The Luna's Bodyguard [a mature werewolf romance]

Ch 40: Birthright

OPHELIA

I stumbled into a candle-lit changing room. There were no windows, but the stone was warmly dressed in hand-woven rugs and polished relics of another age. The vanity mirror had clawed feet, just like the one in my room from when I was a child, and the privacy screen had a delightful painting of interlocking branches stretched taut across the beams.

Filthy words flew from my mouth when I stubbed my toe on a treasure chest, the heavy object scrunching up the rug as it moved. The key in my hand was just as old and clunky.

Sure enough, it fit the lock and turned.

A suit of armour was carefully arrayed inside, the iron polished so brightly it almost hurt to gaze upon. A piece of card rested atop the helmet. It read:

For my darling daughter.

My throat tightened, making it hard to breath. My hands shook as I put the helmet on.

It was a perfect fit.

"No," I said abruptly, ripping it off. Gift or trap, I wasn't interested.

Even though the ring on my thumb burned, scorning my hypocrisy.

Hinges whined. A door in the wall swung inward, admitting a lycan in a full set of armour. The van Arsdale sigil was etched into his breastplate, a wolf eating its own tail.

"Lady Ophelia," he said, bowing deeply. "This way, if you please."

I followed, but it did not particularly please me, as I soon discovered we were deep underground. It was some kind of barrow, decorated to look like my family's keep. Gold and silver adorned every surface; in some places, precious jewels were simply piled up, as if swept into a corner because nobody knew what to do with them.

Between the lurching shadows from the torchlight and the refractions from the gems on the walls, my eyes were positively dazzled by the time we emerged in a throne room. Which was why I didn't believe them — and rubbed them hard enough to make them water — when I saw who sat upon the ornamental chair.

Blazing red hair, braided into a perfect crown, set with diamond pins that flashed like fire. Eyes of black coal, scorching hot as they tracked my every move.

"Mum?" I croaked.

Gone were the lovely frocks, the skirts of which I used to hide behind as a child. Gone was the long, flowing hair I'd come to emulate in honour of her memory.

"Come closer, child." Lady Blair van Arsdale's voice rang with authority. Her golden vambrace clanked as she made a beckoning motion.

My feet seemed to obey of their own volition; my mind was too struck by her mere existence, let alone the full suit of golden armour she wore, or the people clustered by the roaring fireplaces set deep into the walls. There must have been vents, to channel the smoke upward; otherwise everyone down here would have suffocated years ago.

If there's air, there's a way out, I thought, making a concentrated effort to gather my wits. I stopped walking halfway across the chamber, noticing Lady Evergreen for the first time. She was standing by my mother's throne. Holding her hand.

Neither wore my family signet ring, but there was a sparkling jewel upon each of their ring fingers. A perfect match.

"What of my father?" I asked, jutting my chin.

"He did not make it," Blair proclaimed sadly, without a hint of sincerity. "He perished in the rubble, along with his second wife."

I was suddenly glad for the black that set me apart from the court, dressed in the same, sad metallics as the nobility in Dornoch. Still chasing trends, I thought bitterly, only to linger on the thought. Unless these are second hand garments, smuggled here by Lady Evergreen?

"Where are we?" I asked, suspecting I already knew as I looked around at the haggard faces and rheumy eyes, too used to darkness. The rough-hewn walls that trapped them here.

"Cairn Liath, my dear," she said, her smile growing wide. "Right where it all began."

Hello my lovelies! I hope something good comes your way this day. (Plot twist: you are the good thing that came my way! I'm so grateful you're here.)

We are nearing the conclusion of this story; I anticipate we only have 5-10 chapters to go. Do you have any burning questions you would like answered in the grand finale? Any scenes you'd like to see, steamy or otherwise? Let me know in the comments!

Until the next chapter.

Love,
Lyra xxx