The Shadow Princess

Family Reunion

I look at him and ask, "What's up with the bells?" He chuckles and replies, "Those are the bells on the walls of your father's kingdom, letting them know someone is at the gate." I say, "Oh, but how do they know someone is actually there and not just a malfunction or something?" Jakobi looks at me and explains, "They are imbued with magic and can sense the mana of people, so even if someone were using magic to cloak themselves, we would still be alerted."

I nod at him and gather my things, preparing to leave my realm. "Let's get this over with, Jakobi." He looks at me and helps me open the door between here and the realm. As soon as we step out, we're immediately surrounded by guards—some in human form and others in wolf form, growling as they back up their armored comrades. Jakobi raises his voice for everyone to hear, "I order you to stand down and bring us to the king."

I growl back at some of the wolves, and they pull their faces back in shock. I smirk at them while we wait. Soon, I hear heavy footsteps approaching, and someone behind the crowd roars, "WHAT EXACTLY IS GOING ON HERE?" The crowd parts, revealing a man with brown hair streaked with gray. He wears blue jeans and a tight white t-shirt. As soon as his eyes land on Jakobi's silhouette, he freezes. Jakobi smiles at him and says, "Beta Daniel, we need to see the king."

The man now known as Daniel gasps softly, covering his mouth before dropping his hand and glancing behind Jakobi, his eyes locking on me. He stares for a moment, and I make a biting motion at him, smirking. Daniel begins to laugh—so hard that he starts crying. After what seems like forever, he finally calms down and wipes his eyes, saying, "You are just like your mom was."

My head snaps up at that moment, and I drop my things, rushing toward him. I grab him by the shirt and ask, "What do you know about my mom?" He looks at me sadly and replies, "She was an amazing Luna and queen, and she was my best friend." He smooths my hair down and sighs softly, adding, "You look a lot like her."

Reluctantly, I let him go and walk back to where my things are, picking up my duffel bag and slinging it over my shoulder. Turning back to him, I say, "Please, Beta Daniel, lead the way. I heard someone is looking for me, and I’d like to continue this conversation later when we aren’t surrounded by so many eyes and ears."

He nods and says, "You don’t have to call me Beta; I wouldn’t mind being called uncle, though." I look at him sharply and reply, "Don’t push it. I just met you and don’t know who you are." He bites his lip and nods in acknowledgment.

He turns around and addresses the others, "Everyone, stand down. Go back to your posts. This has been handled, and you will all be briefed later." Then he turns back to Jakobi, saying, "Right this way. I should warn you, your father is a hugger."

I nod and respond, "I understand." He leads us through the gates I hadn’t noticed when we walked out of my realm. I glance around and see the guards glaring down at us from above. I shrug my shoulders and flip them the bird. Some of the guards growl, while others chuckle. Daniel notices my gesture and shakes his head, mumbling, "You really are just like her."

I smirk and reply, "I like to make a good first impression." He chuckles at that and continues walking.

After a while, we arrive at what can only be described as a giant mansion. Daniel walks in and holds the door open for us. Jakobi strides inside, acting as if he owns the place, but I hesitate before following, wanting to ensure there isn’t a trap waiting for me on the other side. Jakobi stops and turns around, placing his hands on his hips, waiting for me.

He looks at me and says, "Come on now, no one here bites. At least, they won’t bite you." I laugh and reply, "I don't know; some of those guards earlier looked like they were foaming at the mouth to get a piece of me." At my comment, he growls, "They wouldn’t dare if they value their lives."

I chuckle at his statement and roll my eyes before finally walking through the door to join Jakobi. Once we're inside, Daniel closes the door and leads us up beautiful, glossy oak stairs. I run my hand along the railing as we continue to follow him. I can't help noticing how the railings sparkle. He continues walking until we hit a large black door with an orange sun and a purple moon carved into it. I can't help but reach out and touch it, and when I do, it glows bright. Daniel watches in amazement and says, "Your mom put that there a long time ago. She carved it herself and put her magic into it." I pull back away from the door and stand behind Jakobi. Daniel watches me closely before he opens the door and walks in, holding it open for us. At the desk sits a man with his head still turned down, working on some papers.

He doesn't even bother looking up as Jakobi walks into the room. I walk in and stand over to the side in the farthest corner. He doesn't even look up as he says, "What was going on at the border, Daniel? Who have you brought into here without knocking and without announcing yourselves?" Daniel smiles and clears his throat to prevent the laugh coming out. "If you would look up from the paperwork, you would know, Tobias, you would know who has finally arrived." I watch as the man known as Tobias scrunches his face up in frustration before sighing heavily and glancing toward Daniel without paying any attention to Jakobi or me, and says, "Quit speaking in riddles, you know I hate when you do that." Daniel groans out of frustration, points at me, and says, "If you would just pay damn attention some time, you would know." His eyes land immediately upon mine, and he stands up quickly.

Before I could even blink, he was already over in front of me, staring. I look at him right in his eyes, and he raises his hand slowly and begins to reach out without ever taking his eyes off of mine. "I-is it really you?" He strokes my cheek and gasps softly, pulling his hand back. "IT REALLY IS! IT REALLY IS MY BABYGIRL!" He begins to sob and picks me up, embracing me. I awkwardly pat his back before struggling to say, "I kind of need to breathe." He sets me back down quickly and smooths out my hair and clothes before saying, "Oh gosh, honey, I am so sorry. I forget my own strength sometimes. I am so sorry, but you have no idea how long I have waited for this day to come. I just knew you were out there. I never felt our bond snap, so I just knew you were out there somewhere." He steps back, looking me up and down, wiping the tears that keep falling from his eyes. It isn't long before I feel the burn behind my eyes, and my throat tightens as I try not to cry. It isn't long before I feel the wetness on my cheeks as the tears fall. He reaches up and wipes my tears away while saying, "Please don't cry, babygirl. I didn't mean to make you sad." At that comment, I can't help but cry even harder, and he reaches back out for me and hugs me tightly. I close my eyes and allow myself to enjoy his embrace, and the floodgates open at this point. I couldn't stop the tears even if I wanted to. He reaches up and strokes my hair softly while repeating, "It's okay, sweetie. You're home now, and I am never letting you out of my sight again." By the time we break apart, we can hear sniffling, and we both look at Daniel, and he is crying while wiping his eyes, saying, "Oh, how sweet! What a wonderful reunion."

Tobias steps back while holding my hand and laughs at him. I can't help but laugh, too. Daniel stops crying and looks at us while pointing his finger at us, "Hey! You quit laughing! You're making fun of me! No one in this world could watch such a sweet reunion and not cry!" At this, we both laugh even harder, holding our sides as we laugh. Finally, we both stop and straighten up, wiping the tears from our eyes. He smiles at me and says, "Are you tired? You must have had a long journey!" He looks over at Jakobi and says, "When did you leave? I want a full report on her whereabouts this whole time." Jakobi looks at my father and nods. My father turns and looks back at me and says, "Come with me, my dear. I want to show you your room. Hopefully it's to your tastes, and maybe after you finish unpacking, we can talk?" At this, he looks around the room before his eyes land on my duffel bag, and I instinctively tighten my bag on my shoulder. His eyes tighten as he watches me. "Please tell me that isn't all of your belongings. Where is the rest of your stuff?" When he asks this I shrug and say, "This is everything. It's not much, but it's all that I have." He turns and looks at Jakobi and says, "I think we will be sitting down shortly after we show my daughter to her room to discuss why she has such few things." Jakobi freezes at his tone and nods slowly. When my father turns back to me he has a smile on his face. "Now then, how about I show you to your room, huh?"