The Wolf Queen's Prophecy

Kitchen Problems

Lyria and little Wyatt hadn’t gone more than a few paces before yet another person called out to her. Lyria grimaced a bit, remembering the problems that came with having a full and eventful castle to oversee, as she stopped and turned to find Prince Wyatt’s Omega rushing toward them, the little Prince’s tutor hurrying along behind the Omega.

“Caldien,” Lyria called, “Sorah, one moment, please.” The two stopped and turned, then nodded their agreement to wait for her.

“Miss Tersae, Sir Golan, how can we help you?” Lyria asked the wolves as they approached. Both stopped to bow low to her and mutter the usual ‘Your Highness’ before the Omega began to speak.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” she started. “Prince Wyatt has not completed his coursework for the last two days, I was just informed.” The Prince’s Omega was a minder, more or less, someone who could watch and nurture the young Prince when the King and Luna Queen were busy. It was a place of high honor for an Omega, and Miss Tersae came from a long line of wolves who worked with the Royal family. She was at once strict and yet also loving, caring but also firm. She herself had a daughter a year older than Wyatt, and the two often played together.

Wyatt shrunk a little into Lyria, hiding from his Omega and his tutor. Unlike Miss Terae, the scholar Sir Golan was not a nurturing man. He had no mate, nor did he want one, Lyria knew. He had always been wholly devoted to the study of the secrets of the world. He taught the young Prince mathematics and botany.

Lyria sighed, looking down at the young pup. “Wyatt?” she asked, an eyebrow raised. He didn’t answer, but his look down at the floor told her what she needed to know.

Lyria reached down to scoop him up in her arms and then turned so she could set him on the wide windowsill nearby, so that they were eye level. “Wyatt, is this true?” she asked him. Reluctantly, he nodded.

“Why aren’t you doing your work?” she asked him. She turned to Miss Tersae, asking, “is he only behind in mathematics and botany? Have you spoken with Scholar Frieyam or with Master Ligath?” They taught the young pup literature and history, respectively.

The Omega nodded. “Yes, he’s up to date on those subjects.”

“I don’t like mathematics,” Wyatt said. “I’m sorry,” he added.

“Wyatt, you have to learn mathematics. And botany. You have to learn a lot of things and you won’t like all of them.”

“Why?” he asked. “Why do I have to study and you don’t? And Yassensa doesn’t either,” he added, naming Miss Tersae’s daughter. “Miss Ter-sea–” he had still had some trouble with her name, which was pronounced ‘Turs-aye’ and was an unusual name in the Wolf Kingdom, being very old fashioned, “–told me that she doesn’t study any of them yet, except Goddess studies.”

Lyria took his hand. “You know, I studied for years and years when I was a pup,” he said. “And Yassensa will have to do the same. But do you want to know why you had to start earlier than most pups do?” Wyatt nodded solemnly. “It’s because some day, you’ll be King. And that means you need to learn a lot of stuff before you become a wolf. And do you know when you become a wolf?”

He nodded enthusiastically. “When I shift!” he said.

“That’s right. And the Wolfsbloods always shift between the ages of eighteen and twenty. You are early shifters! Most wolves aren’t! Auntie Aertis didn’t have her first shift until she turned twenty two. That means you’ll be an adult before most wolves. And that means you need to start learning before most pups. And you have to take it really seriously, because some day, we will all be listening to you as King.”

“And you’ll have to do what I say!” he said, giggling.

“Yes,” she smiled at him. “But you have to take your studies seriously, or you won’t be a very good king at all. Can you do that?”

Wyatt pouted at her. He seemed to consider her words. Then he said, “do you promise that when I am King, I will need mathematics?”

“I promise,” she said. “On the Goddess herself.”

“Okay,” Wyatt said, adding, “then I guess I will try harder.” He lifted his arms up for Lyria to set him down on the floor, which she did.

“Good boy,” she told him. “Why don’t you go with Miss Tersae and Sir Golan now and finish your work before the party tonight?”

“I have to do it now?” he asked, looking distressed. “What about the dessert?”

“Ruthalie is waiting,” Sorah said, then when Lyria glanced over her shoulder at her, she added, “sorry, Your Highness. I just meant– the Prince is always welcome in the kitchens. Surely he can take a day off from his studies for Gathering Dark?”

Caldien looked darkly at Sorah. Lyria was surprised, and almost impressed, that a young servant girl who had been in the castle barely a week was daring to make suggestions to her as Luna Queen. She gave some thought to Sorah’s words, then shook her head.

“No. It sounds like he had the last two days off,” Lyria proclaimed. “He can finish his work now. Go on,” she added, shooing Wyatt toward his Omega.

“But–” Sorah started to speak again, but Caldien shot her a look that silenced her. Wyatt took Miss Tersae’s hand and the three left, Wyatt casting one look backward at Lyria as he departed. Lyria frowned.

Remembering the prophecy, and the strange events of the night before, she began to get a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew Miss Tersae’s family had a storied history of serving the Wolfsblood family faithfully, but still, her instinct told her something strange was happening.

“Caldien,” she said, making a decision. “Go with Wyatt.”

“The King’s orders were to stay with you, Your Highness,” he protested. Sorah appeared to have used all of her energy having opinions on Wyatt, and looked uninterested in the discussion as she leaned against a wall.

“Caldien, all things considered… I don’t feel comfortable with him being alone.” Lyria gave him a significant look, hoping he would infer her meaning. “You can send a guard to meet Sorah and I in the kitchen. I don’t think anything will happen to us between here and there.”

“I–” the servant seemed vexed.

“Please,” Lyria said. Caldien knew well how much Lyria loved little Wyatt, and how nervous she was about what had transpired the night before. After a moment, Caldien nodded.

“I’m sending a guard to the kitchens in my place though,” he told her. “Someone will be there in a moment.”

Lyria nodded, and with this decided, Sorah pushed off the wall she was leaning on and led the way, Caldien hurrying off in the other direction after the Prince and his attendants.

“I am sorry about that,” Lyria said. “I know that you have a job to do, I know Ruthalie can be hard on people. She runs a tight kitchen, but I’ll vouch for you on why we are late.” The two were hurrying down the hall.

“Thanks,” Sorah said. She was rushing along, and barely looked at Lyria when she spoke.

“What exactly is the issue in the kitchen?” Lyria asked her, just as they emerged into the castle’s main entryway and turned right toward the kitchen.

“Hard to explain,” Sorah said. “Your Highness,” she added. “You’ll see.”

“I’ve told all the serving staff that there really is no need to call me that,” Lyria told her, trying to keep up. Sorah seemed to rush faster and faster, only picking up speed with every moment. The kitchens were not far, and Lyria didn’t want to overexert herself.

“Right, sorry,” Sorah said, still seeming distracted.

“Sorah, please,” Lyria said, “can you slow down?” They rounded the corner into the kitchen, and to Lyria’s surprise, it was empty. Sorah stood by the door, having stopped just inside. Lyria stopped short, though her momentum had carried her several steps inside the warm room, which still smelled of baking bread and was clearly only recently evacuated.

“Sorah–” Lyria started to ask what was going on, turning back toward the door where the servant was standing. Suddenly, something heavy hit her in the back of the head.

Lyria crumpled to the ground and immediately felt someone roughly stuff something into her mouth. Her ears were ringing, her head felt heavy as a brick. She tried to scream, but the gag had been quickly and securely fastened, and the last thing she saw was Sorah pulling a dark burlap sack over her eyes.

She felt faint, but strained to keep conscious as she felt Sorah grab her hands and tie them. Then she realized someone was tying her feet as well. She hadn’t seen anyone else. She didn’t know who it could be. She started to thrash wildly and felt satisfaction as her knee collided with a heavy, fleshy object. Someone swore, then kicked her in the side.

Lyria’s first thought was for her child, and she curled away to protect her stomach. Then, her ears still ringing, she realized that Sorah and her accomplice had picked her up and were carrying her.

A breeze rustled the hair that was not bound up in burlap and Lyria realized they had emerged onto the side of the castle through the kitchen doors. She wriggled again, trying to get free.

“She’s a fighter,” said a gruff male voice. It wasn’t Sorah, nor was it the same voice who had sworn when Lyria’s knee had caught a blow on the second person. Three people, then, she thought.

“Where’s the pup?” this was the voice of the wolf Lyria had kicked. With a jolt, she realized the voice was referring to Wyatt.

She heard Sorah mutter something. For a moment, the hands holding her relaxed, as if distracted.

She could take three wolves if she could shift, but she seemed unable to. It simply wouldn’t come to her. She was still dazed and disoriented. Still, she tried to twist, hoping to take advantage of the distraction and break her captor’s hold on her.

It worked, sort of, and her feet fell to the ground, but someone maintained a tight grip on her torso. She turned helplessly in an attempt to throw off the person still holding her, begging her wolf to emerge. Airyl was nowhere within her, and she was alone.

The last thing she felt was another blow to the back of her head, and then she fainted, going limp in the arms of her kidnappers.