Wolfsbane

Wolfsbane, Chapter 17, By Ruth Nalio

Trystan…

I stormed into the castle and past my father without a word. He followed me into the back and watched as I flipped the small dining table over and threw the chairs. I picked up another one and swung it as hard as I could against the wall, shattering it with one blow. “Bastard!” I yelled.

“Trystan? What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Autumn!” I yelled and picked up another chair.

“Stop!” He ordered. I threw down the chair and looked at him. The look on his face told me my eyes were gold, the way they were when I was a wolf. “What could Autumn have possibly done?”

“The damn woman could have been killed, or r***d, or both!”

Confusion flooded his expression, “How?”

“She’s the bloody hunter! She was in the woods hunting me and that other wolf! She missed with both shots!”

His eyes widened, “What?”

“That other wolf would have killed her had I not been there! And that man! I should have ripped him apart when I had the chance! I should have killed him right in front of her! She’s a bloody fool! Damn the woman! I should have killed them both!”

“Autumn?”

“No! The other wolf and the man who tried raping her!”

“What?” Father wasn’t following me, I was talking too fast and snarling too much. I was too angry.

I took a deep breath, “Autumn was hunting in the woods where I was and nearly got killed, twice.”

“What? How?”

“Are you not following me at all?! She’s the bloody hunter! She was hunting with silver bullets! She was trying to kill me! She nearly did!”

“Autumn?”

“Yes!” I roared. “She only missed because I saw her raise her gun on me!”

“You said something about her almost being r***d?”

“Yes! When I got there this man was on top of her and he was trying to r**e her! The only thing that kept me from ripping his throat out was that I was worried about her safety. She started throwing bloody rocks at me and yelling that he was hers to kill! Then she threatened to chase me! And I couldn’t leave her alone with that other wolf running around! I made sure she got to her horse and by the time I picked up the trail of the man he was out of the woods and too close to town!”

“So Autumn’s the bloody hunter?”

“Yes!” I said exasperated.

“That’s why she’s such a good shot. I wonder if Mason knows?” What the hell was he talking about?

“What does that have to do with anything? She could have been killed!” I picked up another chair and smashed it into the wall.

“Stop breaking my furniture! Sit down and calm yourself! Autumn is fine, there is nothing to worry about until the next full moon.”

“The hell there isn’t! I’m going to find that man and kill him! She’s going to tell me who the hell he is and I’m going to find him and rip him apart!”

“You can’t ask her.” He said in a shocked voice.

“Why the hell not?” I demanded.

“Because she’ll want to know how you know.”

“He broke her nose and busted her lip and ripped her shirt and hit her! She’ll not be able to hide that!”

The butler cleared his throat and father turned to look at him. “Yes?” Father said as he walked to the man. He took an envelope from him and dismissed him.

“What is it?”

“It’s from Mason, he says that Autumn was thrown from a horse, she’s fine but her nose is broken and her face is bruised.” He looked at me and stuck out the letter.

“I don’t need the letter. So that’s what she’s saying?”

“It only makes sense, he can’t very well say that she was nearly r***d but got away, now can he? He doesn’t know that you saw any of it, he’d think that I’d call off this entire thing simply because I’d fear she’d been robbed of her virginity.”

“She wasn’t! Not that it would matter.”

He rolled his eyes, “I know that, but you can’t just tell them that you know what happened. You’d have to tell them what you are. Are you ready for that?” He asked hopefully.

“Never. She would kill me the first chance she got.”

“Then you’ll have to act as if you know nothing.” I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes. “Have some breakfast.” He said as if to sate me.

“I’m not hungry.” I walked toward the door. “I’m going to my room to work on a cure. Send a message back saying I’ll take Autumn to that party tomorrow evening, that it won't matter that she’s been,” I gritted my teeth, “thrown.”

“Trystan, I’m going to invite them to dinner tonight. Get this rage out of your system before then?”

“I’ll be calm enough,” I assured him.

“I don’t want your eyes that color.” He said softly, yet firmly.

“Don’t worry father.” I stormed up the steps. Once in my room I closed my eyes and listened to the inner monster rage. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. I walked to the mirror and looked at myself. My reflection revealed golden eyes rimmed in black. I closed my eyes and took another deep breath, this time calming myself some. When I looked back in the mirror there was less gold in my eyes and the black rim had turned chocolate.

I dove fully into my experiments to distract myself after that point. Nothing I did seemed to be getting me anywhere. Maybe if I combined silver and wolfbane? I would have to have my father help me with that one though. I wish I could at least handle the herb in my human form!

“Trystan! Come down here! Autumn and Mason’s carriage just pulled up!” I rubbed my eyes and locked my door before heading down the steps. Just as I got to the bottom, Father opened the door. “Mason, Autumn, so glad you could make it!” Father said happily.

I swallowed hard and smiled just as Autumn stepped into view. “Autumn, good evening. Good evening Mason.” I walked down the last few steps with my hands linked behind my back. I couldn’t stop myself from looking at Autumn’s battered face. She narrowed her blackened eyes and squared her shoulders. “Father read me Mason’s message, I hope you’re not hurt too badly?”

“I’m fine, thank you.” She said in a tight voice. She must have thought I was going to judge her. I took in her dress, a deep blue with white lace. “That color is stunning on you,” I said politely.

“I saw the way you looked at my face, you don’t have to pretend to admire my dress.” She snapped.

“Autumn,” Mason said in a harsh whisper.

I sighed, “You're right Autumn, I did take in your face. I don’t like to see any woman battered and bruised. You have my sympathy, but if you do not want it, then I shall do my best not to show it.”

There was momentary shock in her eyes, “I thought you were going to laugh at me for getting thrown.”

I clenched my jaw then relaxed, “I would never laugh at your pain.”

“Let’s all go into the dining room, I believe the duck is ready,” Father said as a way to break the tension between Autumn and me. We all walked in and sat down at the table. Father had Mason sit in my seat so that the only open seat was the one next to Autumn.

I didn’t mind, it meant that I wouldn’t be looking at her face all evening. I just wish that I could have sat on the left of her since her right cheek was the one bruised. I didn’t want to see any of it. I never should have let it happen. Mason should have never let it happen. Stop! I couldn’t shift the blame to him, Mason was a good man, and he loved his daughter.

“So did you buy any cattle?” Autumn asked, being the first to break the silence we had fallen into.

“Yes, but they won't be delivered until next week,” Father answered.

“How many did you buy?” She continued.

“150,” Father replied easily.

“Did you inspect each cow before you bought them?”

“Not really, I found the best prices and then looked the lot of them over to be sure that they looked fat enough from a distance.”

“Do they get any other health problems?”

I laughed, “All animals get a variety of health problems other than being too thin. You have to be careful of many things. We will check them one by one when we brand them. The ones that have something that cannot be fixed or cured will be killed so that the others don’t get it.”

“What if it doesn’t catch?”

“Then we will butcher it first,” I replied.

“How many bulls did you purchase?”

“The bulls I did inspect myself, I got three of the best-looking bulls there,” Father answered with a smile.

“Did you buy all of them from the same seller?”

“No, I bought from two, but they are all the same breed.” He clarified.

“Did you make a profit with the pigs?”

“Yes, we sold all of the ones we took to market.” The table fell quiet again. Then Father looked up at Autumn, “Were you riding your horse?”

“What?” She said caught off guard.

“When you were thrown, were you riding your horse?” He briefly tilted his fork toward her then looked back at his plate.

“N-no I was riding the young mare.”

“What caused her to throw you? Did a rabbit run in front of you? A dog bark?” He continued, looking up at her but not flinching at her appearance somehow.

“I’m not sure, it was dark.”

“Why on earth were you riding after dark?” Father was playing his part well.

She glanced nervously at her father and then back at mine. “I thought that there would be less to distract her if she couldn’t see?” It was barely a question but the doubt in her voice was unmistakable.

“I guess that makes sense.” He nodded slightly and went back to eating.

“Jude, if you don’t mind, it's kind of embarrassing for her to talk about. It’s the first time she’s ever been thrown.” Mason saved her from more questioning.

The rest of dinner was filled with small talk and short periods of silence. I couldn’t help but look at the side of Autumn’s face. It looked incredibly painful. My own shoulder hurt but I could ignore it. I wished I could take the pain from her and put it into my shoulder as well.

“Would the two of you care to stay for a drink?” Father asked.

“That would be wonderful, thank you,” Mason said.

I put a hand on Autumn’s arm to stop her from getting up, “Autumn hasn’t finished her pie yet and neither have I, the two of you go ahead, we’ll be there in a moment.” She looked at me in confusion.

When Father and Mason left the room Autumn turned to face me fully, “What do you want?”

“I just wanted to be able to talk to you without them around to answer for you. Are you feeling up to this party tomorrow night? No one will even care-” I didn’t say anything more; I didn’t want to upset her.

She stood up, “I’m fine, the sooner we get this party of yours over with the better.”

I stood quickly and touched her arm, “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to upset you.”

She looked me up and down, searching my face, “I’m half tempted to believe you mean that.”

I took a step closer to her. “I mean it, Autumn.” I put a hand lightly on her cheek and traced along the bruise. I looked at her poor, busted mouth, and at her still-red nose. I wanted to tell her that I’d kill him for this but instead, I just asked, “How badly does it hurt?”

I watched her mouth as she answered, “Not bad. It's just a few bruises and a broken nose.”

I looked her in the eye, “It should never have happened.” I wanted to tell her that she should have let me kill him, that she should never have been in the woods, that I knew what had happened.

She shrugged, “It’s too late to do anything about it now.”

I dropped my hand from her cheek and closed my eyes. “Let's go to the sitting room, shall we?” I offered her my arm.

“Trystan, why are you so upset about it? It was just an unbroken horse.”

I took a deep breath, “I just don’t like seeing a woman beaten, up, the way you are.” I broke it up intentionally, as a way of telling her I knew what had happened without telling her anymore.

She gave a half-hearted smile, “You should wake up and see it in the mirror.” With that, we began walking down the hall to the sitting room.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered just before we entered the room.

“That didn’t take you long, was the pie good, Autumn?” Father asked.

“Yes, it was delicious thank you.”