House of Night

chapter 2, part 2

Before she left Vulfholm, Queen Katja of Norrlund gave her a knife with a hilt laid with opals, a kinnwolf named Viski, and a hug. Ari boarded a ship with Lombardian flags, that had been sitting in the harbour of Vulfholm for weeks now, waiting for the prince to finally decide to return to his homeland. Ari held onto the dagger that Katja had given her, and spent the entire journey wishing Sanna had kissed her goodbye.

Tom was irritable the whole journey. Ari put it down to his fear of being a prince, as well as being away from Lumi. She'd seen the way Tom gravitated to Lumi, every time they were together. He was constantly watching for her, pouring her tea and finding her extra blankets and bringing her books and even a few tiny flowers from the royal gardens.

Ari avoided Tom on the ship, and instead spent time with the kinnwolf Viski. She was still not ready to call the wolf her own, and she knew the wolf felt the same. Viski had been bonded to Queen Lisbet. He was a queen's wolf, and Ari was certain that it was only a matter of time before Viski rejected Ari and flew back to Vulfholm, to live his remaining years as an unbonded wolf. But for now, as they stepped off the ship at the port of New Hamilton, Viski was here.

Tom was staring up at the hill that led up to the city of New Hamilton, high up on the cliffs. His own wolf, Kobuk, nudged him gently.

"What do you suppose I do?" Tom asked. "Fly straight to the King's Tower? Announce myself and be given a crown, or something? It doesn't feel like home. It will always feel like Raph's home."

"Come to Zaverian's," Ari suggested.

Tom glanced once again up the hill and then nodded. "I will."

Ari didn't realise just how hard it would be to go back to the home that she'd been tossed in and out of. After the Fire War, Ari and her sister Bell had spent years being shifted from one foster home to another, and when there was no one to care for them, they'd been left once again on the doorsteps of this huge, crumbling building in the slums of the city.

Zaverian's was a home for orphans, many of whom had lost their parents in the Fire war. They took in both ords and starrlings, although the starrlings were more likely to find placements in foster families, who got money from the King to raise those with magic.

The building entrance was directly on the street, so passersby needed to walk around the three kinnlings - Kobuk, Viski, and Warrah the dragon, who was still following Ari - as they waited for someone to answer the door.

Eventually, the door opened and a small man startled at the sight of the three kinnlings standing on the street outside his door. Ari couldn't help but feel a lurch of panic in her stomach at the sight of him. She'd thought she would never see him again.

"Mr Zavier," Ari said.

"Ariane Domez," he said, looking up over his glasses at her. "And you... are Tomas Wilder, the kinncharging champion. And the wolf himself, Kobuk! The kids will be over the moon to see you. This is certainly unexpected."

Tom grinned, and Ari knew he was pleased to be referred to by his sporting achievements, as opposed to his new title.

"Can we come in?" Ari asked.

"Be my guest," Zavier said, and he stepped back from the door and allowed their entry. There was a cat sleeping in the hall who hissed when the wolves walked in, and fled into another room.

The entrance hall was just as Ari had remembered it. It was a huge room, built big enough to accommodate kinnlings, however the rest of the house was full of bedrooms for children.

Ari could hear the sounds of children in the playroom down the hall, and she felt a surprising pang of nostalgia for those sounds. She had once been a child here, so desperately unhappy and yet knowing at least that she was safe, within these halls. The foster homes had ranged from bearable to horrible, but Zaverian's had always been at least a temporary refuge. It was not a pleasant place, but it was not horrible, either. Ari and Bell had been together, and safe.