The Possesion of BellaLuna

Punishment

"Punished?" laughed Prince Sione aloud. "And who are you, and who is my Beloved?"

"You are to follow me. You will be fed, cleaned, and able to rest before the punishment begins. She said you would ask many questions, but this is all I am to tell you." said the woman shortly. 

Hesitantly, Prince Sione went to pay the Tavern keeper and let him. know he would no longer need the food but within a blink he was standing outside on the cobble stone street in the moonlight. Hadn't it been midday when he entered the Tavern? This world was increasingly bizarre. 

The small woman sashayed in front of him, turning to glance over her shoulder she gave him a sly smile and wink. "This way, Prince. The night is short and we mustn't keep your Beloved waiting. She will only grow more angry with you."

"What in the hell was this woman talking about? She had been the only one in the entire village who appeared to be dressed and she didn't seem to be lost within the blissful fog as the others were. She was clear eyed and conscious of her words and movements. Was this a trap? Is she the witch?" Prince Sione's brain was racing with questions he had no answer too. The fog of earlier had still not left his head and all that he had managed to get in his empty stomach was a pint of beer. "How many days had it been since he had eaten?" he thought. 

"I am no witch, and if I wanted you dead you would already be in the ground." said the woman, interrupting his thoughts. 

"Mind reader. Mind reader with an incredible ass." Prince Sione thought to himself. 

"Silly flattery will get you no where, Prince." the woman said, but he couldn't tell if she had spoke it or if it had been in his head. "But quick wit will take you everywhere."

Winding up the mountain path, illuminated by the glow of fireflies that he could never quite focus his gaze upon, the woman left Prince Sione alone with his thoughts. He had been taking in every sight, smell, and sound around him since he entered the Forest of Thorns, but nothing seemed to make any sense to him. Everything seemed a dream and he became increasingly irritated that his normal intellect wasn't aiding him in this quest. He felt altogether, lost. In his world he had assumed mass riches and success with his cunning and smarts. His Mother had taught him well and been strict in his studies when she realized that his powers were never coming and that he would have to outsmart his enemies in life. Although she had never told him, he knew that this was a grave disappointment to her and his Father, and ultimately is why she had disappeared from his life when he was 14 years old. The pain of loosing her never left him, and his Father hadn't spoken since. This left Prince Sione in a position of incredible responsibility and he learned quickly how to navigate through life, under the facade of being a Powerful Mage and son of the High Priestess of the Moon and King over the entire Lycan nation. For some time, the ones closest to him believed the magic had skipped him and that perhaps he was a shifter, but they waited in vain as his wolf never came. Prince Sione always knew he was normal, and in some ways he felt that this was his power. Acceptance and resilience. The drive and desire to achieve more than one would believe he was capable of as a mere human, are what made him unstoppable and unbelievable strong. He was large for a normal human man, standing 6'6 and well suited for his height. Not the largest in mass but fit and blessed with lean tone muscles. He could hold his own in most fights, and in those that he was physically unable to handle, he had mastered the art of many weapons. Weapons no one else had technology or knowledge of. Knowledge that led him here. Knowledge that would give him his birthright, his power, and more strength than any Lycan King. He chuckled to himself at the words the woman had said to him in the Tavern. "Prince Sione, you Beloved is waiting for you. She said you were very, very late and that you will be punished."

If his Beloved was who he thought she would be, she had no idea the punishment that was coming for her. The entire world had no idea what was coming for it.