Chapter Three - What the Seven Hides?
901 Words
Michael's wolves had fully shifted now and were tracking by scent alone. Kallis could feel the blood loss slowing her down, but she forced herself forward. She had to find Aldris again. Nothing else mattered.
She had barely taken a few steps when something pricked her neck.
Kallis spun around, but saw no one. Her hand flew to her neck, and she pulled out a small needle. Whatever was in it worked fast. Her legs gave out. The trees tilted around her.
Then everything went dark.
***
She woke on a cloth spread across hard ground.
Gray morning light filtered through the canvas above her. She tried to sit up and immediately felt the ropes around her wrists and ankles. They were tied tight enough to stop any escape.
She tested them anyway.
The knots didn't budge.
Slowly, the memories returned. The battle. The chase. Aldris disappearing into the forest.
Then she noticed her wounds.
The cut along her ribs had been cleaned and packed with herbs. Her forearm was wrapped in fresh linen. Someone had treated her while she was unconscious.
She pulled against the ropes again.
Footsteps sounded outside the tent.
A moment later, Aldris stepped inside carrying a bowl.
Their eyes met.
For a few seconds, neither spoke.
Aldris crossed the tent, knelt beside her, and began replacing the herbs on her wounds. His movements were calm and careful, as though tending to an injured prisoner was perfectly normal.
Silence stretched between them.
Finally, he spoke.
"What's your name?"
Kallis said nothing.
He didn't push.
"So I'm your prisoner now," she said at last. "You could have done better than this." She glanced at the ropes.
A faint smile touched his face.
"I could've killed you a hundred times last night."
"Why didn't you?"
"No reason to. You're already dead either way."
He said it so casually that it made her angrier.
"You had my picture," he continued.
Kallis stiffened.
"You searched me." "What else did you find?"
"Relax." His voice remained calm. "You're tied up. I'm not. That changes what a man can do."
She shot him a glare.
"I didn't touch you," he said. "That's not who I am."
"I don't care."
He continued working on her wounds.
"I took that photograph the day I became High Alpha. That exact copy was kept by the Circle. Seeing it told me who you really were."
He looked up at her.
"You've never shifted, have you?"
The question hit harder than she expected.
She looked away.
"Untie me," she said. "Come with me to the Keep. Unharmed. I don't know what you've done, but I can argue for mercy."
Aldris studied her.
"The Seven don't believe in mercy."
His voice was quiet.
"The moment I enter the Keep, I'm dead."
She held his gaze.
"What did you do? What crime did you commit?"
"I learned something I wasn't supposed to know."
"Learned what?"
"A secret about what the Circle really is."
The words settled between them.
"What could the Seven possibly fear that much?"
Aldris didn't answer at once.
Instead, he pulled a small knife from his belt. He raised it to her face, the flat of the blade resting lightly against her jaw. The cold steel brushed her skin, but he didn't press it any further.
Kallis didn't move.
She watched his eyes, not the knife.
"If I untie you," he said, "don't go back to the Keep. Go anywhere else. Somewhere the Circle will never find you, if you're lucky."
She frowned.
"Why would I run? You're the one accused of treason not me."
He looked at her for a long moment.
"You want to know why I said you're already dead?"
He let the silence hang.
"If you return without me, the Circle will kill you. They'll believe I told you what I know. That's reason enough."
Kallis felt the words sink in.
Everything she believed about the Circle, the Keep, and even her father suddenly felt less certain.
"Then tell me what you have learnt," she said. "If you want me to believe you're innocent, tell me the truth."
Aldris held her eyes.
"Why does no one who enters the Keep ever leave?" he asked. "Why has Michael never heard of the Circle after a thousand years of it standing? Not just Michael — every werewolf who isn't a High Alpha. Why does every High Alpha enter the Keep blindfolded? And why weren't you told to blindfold me?"
His voice stayed calm.
"Because everyone already knows I'm never coming back out."
Kallis couldn't answer.
She thought about Daemon. About her father. About the Keep she had always believed kept her people safe.
What if it was a prison instead?
"You think you know the truth," Aldris said. "You don't."
He stepped closer and cut the ropes from her wrists and ankles.
She slowly stood.
For a moment, they simply looked at each other.
"Save yourself," he said.
Then he turned and walked out of the tent.
Kallis remained where she was, staring at the loose ropes on the ground. Deep red marks circled her wrists where they had been tied.
His words echoed in her mind.
Everything I believed... was it all a lie?
She took a slow breath, then hurried out of the tent.
Aldris was already walking through the trees.
"Wait!" she called. "Aldris, wait!"
He didn't stop.
She ran after him.
- Writer
