The Banished Luna

Chapter 5

After a long day of working in the kitchen, Georgia stumbled back to her little room. Her feet ached, her arms felt like lead, her hands were raw and chafed, and she was damp from sweat and dishwater. She had a mere hour of free time until she had to go to the Wisdom House.

If you run off, you’ll die out there. Geneva could tell that Georgia was considering fleeing. And you’re too much of a coward to risk death.

“I can’t do this every day.” She protested. “It’s too hard.”

Geneva snorted in disgust and left the exhausted girl alone with her thoughts.

Deep down, she knew she wouldn’t be expected to work every day. Saturday was sauna day, and she was expected to attend lessons at the Wisdom house on Sunday morning. But still, for someone who had never even had a teenage part-time job, even a single full day was more than she felt she could manage.

Georgia laid back on the bed. It felt so good to be off her feet…

“Georgie! Georgie!”

A rough jostle woke the sleeping girl from unconsciousness to dazed stupor.

“Georgie, you’re late! Granny is waiting, and she’s nae too pleased”

Georgia tried to get up, but her back was so stiff, when she tried to sit up, she ended up falling back down with a pained moan.

“I can’t…” She whimpered.

Flora had seen this before. Georgia wasn’t the first delinquent that Snowbright had taken in. The traditional Nordic pack had earned a reputation throughout Europe as being not only a sacred place for pilgrims to learn the old ways, but also a kind of reform school for wayward wolves.

The love-started Georgia had been freely given Flora’s motherly warmth, but that didn’t exempt her new ward from motherly discipline.

“Wheesht. Ye need to bear it to get strong. Ye can’t give up now.” She took hold of Georgia’s wrists and gently pulled her upright. “Up ye go! Now, ye need to change. I brought a couple robes. The Wisdom House is like a temple and ye need to be dressed appropriately, even as an attendant.”

She pulled the dazed Georgia up from the bed and handed her a long white caribou-skin robe. It was soft and smelled of dried herbs, but when Georgia pulled it over her head, she noticed a musty leathery smell underneath the herbal one. It smelled like it was hundreds of years old. Maybe it was.

Come on, you miserable weakling. Maybe there are ancient powers you can learn from the crone.

“Ugh everything hurts” Georgia whined.

“I know….” Flora replied, fixing her now lopsided braids. “Ye just have to bear it. I thing ye’ll like the Wisdom House. Granny teaches powerful knowings, and if she sees promise in ye, she may ask ye to apprentice.”

I knew it! Geneva cried out triumphantly in Georgia’s mind. The way to power is through the old lady.

“Does she teach magic?” Georgia asked, as innocently as she could muster.

“Not magic as such, but there are loads of magical folk in these parts. Dwarves and Hillfolk, sprites and giants, firefoxes and selkies. Our pack deals directly with a fair few of them.”

Georgia’s ears pricked up at the mention of firefoxes.

“Firefoxes? Is that who follows the old woman around? And I saw a fox shift when I arrived. I think the name was Marja?”

“Och aye, they’re from the Firefox Clan. Though only their leader is a true firefox, the rest are just shifters like us, only, foxes instead of wolves.”

The two woman started off towards the Wisdom house, which was in a remote corner of the Village. Re-energized by curiosity, Georgia was full of questions.

“So there are were-foxes? What are they doing here? Have you ever seen a giant? Who are the Hillfolk?”

Flora was pleased to see the joy in the young woman’s eyes. “The Firefox Clan sends us their young warriors to act as personal guards. In return, we offer them protection.”

“Protection?” Georgia couldn’t imagine what a skilled fox fighter would need protection from.

“Not all magical folk have good intentions. Which reminds me, don’t go outside the village alone. Before long, ye'll be allowed to shift and run. But even the strongest of us go in pairs, and yer always better off with more."

That sounds like a challenge. Geneva growled.

Flora could sense the indignation simmering behind Georgia's eyes.

"Yer wolf. She's an angry one. Has she always been?"

Georgia's cheeks flushed with shame. "No, not always. The whole betrayal thing made her really upset. Geneva resents North Star pack still, and thinks I'm...weak."

"Och, it's nae a good thing to be at odds with your wolf." Flora stopped and turned Georgia around to face her. "Are ye really quarreling against yerself?"

Georgia nodded.

Flora continued to walk resolutely towards the Wisdom House. “Then it’s a good thing ye’re here. That’s nae way to live.”

Geneva huffed in the back of Georgia’s mind. She didn’t appreciate being judged by their new friend, even if she did have a point.

“What’s your wolf like?” Georgia asked.

“Oh, Fae is a sassy beast when she has mind to be, but I’m grateful for her. She’s brought me all the way from my native Highlands to this magical place. She guided me to my Ahti, blessed our pups and gives wise counsel.” Flora smiled. “She’s a frisky old spirit.”

Georgia had never heard anyone speak about their wolf in such affectionate terms. It was like they were best friends. She and Geneva had always felt like such separate beings. With her wolf being more of a side effect than a real part of her life.

North Star pack was devoted in their worship of the Moon Goddess, but Georgia had always found it to be mostly empty ritual. She got others to hunt her sacrifices, only stayed at celebrations so long as they had a good party, and never paid much attention to the teachings of Luna Meredith.

Life with her father was more about status than anything. His rank among the warriors, her status among her friends and packmates, and ultimately, her fixation with becoming the Alpha Rhys’ mate and Luna.

All throughout those years, Geneva has been more of a tool than a partner, and it never occurred to Georgia that it could be any other way. Was that why her wolf was so obsessed with being powerful?

The rest of their walk was silent as Georgia was lost in her thoughts. Flora could tell that the girl was considering her words and was pleased to see they had an effect.

And if anyone could get through to the damaged young woman, it would be Snowbright’s venerable matriarch.