Chapter 13

"The elders are gathering"
•••••••

In the next days that followed, Nellie and Ma'am Dodda talked more often. Ma'am Dodda was still weak and recovering, Nellie continued administering the leaves on her, anytime ma'am Dodda was not resting they talked a lot. Nellie got to know a lot about the castle and Earl's childhood. She had tried to make Earl talk to her about her past a couple of times but each time she tried, it only seemed like Earl was trying to open up old wounds, he would get angry for no reason midway through the conversation and he will stomp out, once, Nellie almost swore he was going to cry if he continued so she asked him to stop.

Ma'am Dodda could pass as Earl's mother, Nellie learnt she had been a maid in the palace when Earl was born and she had been with Earl the day his parents had been killed in what they termed 'the Rogues' Invasion' not only was Earl's parent's killed but his elder brother had been killed too. Ma'am Dodda had saved and hidden him; that had been the only way to keep him alive.

Earl had been just twelve when this happened to his parents, he grew up knowing his parents were killed by the Rogues and the castle and the entire Blood pack would have been conquered if the soldiers had not fought hard. Earl owed that to Charlie's father who was the war lord then, he had stood up to defend the Pack against the Rogues at all odds.

Nellie could not help but feel bad for Earl; he had had to grow up knowing all of this, she wondered how he dealt with the trauma. Most times when he slept he would wake up and scream in his dreams. Nellie could only imagine the nightmares he had to endure every night.

As Nellie made her way to the healer's chambers to see ma'am Dodda this afternoon, she felt unusually cheerful and happy, she was singing and humming cheerfully as she made her way through the halls. She bumped into Charlie on the way.

"Ouch" Charlie groaned holding his chest as if he was in so much pain

"That must hurt a lot, how about this? " Nellie poked Charlie on the chest playfully

"You really want me dead, don't you?" Charlie sighed.

Nellie scoffed, Charlie had grown to like her and they both got along pretty well,apart from his tough demeanor, Nellie got to learn he was actually a very playful and loving person. She was glad they were no longer at each other's neck.

"I'm going to see Earl, I suppose you are going to Ma'am Dodda?"

"Yes, I need to read her a story this afternoon and a little girl chit-chat" Nellie smiled, she looked forward to each afternoon with ma'am Dodda.

"Run along then" Charlie smiled and went on his way.

Nellie continued down the hall, she met Ariel waiting for her.

"My lady" Ariel bowed.

"Ariel, you are here already" Nellie had told her to always wait for her here, Ariel was her personal maid now and they got along pretty well, Nellie got to know that Ariel had been working in the palace since she was nineteen. That was like nine years, her brother was in the army and her mum worked in the kitchen. Her dad had died in the Rogues Invasion when she was much younger and she only started working in the palace when she turned nineteen.

"Yes my lady, the elders will gather with the Alpha today in the court today" Ariel supplied.

"Oh. Do you have any idea why?" Nellie asked. She knew the elders only gathered when there was a very important issue to handle or when they wanted to make enquiries from the Alpha.

"I am not sure my lady" Ariel bowed.

"Alright then, let's go" Nellie wondered if it was because of her. It had been one month since she was brought here, there was no doubt the elders had come to find out who she was and why she was here.

They got to the healer's room, Ariel knocked and waited for the invitation to come in. She really hoped Astrid would not be present in the room or even if she was, she hoped the nosy woman would leave when she got there. Ariel was about to knock again when the door swung open.

"You are here" Astrid stood before the door in all her glory, she sent Nellie a disgusted look which Nellie returned.

"Yes I am, and I'm sure you know why" Earl said in a soft but cold tone. Nellie could not understand why the healer hated her so, but she had heard the maid say a couple of times that she had stolen Astrid's place and glory by healing Ma'am Dodda.

"I see"Astrid regarded Nellie for a while "Ma'am Dodda is resting" she said in finality.

"Nellie is that you?" Ma'am Dodda's voice came from inside.

Nellie cast Astrid a hard stare before she slightly pushed her aside and went into the room. Ariel followed immediately.

"You do realize this is my chambers" Astrid turned, rolling her eyes devilishly.

"And you do realize you are not supposed to stop me from visiting a patient" Nellie fired back.

"It's okay you too, Astrid, can you please excuse us now. Go out and get some fresh air, you have been here since morning" Ma'am Dodda chided.

Astrid had hoped she was going to see Earl today and she had waited patiently only to see that pest. She scoffed and went out of the room, banging the door loudly as she left.

Ma'am Dodda signed.

"How are you feeling today Ma'am?" Nellie asked, smiling.

"I feel much better, I think I'm fit to leave this place. I can do just fine on my own now" Ma'am Dodda said.

"Let's see" Nellie examined her wounds and found that it had healed, she still had to be a bit careful to prevent opening it on the inside. "Well, your wounds have healed now but you still have to be careful to not open it from inside" Nellie advised.

"I can manage," Ma'am Dodda smiled.

Nellie knew she could, Ma'am Dodda was the most careful person she knew, she paid attention to little details.

"I heard the elders are gathering today," Nellie said to start a conversation. "I think it's because of me"

"If that is the case, then they only want to know about you"

"I hope so"
••••••••••••••••••••••

Earl observed the elders from where he sat on the high table. He knew why they were gathered, Earl knew why they were but he had no strength for the meeting. His mind was on something else… someone else. Earl shook his head hoping to shake the thought out too.

He was seated and waiting for the elders to gather around the table, so far there were just three of them left to complete the table.

"Hail the Alpha" The first Elder announced when they were finally complete. He was the oldest person in the room and possibly the oldest in the pack.

"May you live long, your Highness" The twelve elders chorused.

Earl was snapped out of his thoughts, he looked from one elder to the other, the all looked seemingly ageless, those were one of the advantages of being a werewolf. Most of them could replenish their energy if they wanted by tapping from a younger person's blood- mostly the humans. For the ones that had mates, they could drink off the blood of their mate to keep them strong and glowing. The male wolves were at an advantage when it came to having a mate, the female had only to feed off a human and rarely a male.

"Thank you elders. May you all flourish too" Earl responded, he stood up to honor their greetings. He was the Alpha but he was easily the youngest in the room.

There was silence in the room for a few seconds before one of them finally spoke;

"We heard you brought back a female wolf from the forest, your highness. We have waited for four weeks to hear from you concerning her but nothing is forthcoming so we have come to ask '' It was Asgard, the white wolf. Earl observed him for a while, at eighty-four he was still looking fit and the white hair on his head could pass as a crown, he was said to be a brave warrior in his days.

"She saved my life from the Rogues. She is the Alpha of the moon pack and her life is currently under threats from the Rogues, bringing her here is my own way if returning the favor she did me by saving my life"

Earl looked from one elder to another, they all seemed to be digesting the information.

"Your highness. We are afraid keeping her here might only bring us trouble, judging from the number of Rogues we have had to deal with this past month she has been here, it's beginning to look like her stay here is trouble" Another elder spoke.

"I have my own plans and I am working on it, the army are on standby in case of an attack from the Rogues" Earl said calmly.

"It's not only the Rogues" This time, it was Lady Agatha, the only female elder in the pack. She was also the mother of Astrid. "We do not want to engage in any war with a neighboring pack" she concluded.

"Nellie was an Alpha in her pack. She is not just a commoner, but if it gets to war then my army is ready. Nellie will be kept here for as long as I want her to be" This time the tone of finality in his voice could not be mistaken.

"What plans do you have regarding your Luna?" Lord Asguard spoke again.

"I intend to find out where they are currently hiding" Earl spoke in a calm voice, the thought of Ina made him feel knots in his chest.

"And the pack of Rogues she left with, do you know them?" Lord Adleyn spoke for the first time

"Yes" Earl breathed, he did not want to think about it, Ina had not only betrayed her but she had gone with his worst enemy.

"Who? Do we know them?" Another else spoke impatiently

Earl glanced over his shoulders, his guards were mounted everywhere. The security in the castle was tight these days because they did not want to be caught unawares, Charlie was inside the court with him, he stood by his side incase of an attack so he could protect the Alpha. Earl looked back at the elders, his gaze rested on the elder who had asked the question, in a slow but calm voice he replied;

"Raphael Doglar's son. Tony''

The place was quiet, everyone looked from one to another. The Blood pack had been looking for Raphael Doglar's pack for seventeen years now, it was still a shock to most of them that their Luna had not only betrayed the Alpha but had gone with his worst enemy.

Raphael Doglar. Earl thought, the same Rogue who had murdered his parents in cold blood. It still hurt Earl that he had not been there to kill Raphael Doglar but he had died by the wounds he sustained when he had been after a neighboring pack.

Now Earl was grateful for one thing, Tony, Raphael Doglar's son taking his Luna was his only way of getting to him and he was not going to mess it up. He looked up from his thoughts.

"What do you plan to do now?" Asgard asked.

"I'm going to lure Tony out of his hideout" Earl said easily.

"And how do you intend to do that?" Lady Agatha asked this time. For some reason, Earl knew he didn't like Lady Agatha, he just knew he couldn't trust her.

"I don't know"