Prophecy

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Korrin was worried sick.

Kris and the others had been gone for seven days. He knew it would take up to four days to reach the small village where he had sent her, so it made sense that she wouldn’t be back just yet. But he’d sent out runners, some of the fastest Shifters in the Kingdom, to make sure they were on their way back. He had thought he didn’t need to, but he couldn’t bring himself not to.

And now, he was glad he did.

There was no sign of Kris and the wagon she had taken toward the village. One of the runners had even made it as far as the village itself, and he had brought the bad news that they had continued on past the village.

Korrin, like so often as of late, didn’t know what to do. And now, he had no one else to ask. Kris was gone. She was in good hands, though. Nack was one of the Shifters Korrin trusted. He also trusted Tawni, though he wasn’t sure how good she would be in a fight, if it ever came to that.

But there had been no sign of a struggle. The wagon had simply moved to the edge of the village and was gone. Korrin couldn’t fathom why. Where were they going?

He sat in the mountain cave he’d been sharing with Kris. He sat on the edge of their bed, but he couldn’t sleep. Standing up, he began to pace the length of the small stone chamber. His long strides took him across it in ten paces, then he would spin on his heel and walk back the other direction. He repeated this process until he lost count, then he finally came to stand at the cave mouth.

Cold wind blew in across his bare chest, but he hardly noticed. Snow was falling heavily now, and it had been for the past two days. It was beautiful, but it was also deadly, and Kris was out in it.

I should have never let her go, he thought to himself. Then he growled, a loud, echoing sound that he feared would wake the entire camp below. It was the middle of the night, dark, the stars blocked out by the billowing storm clouds above.

He’d been reluctant to let her leave the Kingdom without him, of course. But there was no way he could have gone with her now. He had a Kingdom to run. The Council was pestering him with questions all hours of the day, sometimes even late into the night. There seemed to be hundreds of problems to balance: food stores for the winter, allocating enough space for the young and elderly, finding willing Shifters to hunt and forage for food.

It was all nearly too much to bear. But he had had Kris at his side, and she had been giving him her advice. Now, she was gone. He was alone.

He knew why she had wanted to leave, and he didn’t blame her. When he’d picked her up in that van weeks ago, he’d practically abducted her from her normal life. Her friends, her family, everyone she had ever known—they had no idea where she’d gone. She’d just vanished. Had she run away? Had she been kidnapped? Worse?

So, he did understand why she needed to go back and contact those that cared about her. But that didn’t mean he had to like it, for multiple reasons. He didn’t think there was any danger of assassins. After all, Ruslo was dead, and those that followed him had been banished. But he still didn’t like her going out without him. She was pregnant, and she wouldn’t be able to defend herself like she should.

He also was worried about the weather. The snow had been threatening to fall for the past few weeks, and it was only a matter of time before it finally happened. Now it had, and Kris was out in it, and the weather was only going to get worse.

Finally, he didn’t want her to leave him. It wasn’t just him, anymore. She was as much a part of him as he was a part of himself. Without her here, Korrin felt lost. Alone.

She was in safe hands. He hoped it would be enough.

Korrin sat down on the ledge. Below him, twinkling occasionally through the snow, he caught the sight of campfires. Most of the Shifters were stuffed into the cave system, but a few of the hardiest Shifters were still out in the blizzard. They watched over the supplies and the livestock that hadn’t been put in the caves for the winter or slaughtered for food and their pelts.

It was beautiful, but sitting here alone, he couldn’t fully enjoy it. He needed Kris back, soon.

She was all he had, after all. Sure, he had this entire Kingdom, inherited from his father. But his father was gone. His brother was gone. His cousin was gone. The only person he had left was Kris—and their unborn son.

Thinking about them being gone tore at him so much that it almost physically hurt.

He had assumed his most important job would be taking care of the Kingdom, but over the past few weeks, that view had radically changed. That was still important, of course, but now he realized just how important being a father would be. He was already growing more cautious, thinking of how best to make changes and decisions, and how they would affect his family.

It wasn’t just about the entire Kingdom anymore. Not just about him. Not just about Kris. It was about their family.

He got up, wanting to punch something or take a few pulls of some liquor. He’d let Kris go, and now she was missing.

How could I be so foolish?

But after a few moments of anger, he felt it fade away. Being angry wouldn’t help. Punching something wouldn’t help, and he hadn’t had a drink in weeks. He’d simply been too busy, too focused on what was going on around him. And now, he was too focused on Kris.

He took in a deep breath and smelled an approaching Shifter. He turned to his left, focusing on the trail coming up to his cave and watched intently. There, in the blowing storm, he saw a hulking shape making its way toward him.

Korrin took another deep breath, recognizing the man as one of his own guards.

“My King,” the Shifter said in greeting.

“What is it?” he growled. It was late, he was worried, and he didn’t want to be bothered, but he knew that this came with the territory of being King.

“There’s been a murder, down below in one of the caves,” the guard said. He said it without any sort of emotion, just like so many of the guards did. Korrin still wasn’t used to their ambivalence toward pressing matters like this.

Korrin shuddered, feeling the hackles on the back of his neck stand out. Barely a few weeks had passed since Ruslo had died and the assassins had been taken care of, and yet, there were already more murders? Could the assassins be back? Was he in danger?

Was Kris in danger?

He felt sick to his stomach just thinking about that. He’d been lucky enough to rescue her in the first place from Ruslo’s men, but with the storm, and with how far away she was from him, he didn’t think he would be that lucky again. If there truly was someone wanting to kill her, it was up to Nack and Tawni to protect her. The thought made Korrin want to throw up.

He could do nothing to save her this time.

I was such an i***t to let her go! I should have convinced her to wait until I could join her at the first thaw!

“What happened?” he managed, running a hand along his face.

“A disagreement between two Shifters about some sheep,” the guard said.

“That’s it?” Korrin asked, almost unbelieving. It was unfortunate that the situation had escalated to that point, but… “Just a dispute over livestock?”

“Yes, My King,” the guard answered. “It would be best if you could come down and mediate the situation as soon as possible.”

“Let me put on some clothes,” Korrin told the man. He went back into the cave and pulled on one of his fancy shirts. The style didn’t suit him, personally, but it was something the King should wear. Then he pulled on a gaudy coat lined with thick animal fur. He pulled it tightly around his thick chest.

He followed the man down the icy mountain path. The walk took only a few minutes, and Korrin’s mind was racing the entire time. He’d never had a situation like this before, and he had no idea how best to handle it.

The cave system where the murder had taken place was surrounded by Shifters, even in weather this bad. The guards saw him coming and forced them to the sides, making enough room for him to travel unimpeded.

The inside of the cave was well lit, courtesy of some of his guards. They lined the walls and stood next to other Shifters. There was a scared looking man, obviously drunk and covered in blood, separated from the rest of the Shifters in the cave. The other Shifters were a woman and two small children, all three crying softly into their palms. In the back of the cave stood three sheep, all bleating nervously.

And almost directly in the middle of them was a body. He was surrounded by a pool of blood, and a knife still jutted from his chest. One of Korrin’s guards stood nearby the body, ensuring that no one came close.

“So, what happened here?” Korrin asked.

“He killed my husband!” the woman wailed. Korrin turned toward her. He didn’t recognize her, but he came close and knelt in front of her.

“Tell me what happened.”

“My husband, Patrim, raised sheep for the Kingdom. This other man, Vano, said those sheep were his. He came to our cave, drunk, and got into a fight with Patrim. When Patrim tried to escort him from our home, Vano unsheathed a knife and killed him!”

Then she was crying again. Korrin patted her on the shoulder and made his way to the man called Vano. He asked, “Is that true?”

Vano was clearly drunk, but he nodded. “I didn’t mean to, my King. It just happened so fast. He… put his hands on me, and I thought he was going to hurt me… so I pulled out my knife. I didn’t mean for it to happen. I swear, I didn’t.”

“You know what that means,” a dangerous voice said from behind him. Korrin turned to find Olovina, the eldest and most respected member of the Council, standing behind him. She was old, but no less dangerous than she had ever been. What she lacked in physical strength, she made up for in mental fortitude. Right now, she was Korrin’s biggest enemy.

Korrin just growled. He knew enough of the ancient laws to know what Olovina was talking about. Following Shifter customs, any man found guilty of murder was to be executed on the night of the next full moon.

“The next full moon is in three nights,” Olovina purred, smiling a dangerous smile. It was exactly what she wanted.

“We’re not going to execute him,” Korrin said. His voice left no room for argument. Olovina, for once in her life, actually looked surprised.

“You would dare to break our code?” she asked. There was venom in her voice, but right now, Korrin didn’t care. He was too worried about Kris.

“Things are going to have to change around here, if we ever hope for our kind to survive,” Korrin said. “Take him away, guards.”

Korrin strode out into the night.

The man inside had committed murder. A woman had lost her husband. Two children had lost their father. All over some sheep.

And he had just defied one of the most ancient customs of Shifter code.

It was a horrible, tricky situation.

But he felt relief.

Kris, at least, was safe.

What kind of King did that make him?