The Enslaved Luna

Chapter 9

Nelvin couldn’t get the image of Lily out of his mind, but he pushed the thought away. She was beautiful, but he had no time for spoiled princesses. They led separate lives and he couldn’t imagine one where they could even be friends. His was the life of a nomad and it was freedom. He loved his freedom and that was why he accepted this last mission from the Northern King. If he agreed to find the last, living princess of the Eastern Kingdom and bring her back, he would be free of all ties to the Northern kingdom and be able to roam where he wanted.

In the distance, Nelvin could see his Beta, Seamus, walking back with firewood. As they were rogues, they didn’t really have ranks, but he saw Seamus as his Beta and Mashutu as his Gamma. Seamus dropped the load of wood on the ground. “The girls are out picking berries. You sure you don’t want to try out the princess before she gets to the Northern kingdom?”

Nelvin chuckled. “Not my taste. I like my women to be more laid-back. I can’t wait until we get this chick delivered. I’ll finally be free.”

“Why did you tell them our real names? Does she know?”

Nelvin turned his head. “I’m not sure why I told her. I felt bad for her, I guess. No, she doesn’t know and I’d like to keep it that way.”

Lily and Inez came back to the campsite with a basket of berries as Nelvin finished a roasting two rabbits over the fire. Mashutu handed each of them a tin plate of food and Lily accepted gratefully as they sat before the fire. Lily dug into her plate. “How long is it until we reach the Northern kingdom?”

Nelvin shrugged. “Probably two to three weeks. We’d get there faster if we were taking the main roads, but we’re not. It’s safest to go through the back woods.”

“Are you tired of roughing it, already, lass?” Seamus asked and Nelvin smirked.

Lily continued eating. “I just thought men like you would be better prepared for the journey, but to each their own.”

Nelvin peered at her. “What do you mean prepared? We are prepared. We have rations, supplies, and protection. What more would you need? We may not have the accommodations that you’re used to with your mate, but we do just fine.”

Lily flinched at the mention of her mate. “You’ve gone to a lot of trouble to get me, so what are you getting out of this deal?”

Nelvin paused. “Money. Of course, it’s money.”

Lily looked back at him. “I don’t think that’s the case and you haven’t prepared well enough to try to bring the Princess of the East and the mate of Omar to the Northern kingdom safely.”

Mashutu handed each of them a roll. “You don’t have anything to worry about. Nelvin is a true warrior and I would trust my life with him.”

“What am I? Chopped liver?” Seamus interjected.

Lily smiled. “A true warrior, you say. Did you fight in the war against Asaraj?”

Nelvin coughed. “No.”

“What’s that? I thought you were a true warrior,” Lily retorted.

Nelvin shrugged. “What can I say? I’m not a man of the people. I fight for my life and the lives of my friends, but I don’t care about fighting in a losing war for kings to benefit from. That’s not really my thing.”

Suddenly, Inez stood up. “I don’t feel so good.” She fell to the ground and Mashutu carried her into their tent with Lily following.

Mashutu felt her forehead. “She’s got a high fever and chills. I’ve seen this before. It’s the Black Death. She’ll have two days at most before she succumbs if she doesn’t get medicine. I’ll stay here with her if you want to tell the other two.”

Lily exited the tent and walked towards Nelvin and Seamus. “Mashutu said it’s the Black Death and we need to get medicine or she will die.”

“We?” Seamus asked.

Nelvin shrugged. “My job is to get you to the Northern kingdom. You made me take her, so that’s on you.”

Lily was furious and so was Jade. “If you don’t let me go get medicine, I’ll just kill myself when you’re not looking. Then you won’t get your money.”

Nelvin groaned. “Why are you so difficult? She’s just a girl from Omar’s harem. Why do you care about her?”

Lily got as close as she could to Nelvin. “Because she’s my friend. She left everything behind for me and I would do anything for her.”

Nelvin nodded. “Fine. Seamus, you scout ahead and report back to Mashutu. I’ll accompany Lily to the last town we were at for medicine. It should take us a day to get back. If we return and she’s dead, it’s not my fault.”

“Deal,” Lily said through gritted teeth.

After they gathered supplies, Lily and Nelvin made the trek back into the city they just left, hoping to be able to secure medicine for Inez. More and more, Nelvin was grating on Lily’s nerves and she wished it had been one of the other two who accompanied her on the trip back. Lily hoped he wouldn’t ask her any more questions, but she wouldn’t be that lucky.

“Aren’t you upset that Inez was with your mate?” Nelvin asked, “I’m just curious.”

“Careful,” Jade warned her.

“Wouldn’t you be upset if your mate was bedding all sorts of girls? We have a mate bond and it pains me to know he doesn’t care for me like I do him.”

Nelvin snorted. “You didn’t seem to mind when you were with him.”

Lily fumed. “Do you think I enjoyed being there? Do you think I wanted to be Omar’s mate?”

“It didn’t seem that bad to me.”

“Inez was sold by her parents because they didn’t have enough to feed her sisters. She didn’t want to be in the harem and I made her my handmaiden so she didn’t have to be in his harem. Omar took one of the kitchen workers when she just a pup and forced her into the harem. I was sold to Omar and he just happened to by my mate. None of us wanted to be there. After the war, we as women lost a lot of rights. I know that doesn’t really concern you, but it did me. I had to wear dresses at all times in public and had to be accompanied by a man if entering a shop. After I left my father’s home, I had to dress like a boy to get by.”

Nelvin instantly regretted what he had said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

Lily shot daggers at him. “You didn’t know or you just didn’t care? It didn’t affect you, so you never thought to ask women like me if we wanted to be in the situation we were in. My father is a good king and if he needs the Northern kingdom to win this war with Asaraj, so be it. I can become a wife to someone I don’t love if it means saving millions of girls.”

Nelvin hung his head. “I never really had to think of that. Why did you run away from your family?”

Lily was silent for a minute, then said, “I couldn’t stand to be there anymore. I was just an afterthought. A mistake. I didn’t belong. My father had an affair with my mother and my step-mother hated the sight of me even though my father accepted me. I hated myself, too. I thought if my own birth mother didn’t want me, why should anyone else? I also left because I wanted to look for her. I want answers. I want to know why she never came back for me. Is she dead? Did she start another family? Why did she abandon me?”

“You’re a good friend,” Nelvin said.

Lily looked down. “I wish I could be a better friend. When I was the illegitimate Princess of the Eastern kingdom, daughter of Alpha Sang, and fourth in line to the throne, I never cared about anyone else but me. I couldn’t see beyond my own troubles even though I was a freaking princess of people. It took me going to the harem to really open my eyes and see what girls are living like. I may only be one person, but if I can make things better, I have to do it. What about you?”

Nelvin coughed. “Uh, yeah, can’t say the same. I admire your commitment to the crown, but boy, you’re giving up a whole lot for people that may not even care about you. Listen, we’ll have to set up here for the night. I only have a small tent that we need to share. You okay with that?” Lily nodded and Nelvin set it up as the sun set on the horizon. Nelvin collected firewood, stared a small fire, and took off his shirt as sweat dripped down his body from all the work. Lily caught herself staring at his physique and admiring it. He was more in shape than Omar, but leaner. She studied his face and admitted Nelvin could be handsome if he weren’t such a jerk.

Lily entered the tiny tent and saw Nelvin looking at her. “You’re not going to…”

Nelvin’s eyes grew wide. “NO! I would never! I can sleep outside if you prefer.”

Lily smirked. “I can behave myself if you can.” Nelvin gulped as Lily laid down next to him. He could smell her scent. It was of Lilac and toffee and it intrigued him. He could feel his member engorging as thoughts raced through his head, so he turned around and tried to think about golf. Anything but the white-haired, Eastern Princess laying next to him.

When Lily awoke, she found her face pressed into Nelvin’s pecs as his arms were wrapped around her. She could feel his manhood pressing into her and she looked up to see him awaking at the same moment. They both shouted and ran out of the tent.

Nelvin placed his hands on his knees. “Are you okay? I didn’t do anything.”

Lily shook her head profusely. “No, you didn’t. I’m fine. Let’s not do that again.”

Nelvin let out a sigh of relief. “I definitely don’t want to do that again, Princess.”

Lily pivoted towards him. “Why do you always call me that? What do you have against me?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing.”

“No, it’s something. Spit it out.”

“I may have been unfair towards you.”

Lily threw her hands in the air. “You don’t say?”

“My bad. You remind me of me. A younger me and I..don’t like that version of me. I guess I’ve been trying to run away from it for a while now even though I’m 26.”

“What were you running away from?”

A man stepped out of the woods and pointed a gun at them. “Give me your food and money or I’ll shoot.”

Nelvin stepped in front of Lily. “I haven’t seen a real gun in ages. Do you even have bullets?”

The man’s arms shook as he pointed it. “I do. Do as I say or you’ll find out.”

Nelvin smiled. “I want to find out. By the time you shoot me, I’ll shift into my wolf and you’ll be dead.”

The man dropped the gun and started crying. “There are no bullets. I found it in scrap metal. Please, my children are so hungry and I don’t have anything for them.”

Nelvin went into his sack and pulled out the rest of their rations and gave them to the man. “Take it.”

The man did as he was told. “Please don’t think ill of me. I have never been a thief or beggar before the war, but now, I’ll do anything so my children can eat.”

Nelvin patted him on his back. “It’s okay. We’ve all fallen on hard times.”

Lily walked up the man and took off her bracelet and gave it to him. “I don’t have money, but I’ve got jewelry. This may buy you a few things.”

Nelvin looked at her in awe. Perhaps she wasn’t the little princess he long thought she was. Maybe she did really know what people were going through. The two made it into town, bought medicine, secured more supplies, and left without too much attention, back into dense foliage of the woods.

Lily smiled and Nelvin looked at her. “What are you smiling about?”

Lily laughed. “Here I thought you were just an unfeeling jerk, but you’re not. You’ve got some compassion.”

Nelvin groaned. “Don’t let Seamus know this. He will ridicule me endlessly. I wasn’t going to let your friend die. I just wanted to see how far you would be willing to go for her.”

“Oh, you thought it would be funny to play with my friend’s life on the line?”

“You’re twisting my words. That’s not what I said. I just wanted to see if you really cared about her.”

“Right, you wanted to play games just like all the other men. To be tested for my loyalty? You think I haven’t met men like you, before?”

“Lily,” Nelvin said.

“Don’t Lily me,” Lily replied, “I’ve had quite enough of games. To be treated like a pet. Like I am less than. Like a pawn. I hate you!” Lily put her hand out and felt a pulse of energy move through her, expelling it through her hands and hitting Nelvin, pushing him back against the trunk of a tree. Nelvin crumbled to the ground. “What have I done?” She muttered to herself and ran towards him.

Nelvin looked up weakly at her. “What are you?”