Mountains Vast and a Kingdom So Red

Chapter 6

As rain drops scatter from the lilac sky, I walk with Leviys back to his hostel. It's dark, the atmosphere similar to our time in the woods, but there is a calmness between us rather than sexual desire. Yet, I yearn for sex. I find my hover board parked by other hover boards. He stares at me. "Would you walk me to my door?"

Outside his room, which I imagine as a shabby space with cots, I curl my toes, anticipating a kiss. And we do, it feels more intimate compared to the first. It's because I know him better. I know him like a constituent. "See you tomorrow?" He asks. If I know him as well as I think I do, it will be alright to clarify a matter.

"In your letter, there was no address for your companions names. Nor the room number. The front desk was not able to ping you."

He says, "I should have included my friends' names to help. I did not know the room number the day I formed the letter, however."

This answer is acceptable. I kiss him lightly, even though an apology would have been extra special.

As I fiddle with my coffee maker in the estate's kitchen, I smell the bitterness of the beans and almost miss Delphina's beak tapping at the window. I pull it open and she lands on the marble countertop.

I read:

Mikah,

I have returned from my meditation retreat, and so this means we rebegin our lessons. Find me at the field eight in the morning on the nineteenth.

Best,

Urisis

It's my chance to double groan. She was supposed to be meditating for two months not one. I should complain to Father. The nineteenth is the last day to spend with Leviys; I do not want to practice magic with that bewitched witch of a woman. Before my sparrow flies away, I grab some stationary and a writing utensil.

Dear Urisis,

I am ecstatic to rebegin our lessons. However, the 20th works much better for me.

See you soon.

Mikah

Resisting patting my shoulder for my quick thinking, I drink my coffee and enjoy the long hours of bathing, applying cosmetics and getting dressed for my date with Leviys.

In the late afternoon, we ride a carriage together around the 6th bow. I sincerely hope he's enjoying Aux Duvrex. We use coquettish binoculars to peer at a puppet show, merchants reciting poems of an old bard, snake tamers, and more performers. He howls in delight.

"The mountains do not have theater. Nor carriages."

I smile, holding his hand. "Want to know what's better?"

"What?"

"The fringe of the 8th rightmost bow is the coastline to the ocean." Perhaps there is pride in my voice when I speak about home.

"Sick, I love swimming, as a wolf."

"Sick? Are you running a fever?"

"It's slang for great, princess."

"Oh." I smile and cuddle close until the carriage stops at dining stall where we continue our conversation. There are a couple groups ahead of us.

Despite my nervousness to bring it up, I cannot help asking about the treaty disagreement among the shifter's alphas and the fairie royalty.

He says quietly, "A band of fairies crossed into the mountain range. And they hunted and caged one of the wolves, who is a child of my alphas." His tone becomes pained, particularly when he says caged, like he was the one celled.

"Goodness, that is terrible. And very illegal."

"Yes, very illegal. He was not harmed, but very shaken up. A trial is still occurring. The fairies responsible all claimed that they thought he was a regular wolf, not a shifter human. Just the cruelty of people, I do not understand it. There are very obvious signs a wolf is a shifter, by the size of the paws, the size of the pupils–" he stops speaking and looks at me uncertainly.

"You know, my kingdom have the best diplomatic relationships with the undersea, the gnomes and your family. The reason why we wonder about our allegiance to the fairie kingdom has never been, spoken, to me directly, but maybe it is because of incidents like that."

He nods at this, and his mood brightens when he begins eating a roasted squash and basil tostado. I eat mine too, until he finally says, "Thanks for getting it."

A new matter arises when he and I must decide how to bring me back to my estate. I do not have my hover board, and walk is incredibly far, and people might spread gossip about a princess roaming around so late. I am too drained to teleport myself. He smiles. "I guess it's transformation time. Ride me."

I open my mouth, it's a graphic image, one that might come true tomorrow. My womanhood becoming complete as my pussy welcomes his cock.

"Ride me like I am a horse," he says. "It was incredibly common in the olden days for human beings to use a wolf for travel. However, I doubt those bastards got to be with a maidan as beautiful as you."

I study him carefully. He means this. "Okay." I clasp my hands behind my back and wait for him to shift. In a few seconds, he is no longer bipedal, rather he's a wild animal standing on four legs, just as adorable as he promised. I pet him and he rolls over so I can give him a belly rub. He nudges his nose against my shoulder. "Good boy. That's a very good and handsome boy."

How the chase starts is unlike anything I've ever felt–more exhilarating than a spell crackling in my wand, or a firearm gripped in my arm, ready to shoot at a target. Leviys runs at an incredible speed through the thicket of trees because we picked the forest route instead of the main roads. I hold on tight as if Leviys's tufts of fur are reins and we travel together as companions. Heavens, I want a shifter boyfriend. I want this shifter to be my boyfriend. I feel it in my gut: he is a provider, he is empathetic, his lips are amazing sorcerers that make me lose track of time.

And in less than ten minutes we arrive at my home, back in the first leftmost bow. Sniffing, he somehow finds the guest house, and after he kneels so I can dismount, he changes into a human and winks at me. "Invitation still stands?"

"My, my, you are a forward wolf." I tease.

He says, "I thought I was a good boy."

"I think you are a bit of both," I say and use my wand to let us in.