“You’re too kind. Would you like to try something out? That’s why I keep this one around.” She winked, waving at Cain. “Most do keep them for decoration, but many become gifted at using them. It won’t kill one of us, but it’s good fun and a nice skill to have.”
“I don’t know about that. Aren’t we not supposed to fight at the festival?” I glanced at them nervously. I’d experimented with knives and daggers before, but thought they had no point.
“Oh, come on, we’ll be playing,” Cain pleaded. “I’ve nothing better to do. Let’s have some fun. What’ll it be?”
I grinned at him, “Daggers would be great.”
He walked along the tables, surveying them carefully. He picked one up, holding it out to me. Reya made a noise of disagreement. He looked at her, “Not this one?” She shook her head. He kept looking, picking up a few more to be shot down by her again. Reya finally sighed.
“Selene, come pick your own.”
I was confused, thinking it didn’t really matter which one I used, as they were just daggers. I went to where the daggers were laid out, their colors reflecting brightly due to the sunlight. One of them caught my eye, two handles sticking out of a sheath. Each end had a blue gem, then a black leather handle leading into the center. I pulled each blade out to reveal blue glass matching the gems, swirls running through them. Reya nodded, an odd look on her face. “Try it out.”
Cain had chosen to match me with small daggers to level the playing field. “You know how to use those?”
I shrugged, “I have in the past, but you know me…”
“You’d rather use your fists, yes, I know. They are very effective.”
We crouched in front of each other, smiles on both of our faces. He lunged first, a force of wind moving past me as I sidestepped out of the way. He moved swiftly, arm swinging to catch me. I raised my blade to catch his and ducked, aiming for his leg. He spun out of the way and countered with an attack of his own. We continued this way, both of us landing cuts and gashes on the other. We were both breathing heavily, laughter filling the air in between grunts and cries. I let go of the frustrations I had earlier, focused solely on this right now. The knives hummed in my hands, driving my moves forward. Cain and I were well versed in fighting, reacting to the other’s movement without thinking. It was fast and focused, drawing the attention of those passing by. We could feel that we had acquired an audience, yet neither of us stopped.
I was rolling and dodging, relying on my speed to land hits anywhere on his body. He knew he was disadvantaged with such a small weapon, but enjoyed the fight, nonetheless. Not used to having to use such close proximity to deliver his hits, he stumbled back, landing on the ground. “I yield, Selene.” He finally called out, laughing breathlessly. I held out my hand to help him up. “We’ve got to train with weapons when we get more time.”
I laughed back, “I agree, that was fun.” Adrenaline was coursing through my blood. It surprised me I’d been able to move so easily in the pants. “I love these.” I looked at the daggers, then back up at Reya. She was looking at me in awe. “How much for them?” They still tingled in my hands.
She shook her head, then bowed slightly. “They are yours, My Lady.”
My Lady? What happened to Selene? “Oh, no. I insist. I would love to buy them.”
“They aren’t hers to sell,” Lucian stepped up from the gathered crowd. “They’ve chosen you; they are yours. Those are 100% moonstone; you are their master now.”
I would never get used to the magic they were so used to. The power of the moon goddess was strong on the island, impacting so much of their lives. Is this why Reya had wanted me to pick?
“They only respond to a powerful lycan.” She explained. “I just wanted to see if what Cain said was true. They are yours now. May they protect you against any who stand in your way.”
CHAPTER 29
Lucian led me around for the remainder of the night, insisting he wanted to get to know me better. I still didn’t have a pleasant feeling about him, but I had no reason to believe he was anything but a loving brother to Sebastian. We found our way around the festival, sampling different sweets. Desserts weren’t my favorite, but these were delightful. He showed me to an area where the kids played. They had games set up to stay occupied. A fountain was in the middle, giggles following the kids in and out of the water. We joined them, getting swept up in innocent laughter and joy. There was no room to be suspicious of him surrounded by children. We played all the games they could think of until they were tired and sore from running around all day. They sat and begged for stories, and I filled the silence with stories about growing up with Gabby. I told them of the trouble we’d get into at our pack, being disruptive and full of mischief. They ate it up, giggling and demanding more until they fell asleep or their parents came to collect them. It reminded me of a time before my grief. A time where I relished in the pack life. I denied this for years, but I missed it. It was good to feel like part of a community again.
“I should apologize to you.” Lucian said as he led me back to the castle. I glanced at him. “I led you to believe you had something to worry about with Sebastian.” At the mention of him, I was reminded that I hadn’t seen him all day. “His heart has never belonged to another.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Why are you telling me this?”
“I like you more than I thought I would.”
We walked in silence for a while, and I didn’t realize I was mindlessly following him until we were in an unfamiliar part of the castle. It was dark and sinister. There were blood stains and scratches scattered along the walls and the floors. “Lucian, what is this?” My heart was beating erratically, fear creeping into my body. I was uneasy about this place. It felt dangerous and forbidden.
“I told you. I like you more than I thought I would.” He sounded angry, making my fear increase. Was he going to hurt me?
He opened a door for me and closed it behind him with a loud bang. There were chains coming from various places in the room- the walls, the floors, the ceilings. I felt sick. This looked evil. “I think you deserve to know the complete story, and my dear brother is never going to tell you. You need to know to understand. And you need to understand to stand a chance.”
“Understand what? To stand a chance against who?”
“You don’t get it. You’re young, uneducated. You can’t understand him if you don’t know his story. He refuses to talk about it, and you will never truly know him because of it.”
I didn’t feel good about this. He shouldn’t be telling me personal things about Sebastian. “That’s not your place, Lucian. He should tell me if he’s comfortable, and if he never is, that’s his choice.”
He laughed sadly, “He’s ashamed, Selene. And you will never have all of him.”
“It’s still his choice to make.” I wanted to know what Lucian thought I should know, but not at the risk of betraying Sebastian.
“He is not the sole owner of this story. It is all of ours to tell.” He walked over to one of the chains on the ground. He held it in his hand, staring down at it, as though he didn’t know where to start.
“There are tunnels that run beneath this kingdom. They house rooms far worse than you can imagine. This room is nothing compared to what is hidden beneath these floors. Nikolaj Drakov was not a gentle man.” He dropped the chain, moving to a wall. He ran his fingers along a pair of scratch marks. “These rooms were where he would teach us. If we stepped out of line, or upset him in any way, we landed ourselves in one of the rooms. This was a good room. In here you would just be chained up and beaten. Some would be in here for weeks, fed just enough to stay alive.”
“Lucian…” I could tell he was struggling. This was as hard to listen to as it was to speak about.
“Drakov was never said to be kind. He wasn’t evil, just not kind. Until he lost his mate. Without her, his soul was broken and damaged. He desired power. It filled him with a purpose; a reason to continue living through
the pain. It sickened his mind.” This wasn’t unheard of. Losing a mate was believed to be the worst thing to happen to someone. It was nearly impossible for your wolf to recover and heal from it. Many went mad or took their lives.
“At first, it was expansion. He couldn’t get enough land, determined to spread his pack as far as it would go. He didn’t mind whether you were a wolf or a lycan, he welcomed all of them. As you can imagine, it was the werewolves who were losing their lives during his quest for expansion.” I had only ever heard that he took over packs, destroying every last wolf. I didn’t know he used them to further his reign.
“Eventually, he became intoxicated. The power that came with ruling more people filled his head and became all he wanted. The more resistance they met him with, the more cruel he grew. He stayed away much of the time but would come back to the island on occasion to oversee the teachings in these rooms. Those of us on the council were his generals, released onto the packs to break them into submission. We would send those who opposed back to the island. Some lycans would meet their mates and flee, knowing if Drakov got word of it, they’d be killed.”
He sat on the ground and motioned for me to come sit next to him. I glanced around, still feeling uneasy. His story was doing nothing to make me feel any better. “Come sit with me, there’s no use standing.” I sat down slowly, eyeing him warily.
“If you failed to overtake a pack, you and your entire team were sent back to the island to face Drakov. It was something new every time. Silver injections, bullets, whippings, starving and much more.” He stared at the ground, unblinking. My eyes filled with tears watching him struggle to get the words out. They had all suffered so much. I couldn’t even imagine what that would be like. I thought my father was bad, but that was nothing compared to this. I reached out for his hand and he flinched, eyes snapping up to mine, shocked.
“Sorry.” I whispered, my hand stopping mid-air.
He shook his head and took my hands. “Thank you.” He cleared his throat. “Eventually, we had enough. We thought we could fight back if we united against him. Surely 6 of us would stand a chance. We were very, very wrong.” I thought of all the people on the council. Sebastian, Leith and Cain were very strong and very skilled. With 3 more people, they still weren’t a match for Drakov? “The reapers were on the island and took Drakov’s side against us because he was the lycan Lord. He had us all locked up together at first and then separated us to break us down. Drakov was trying to find out which one of us was responsible for the plan.”
His hands were icy and shaking, but his voice was strong and unwavering. “He took Nomi first, then Tasmin. He was convinced they were responsible, claiming they had tried to seduce us into turning against him. He believed that would be the only reason we would’ve revolted. They were gone for weeks but never broke. After they returned, Seb took the blame. He had come up with a whole story about using an alpha command on us to make us do his bidding. It was bullshit, but Drakov bought it. We were returned to the mainland to continue his conquest, and Seb wasn’t seen for years.”
My eyes watered at the thought that Sebastian had been trapped in a torture chamber for years, enduring who knows what. A lump formed in my throat, and I struggled to keep my composure.
His eyes narrowed as I wiped away the few tears that had escaped. “You care for him more than you show.”
I choked, “I would react like this to anyone going through that.”
He pursed his lips but chose not to fight me. “We did his bidding, too afraid to challenge him again. Seb came back, and everything went back to how it had been. Years passed, Drakov coming back to the mainland to figure out his ultimate plan. It had been 40 years of conquering and building. With him away from his reapers and protectors on the island, Seb challenged him. The fight lasted days, news of it traveling to the rest of us. Those who were close enough sought him out, while the rest of us stayed put. By some miracle, Sebastian won. An era of peace would begin.” He laughed bitterly. “That was our idea at least.”
“It was more than an idea. You got peace.”
“No,” He scowled, “We got exile. The wolf alphas who were left came together, calling upon reapers to aid them. They voted to banish us from the mainland forever. We saved them and got hatred instead of peace, in return.”
I shook my head. “You got peace. The war ended; you did what you set out to do. Can you blame them for not trusting you?”
“We saved them. You’ve no idea what we endured and risked getting to that point, and we got rewarded with what?”
“No, and neither do they. The wolves saw 40 years of being conquered. Whether or not you stopped him, their story doesn’t get erased.”
He looked at me, his face hiding his thoughts well. “Does that make it fair?”
I took his hand again, “None of it is fair, but you have a chance at that future today. Don’t let it go.” I smiled at him. He was hurt and scared of what lay ahead, and I could understand that. Hope was hard to hold onto sometimes.
After leading me back to my room, he stood there a long while, leaning against the wall. “You are what he needs, Selene. Stop fighting it.”
CHAPTER 30
I was outside an unfamiliar cave, a gentle waterfall flowing next to me into a beautiful pool of water. The moon was bright and almost full above us. The land was filled with soft grass, still vibrant despite the darkness of the night. I didn’t know where I was, but I was enjoying it.
“I like your daggers.” A young girl skipped over, a grin lighting up her face. She was me, at maybe 8 years old. Her hair was messy, and she was missing one of her front teeth.
I smiled back at her, waving her to sit next to me. “Thank you. I just got them today.”
“I know. That’s why I’m here. I’m a gift for now.”
“You’re what?” I laughed. The pool was so calming I didn’t allow myself to be confused.
“I’m a gift to you. The moon goddess released me to help you. She says you need me.”
“Is that so… Why’s that?”
“Everyone needs their sister, silly.”
✽✽✽
I was being shaken awake, the sun a blinding light in my window. “Rise and shine,” Brett sang loudly. I pulled the covers over my head and rolled over, determined to return to my dream. It hadn’t been me; it had been Gabby. “Wake up, Selene! Don’t you want to enjoy the festival for one last time?”
I growled, pulling the covers off and looking at him. “You interrupted my dream.”
“Was it about Lover Boy?” He teased, tossing me a wink.
I made a face, “No, it was not.”
“Darn,” He pouted. “No matter… I have gossip.” I ate my fruits as he started talking about what he had heard yesterday. He heard Sebastian and I ignored each other, and I spent the day with Lucian instead. Were we in high school, acting like I couldn’t spend a day away from my mate or around his family? “I even heard you went on a brief tour of the castle, Selene.”
I drank my coffee, making my way to the closet to pick out a different color for the day. I held up a dark red and a maroon pair to Brett. “Sebastian and I aren’t avoiding each other. I did spend a lot of the day with Lucian, and he took me on a little tour.” I thought back to all I had heard last night. Had Brett taken Drakov’s side? I erased the thought immediately. I knew who Brett was now, and that’s what mattered to me.
“Red for sure,” Brett was searching through my collection of jewelry, picking through what he thought I should wear today. “Did you have an enjoyable day yesterday?”
I smiled at him as I took a tank top out of the closet with the pants. “I spent my day playing and talking to kids. It was really nice.”
“You like it here!” He accused playfully.
I smirked back, “So what if I do?”
Brett had insisted I leave my hair down and wavy today, certain it would complement the red I was wearing. He opted out of a hair vine, saying my hair needed to flow freely. I
had been getting more sun exposure on the island than I had back at Old Moon, and my natural tan was darkening. I loved how the jewelry went with my complexion, and I wished it was practical to dress up like this every day.
When I entered the festival, I caught sight of Leith. I pounced on him, engulfing him in a hug. “Where have you been?!” I had barely seen him since we landed, and I missed him.
He laughed and hugged me back. “I have a life, you know. One I’ve been away from for 6 years. I had to catch up at least a little. Besides, it's only been a few days.”
“Oh, fine. I’m just glad you didn’t forget about me.”
“How could I? You’ve only spent 6 years torturing me.” He rolled his eyes, a smile still on his face.
“Pretty sure you were the one torturing me with secrecy, but however you want to remember it.”
“You seemed to be enjoying yourself here, anyway. You didn’t need me around; adoration follows you everywhere.”
“I don’t know about all that, but I have been enjoying myself. I wish life was like this all the time.”
“Come, I want to show you something.” He pulled me along random streets, winding his way through the festival until we reached a part I hadn’t seen yet. “This is where they teach you crafts if you want to learn them, or practice skills you’ve forgotten about. It’s a little more interactive over here than anywhere else.” It surprised me they weren’t all kids learning. Some kids were even teaching. Everyone seemed to be focused on something, some laughing as mistakes were made. “This never ends. People are constantly learning new skills and perfecting those they already have. It’s the reason festival is so magical. It’s never the same.”
I saw a teenage boy at a station with wig heads, unique styles of braids set up as examples. I squealed in joy and raced over, excited to practice other styles. Gabby and I used to practice our braids on each other, trying to out-do one another. It would be fun to do it again. I asked the boy to teach me some of his techniques, not recognizing some hairstyles he had showcased. I might get some new hairstyles out of this trip, which would overjoy Brett. After he showed me a few, I offered to show him some of the ones I used to play around with. Before long, we were comparing our braids, racing to be the first one done with the best quality style.
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