was hostile.
“Well, I should let you go taste that treat I was telling you about. It’s just down that way.” Red waved the direction behind her and the way we were already heading.
I nodded to Red as Grace took my arm to haul me off in search of a new treat. Sera glared at Grace. If I had time to care, I’d have asked more, but I was at a festival and having fun. Sera’s mood wasn’t going to spoil our time, and I wasn’t about to let Grace see Sera staring daggers at her.
“Nikkan’s missing so much fun,” Grace said as we walked away from Red and Sera.
I just nodded. Yet another thing I didn’t want to deal with. It was one night. Just one night. I wanted to feel like we belonged, have fun, be normal. Sera and Nikkan could pout another time. I didn’t need to think or deal with either of them.
“Which way do we need to go?” I asked, trying to get off the subject of my friend.
“That way, I think.” Grace smiled at me with her infectious grin.
I let it all go and just let the festival be my focus. It was time to have fun, and I wasn’t going to let anything ruin it. And that was enough to turn it into one of the most entertaining times I’d had in a very long time.
Grace and I ate more food than I knew was possible, played games that we won and lost, danced more than once to music, and found that the second time walking around the festival was just as fun as the first time.
Many people had noticed Grace by the time we were making our second loop, but few cared. Red had planned and made a festival that everyone was enjoying. Every now and then, we ran across another wolf, someone that lived or worked near the city, but for the most part, the wolves were few and far between.
Grace stopped talking about Nikkan, and I was able to put my friend and his anger behind us for the night. He chose not to come. It could have been him taking Grace around, but he was too chicken to do that. Heck, it could have been all three of us having fun together, but again, he didn’t care. He was the one missing out.
So much in Elder was changing, and I was happy to see something changing for the better. The wolves and tree people could get along. Red’s festival was proof of that. It was everything she always wanted.
As the night grew old, Grace and I made our way back to where we began. She planned to turn into a wolf and head home for the night while I went back to my house. I really didn’t want our night to end as it was back to reality. We stood just inside the festival but close enough to the woods that the magic of the night was fading.
“You’re not going to kiss me goodnight or anything, right?” Grace joked.
I smiled and shook my head. There was no way I’d do that to Nikkan, even if he was too chicken to ask her out. Grace was my friend, and that was it.
“I kind of got the feeling this was just a friends thing,” Grace continued, knowing exactly how it felt.
“Nikkan would kill me if I put any move on you,” I explained, and her cheeks flushed.
She had spent all afternoon and evening with me and not a single blush. Just mentioning his name made her red as a sunburn. We both knew there was nothing between us, but she wasn’t ready to admit her feelings for Nikkan as much as he wasn’t ready. I could live with that.
“You were my friend before all the weirdness between you and Nikkan and will be long after that goes away. Nothing will change that,” I explained. Grace grinned at me. “This was just a fun night with a friend I’ve known for over ten winters.”
“Good. I didn’t know what I’d do if you both liked me.”
It was my turn to grin. She knew how Nikkan felt. Quickly she covered her mouth as she realized what she had just told me. I laughed.
“I won’t tell him,” I assured her. Heck, I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to see him for a while as he cooled down from our last fight. If only I could talk to Nikkan or my mother for that matter without fighting.
“Crap.” I turned back to the festival and searched the crowd as far as I could see. Where was Red?
“What?” Grace asked.
“I needed to talk to Red a bit. I better do that before we head back.”
I needed to try one more time to get Red to check out the wolves. Possibly her great mood would make it easier to convince her. It was worth a shot. Maybe she had drunk a whole barrel of wine. I could only hope.
“Okay.” Grace looped her arm in mine. “Let’s go find her.”
Without a single question, Grace pulled me back into the moving crowd. It was going to be harder than just walking into the crowd, but Grace didn’t seem to mind. She was already eyeing up a table with desserts, though I was pretty sure I had no room left to eat. I had a feeling she was up for making another whole circle of the festival if that’s what it took to find Red.
I froze mid-step as I felt something. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I felt it, like the forest was telling me something. I turned back to the woods to scan it when a woman’s scream pierced the air. Everyone froze what they were doing.
Red came plowing through the crowd to a group just behind us. I turned and followed her.
“What’s going on, Mauve?” Red asked, authority back in place, and all happiness gone from her.
“My baby, my baby,” Mauve cried into the shirt of the woman closest to her. The other women with her pulled their children closer to them as the first woman continued to wail.
“What about your baby?” Red asked gently but not with any less authority.
“He was sitting over there,” the woman holding her said, pointing to an empty blanket on the ground.
“It took him,” Mauve cried hysterically into the shirt of the woman. A younger dark-haired man pushed his way through the crowd, scooping the crying woman into his arms.
“Where’s Jakob?” he asked, his voice gentle but loud enough to be heard where I stood with Grace.
Everyone looked around. The child was nowhere to be found.
Mauve finally pulled her head back to answer the question everyone was thinking, along with her husband and Red.
“A wolf took him.”
8
Terms used
Vocab:
Winters- one year
New moon- one month
Moon cycle- one month
A moon- one day/24 hrs
A season- 4 months
One season oak tree- 5 feet
Heir of the Curse
1
4th March
“A wolf took him.”
Words I never expected to hear in my lifetime had been spoken. There was a fragile peace between the different people of Elder. It had been eighteen winters since a wolf had attacked a human, and it shattered the peace in the blink of an eye. A wolf took a child.
Elder was a vast kingdom made up of plains in the south that were farmland and the woods of the north where two types of humans resided. One group was ordinary humans that lived in the trees in whole villages that were off the ground, and the other group was humans that transformed into wolves who lived on the ground. The later had terrorized the tree residents for hundreds of winters. It was only recently in the last eighteen winters or so that the curse had been broken by our leader, The Red of Elder. The wolf people now had full control over their human and wolf sides and didn’t attack humans. Until today.
I felt the wind change, and my friend Grace started to shake beside me. While the villagers processed that information,
Grace and I knew what it meant. War was coming for the wolves. The tree dwellers wouldn’t see good or bad. Any wolf would be a target. They would be suspicious of every single wolf around.
Grace would be one of those targets, being one of the few wolves at the festival we were attending. It wasn’t safe for her to be in this crowd, surrounded by hundreds of humans that were now realizing that the wolves of old were back. Tree humans would see her as the enemy, no matter if she were standing in front of them as a regular human. They’d see her different-colored eyes and hair as a sign, not of what she was, but of what she could be.
We didn’t wait for the people to come out of their shock at the news. I took Grace’s arm and pulled her out of the crowd of people and into the woods.
Grace tripped over her feet in the dark.
“What do we do?” she asked, her hands still shaking as she clung to me.
I kept her just inside the tree line as I stood and watched the villagers and my mother, The Red of Elder. We were still close enough that I could hear what was being said.
“We need to act now. We need to stop them before more people get hurt,” someone said in the crowd.
Red held up a hand, and the people around her quieted.
“Mauve. Are you sure it was a wolf? Could he have crawled away?”
The lady who was still sobbing into her husband’s shirt pulled her face back just inches.
“I know what I saw. He was there and happy. When I turned back to check on him, I saw the tail of a wolf, and the baby was gone. I’m certain it was a wolf.”
Red looked disappointed. Here we were at a festival she had spent many moons planning to bring the wolves and tree people of Elder together, and it was pulling them further apart.
“It was a wolf,” another lady told Red. “I saw it too.”
“Me too,” another one added.
“It’s always the wolves. They can’t be trusted,” someone yelled from the gathered crowd.
Castiel: Son of Red Riding Hood (Kingdom of Fairytales Boxset Book 3) Page 8
