Wolfsbane

Wolfsbane, Chapter 18, By Ruth Nalio

Autumn…

The way Trystan kept looking at me made me want to scream at him to stop looking at my face. I wanted to put my hands over my face and hide. It was like he knew what had actually happened. He was angry, sympathetic, and worried all at the same time. I’d never seen him like this before. He was, dare I think it, tender.

I sipped my drink, the way the liquid burnt the inside of my lip reminded me of how Howard had bitten me. I tightened my hold on my glass as anger surged in me. I had to relax. I would find Howard one day and kill him for what he’d done. There was nothing I could do about it now.

“Autumn, if you’d like, you can wear your pants to the party tomorrow.” Trystan startled me out of my anger and I looked at him for a moment before his words registered.

“What kind of party is it?”

He smiled at me, “One where no one cares what you’re wearing. I told you, it's not like your ball.”

“What would be the best thing for me to wear?”

“A light skirt or your pants. Whatever you’re comfortable in.”

I looked at him skeptically then shrugged it aside. “I’d best wear my pants then. They are comfortable.”

“There will be dancing just to let you know.”

“Really?”

“Plenty of it.”

“Then that changes things. A lady should never wear pants when dancing.”

“A light skirt it is then. Nothing fancy, you’ll draw attention that way.”

“Are we not invited to this party?”

“I was and they told me to bring a friend or two, but they are not rich so anything fancy would be rude.” He clarified.

“I see.”

“Can you tell me where you’re taking my daughter now since it is tomorrow night?”

“I want it to be a surprise and I think you would tell her even if I told you in private. Sorry, Mason.” He winked at my father and took a drink of his scotch.

“Don’t feel bad, he won’t even tell me,” Jude informed my father. I just shook my head.

“You’ll know soon enough, Autumn, and who knows, you just might enjoy yourself.”

“Let’s hope not, then you lose the bet with my father.”

“Only if the both of us enjoy ourselves, you can have enough fun for both of us, can’t you?”

“I’ll do my best.” I winked at him and downed my brandy. Father’s look told me that he wished I had sipped it like a lady. I was sick of acting like a lady when Trystan and Jude knew I wasn’t exactly a proper one.

“Autumn, would you like a scotch?” Trystan asked as he took my glass and walked over to fill it.

“Yes, thank you.”

“You might want to drink this one a bit slower, your father doesn’t seem to be very happy with the way you finished your brandy.”

“Trystan!” Jude said in a sharp tone. Trystan shrugged in fake innocence with that crooked grin of his. I fought against a smile that I couldn’t hide. Trystan winked at me as he handed me my scotch.

“So are we treating each other decent as long as we do it in a way that irritates our parents into calling this whole thing off?” I asked as Trystan sat on the arm of the couch next to me.

“Autumn,” Father said in his warning voice.

“I don’t think we’ll have to try very hard to irritate them.” He smiled at me.

“The two of you know it’s one thing to plot against us but to do it in front of us is just ridiculous,” Jude said as he rubbed between his eyes.

“Trystan, I think our getting along is hurting your father’s head.”

“I think it’s just confusing him.”

“Maybe he’ll get confused enough to call this off, let's continue.”

“Yes.” Trystan took a drink of his scotch, he hadn’t looked at me since he had handed me my drink.

“I think that before this goes any further, Autumn and I should go home. What time shall I bring her over tomorrow?” Father asked Trystan.

“You don’t have to worry about bringing her to me, I’ll come and get her. I’ll be driving the cart. I’m afraid nothing will be done in style tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry Mason, Trystan is a very good coachman, I made a point to teach him.”

“Yes, well Autumn can drive a coach as well. One never knows what skills our children will need.” Father stood and I did the same.

“Indeed,” Jude said as he began to walk us to the door. “Do have a safe trip home and good night.”

“Good night to you as well,” Father replied.

“Good night Autumn, and remember, dress like a peasant tomorrow. I’ll be at your home mid-afternoon to pick you up.”

“Good night Trystan, would you please be sure the cart is clean before I get in it?” I said hoping to get under his skin.

“I assure you, I would not ride in a filthy cart any more than you would.” He smiled. “Good night, Mason.” Trystan closed the door to the coach I hadn’t even realized I had gotten into.

Trystan…

“Is that what it takes? Autumn turning out to be your hunter and nearly being rapped before you’ll take a liking to her?” Father yelled at me, “Or is it just that you feel sorry for her? From what you tell me she seems to have handled it quite well! It wasn’t enough that she’s as good of a shot as you or that she’s more woman than any you’ve ever met, no, she has to have that extra edge of danger before you treat her as though she’s fragile!”

“Would you have rather I make fun of her for her bruised face? Or better yet would you rather me look at her and tell her that I know how her face got that way, and that it’s not the only marks she must have, and oh yes, I’m the bloody werewolf that she’s hunting!” I yelled at him.

“No! I just don’t understand why you have to pretend not to like her when it’s obvious that you have feelings for her, and have had them!”

“Yes! She’s a beautiful woman, and that in itself makes her vulnerable! I don’t want to see it get her hurt the way it has! Would you want the most infuriating woman you knew to be hurt even if you couldn’t stand to be around her without arguing?”

“You know you feel more for her than that!”

“There can’t be more than that! She wants me dead and doesn’t even know it! I could turn on her if she wasn’t careful! I don’t know how she was so lucky in the woods!”

“Because you love her!” Father threw up his arms in disgust, “Why can you not see it? You love the bloody woman! She’s challenging and infuriating and you love it!”

I stood silent for a moment, unable to say anything back. “You don’t know how I feel.”

“Say you don’t love her, then why did you worry about her safety when she was alone in the woods? Why did you stop when she threw rocks at you? Why did you not attack instantly, not worrying about her safety, when you saw that man with her? Why did you not try to kill her all the chances you got in the woods? Why did you defend her honor at the ball that night?” He stopped out of breath, but his point was driven across.

“I don’t have an answer for anything that happened in the woods. Maybe I’m just more territorial with males than females, the same way dogs are. What happened at the ball was my duty.”

Father sighed, “Just think about what I have said. Don’t make excuses for anything, just think about it.”

I left the room then without another word between us and walked to my bedroom. Why had I not simply killed both Autumn and the man? Why had I stopped when she yelled at me? Why had I defended her? There was no simple answer to any of it; I had simply done what my instincts had told me to do.

Why had my instinct not told me to kill her? Was it because she’s a woman? No, that didn’t make any sense. The other werewolf wouldn’t have tried killing her if it were because she is a woman. Unless it was because I was full, I had just eaten a deer not long before she’d shown up.

Was I supposed to think so clearly when I was a werewolf? Maybe something in my blood kept the infection from being as severe in me as other people. Like the kids that only got one or two pox instead of a mess of them when their siblings got chicken pox. Maybe I had simply exercised enough control that I could keep my human side and my animal side in balance.

Maybe it was a combination of control and natural immunity. If it were a natural immunity, was it controllable? There was a knock on my door interrupting my thoughts. I walked over and opened the door and looked at the servants standing there, “Yes?”

“Your father had us bring up a hot bath for you, would you like us to bring it in or leave it in the room across the hall?”

“Across the hall, thank you. Here, go to the village later and buy something you desire.” I gave them each a few coins and shooed them away. Once they were gone I locked my door and walked to the other room. I stripped and sank into the hot water, hoping it would help to clear my head.

Autumn sat beside me in the buggy wearing a simple black button-up shirt that hung off the shoulders and a burgundy skirt. I marveled at how she would fit right in with the gypsies. She looked as stunning in it as she did in any of the fancy dresses she had worn to my house before. Her bruises still managed to catch my eye and call on my anger; I let out a slow breath and forced myself to relax.

“Can you tell me where we are going now?” She said in an agitated voice.

I smiled. “Yes, we are going to a party.”

She huffed and I saw her look at me from the corner of my eye, “Yes but what kind of party are we going to?”

I held back my laugh, “A fun one.”

“Trystan.” She practically growled.

This time I did laugh, “We are going to a gypsy party. Don’t worry, they won’t take anything of yours or put any curses on you.”

“My father is going to love this when I tell him! It's brilliant! He’ll call off the wedding because he thinks you're putting me in danger!”

“Perhaps.”

“Don’t get all upset because I’m not worried about the gypsies. I still don’t think I’ll like it.”

“Maybe your father will lose the bet after all.”

“Were you hoping for him to win?” She countered.

“No, I had just started thinking that you may not be as opposed to gypsies as I had thought.”

“To tell you the truth, I’ve never met one.”

“Then this will be something new for you.” I could hear the sounds of the party, and I knew as we rounded the twist in the road that she could as well.

“Are we late?”

I laughed, “No, you are never late, just new to the party. They don’t have set times for their celebrations.”

“What are they celebrating?”

“I’m not sure, they party nearly every night around here. Why do you think the locals stay away from this area? Unless they want their future told.” I pulled the cart to a stop when we were well in sight of the festivities. “We’ll leave the cart here, you never know how big these things will get.”

“Joy.” She said as she began to climb out of the buggy. I rushed over to her side and lifted her out of the seat and onto the ground. “You don’t have to do that.” She hissed as she pushed my hands away.

“It’s a good thing for me to do it now. You are a lady and not a gypsy, and I just let everyone here know that, so don’t get upset with me.”

“Oh, thank you then.” She seemed a little confused but didn’t argue.

“Come, I’ll introduce you to some of my friends.”

“You’re friends with these people?” She asked in a whisper.

“Yes, do you have a problem with that?”

“No, I just didn’t think you could be friends with them unless you were one of them.”

“I assure you I’m not one of them, I have no talent that would allow me to be one of them.” My elven heritage had never shown any gifts. Not that anyone outside of my father and I know of it.

“What kind of talent do you mean?”

“I’ll explain later, for now, let me make my introductions.” I walked to my friend Ian. “Ian, this is Autumn, Autumn, this is my friend, Ian.”

“Nice to meet you.” Ian gave a small bow of his head.

“It’s lovely to meet you as well.” Autumn smiled.

“Oh yes, and this is Anna. Anna, this is Autumn, the young woman I was telling you about, the one my father insists I marry even though neither of us wishes to be married to one another.” Anna smiled and walked closer then her face went blank and she stared at Autumn for a moment then she smiled again. She had done a reading on her.

“Autumn, it’s nice to finally meet the woman who gets under Trystan’s skin so boldly.”

Autumn gave a soft laugh, “Yes, well he has a talent for doing the same to me.”

“No readings tonight Anna, I know that look. I’ll be happy to pay you to look after Autumn here for me though, make sure she doesn’t take a bad step? She’s never been around a fortune teller before.”

Anna laughed, “You mean we are her first gypsies? There is no need hiding what we are Trystan.”

“What if I wanted to have my future told?” Autumn asked matter-of-factly.

“Tonight is not a night for that, Autumn. I’ll bring you back for that another time?”

She sighed, “Okay.”

“Come, let's dance, this is a good song.” I took Autumn by the hand and began dancing in circles.

“There are no steps, just let the music flow through you.” Autumn and I danced for two songs straight, she began laughing and looked as though she was beginning to enjoy herself. “I’m going to let you dance by yourself now. I need to rest.”

“I’ll be fine without you.” She smiled and winked at me and spun away into the crowd of dancers.

I weaved my way through the people and stood a few feet back from everything. Ian and Anna walked up next to me. Anna cleared her throat. “You have not told her.”

“No.”

“It wasn’t a question. She is the hunter as well. I also know that you know this. She will find out who you are, just as you have found out who she is. You still have much to learn of each other.”

“We shouldn’t learn it.”

“You will find a cure, just not the one you seek. You will see for yourself that the fight was lost before it started.” Anna closed her eyes. “Mason will stop trying.”

“You mean he never expected us to get along?”

“That is not what I said.” Anna smiled. Her predictions were always confusing and she knew it.

“Why can’t you just tell me what you mean?”

“She won’t tell me what she means, and I am her husband,” Ian said with a smile.

I sighed and began to rummage in my pocket, Anna put a hand on my arm, “No coin tonight, I did this for a friend.” And with that, she and Ian disappeared into the dancers. I searched the crowd until I found Autumn.

Autumn’s laughter was radiant. She was spinning and dancing among the gypsies as though she were one of them. Her still bruised eyes met mine and her laughter stopped and she continued dancing as she smiled at me. I should have known she would love this. Then she was lost in the crowd of dancers again.

I stood there, searching for her with my eyes, and then a familiar smell drifted to my nostrils, causing my hair to stand on end and my teeth to grind together. The sudden anger ripping through my body sharpened my senses. What was that smell and why did it anger me so? I turned away from the dancers to hide the change in my eyes as they went from brown to gold. That’s when I knew what it was. Him.

My head snapped up and my eyes searched my surroundings. I used my nose to tell me where to look. I couldn’t see anything! I began in the direction the smell was coming from, towards the woods. Anger accenting my every step.

I was going to find him and kill him. There was no worry for Autumn’s safety without me now. I was going to kill the bastard! All I had to do was find him. I could hear his heartbeat. I was getting close, only a few more paces and I would have him.