Something Has Changed
*Rowan*
Something’s wrong.
I don’t know exactly what it is, but I feel it in my bones.
I’ve been up all night, staring out the window. At first, I tried to sleep. I lay in my bed and stare at the wall of windows across from me, watching the castle in the distance. Part of me wanted to reach out to Hezzlie to make sure that she’s okay. Days have passed since we last spoke through the mind-link, the day after my mother was stabbed in the middle of the night by my sister, but I haven’t reached out to Hezzlie because I don’t know what to say.
I’ve spent as much time as I can looking for a witch who can break the spells on the doors and getting together my military supplies so that we can attack Darksky. I have also reached out to a few of the nearby kingdoms I know share a hatred for Darksky, but all of the Alpha Kings are hesitant to help. They don’t want to have anything to do with the bastard, and it’s hard for me to blame them.
He’s a tricky, underhanded bastard, and killing him won’t be easy. Why would anyone want to start something with someone who has, so far, left them alone? So far, he’s had all of his energy concentrated on me, and now I finally know why. Those stairwells leading underneath the castle, as well as the one James showed me in the basement, clearly have something very valuable hidden behind them. Whether it’s moonstones, as I’ve been told, or something else, I won’t know for sure until I make my way through the magically sealed doors. It’s evident, though, that Darksky wants something from me–and it has to be whatever is secreted away beneath the house.
Absently, I rub at the mark on my shoulder. It burns, like it always does, but it burns less than usual, and that’s alarming to me. The fatigue I’ve felt since the moment Hezzlie rode away from me on the bridge isn’t quite as impairing either, though I am definitely tired since it’s nearly 3:00 in the morning, and I haven’t slept a wink. I fold my arms and take a few steps closer to the window, as if it will somehow help me see what’s going on inside of Darksky Castle. It doesn’t help, but then, I do notice something unusual for this time of night.
The lights are on. Not all of them, but a lot of them. Ordinarily, I can see the lights outside of the castle and a few others here and there dotting the different levels of the structure. But right now, it looks like it did a few hours ago when everyone was awake and going about their evening business.
“What the hell is going on?” I whisper.
I don’t know, but it seems like something is happening over there.
Without another thought, I throw on a robe over my boxers and move to the door, down the hall, and into my office. I pick up the phone I use to contact my spy in the castle and give him a call, not expecting him to answer, but he does.
“I can’t talk long,” he says quickly, not daring to call me Alpha right now when there could be people around. “But something has happened.”
‘What is it?” I ask. “Do you have any idea?”
“A bit. I know three people ran off from the castle, and the king is pissed. He’s trying to find them. I think at least one of them was a royal.”
“Wait–a royal? The princess?”
“Possibly,” he says. “Or maybe the prince. I don’t know, but the king’s Beta was injured, and he’s babbling on about it being magic.”
“Magic?” I sit down in my chair at my desk, hard. I can’t believe what I’m hearing. “Who there has magic? The wizard?”
“No, it’s definitely not him. He would never go against the king.” I hear shouting, and he says, “I have to go. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
He hangs up, and I stare at my phone for a long moment before I slip it into my desk.
This is all so strange. Why would the prince be leaving the castle in the middle of the night? But then, if that is the case, why would anyone care? Isn’t the prince allowed to come and go as he pleases?
Apparently not, and I don’t know why that would be.
The truth is, I’m worried. Not about Darksky attacking me right now. I know I had nothing to do with this, and I suppose he knows that, too.
No, I’m worried about Hezzlie. What if she’s caught up in the middle of all of this?
The temptation to reach out to her through the mind-link is as overwhelming as ever, but instead of doing so, I talk to my guards through the link instead. ‘Listen, there’s a good chance that the prince of Darksky might be coming this way. If he is, let him in. I want to speak to him. Don’t harm him, or anyone who might be with him, okay? If you see wolves you don’t recognize running into our territory from Darksky, take them into custody, but do not harm them, no matter what. Understand?’
I get a chorus of , ‘Yes, Alpha,’ from my lead warriors. I thank them and take a deep breath. Something is about to happen. I can feel it in the air.
I can also feel it in my mark and in my chest. Hezzlie is getting closer to me. That’s the only possible reason why it doesn’t hurt like it did before.
I just have to hope she gets here safely. If she has a witch with her, that’ll be easier, but I’m nervous. Do I send my people to find her? I have no idea where she’s at. Do I use the mind-link to find her?
Not yet. I have a feeling she needs to be able to concentrate on what’s going on around her, though I don’t know why. I don’t think she’s out of the woods yet. Literally.
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