Crimsonborn

Chapter 3 - The Late Arrival

‘Why did you run?’ Lyra’s voice echoed in my mind as I hurried down the slope, my home already in sight. It had taken longer than I expected to shake off the men looking for me in the forest, and by the time I reached the bottom of the hill, my village buzzed with excitement. I had spotted their group earlier, entering it completely at ease, their weapons sheathed.

Maybe they were merchants or had business with my father. Either way, they didn’t seem like a threat, which was a relief.

‘What do you mean, why? You told me to run!’ I finally replied.

‘I would never tell you to run from a fight!’ Lyra growled, her voice tinged with offense. ‘You’re no coward and neither am I!’

I couldn’t help but scoff. ‘Take another breath, bite and kick?’ I repeated her words from earlier, when we’d been pinned beneath that man’s body. ‘What was that, then? A poem?’

‘That was to get him off us!’ Lyra snarled. ‘He was staring at you like he wanted to eat you! If we’re going to be eaten, he better feed us first.’

I shot back, ‘Shut up!’ and leaped over the fence of the last house. I knew its owner and was certain he’d be at the tavern drinking by now, so he wouldn’t mind. I hopped over the second fence across the yard, landing on the main path that cut through the village leading straight to the Packhouse. As I walked, brushing the leaves that had gotten caught under my jerkin, a loud male voice yelled, “Get out of the way! Move, move!”

I turned, looking around in confusion, when I spotted a man coming from one of the side streets on a wagon loaded with barrels. The first thing I noticed was that he was struggling to rein in his spooked horses; the second thing was that he wasn’t shouting at me, but a small boy who stood frozen in the middle of the street, watching the horses charge toward him with trembling knees.

An old man started running toward the child, but he was too far away to get there on time. I broke into a sprint just as the wagon’s long shadow fell over the boy, grabbing him with one arm and leaping to the side a second before the horses trampled us both. The man on the cart raised his hand in apology, his prayer to the Goddess echoing in my ears while I watched him finally get the animals to slow down.

I looked down at the boy with the intent of scolding him when I recognized his face. His mother was a friend of my mother, and she often brought him along when she visited the Packhouse so I had watched over him since before he could walk.

“What are you doing out here alone, Jett? Didn’t your mother tell you not to wander off by yourself?” I snarled, giving him a stern look. His cheeks flushed as he stared between me and the disappearing wagon, then he grinned. At barely four years old, he was already one of the most mischievous kids in the village, but his innocent smile made it hard to stay angry for long.

“I wanted to see them!” Jett pouted, his tiny arms tightening around my neck when I tried to set him down. I sighed, pretending not to enjoy the hug as much as I did, then continued down the street to find his mother.

“See who?” I asked, adjusting him more comfortably on my hip while my eyes scanned the street for Jerea. She was probably already looking for him, grumbling about s******g and promises of no dinner. She had a sixth sense when it came to her youngest child making trouble.

“The king!” Jett exclaimed, and I froze mid-step, a memory tugging at the back of my mind.

“The king?” I questioned, and he nodded, an even wider grin splitting his face.

“The king of all packs!” His eyes widened, and he pointed ahead, toward the Packhouse. “They’re coming for the tribute today! I saw him! I saw him! He was as big as a mountain!”

The King. The Tribute. The visit. Today.

“Crap!” I cursed, taking a step forward, when I realized I was still holding Jett. I set him down, unhooking his arms with effort.

“Crap!” Jett giggled, making me wince with regret.

“You didn’t hear that from me,” I murmured, flicking his forehead. Just as I was about to ask a passing elderly woman to take him to his mother, I spotted Jarea. She emerged from behind one of the street stalls, her hair flying loose from its braid as her head snapped left and right.

“Jett, thank the Goddess!” she exclaimed when she spotted us, rushing to our side and hugging me tightly before grabbing Jett by the ear. “Thank you, Freya. I turned my eyes away just for a second! This rascal...” Jett whined, reaching for me with begging eyes, but before I could decide what to do, his mother frowned. “Why aren’t you at the meeting with the king?”

“Crap!” I cursed again, remembering I was in a hurry.

“Crap!” Jett mimicked, chuckling, and his mother tugged harder on his ear.

“Need to go! Bye!” I shouted over my shoulder and sprinted up the street. I darted past the guards before they could even greet me, thinking about heading straight to the meeting hall, but then I imagined what I looked like. My mother was going to skin me alive if I showed up in this state in front of such important guests.

The king! How could I forget that was today? Why didn’t anyone remind me? That was on them! I didn’t even care about that meeting, I was only going because my mother insisted we needed to show our respect as a family.

Wait, the guy I tackled... He wasn’t as huge as a mountain, though I could see how Jett might think that, but while I listened to them prepare to continue on their way, it was clear he was the one giving orders. What if he were his Beta? No, wait. If he was the one giving orders, what if he was…

Crap! Crap! Crap! Of all the people in his group, what if I ended up tackling the king? I was in so much trouble. He wouldn’t kill me for that, would he?

‘None of this would have happened if you hadn’t run,’ Lyra grumbled. ‘Why on earth would you run? You never run from fights, even when you know you’ll lose!’

‘I panicked!’ I snapped, and something in my voice must’ve struck her, because her annoyance seemed to fade. ‘When our eyes locked, I was… You were scared for a second. I’ve never felt you scared before, so it unnerved me! And I didn’t like the way he was looking at me.’

‘Freya, he is an Alpha.’ Lyra’s voice softened. ‘A very powerful one, more powerful than your father. I… I was surprised! It’s been a while since I met someone like him. He didn’t mean any harm. Well, not until we bit and kicked him. Then he was pissed.’

‘That was entirely your idea!’ I snarled.

‘And you executed it beautifully,’ she replied, as though I’d just given her a compliment. I snorted, remembering the look of disbelief on his face.

I reached my room and by the time I pushed the door open with my shoulder, I was halfway done unbuttoning my jerkin. I found Rika waiting for me inside, pacing nervously and tugging on her dark braid.

“You’re in so much trouble! I told you not to go to training today! Your brother didn't!” my best friend whispered as she rushed to my side and started tugging the dirt-stained shirt out of my pants. Being born an omega meant she could barely shift, even after sundown, so she wasn’t expected to train. Like everyone else, she found other ways to contribute, which usually involved watching after the smaller children of the pack and keeping me out of trouble. To my mother’s chagrin, she wasn’t very good at the latter.

“Felix’s a slacker!” I snarled, allowing her to drag the shirt over my head.

“No, he's not! He’s just more sensible than you!” I grumbled because I couldn't really argue there but there was no way I was saying it out loud. “What happened about coming back on time? You were supposed to be here an hour ago! Even Mohan came back, searching for you!” She stopped, giving me a quizzical look, but I kept my focus on kicking off my pants. She blew an exasperated breath when she caught one of my tangled strands between her fingers and grimaced. “For Goddess’ sake, why does your hair look like a bird’s nest?”

“No time for questions right now! Just help me fix it, Rika!” I groaned, running to the wash basin. There was no time for a full bath now, so I had to just clean the parts that were going to be visible.

She sighed, but then dutifully descended on my hair, plucking the leaves and sticks out with nimble fingers. When I was done cleaning myself, she seated me on a low stool and brushed through the locks so viciously, my eyes watered.

Five minutes later, she was tightening the ties of the dress my mother had prepared while I glared at my reflection in the mirror. She was going to be furious when she saw me, but at least I didn’t look like I had been rolling in the forest all day. Mostly.

Rika tapped my shoulder to tell me she was ready, and after giving her a quick, grateful hug, I darted out of the room. I took the corridor leading to the main door of the Mess Hall but changed my mind halfway. I was already too damn late, it would be even more embarrassing if I walked in like nothing had happened. There was a good chance of my slipping in unnoticed if I used the small back door behind my parents’ usual seats. There was even a decorative screen in front of it, so if I was really, really quiet, I could get into the room without anyone noticing. It was going to be hard to get to my chair unseen, but that was a problem for after I got in. Maybe I could just stay at the back and join when they prepared to leave, pretending like I had been there all along.

‘Just don’t go. If he were really the king, you’d only cause a scene. Let’s find something to eat instead,’ Lyra groaned, and I was really tempted to agree. Then I remembered how scary my mother could get when I did something against her orders, and the temptation went away.

‘Do you really want us to face my mother’s wrath?’ I asked, and Lyra snorted begrudgingly. The Luna was probably the only woman she truly respected enough to listen to. Except for me, of course, but she didn’t have much of a choice, seeing how we shared a body.

I reached the small back door and pressed my ear to it. My heart was beating so loudly, I could barely distinguish the voices inside, even with my heightened hearing. When the door opened without making a noise, I grinned victoriously and sent silent blessings to whoever had oiled the hinges because it was definitely not like this the last time I used it.

“...daughter is a small price to pay for the safety of your people, is it not?” a male voice asked, and I frowned. Tiptoeing to the screen of wood and painted paper that was hiding the small entrance, I continued to listen. The air was heavy with tension and the smell of fear, which was confusing since this was supposed to be a friendly meeting. “So what is going to be, Rainer?”

‘s**t! It is him!’ I thought when I recognized the voice. I could almost hear him calling me ‘little bird’ in that same lilting tone. Then I remembered how he growled when I slammed him into the tree and the anger flaring in his eyes, and decided that maybe this was not the right time to add oil to the fire. That’s when I heard my sister’s voice, and suddenly the scent of fear made sense.

It was hers.

Something was making her afraid enough for everyone to smell it on her. Felicia wasn’t a warrior, but I had never heard her sound so desperate before.

“Father, please!”

Was he threatening her? What was going on? I reached for my belt where I kept my knife, only to realize I had left it in my room in my hurry. I was just preparing to stomp in there and tear whoever was causing her distress to pieces when my father’s strained, cold voice came through.

“I understand what you’re saying, King Hale, but what you’re asking is impossible. My daughter is already mated to a very good man, and she’s with child.”

What? Did the King want Felicia? Why? What had I missed?

‘Calm down,’ Lyra said softly, but my mind was already spinning in a hundred directions. ‘Barging in there now won’t help your sister.’

‘But…’ I started to argue when that low, lilting voice spoke again.

“But you have more than one daughter, don’t you, Rainer?”

A shiver crawled down my spine, almost like I was being watched by unseen eyes. They couldn’t have seen or heard me, could they? I made sure I was perfectly quiet.

‘He has your scent,’ Lyra sighed. ‘I told you not to go, didn’t I?

I took a step back, but my heel caught on the hem of my damn dress, making me stumble.

‘Crap,’ I cursed, trying to decide if I should show myself or make a run for it because they most definitely must have heard that.

‘Crap indeed,’ Lyra echoed with a note of amusement.

I was just about to tell her to shut up when he spoke again.

“Here you are.” The way he said those words felt almost like he was talking to me and that didn’t bode well. I grabbed my skirts, preparing to make a speedy retreat when a hand slammed into the doorframe, blocking my way. My eyes shot up to its owner, who was now towering over me, just as a victorious smirk made his sharp cheekbones jut out, giving him an even more predatory look. He had retied his hair properly and dusted his ridiculously thick clothes, but there were still dirt stains and leaves stuck to his tunic and breeches. That made me oddly smug.

I had no idea how he’d crossed the room so quickly, but as we stared at each other, the sounds of chairs scraping, voices rising, and metal clanging seemed to fade into the background. I swallowed the lump in my throat, trying not to be intimidated by his powerful aura, but I couldn’t stop the goosebumps that spread over my skin when he leaned even closer.

“Hello, little bird,” he said, pushing the door closed and cutting off my escape. “I’ve caught you this time.”