Another chapter, hoping you all like it :D
Damien had taken her out into the gardens, and as much as she longed to run about and frolic through the long lavender and roll in the daisies, the tight dress and Damien's firm hand made her stay where she was. He was holding her arm while he spoke to a fat old man in many different and most likely expensive coloured items of clothing. There were crystals and jewels sewn in and the glare from them made her turn away, her lip curling up in disgust.
"So she grew up with Balverines, eh?" he chortled, which made Danny look at him sharply. "You wouldn't think so with how she looks now."
"No, when she was first found she was almost completely unclothed," Damien laughed, nudging Danny as if expecting her to do the same. Instead she watched as the man's eyes swept over her, some light in them glinting maliciously as he undoubtedly tried to imagine this.
"I imagine so, yes," he sneered, smiling almost sadistically. "I bet you can be quite the animal..."
Glaring at him, Danny wrenched her arm clear of Damien's and walked away briskly. It didn't take a minute before she found herself in the company of half a dozen elderly rich women who tutted sympathetically.
"Darling, don't go near Earl, he's a pervert," one lady chuckled, and Danny sighed happily, glad they were agreeing on something right off the bat.
For a small while the nattered on about the weather, the castle and how lovely the gardens were. They enquired and listened intently as Danny explained as best she could what Balverines were really like and her experiences with them. She was just beginning to grow tired of their company as one lady spoke up;
"I think it's just darling how the King and yourself are engaged to be married!"
Danny stood rooted to the spot, staring blankly. Marriage was a term she'd become familiar with, as Walter had the tendency to tease Ben about settling down. But herself and Damien? She'd never even contemplated it.
"Who... who told you that?" she asked carefully, making sure not to say too much.
"Why, the King himself!" they exclaimed, laughing like children. "I guess it was meant to be a secret, but you know what men are like!"
"Yes, yes I know," Danny tittered, seething on the inside.
"It came as a little of a shock, seeing as only months ago you were frolicking about in the wilderness, but you do come across as a wonderful young woman. He's explained that he'll need donations from the wealthier of the poplace, you know, to help with the expense. I'm practically thrilled to help though, such a wonderful cause!"
"You... you're paying?" Danny asked, looked about at the flock of women.
"Well not just us!" they laughed, "no, no, we're all contributing a few thousand gold to help, rather than tax the poor dears to death down in the city. It's awful that they've lost their homes in that revolution... I myself asked my servants to bring their families into my home and we'd keep them until they had a house again. I hated seeing my poor helpers cry."
And though she felt some affection towards the woman who opened her heart to the poor of the city and came across so helping and loving, Danny had to excuse herself and walk inside, storming down the corridor and into a room while fuming about being nothing but a fraud the King was using for money to fund the army. Logan was sat alone at a table reading a book and drinking tea, and he looked up at her startled. She felt tears streaming down her cheeks and was clutching desperately at her chest as panic rose within her and her breathing hitched and faltered.
"Help me," she choked, collapsing to her knees. The dress was suddenly too tight, she felt like it was crushing her ribs, and she was feeling dizzier as each second passed.
Logan was on his feet and by her side within seconds, his fingers nimbly untying the strings on the corset and pulling them so they were loose. Her breathing didn't ease then, and though she felt completely vulnerable the only thing she could do to feel free from the constraints was to pull it from her body. Her lower half was covered with cotton panties, but she'd refused a brazier, and was sat before Logan, sobbing, half naked.
The older man remained amazingly calm though, leaving only briefly to his wardrobe to fetch a shirt for her to cover her modesty. He could only drape it over his shoulders and pull her close to him in a comforting hug while she cried.
"It's been a while since I've had to be a brother," he chuckled slightly, stroking her hair soothingly. Danny didn't reply, but curled up tighter in his arms, shaking. People were so confusing. Logan was now being nice, Damien was now being horrible and deceiving, Ben was away and she had no idea what was going on. Part of her longed for the trees and the wild and the comforting warmth of fur, not another persons' arms, and she whimpered slightly as she thought so.
"I'm sorry for how he's being... he's hoping the lords and ladies will approve of you and donate to a fund to help for a wedding. It's deceptive I know, but it's better than increasing taxes. I told him to tell you first, I take it he didn't. I hated not telling you myself, but he forbode me from it... penalty of death," he added with a chuckle, but it was dark and she felt for him for a moment, but it left her instantly.
"You increased taxes," Danny pointed out miserably. She knew that making people pay more to live in their homes was wrong, but this seemed like a personal insult against her and not to mention it was wrong to make people think she was his partner and not Ben's.
"I did," Logan admitted, brushing a few stray strands of hair out of her face. "But then the people rebelled against me, with the help from my flesh and blood. I had one of the men who basically helped raise me shot dead before a crowd and if it weren't for your kindness, I believe I'd have suffered the same fate by the hands of my brother."
"He wouldn't have killed you. Not even today if you'd told me about the plan," Danny tried to reassure him, but he shook his head solemnly in response.
"I've done many terrible things in my life Danny. He would have killed me then and there if it weren't for you. He valued your opinion more than the others."
There was an awkward silence between them, and despite the stark differences and confrontations they suffered when they first met, the quiet allowed them a brief period of consideration, and in that instant Danny looked at Logan and he smiled.
"I was never much of a brother to Damien, and he tends to stay away from me because of that fact. Whenever you have time, would you come to visit? I rather enjoy your company and perhaps I could properly show you about town."
Danny smiled and nodded, before standing up shyly, trying to cover her modesty. Logan noticed and a throaty chuckle escaped him, and he beamed at her.
"Let's find you some clothes first though."
The cart was on the way through the gates, where Ben had to do a lot of shouting at the city guards who near enough refused entrance to the old crippled and completely harmless Balverine.
There was a small shriek from behind him, and he whirled around to see Danny running full pelt towards him, wearing much nicer clothes than he had, but he was sure they were mens and they seemed less baggy on her than his own shirts did, him being very broad chested. The thought drifted from his mind though, and he focused again on the girl sprinting in their direction.
In the months she'd spent living with him, fighting beside him and learning to be more human, Ben had almost forgotten how she grew up. He'd forgotten how fast she ran and mentally braced himself for impact. But she flew past him and leapt through the air, easily clearing six feet before landing squarely in the cart beside her mother. She spoke rapidly in the Balverine tongue he'd become accustomed to her talking in, and she looked increasingly more distressed before she curled up close to her 'mother' and buried her face in her fur.
The boys all looked at him in a mix of shock and surprise, and he shrugged as casually as he could and gave a small grin.
"This is Danny, my girl," he stressed 'my' as if to prove a point. "This is her... mother."
That didn't help the confusion the boys were obviously feeling, but the astounded expressions on their faces was more than enough to amuse him for a short period of time before he coughed.
"Right, commandeer the stables for the carts just through the arches Jason, we need to get them somewhere more private and quiet."
There was a mumble of agreement from the boys, and they all worked to slowly push the cart though the gates and work their way as quickly but quietly as possible.
Ben made sure to keep close eye on Danny, who had curled up so small and tight into the old Balverine's side that she looked as tiny as a child. She was whimpering and whispering things in her strange language, while her 'mother' spoke back in pained whines and yelps.
Slowly, painfully slowly, Danny rose herself into a sitting position and looked with large sad eyes at Ben. Her lips parted and a small sob escaped before she gathered herself up and looked at him.
"She's dying, Ben."
He stood there, dumbly, his mouth opening and closing rapidly as he tried to think of something to say, something to do in order to comfort her or relieve her pain. There was nothing, and he stood there, flustered.
"She's old," Danny continued, in almost a whisper. "She's in pain. Help her..."
She gulped, and Ben felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach as he realised what she was asking of him.
"I can't Danny, I can't do that to you," he near enough shouted, defiant and upset and ashamed. "Not again. Not again..."
"Help her die Ben," Danny continued as if he'd said nothing. "She's in pain an- and you can end it for her. She asked for you to help because she knows you and she trusts you. If you don't then... then I will."
For a moment there was quiet, and Jason who had been stood in the corner of the empty stables shifted nervously and then left, shutting the door firmly behind him. It took a while for Ben to find his voice, but he did eventually and spoke up.
"She trusts me?"
He watched as the old girl looked at him with sad amber eyes and whined. Guilt wrapped around his heart and he bit his lip, struggling with his conscious as to what to do.
"She- she said that she trusts you." A small, sad, twisted smile graced her lips and she looked at him with such love and adoration that he almost forgot his surroundings and the situation. "She trusts you to take care of me, and she trusts you to help her in her time of need."
"Your Anglican always gets better when you need something from me," he muttered bitterly, stepping up to the cart and climbing inside. He slowly got out his rifle, watching as something of a wolfish smile played on the Balverines lips and she closed her eyes peacefully. Danny knelt down and wrapped her fingers in the soft fur, biting her lip but looking at him bravely.
He reached out first with his hand, touching the side of the balverines face gently with his fingertips, waiting to see if she protested, but she didn't. He reached forward more, feeling the soft warm fur of the creature who had loved and cared for the girl he now loved and cared for, smoothing the fur out and stroking her face, soothing her, silently telling her how much he respected and revered her, how he felt so sorry... so, so very sorry for what he had to do now. Hating himself a little, he tried to push the thoughts of her being more than just an animal from his mind, tried to get into his old mindset of 'it is just an animal, nothing more to me'. But she wasn't. Removing his hand and supporting the rifle, he lifted it up. and as he pointed the barrel at the head of the creature that had raised this amazing young girl beside him, he almost lost the will to carry through with this. Effectively he was killing her mother, who had taken her in, protected her and raised her. Shown, amazingly, some compassion and love when her species was known for being ruthless killers.
He knew though, that her pack needed him to do this. That watching her die so painfully was something they couldn't do and he – as hesitant as he was – would have to put the old girl out of her misery.
He bit his lip, watched as Danny kept her eyes fixed on her mothers' face, and pulled the trigger. In an instant the Balverine went limp, her breathing stopped and she was dead, but even he could tell the look of complete contentment upon the creatures face.
He felt Danny flinging herself upon him, her body shaking with sobs and he regretted his actions then and there before she choked out in a strangled whisper;
"Thank you."
