Chapter 30

Nellie watched as Earl left the room, she didn't know why but she was happy. She kept giggling like a baby and she had even finished her food. Earl had opened up to her about his wife and he even admitted Astrid was his mistress, that was more than she had expected him to tell her. He didn't lie to her and she was glad.

Where was Ariel? She had not seen her since yesterday and this morning too. It was almost like she couldn't contain the joy she felt at the moment, Nellie left the dining room and went to the dressing mirror, she stood there admiring her features in the mirror. Recalling the way Earl had taken his time to study her when he came out of the bathroom a smile crept to her face again, what is wrong with you Nellie?

Ma'am Dodda had chosen this dress for her since Ariel was nowhere to be found, now she had to appreciate her efforts because Earl was awestruck by her beauty. He even wore the same color as her dress! Smiling for the last time, Nellie opened the door and left the room.

The hall looked unusually empty today, only a few guards stood by the door waiting for her and even fewer maids were seen hurrying down the hall. Earl told her he was expecting a very important guest but she didn't know the details, Nellie hurried down the hall in hopes of finding out what was happening in the parlor.

"My lady"

Earl turned to find the young golden eyed guard who had been following her about since morning.

"What is it?" She asked him, the annoyance obvious in her voice.

"My Lady, the Alpha instructed that we shouldn't allow you into the courtroom" The boy bowed shakily.

"And why is that?"

"They have a very important meeting with a guest, My Lady. Everyone I'd expected to remain indoors until the visitor is gone" The guard raised his head now but as if realizing his mistake, he bowed again.

His clumsiness bemused Nellie and she laughed a bit harder than she intended, the guard's face flushed.

"What is your name?" She asked him, this time smiling to make the atmosphere a comfortable one for him.

"Oliver, My lady" He bowed more than he was supposed to.

Nellie couldn't help it, she laughed again. The boy's cheeks were burning now.

"Oliver, I guess you are my new guard?" Nellie took two steps closer to him.

"Yes, my Lady," He replied shakily. Had he done anything wrong?

"I see you are also new to this?" Nellie asked again.

"Yes, My Lady," Oliver answered again.

"When does Earl intend to train you?"

"He said today, when he is done with everything" The lad bowed clumsily.

"How about I take up from there?" Nellie offered, training Oliver would help her pass time she thought.

"Ma…?"

The boy was funny, Nellie had to give it to him.

"Oliver, since you will be working as my personal bodyguard, I want to teach you how to fight with... a sword" Nellie hoped that was simple enough for him to understand.

"But, My Lady, can you...?"

"Fight with a sword? Try me" Nellie finished for him.

Oliver only nodded sheepishly.

"We can start now, surely Earl did not put any restrictions on the inner courtyard?"

"He didn't, My lady"

"Good, I'll just change into something more comfortable then we can go.

Nellie went back to Earl's chambers in search of comfortable clothes she can fight in. The little clothes the maid had brought for her had nothing like what she wanted. Nellie thought of trying on Earl's clothes but she decided against it, his size was too big for her.

She left Earl's chambers and headed for her own, with Oliver and one other guard following closely behind her.

"Where is Charlie?" Nellie asked the guard beside Oliver.

"I learnt he visited his mother earlier today, I don't know if he's back My Lady"

"Oh alright"

Charlie had a mother and Earl didn't, Earl had told her the Rogues killed his parents and she had heard from Ariel how bad the Rogues invasion affected the pack, she supposed Charlie must have lost his father in the blood bath since he was the Beta at the time.

Earl's Luna's name was Ina, why had she chosen a Rogue over Earl? Nellie still couldn't understand. Bela had betrayed her and Ina had betrayed Earl, they both knew what it felt like to be heartbroken but above all Nellie knew what it meant for everything you held dear to be taken away from you- by your best friend.

The hall outside Nellie's chambers was as empty as the rest of the house, what kind of visitor did they have that made the castle so silent? After signaling the two guards to wait outside,Nellie went into the room and picked out her favorite fighting armor. She was grateful that Bella had allowed her to take her armor and a few belongings before chasing her out of the pack. they probably thought she would not survive but thinking about it now she was grateful she did.

Nellie quickly changed into the fighting clothes,it was a pair of khaki trousers and a handmade tunic that draped down her hips, she tied the center with a whip around her stomach and changed from the little fluffy slippers she had worn to compliment her dress into a boot. Picking her favorite fighting tools, two penknives and three curved butcher knives she slid them into various parts of the boots which she had personally made for that purpose.

It took her five more minutes to get the pins out of her hair and let it flow around her shoulders, her rich black hair Nellie thought. That was one thing she was told she had inherited from her mother, shoving the thought of her mother behind her mind, with one swing of her hands her sword hung around her waist, to allow her to take it out easily.

When she stepped into the hall where the two guards were waiting by the door, Oliver and the other guards' mouths opened in surprise. Nellie stood for a few more seconds allowing them to take in her appearance.

"Let's go" She said amidst chuckles when she felt they had looked enough.

The first guard whose name Nellie later found out to be Scot led them out into the courtyard. It was an open field wide enough to contain half the whole pack, the Blood pack was indeed very big and the castle was way bigger than Nellie's castle, she thought.

When the two guards had shown her around the courtyard, Nellie drew her sword and stood in the middle of the yard.

"Oliver, to guard a Royale is a very tough task and you always have to be prepared" Nellie studied the young man's features for a while, he looked scared.

"Yes, My Lady" He nodded shakily.

He did a lot of shaking for a guard, Nellie thought.

"Draw your sword" She ordered him.

"My Lady, are you sure about this?" Oliver asked skeptically.

"Are you scared for me?" Nellie smiled.

"I am sorry My Lady, I don't want the Alpha to get mad at me" Oliver said shakily.

"Don't worry about the Alpha, I told you before as my guard, I want to trade you by myself, now draw your sword!"

Oliver drew his sword clumsily and held it out in a funny way, with one stroke of her sword, Nellie had Oliver's sword swinging off his hands.

"See… if you must fight an enemy, you have to confident in yourself and be prepared to be attacked at anytime" She picked Oliver's sword and stretched it out for him, Oliver's look of terror amused her, he was visibly shaken.

"Hold out your sword again Oliver," With shaky hands, Oliver picked his sword and stretched it out in a funny way. "Like this" Nellie held her sword out for him to see, he tried to get it right and did after the fourth attempt.

"Now strike!"

"My Lady?" Oliver's eyes widened.

"Come at me Oliver or I'll kill you, it's your choice. Your life is in your hands now, you either choose to obey me as your Lady or give yourself a last shot before you die. Remember I am your enemy right now?"

Oliver looked skeptical for a while, he looked from Nellie to the sword and then he slowly raised the and made towards Nellie in an attempt to strike.

Nellie dodged the strike with ease and succeeded in flinging Oliver's sword out of his hands again. Then with another swing of her hands, Oliver lay sprawled on the floor with Nellie's sword pointed directly to his throat. His eyes widened in terror.

"One mistake you shouldn't make In a battlefield is underestimate your enemy's ability, fight like your life depends on it and remember there is only one objective and that is to kill, you either kill or get killed" Nellie removed the sword from Oliver's throat and helped him up.

After about three hours of training, Oliver was beginning to perfect some moves, few times he dodged Nellie's strike and once he rolled out and picked his sword before her sword could get to his throat. Scot, who stood watching the whole time, began clapping and cheering for Nellie.

"Do you want us to fight so he can watch?" Nellie nodded at Scot, he smiled readily and drew out his sword.

Oliver moved out of the way and sat by the edge watching, Nellie fought with such ease that Scot could barely pass a few strike to her sword, three times she flung his sword out of his hands and twice she caught him before he could pick it, her sword pointed directly to his neck, Oliver marveled at how good she fought. After the third failed attempt to strike Nellie's sword, Scot raised his hands up in surrender and Nellie put back his sword.

"You fight so well My Lady" They both chorused simultaneously.

"Thank you," Nellie smiled.

"And you are a very good teacher," Oliver added.

"You are a good student too," Nellie laughed.

"I am honored to be trained by you, My Lady," Oliver said again.

"That is enough praise for one day now. Let's go in, I believe Earl's meeting with his guests should be over now"

They all turned to leave the courtyard but they were surprised to find Earl, Charlie, a silver haired middle man who appeared to be in his early forties and yet another very handsome dark haired man who seemed looked like he was in his early thirties all standing right in front of the entrance of the castle. Ma'am Dodda stood behind Earl, Astrid stood next to her and a few guards surrounded them.

Nellie walked up to them briskly, Oliver and Nellie trailed behind her shakily. Nellie could sense that the atmosphere was tense, she could sense the fear from her two guards but she didn't know why they were scared, who were these men and why did they come into the courtyard?

"Hi" Was the only thing that came out of Nellie's mouth when she got to where they all stood.

"You are Nellie, Luna of the Moon pack" The silver haired man spoke, Nellie could feel the powerful aura emanating from him.

"Yes My Lord, I am honored you know my name. But I'll be more honored if I knew yours" Nellie bowed slightly.

The silver haired man smiled softly, revealing a perfect dentition, God! He was beautiful! "I am the Witcher"

What? The Witcher? This young handsome man? Nellie couldn't believe her ears. The Witcher in her pack was a ancient wolf who had been serving since her father's time and here was this beautiful young man, the Witcher of the Blood pack?

"I am... honored to meet you, My Lord" Nellie bowed again.

"The pleasure is mine, Luna. You are the one key to a thousand locks and I hope to be here when you unlock them" The man moved closer to where she stood and raised his hands to Nellie's face, she suddenly felt very cold.

What did he mean by she was the one key to a thousand locks? What was this man? He stepped away from her and turned to the dark haired man beside him, this one- if Nellie thought Earl was very handsome then this man was breath-taking, his straight dark hair flowed down to his face. Unlike the Witcher who had everything white on his body, everything on this other man's body was black except his milky white skin which stood out in the crowd. What was he? A god?

"No, I am Kayel" He flashed her a hypnotizing smile.

He could hear her thoughts, too. Right. Who else had heard her think such unladylike things. Right, Earl said she was not a lady.

"Kayel" Nellie repeated, completely lost for words.

"You are more beautiful than I expected you will be, I have been looking forward to meeting you for ages" Kayel smiled again.

Was he always smiling? God! What did he mean by looking forward to seeing her for ages?

"I only got here two months ago, My Lord" Nellie looked up at his black eyeballs now, they were as dark as his hair.

"I know. You are a very good fighter by the way, you should train me someday" Kayel Smiled again and touched her cheek the same way The Witcher had done. This time she felt like she would burn, his hand was as hot as lava. What are these people?

They all moved past her now and headed into the field, what were they going there to do? He said she was a good fighter, how long have they been watching her?

Earl was the last to go after them, when he got to where Nellie stood, he paused and held her gaze. Was he angry? God, just how many beautiful men did she have to see today, if he tried touching her now she might as well just melt into his hands. Nellie caught herself from thinking any further as she remembered that Earl might be hearing her thoughts.

"What are you doing fighting with your guards?" Earl took in her dressing. He looked her up from her hair down to the sole of her boots.

Nellie felt shy under his gaze, she had been confident just moments ago talking to those extraordinary men, and here she was feeling shy because Earl was looking at her! Just what is wrong with you Nellie?

"I wss 'training' them, probably making the job easier for you, beside it's a good way to whirl away time when you left me for almost half the day" Nellie found herself saying.

"I left you?" Earl's gaze on her was very intense now.

"No… I mean you left me locked inside while everyone was away" Nellie tried to correct the impression she just gave.

"Oh, and I was just beginning to think you missed me. So you took to training my guards as a way to pass time I see" Earl smiled mischievously now.

"Well, since they are guarding me k thought I could just try"

"I figure you are a better fighter than I am" Earl's grin widened.

He reached out and caressed her cheeks softly, when the Witcher had told her she had felt cold, when Kayel did she felt hot and now Earl was touching her she felt like lightning was passing through them? It showed on Earl's face that he felt it too because he flinched on the first contact, and almost like he was daring himself, he touched her cheek again- Current.

Nellie gulped hard "What is going on?" She whispered.

Earl picked a few strands of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear, "How about we go out riding in the moonlight one of these days?"

Nellie found herself staring up at his blue eyes… like troubled waters. She found herself nodding and even added, "That would be nice"

"I look forward to it, you can go in now. I'll join you later so we can have dinner"

He let go of her head and moved with his wolf speed to join the rest of his company in the field. Nellie stood there for another minute, her knees felt weak, what did Earl do to her?

From the distance Astrid's eyes was glaring daggers at her.