59 -- An Intervention.

"Such a wicked man."
"And to think he had been staying right under our noses."
"... Peelah had been attached to him like a shadow."
"I heard that he joined in on the revelry. Such an evil soul."
Lily could hear the words ringing in her head and she hunched over, squeezing her head between her knees. She had gone to meet the people today, most especially to check on Peelah and she had met a crowd of people outside Elder Ruthe's house and they had all looked within from the outside, at a scene that she had marveled at.
Young Peelah was standing in front of the elders, Baba Kazoh squeezing his arms and telling him to say everything that had been spoked between him and Nicholas.
She had walked in when Peelah, with a huge smile on his face, told them with a lisp in his speech, that he couldn't remember anything that they had talked about and that his memory went away with his friend. She groaned, flinching when Elder Ruthe smacked Peelah's behind.
He looked at her, offended and apologized to the lot of them. He had finally noticed Lily then and he turned to her, smiling widely like he wanted to show her his two missing teeth of recent. So that was where his lisp had come from.
Elder Ruthe had sent the boy back into his room, Vakeen, his brother trailing behind him and looking annoyed.
There had been a bit of a verbal lash to Lily and she had listened to them all, her lips sealed and an apology always leaving her lips. Finally, Baba Kazoh had asked her to excuse them and the door was shut behind her once she stepped out.
Now, she walked from Elder Ruthe's house to her favourite spot in the forest but couldn't take an extra step as the guilt and pain racked through her body, leaving her breathless and she squatted to the floor.
The words of the people gathered in front of Elder Ruthe's house kept nagging at her, letting her know the kind of person she had trusted and fallen in love with.
She had played a huge part in the downfall of the werewolf kingdom and it didn't settle well with her.
"I don't want to feel the way I do anymore." She said into the air, her fingers clawing into her chest. She needed to have a sharp reprieve and she turned as soon as she got deep into the forest, laying her clothes and welcoming the almost sweet pain that now accompanied each transformation.
She ran and ran, simply basking in the feel of the harsh air rushing across her fur, of the moist soil sinking beneath her paws, of the mist that settled all around and made her ears wet.
She knew that she couldn't stay like that for long and she quickly turned back, walking slowly to lengthen her solitude time. She had just walked around the tree where she kept her clothes when she saw the high priestess sitting beside her clothes, staring up at her.
She startled, her hand going to her privates. The high priestess snorted and turned her back on her, giving her the privacy she sought to dress. She quickly put on her breeches and shirt, glancing at the woman to make sure that she didn't turn back.
"Okay. I'm done." She had just pulled her hair out of her shirt when the woman turned back, her unnerving eyes blinking up at Lily.
"You don't wear your mask anymore. Working hand in hand with your vulnerability shows progress." The woman nodded approvingly and Lily bit her tongue to hold back the comment that it had been Nicholas who made her have enough confidence to show herself.
She hugged her knees to her chest and placed her chin on her knees, staring into space. They both looked behind them as they heard the rustling of the leaves, thinking that it might be a deer, but it was Ralph.
The high priestess frowned at him, moving her gaze away from him in displeasure. She was probably irked by the way he kept on hanging around her recently. He noticed her movement and he froze, his gaze swinging to Lily and darkening. Of course, it's so like Ralph to blame the high priestess' annoyance on her.
But seriously, he needed to check himself. He had been a very great friend to her and she still mourned his loss but she didn't need him if he was going to be acting petty most of the time. The high priestess attention wasn't a prize that he should be fighting for.
"There's been news." He walked cautiously towards us, moving to squat beside the high priestess and wrapping a blanket she hadn't seen him holding, around the priestess' thighs. She smiled up at him and Lily could see that she really cared for him. And Lily hoped that she wasn't just a means to an end for Ralph but that he actually cared for her like she was his mother, who had died early and he'd been given to the high priestess.
"What is it?" Lily braced herself for more bad news. That seemed to be the only thing she was getting for a while now. She had walked through the village for the past week, listening as people whispered behind her back, seeing as they couldn't take up the issue with her. Or so it seemed.
"Apparently, Father Nicholas didn't take too kindly to his son ruling while he was still alive. He chased him out."
Both the high priestess and Lily stared at Ralph. Lily tried to make sense of what he had just said but she couldn't. Nicholas's Father, the Vampire King wanted to rule the werewolf kingdom too?
"What exactly do you mean, boy?" The high priestess didn't want to guess about his meaning, it seemed. Her sharp eyes gripped Ralph's, forcing him to spill everything he knew.
"Well, we just heard that the prince is on the run from his father, who wants control of the werewolf kingdom. It seemed Lily's dear vampire didn't take permission from his father.
"Who knew he had it in him. I honestly thought that his father was the person who persuaded him to carry out the sabotaging of the mating ceremony, but this? Wow. And he's smart to flee. I heard that the vampire king..."
Ralph kept on babbling about things he had heard about the king but Lily's ears were ringing. In all honesty, she had hoped that he was coerced to do what he did and she didn't know she had it in her, but her heart broke the more.
"Commander?" The high priestess' hand lay on Lily's shoulder but she shrugged it off. She didn't want any comfort right now and she needed to be alone.
She wished that she could tell them to leave her place of solitude, but this space was as much theirs as it was hers and the entire village. And besides, she couldn't possibly be that rude with the high priestess. She hadn't forgotten the guilt that assuaged her after her last outburst to the woman especially as the high priestess showed her affection that she didn't deserve the days after.
"I have to leave." She stood then and didn't spare the both of them a glance as she walked away from them, wanting to just lock herself up in her room till the next day.
It was just early evening but she felt like she needed the reprieve. A maid, Kayla was dressing her bed when she walked in and she saw as she stiffened. She probably still remembered the interrogation-inquiry that had transpired between them a few days after she had transformed for the first time.
Lily flushed, shaking the memory from her mind and she quickly disrobed, falling face flat on her bed as the maid walked out, shutting the doors.
The last thing she took note of was how white her sheets were and how they smelt of cedarwood and then she was getting pulled up by the arms, something really foul in her nose.
She jerked out of the hold and moved back, her hand going to her nose before she even focused on who the person might be.
She saw the high priestess in front of her, a stick painted with something in her hand. She winced, not wanting to think too much of what it had been.
She looked out of her window and saw that it was dark, meaning that she had slept for a few hours. More importantly, she had to think about why the high priestess was in her room, somewhere that she had never ventured into. She jerked more upright when she realized that worse news might've come.
"Is it...?" She couldn't bring herself to mention Nicholas. Had he been hurt? Had his father gotten to him? She didn't know when her hand raised to her chest and pressed against it, trying to calm her racing heart.
"What? No. However, did you get to that conclusion?" She watched as the high priestess walked to her drawers and began to pull out clothes, war clothes and her armor. She even placed her swords on the table.
Lily frowned from her spot on the bed, very confused at what was happening. Were they are war? She quickly rolled out of bed and passed to her balcony, staring out but seeing that everything was calm, too calm to be at night even.
"It's morning, child." The high priestess answered her unvoiced question and Lily was forced to remember that the woman had an uncanny ability of knowing everything.
"Come away from the window and put on your things now."
Lily listened to her, deciding to dress and ask questions. "What exactly am I getting ready for?" She strapped in her sword in its holster. Would it be wise to tell the priestess that she hadn't trained with the others for a while? Sure, it doesn't dull her abilities, but her team work needed a bit brushing off.
"You need to go and get the prince."
Her hand loosened on the button she was doing up. What exactly was she referring to? She couldn't possibly go out to help Nicholas after what he had done to her and then to the werewolves.
She unstrapped her holster and began to take off her clothes, shaking off the high priestess hands that tried to halt her movements.
"Listen to me, child. Listen." She took her hands and forced Lily to face her and to listen this time. "Your men are all gathered, waiting for your move, right here in the foyer. Don't go after Nicholas for yourself, go after him to join hands with him."
Lily went to pull her hands back but the high priestess held her firmly, putting her face in Lily's line of sight.
"Go after him because if we don't join forces with him and help him, the vampire King will catch up with him and take over the werewolf kingdom. King Eric is more vile than Nicholas, who in all honesty has a little bit of humanity still in him.
"Not only would king Eric snuff out that humanity, he'd kill his very own son just to get control of the werewolf kingdom. And once it's his, we're all going to be under his hand. And what a tight fist it makes."
The high priestess let go of Lily's hand, knowing for sure that she had sold her point across to her and that Lily knew what she had to do for her people.
"I'm doing this for the Kayaans. And not for Nicholas or myself." The high priestess nodded, not wanting to call her out on the hopefulness that shrouded her voice.
Lily stared off into space, deep in thought. She turned to the high priestess, her mind already made up as she reached for her tunic and sword belt.
"We march into the woods now. Tell them to convene at the gates."
The high priestess stared at her with a wide smile on her face and dashed out, rushing to do her bidding.
Lily hoped that the path she took currently was the right one.