Howl to the Blood Moon Chapter 2
Darcy cradled Jane as the tender-hearted beauty profusely wept upon the thin white cotton shirt that Darcy was wearing under the brown leather chemise and wool skirt. There was nothing Darcy could say, nothing she could do, to soothe her older sister.
What was done was done and they had to follow command – at least that is what their father had told them when he had reentered the cottage. He now sat across from them in usual chair, his eyes transfixed intently upon the window beside the front door as if he expected the Wolf King to suddenly surge through the door and snatch Jane from Darcy's arms. At least that's what Darcy assumed, because her father just seemed to be gazing out of the window as if waiting for the arrival of someone.
His eyes flickered as if he saw something and the next moment there was a knock at the door. Coulson rose to answer it and as the door swung open Nick Fury stepped through the threshold, his usual black leather coat billowing behind him and revealing the ancient sword at his hip. Surprisingly he was followed into the house by the blacksmith, Thor, who was looking sheepish and a little awkward as he saw the two girls on the couch in a tangled mess of tears and hugs.
Darcy couldn't blame him as she was wondering why the blond gentle-giant was present at this particular moment. Respectfully she nodded to him as Jane continued weeping into Darcy's shirt, her dark brown curls drifting over the top of Jane's head covering her face so that all you could see past the distraught girl's shoulders were her straight light-brown tresses.
Thor respectively nodded in turn to Darcy and then nervously ruffled his thin blond beard. He was clearly uncomfortable with the situation as he shifted his feet as though he knew something they didn't.
Darcy turned her attention away from Thor back to Nick who was standing in the center of the room, silently and clearly demanding everyone's attention.
"It's time," Fury said simply and Jane went back to her screaming-crying.
Darcy wanted to flinch at the piercing echo of Jane's cries in her ear, but she restrained her impulse for her sister's sake. Instead she stroked her sister's hair, making cooing noises to calm her down. Coulson sank back into his chair and covered his face with his hand, sorrow evident on his usually happy features.
"I – I d-don't w-wa-want t-to d-d-die!" Jane sobbed into Darcy's bare shoulder between gasps.
"You are not going to die," Darcy scolded; the hope a lie in her voice. "The Wolf King doesn't kill."
"No," Coulson interrupted, "he does far worse." Darcy and Jane looked in wide-eyed fear at their father. A stabbing silence fell over the family as the Priest's words echoed and registered in the daughters' minds.
Darcy would have expected that blatant statement from Nick Fury, but not their sweet and conservative father. Even Fury seemed to be taken aback and Thor just stood there, his face emotionless and hard.
Finally Darcy broke the torturous quiet. "What do you mean?"
Coulson leaned forward in his chair like the world had suddenly put the weight of sins upon his back and rubbed his face in his hands like he was trying to wipe away invisible tears. "Do you remember what I taught you about the symbol of the color white?"
Darcy blinked, confused. "Dad, of course. It's the symbol of purity and virginity." She caught Thor shift uncomfortably in the corner of her eye at the mention of chastity.
"You girls have never seen this, but there is a protocol in offering a woman of the village to the Wolf King. She is dressed in white as proof to the Wolf King that she is pure."
"Well that makes sense, but what does that have to do with anything of what he wants?"
Fury began to speak. "He wants,"
"Fury, please," Coulson stopped the leader. "Let me tell them." Their father continued as if Fury hadn't interrupted and the man in question looked a little insulted at the interruption, but allowed the priest to continue. "The Wolf King asks for a virginal and unattached young woman, do you know why?"
"No clue until you tell me."
"When he takes them he makes the women fall in love with him somehow and then he takes their chastity out of wedlock. His victims become his mistresses and each bears him a child. As I understand it the children are monsters like him and the poor victims of his cruelty either die from the birth or…"
Darcy waited a moment and when it was clear that her father was lost she spoke up. "Or what? What happens besides death?"
Coulson remained silent almost as if refusing to say anything more. Fury approached him and put a hand upon his shoulder. "You've told them this much. You might as well tell them the rest."
Coulson let out a heavy sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I can't, Fury."
Fury nodded and turned to Darcy and Jane. "Come with me," he commanded and stalked out of the house, not looking back to see if anyone was following him.
Curious, Darcy eased Jane off the couch and began walking after Fury. Thor was suddenly at their side, reaching for Jane's arm. "I shall aide your sister, Darcy," he said with that sweet goofy smile of his.
Darcy willingly handed Jane off to Thor as they all hurried to catch up to Fury as he led them down the road to- "Why are we at your house, Fury?" Darcy asked the scary man.
"I want to show you someone," he simply growled and he opened the door to let them all in.
This was the first time Darcy or anyone had ever been inside Fury's house besides Coulson on Sundays after service. Darcy assumed Fury just wanted a private confession or such. Fury directed them down a narrow hallway filled with paintings of Fury's family and ancestors. He stopped in front of the largest painting of a beautiful young girl with rich mahogany skin and thick and long black tresses spilling in tiny curls past her waist. Her oval face held a sweet smile and sparkling eyes. She looked very happy sitting in a field of flowers in the bright sunlight wearing a light red dress.
"Who is this?" Darcy asked and Jane had gained enough of her senses back to poke Darcy for her bad manners.
"This is a painting of my older sister. It was done long ago."
"I didn't know that you have a sister."
Fury was silent. Jane tried to amend Darcy's disregard for the sensitivity of the situation. "She is very beautiful," she remarked to Fury in her whispery voice.
Fury gazed at the woman in the portrait with sadness and spoke in a low and quiet tone. "Yes, she was. It was her beauty that was her doom."
The group fell silent again as Fury removed the painting from the wall, revealing a narrow door hidden behind it. Large and thick bolts and locks ran all along the door and Fury began undoing each of them one by one.
"Do you remember the name of the last girl who the Wolf King took?" Fury asked as he undid the last bolt.
"It was Boadicea, right?" Darcy replied.
"That's right." Fury opened the door and took a lantern that was hanging beside the door. He lit the wick and held the light above him inside the door to reveal a stairwell leading down into the dark.
He walked down into the blackness, the group warily following him. The room was surprisingly warm for this time of year and considering that it was locked off from the rest of the house so it would hardly ever be given any heat.
They came upon another door at the bottom of the stairs and Fury took out a large key from his vest and unlocked it as well. "Wait here," he told them as he handed the lantern to Thor then cracked the door and slipped through the opening. For a brief moment the stairway was illuminated by the light coming from the room beyond and then Fury closed the door, cutting off the extra light.
For what seemed like an hour to Darcy they waited in the dark with the lantern just barely giving off enough light to show their faces. Each had on an expression of genuine confusion as to what was going on.
Suddenly Fury reopened the door, this time all the way, and stepped back for them to enter. The three walked through cautiously, but quickly so as not to anger Fury.
At first Darcy was blinded by the brightness of the room and wondered why Fury would keep a cellar so well lit. Once her eyes adjusted Darcy saw that they were standing in an underground bed-chamber. In amazement she began to wander around the room. There was a large bed in the corner with red sheets of silk that Darcy had never seen or felt before. Her eye was drawn to a rather giant wardrobe large enough to fit both her and Jane's entire summer and winter wear inside. She saw Jane admiring the jewelry that lay on a few small tables placed around the room.
What attracted Darcy the most was that in the farthest corner of the room there were piles of paintings leaning against the wall with various jars of paint colors, brushes both clean and dirty scattered around in jars or on the floor. There were used rags and stained clothes tossed around the supplies.
Darcy began to finger through the portraits in awe. Some looked as if they had been done by the hands of a distressed child while others were seemed to be done by a calm and steady hand that only a professional would have. The objects of the pictures ranged from just swirls of dark and harsh colors to very detailed portraits. There were especially many of Fury and elders she assumed was his family. She recognized the style of the art from the many family portraits the villagers hung in their houses.
"You seem to admire my art, young one," a deep feminine voice said from behind the group. Darcy turned and watched as a woman around Fury's age stepped out of the darkness from a privy-room Darcy hadn't noticed before. The woman was wearing a red dress that was spotted with paint and her face and greying hair had a few bright colors caught in them.
Darcy couldn't help but stare at the woman – even in middle age she was a beauty. The woman smiled at her and Jane's cough at Darcy snapped her out of her trance. "I'm sorry," she stammered to their hostess. "I couldn't help but be curious. These are very beautiful," Darcy complimented the portraits. "Did you do all of these?"
Fury stepped forward and led the woman out of the darkness as she spoke. "Thank you and yes I did," replied the woman in red. "If you would permit me, I would like to draw your portraits. You are all very beautiful and it is not often my brother allows me visitors. I would like to remember you."
"Your brother?" Jane squeaked.
"How careless of you, Nick; you have forgotten your manners." The woman scolded Fury as if he were a child.
Fury turned to the three young adults with a grieving emotion on his face. "Jane, Thor, Darcy, I would like for you all to meet my older sister."
They all nodded to the lady in red as she walked towards them and held out her hand to Darcy. "A pleasure to meet you, Darcy. My name is Boadicea."