Shadow of the Prince

Child of the Wind

The next day she avoided Adonis as much as she could. She fed and walked the hounds, which kept her head down and her arms and legs busy. Soon, she forgot where she was entirely and was able to actually enjoy the walk with Astrid, a grey wolf with blackened paws. She began to realize there was some sort of methodical reasoning to the wolve's location in the kennels, and that each dog had a unique personality. 

Astrid leisurely strode beside her, the she-wolf clearly enjoying the fall sun on her face. She turned her head into the sun, eyes closed, and allowed Dal to lead her on without looking. 

Trust. That's what she was forming, here. Dal wondered if she would only ever be able to befriend dogs her entire life.

"Dalia," a gravelly voice broke her thoughts, and she stopped in her tracks. 

Dal clenched the leather lead, and beside her Astrid's ears flicked back in response to the intruder who stood in front of them.

The Magistrar stood in front of them, looking far too serene for Dal's liking. Had he even bothered to speak to the King, when she was imprisoned and starving?

Or worse, had he been the one to turn her in? 

"Magistrar," she greeted, her tone harsh. She looked into his cloudy grey eyes, and only clenched the leather lead harder.

"Might I join the both of you on your walk?"

Dal forced a polite nod, not trusting her voice. The magistrar fell into step with her left, the opposite side of Astrid. 

The grey hound's ears stayed pinned back. Dal suppressed a smile.

"I have a message from her mother."

Dal paused. Out of all of the things for her old tutor to say, she had not expected that. She trained a nonchalant expression on her face, and tried to stay her racing heart.

"I am a child of the wind. I have no mother."

"Then perhaps I bring tidings of the wind."

Dal sighed, and knew she would have to listen to what it was the Wizard wanted to say. She didn't know if she could trust anything that came from his mouth anymore, but he was a persistent old man, and wouldn't likely leave whatever it was alone. 

But she would be careful to trust this time around. She would be smarter. Not all allies are true friends. Isn't that what Mother Marian had said?

"She wishes to see you. Meet her in the groves past the Begonia gardens at midnight tonight."

"You expect me to trust your word after my imprisonment?"

"I expect you to be the sharp-witted girl you have always been," Magistrar Garvis replied, "If only it could match that sharp tongue of yours."

Indignation rose like a hot flame in her throat. Inwardly, she forced herself to count to ten. 

Lashing out at the Magistrar would only prolong this discussion. Thankfully, the kennel was coming back into view, and she took her out when she could.

"I appreciate the update, Magistrar. I must continue with my new duties. Good day."

Dal urged Astrid along beside her, whose wary stare never left the Magistrar's figure behind them. 

# 

She felt him when he entered the kennels. His presence was impossible to miss. She continued her work, ignoring him as he drew closer and closer.

Dal exchanged Daisy's bedding for new, fluffy down bedding, her movements methodical and practiced, as if she had done this one hundred times before, despite never having cared for dogs before. She found she was surprisingly good at caring for the hounds, but she suspected that had more to do with caring for Theikuth, than it did her natural ability to care for animals.

At the thought of her brother, Dal was suddenly very aware that Adonis was perched against Daisy's cage. She could feel his eyes on her back, burning holes into the nape of her neck. 

She was glad she wore her hair down today. She shivered.

"You care about them," Adonis said to her back.

Dal scratched Daisy's nose, who had curled up on her new bed with all of the vigor of a young pup.

"Who wouldn't?"

"Most don't."

"Most don't get to see them like this," she shrugged.

"How do you mean?"

Dal retreated from the cage, and latched Daisy's door behind her. The clang of the metal echoed around her silently, muffled under the noises of the hounds in the kennel.

Finally, she turned to look at him. Today he wore deep blue that seemed to accentuate his frost-blue gaze. She was annoyed that she noticed. 

"Everyone in Eidas believes that the hounds are beasts. That they're creatures of death and doom."

"And what do you think?"

"They're no more beast than any of us, I suppose."

Adonis arched a dark brow and stared at her for what felt like a moment longer than should have been, and altogether a moment too short all the same. Dal made to move past the Hound Keeper, but was stopped by his hand on her arm. 

Her stomach flipped, and she wondered if she might have to start eating an earlier breakfast. She would have to find a way to wake herself since the guards had stopped helping her out ever since it came out about her face wearing.

She looked up at him, and his expression was inscrutable. 

"Why did you betwitch the Prince?" he asked. 

She sunk under his open gaze, his face surprisingly peaceful against the words that came out of his mouth. Adonis' eyes searched hers.

Dal closed her eyes, and took a deep, steadying breath. She wondered how much trouble she would get in if she told the truth. The truth itself was so incredibly ludacris, that she was sure it was never going to come to pass, anyway. 

And yet, she had made a promise to her mother. Her future had been seen and her bones had been cast. As much as her mother's visions might be in question, she had never known the bones to lie. 

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Dal replied softly, and wrenched her arm free of Adonis' hold. He made no further move to stop her as she walked into Maple's cage, and traded worn bedding, for new. 

She waited for the guards to come afterward, and she waited hours later for the king to come stomping into her vision, with his gold toed boots and pinched angry face. When she'd retired to her room, she waited for Adonis himself to drag her out and cast her from the castle.

But, those things never came to pass. Instead, it was only Beasty who visited her that night, and just as he had done before, he curled into bed with her and made her feel like at least while she rested she was safe.

She almost felt guilty when she snuck from her room that night and left Beasty snoring soundly underneath the covers.