The Lycan Prince’s Fairy Tale

2 ~ Riddle Me This

Her body is covered in soot, but she looks otherwise unharmed. She has white hair, light golden brown skin, and very dark eyes. With an annoyed sigh, she shakes the ashes from her naked body and combs her hair with her fingers, while Teddy can’t help but stare because she’s absolutely gorgeous.

She rolls her eyes when she notices him gawking and puts her hands on her generous hips. “You done leering, boy?”

He grins. “Only if you’re done showing me everything.”

The woman smirks and crosses her arms in front of her chest. The action, perhaps unconscious but very possibly done on purpose, accentuates her perfectly-shaped breasts even more. “Hmmm… heard you could charm the veils off a nun…”

His grin widens. “Actually, I haven’t even started—”

“Oh, good! I thought that was it, and that was so not worth the pains of rebirth,” she mutters, eyeing him with mild disgust.

That was a first. Flirting usually works. He must really be dying.

Teddy winces. “Apologies…you caught me at a bad time. I just found out my time is running out, and I’m a little out of sorts. Can we try again? Hi, I’m Prince Teddy—”

“I know who you are, Alarick Theodulf.”

“Okay…” He blinks, suddenly wary. Does he know her? Have they met before, but he doesn’t recognize her now? It’s a possibility although highly unlikely because he never forgets a face, and remembering the names of everyone he’s ever met is one of his fortes.

Unless it was a masked party. Or one of the rare times he got really wasted. Heaven forbid he had slept with her, and he was too drunk to remember. Nah, that can’t be it. Even if he were inebriated, she’s not the kind of beauty one easily forgets.

The woman lifts her left hand, and a small, dancing flame appears in the middle of her palm. She then blows on it, and the fire dies out, leaving nothing but wisps of smoke that begins to snake around her, weaving itself into what looks like a dress made of feathery clouds.

Teddy raises an eyebrow, impressed, despite himself. “That’s… really convenient.”

The woman starts walking around him, slowly, almost like a shark circling its prey. Her dark eyes are unblinking, her gaze intense and a little hostile… and it’s making him feel uneasy, so he braces himself for an attack, his wolf ready to shift at any second, just in case she turns aggressive.

“Do you deserve to live, Teddy?”

That was…unexpected.

She continues to walk slowly around him, studying him with the cold curiosity of a medical student observing a cadaver on display.

“I believe so, yes…” he answers carefully.

“Hmmm…and what makes you believe it?”

He frowns. Is it a trick question? Who is this strange woman, and where is this conversation heading?

Quick as a snake striking its prey, she’s right in front of him all of a sudden, her black eyes too close for comfort that he instinctively steps back, just in case he needs space to shift.

“I’m just wondering what makes you think you deserve to exist, when all this time, you’ve spent your days in pursuit of shallow amusements and fed your own vanity by surrounding yourself with people who worship the title you carry…” She murmurs pensively, more to herself than to him. “Or are you too arrogant to think living is your divine right, just because you are the Prince Teddy.”

“I don’t—”

“Oh, but you do, don’t you? Come now, Teddy Boy, false humility will get us nowhere. I know, deep inside you, you’re doubting yourself…wondering why your sister is the chosen one and not you.”

Teddy grits his teeth. “I don’t—” he swallows a large lump that suddenly forms in his throat. “I don’t begrudge my sister the crown, but she never wanted it, and she’s completely unprepared for the responsibilities that come with it. I just don’t understand why I have to die without being given a chance to prove myself first. I haven’t done anything so terrible to deserve this fate—”

“Exactly. You haven’t done squat.”

“And my sister, who almost never gets out of her room, has? How is that fair?”

“Fair?” The woman laughs. “You betray your own ignorance with that argument, dear prince. When was life ever fair?”

“I just meant—”

“And how dare you cry for the injustice of it all, when you’ve lived in luxury since the day you were born, beloved by every and all? What have you done with the privileges you’ve been given? You’re more than a quarter of a century old…yet have you done anything that deserves merit and made a difference in this world? Or have you taken it all for granted?”

He can feel his cheeks turning hot from shame.

“You question what right your sister has to the crown. She certainly has more than you, for the sacrifices she made in her previous life. This is her chance to be with the man she loves, as his equal. The right time for her story to finally be told…”

“Wait, what!?”

“Bah, nevermind that, we’re getting off-topic,” she reaches out and wraps her arms around his neck. Her skin is smooth and oddly cold to touch, despite being born from fire. “Tell me, Teddy… why should a book be written about you, when everywhere you look, there are perfect prince charmings being conjured every day and every night, some even more interesting and infinitely nobler than you?”

Why, indeed?

He blinks. “Because…”

“Yes..?”

“Because…I am worthy.” He slowly pulls away from her suffocating embrace. “Or at least, I will be. I know myself, and I have more to offer, more to prove, and even more to give! I refuse to be the loose end that needs to be tied up, so that another’s story may unfold!”

“I get it, you don’t want to be just another page that will soon be turned, your character fondly but vaguely remembered with a touch of regret, as the hero who never quite made it to the end of the book. Ugh, again, with the vanity!” She yawns. “Is it always going to be about you?”

“Of course not,” he answers with no hesitation. “But if there’s anything I’ve learned from my lessons, it’s that my life doesn’t just belong to me. As the heir to the line of lycan kings, it belongs to the lycan kingdom and to its people. I am part of a whole and I have a job, which I intend to do if—when I’m given the chance. My mother always tells me that I am a thread, woven together with the others. Pulling one out destroys the whole fabric so I refuse to be taken out! I want to live because I know I can and I will make a difference.”

She purses her lips, looking as if she’s trying not to laugh. “That is the perfect answer—if you’re trying to win in a beauty pageant.”

Teddy groans and rubs his face with his hands again. “I don’t know what you expect me to tell you, but it’s the truth! I’ve seen it in my visions, the future where all the people who matter to me are gone, and my sister is grieving all alone! I don’t want that to happen—!”

That wiped the smirk off her face. “Wait, what do you mean your sister is alone?”

He looks at her and sees her looking confused. “I saw it in a vision. Everybody is gone. Me, Dad…even Jayden and Mom. My sister will be all alone, and I don’t know who’s this guy she’s supposed to be with, but he’s not gonna be there—”

The woman is frowning now and looking worried. “That’s not good. She’s getting worse…”

“What do you mean, she’s getting worse?” he asks, just as bewildered. “Wait, are we still talking about my sister?”

She doesn’t answer but seems to be in deep thought.

“Hello?”

She disappears, only to reappear a few yards away, mumbling something to herself that not even his sharp lycan hearing can decipher. Then he blinks, and once again she’s right in front of him, her dark eyes glittering with determination. “If I tell you there might be a way for you to have your book written, but you have to go where no one has ever come back from before, would you do it?”

“Wait, what?” He steps away from her, now wondering if she’s slightly insane. “What book?”

“Hear me out…” she raises both hands to silence him. “See, we all have our own stories, our own destinies predetermined by someone. Someone out there who calls the shots… who decides how things are going to be, like who our fated mates will be—”

He frowns. “As in the Moon Goddess?”

She doesn’t answer right away but seems to consider that for a few seconds before nodding. “Suuure, like the Moon Goddess.”

“You mean there’s another deity who—”

She waves her hands impatiently to cut him off. “Gods and Goddesses, The Creator, Great Designer, Grand Author, The Light—different titles for the same job, it doesn’t really matter. But basically, there is someone, yes. For your kind, you may call her Moon Goddess. Cute and kinda romantic title. I like it. Anyway, long story short, she’s not in a good place right now, and it’s affecting many of us, so you have to talk to her. You see, while it’s true that we all have free will— Okay, maybe not everyone, but most of us do—she’s still the one who has the final say.”

He’s starting to doubt his own sanity at this point because she’s making absolutely no sense to him.

“The point is, we need someone she really likes who is good enough to convince her to change her mind. To give us another chance. You think you’re up for the job, big boy?”

“I thought you’re the one I’m supposed to convince—”

“Me? Oh, no… I’m just trying to save my own ass too. Been waiting far too long for my story to be written, and I reckon if I have to wait some more, she’ll most likely forget about me, so…here I am. Crossing over. Defying the rules. And I need allies so… I’m looking for the one who may actually have a shot convincing her not to unalive us all. What do you say? Wanna give it a shot?”

“Who is this ‘her’?”

“Your Moon Goddess. In my world, she’s The Creator. In other universes, she's the Supreme Being… Whatever the title, it’s she who decides our fates and writes our life stories. Your book. Mine. And of several others.”

Teddy laughs, but the sound is strained and seems a little hysterical to his ears as well. “You’re not making any sense.” He shakes his head. “In any case, I don’t know how to find her. The only way for the descendants of King Endymion to see our deity is during a particular solar eclipse, but there isn’t gonna be one for at least another two years. I can't wait that long, I don't have much time left…” he mutters, wondering if this is even a real conversation or his mind has given up due to severe stress.

“Maybe your mate could help you get to her. From what I heard, that girl has exceptional powers.”

“My mate!?” He frowns. “How do you know—I haven’t even found her yet!”

She smirks. “Then maybe it’s time to start looking, don’t you think? Instead of wasting your time feeling entitled to everything, perhaps you can actually do something to deserve it. Find your mate, Prince Teddy, and maybe… just maybe… You can save all our happily-ever-afters.” All of a sudden, she starts to glow again, and little tongues of flames begin to appear all over her skin, like she’s catching fire. “Damn it, my borrowed time is up! I need to go back to my own universe, or I will never be able to return. Listen to me—”

“Oh my god, you’re on fire—”

“Nevermind that! Teddy, I can’t tell you where your mate is, but I can give you a clue how to find her. There’s a poem by Seraphina Moon…about a girl who never wanted to be found—aaahhh!” She suddenly bursts into flames again, turning into her phoenix form. Her raspy voice echoes inside his head again. “Find your mate, Teddy! She’s the only one who can take you to Serenity! Find her and save us all.”

With a powerful screech, she raises her great, fiery wings before soaring into the night, heading straight towards the full moon, where she blends into the light and is soon out of sight.

Knowing there’s no time to lose, Teddy retraces his steps out of the maze, replaying the whole absurd conversation with the phoenix in his mind over and over again until he reaches his room once more. He immediately searches online for Seraphina Moon’s poems, looking for the one about the girl who never wanted to be found.

He finds the poem entitled “When I’m Lost”.

.

“Find her…

Beyond the reach of mortal aim,

Lie shattered paths none dare to name.

The gates are sealed, the roads erased,

Lost by choice in a forbidden maze.

Seek where dreamwalkers dare not set foot,

Where lost ships rest, where planes afloat.

Not by human map, nor mortal thread,

But through the rift where myths were fed.

Where light takes flight and time breathes slow,

Where spells are sung and wild dreams grow.

She waits for you, cloaked in gentle light,

A bloom untouched by your sun’s day or this moon’s night.

Find her, for when you do…

You’ll find me too.”