The day had long since dawned when the Queen and Beck, the Head Keeper, made their way down to the menagerie. They talked like old friends although they had only known each other a few years when Beck had been employed from the staff of Queen Riding Hood II. In his hand swung a large joint of meat, but Beck did not think he would need it. What did a dragon know that he, who had worked with wild beasts all his life, did not? He was set in his ways even though he was still a fairly young man and that dragon was just another animal to him.

When the wolfs' cage came into view they both stopped short. The change was phenomenal. Instead of lying listlessly on a bed of straw, the wolf was awake and pacing the boundaries of her cell with obvious vigour and interest. The pair were equal in their amazement and walked up to the bars to get a closer look because they could not believe their eyes.

At first light, Luna had roused. She had slept since the tempest blew itself out and her initial thought on waking was that she could think. Her head was clear and the fever had lifted from her senses. There was new warmth to her blood that was not illness any more but the onset of the moon- cycle. It had flooded her brain with the heat and joy of living, the thrill of the hunt, and now she was seeking a way out to satisfy her need, her craving, for meat. That irksome bandage had been ripped away to reveal a fresh pink scar in a jagged circle around her ankle.

The enclosure was fairly spacious, but not nearly enough for a wolf full of the fierce passion of the hunters moon. A stone-flagged floor amplified every sound of movement of which there was much. The only other objects the cage held were a small, straw-filled compartment for sleeping and sheltering and a small rock formation all of which had already been thoroughly inspected. These and the small water trough were all that Luna had to distract her from the welling fervour that grew by the second.

By the time her stupefied captors had come to look at her, Luna was on the point of frenzy. The tiny spark had rekindled into a savage golden blaze and is was this that stunned the watchers most, for the last time they had seen her eyes they had been cold and dead. The snarl, which escaped through her bared teeth, was another shock.

'What's wrong with her, Beck?' the flabbergasted Snow White gaped.

'Nothing, Your Majesty. She's got the moon-madness. . It happens to all wolves on the full moon. They become even more dangerous to anyone near them and have a craving for blood - no matter whose it is.'

The meat was thrown into the cage which illustrated Beck's point perfectly. Luna fell on it ravenously, tearing off great chunks and swallowing them without stopping to chew.

Snow White addressed a task which she had put off until she had known that the wolf would pull through, 'We can't go on calling her "the wolf", she's got to have a name. What do you think about Mercury?'

'A nice name, I just wonder if such a creature deserves it,' Beck's disgust registered all over his face at the wolfs' table manners. His hand ran through his thick blonde hair seeking anything to take his mind off the frightful scene. Queen Snow White almost laughed at him.

'You've become too set in your ways, Beck. The influence of Queen Riding Hood has rubbed off on you. She's got a dreadful hatred for wolves stemming from a single incident when she was a child. They're only animals after all.'

'One solitary evil wolf causing such a deep prejudice. It must have been the true incarnation of everything corrupt and despicable.'

This blatant attack on her family stung the remnants of Luna's pride deeply, 'Do not insult my heritage unless you want me to do the same to yours,' she spat through mouthfuls of meat.

'You can speak,' the Queen's voice was flat and calm despite this new discovery.

'Just because I didn't doesn't mean that I couldn't. We wolves aren't as stupid as most of your kind think.'

'Well, Mercury, this certainly is a surprise.'

'My name is Luna, I will not have any other name. My name is an honour I am proud to bear.'

'I am...'

'I know who you are.'

Luna's tone was sharp and clear. If there was one thing Beck could not stand it was lack of respect towards his sovereign, especially from a common wolf of all things. It riled his arrogance of being a superior species, 'Watch your mouth, wolf, in the presence of her Majesty.'

A growl was Luna's only retaliation as she turned her back on them both to take a drink from the trough.

Snow White's voice was tinged with regret, 'That's torn it now.'

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The moon had risen high and Luna's blood was like hot molten gold. Her eyes glowed like fiery embers in the light of the exalted moon, her fangs had descended fully and pacing had to it a more frenetic step. Every now and then she howled at the beautiful moon. Her heart jumped into her throat when in the far distance came the howl of another wolf. What's more, the howl of a wolf she knew!

'Sirius! Sirius, where are you, my brother?'

A second howl came to her pricked ears; it was slightly different to the last, 'Draco!'

A wolf's howl travelled for miles and Luna knew she would not see her brothers for many nights, longer if they got held up in any way. But they were coming and that was enough for Luna whose tail was lashing from side to side. The howl that emanated from her jaws roused the entire castle for she wanted it to carry to her brothers and let them know she was waiting for them, wherever they were.

Several slippers and other bedroom paraphernalia were thrown in the general direction of the howling wolf. Most of the objects which found their mark would not survive until morning.

Snow White herself came out onto her balcony. Beck had warned her that Luna would be noisy tonight, but she hadn't expected anything like this. 'Luna, be quiet now. We're trying to sleep.'

A howl came back, the echo of Luna's Snow White presumed. A pair of shining amber eyes locked with her own. Now she could begin to understand why the people of the Nine Kingdoms were so afraid of wolves, the look in those eyes made all her hair stand on end.

Luna finally tore her gaze away and a new howl rumbled in her throat and broke out into a new clamour, much louder than the first. This sound carried no message to her siblings but was an act of defiance to the ones who kept her imprisoned and who would stifle her cries, her very wolfishness.

The gargantuan wails lasted until dawn when most of the inhabitants of the castle were either threatening to kill Luna by magic or strangle her with their bare hands.

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Snow White yawned widely, Luna's howling had deprived her of much needed sleep. The sounds of scuffling heralded the arrival of the wolf. The door burst open and it was plain that Luna was back to full health. It took two guards to restrain her even though she was muzzled and in chains.

Luna was not in the best of tempers. She had been sleeping off the effects of the moon-cycle when she had been pounced on. Before she had properly come to her full senses Luna had found that she had had a muzzle buckled over her head and chains on her wrists and ankles and was dragged off for an audience with the Queen. But the recovered Luna was not willing to give up without a fight.

A blow to the back of her knees forced Luna to kneel. Fear flickered briefly in her liquid gold eyes as the flashbacks of the terror of the circus came flooding back thick and fast. Snow White saw it and called a halt to the brutal proceedings, 'Enough! I will not have this in my palace!'

Luna continued to growl quietly under her breath. A guard believed this to be contradictory to the Queen's order and raised his spear to strike the wolf, but a stern look in Snow White's eyes stopped him.

'Luna, will you speak with me?' The sovereign's voice was quiet and reassuring, but the wolf was too confused and upset to listen. 'You have nothing to fear from me, Luna, do you understand me?" Snow White spoke slowly as if addressing a child. This touched the rebellious core of Luna's soul and if she wanted to get her point across it seemed that this was the moment.

'If I have nothing to fear than neither do you,' Luna's voice was muffled behind the leather muzzle.

'I don't follow you?'

'Remove the chains.'

She nodded at the guards, they hesitated at their ruler's incredulous order until one voiced their doubts, 'But, Your Majesty, it is a wolf.'

'I am perfectly aware of what she is. Take off the chains.'

Luna stayed stock-still whilst the chains were unlocked and detached from her body. Soon she stood free of all restraint.

'I have kept my side of the bargain. Will you keep yours?'

One part of Luna was standing ready to cut and run at the first opportunity and was already looking for a quick escape route, but the greater part was curious about what this Queen who was her jailer had to say. She was more worried about the guards; 'I will talk with you alone.'

Snow White waved the guards away, 'I will call when if I need you.' They left reluctantly; leaving their monarch alone with a wild animal did not appeal to their sense of duty.

Luna, still looking for the trap in this ploy, asked one final question, 'Why do you want to speak with me?'

'I am intrigued by you, Luna. You seem a good and intelligent beast, yet what could you have done to make all those people want to see you degraded in such a way. Surely the loss of a few lambs isn't enough to make them react so violently. What was your crime?'

'My crime was the same as yours.'

'I don't understand.'

'I heard tell, when you were young, your stepmother ordered you killed because you were more beautiful than she was. She tried everything to murder you, even poison in an apple. You fell as if dead until a handsome prince awakened you with a kiss.'

'I remember, but how is your story similar?'

'Every wolfs' story is almost the same. You weren't persecuted because you'd committed a crime; it was because of what you are. You were victimized because you are beautiful. We are hunted because we are wolves, and because we must live. If something dies in the village, the wolves did it. If a fire is started, the wolves did it. If anything goes wrong, the wolves did it. We are easy scapegoats. My grandparents, their parents and their parents before them and so on were all burned to death because something bad happened in the village and wolves happened to be living nearby.'

'But some of them were caught in the act. Several years ago, when I was a young Queen, I remember the Big Bad Wolf and Princess Riding Hood Incident. He deserved his punishment, even though he was only caught a few years ago.'

The subject of her Grandfather always struck a raw nerve with Luna, 'How dare you, he was my Grandpa! Yes, he made a mistake but he was never even given a chance, he... he...' Despite the time that had elapsed, Luna still found it so hard to talk openly about her the wolf who doted on her and his untimely end and always dissolved into sobs.

This display of pure emotion from a creature thought to be incapable of sentiment stirred the heart of Snow White. 'You don't have to tell me, but I would like to hear your side.' Her voice had procured a motherly tone.

Luna pawed the tears from her eyes, ashamed of them now, 'Hear the wolfs' side, that's a first. Let me tell you of a different wolf than the one everyone saw burn. The wolf that told me stories beside a fire on cold winters nights. The wolf that gave up his share of a meal so we would not go hungry when times were slim. The wolf who called me the Shadow of the Moon and loved me for who I was. Yes, Grandpa was an old wolf who had travelled and seen many things. He would often tell tales to us of the adventures he had. He stole the basket from the girl to stop his young family from starving but he made no attempt on her life, despite what her poisonous tongue claims. Then he became very forgetful in his old age and would often become disorientated. He was perpetually hungry, as we had to live on meagre rations so our presence would not be noticed by the lack of game in the forest, but it never stopped his generosity. Grandpa slipped out to hunt one night. The next thing we heard was that he'd been caught. Father watched the trial. They offered Grandpa his life if he would say where the rest of us were. He refused. Poor Grandpa, he did not deserve that end.'

Luna looked into Snow White's face, but it was impassionate. Her heart sank; there was no point in continuing any further. She walked towards the panelled doors with her furry back to the Queen.

'Where are you going?'

'Back to my cage, to sit there and look pretty. That's what you wanted me for, isn't it?'

The wolf banged on the door. The guards rushed in and began to put the fetters back on while the Queen still questioned her, 'But why...?'

'Despite your pretences I can see that you do not understand. You are a queen, and what am I? Just another fire-pit wolf, same as any other in the Kingdom. And by the way, his name was not Big Bad, it was Altair.'

'What about your parents?'

'As far as I know they are safe, as are my siblings, and I would like to keep it that way as we have no prince to rescue us.'

Luna was roughly dragged away back to her solitary confinement to wait in hope for her brothers' arrival.

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Luna did not have long to wait. Within the week Luna noticed two pairs of glowing eyes in the foliage surrounding the menagerie. Snow White had left the castle to visit one of the outer provinces leaving the brothers relatively safe to call upon their sister. She knew they had arrived when a stream of curses emanated from a thick rose bush. A hoarse whisper countered it, 'What is it, Sirius?'

'I'm suck an' elfing well stuck, that's what's the matter. Help me, Draco!'

'How you survived this long is a mystery to me, brother.'

Luna was in absolute fits of giggles when her two siblings finally emerged from the thorny depths of the shrubbery. Sirius looked much the worse for wear, all scratched and grazed. Her brothers couldn't have raised her spirits more if they'd tried. Between spasms of laughter the young female wolf questioned them, 'What are you doing here?'

'We came to see if we could get you out.'

'I thought when Father left me it was for good.'

'He just didn't want to get caught as well and leave Mother to cope with the rest of us alone.'

'He tried to buy you back, but you had already gone. Mother feared the worst.'

'Good old Dad! Let him know that I forgive him, and tell Mother that I'm safe. So, what's your plan?'

The look that passed between the brothers said more than words ever could. Draco's eyes fell to the floor; 'We don't actually have a plan.'

'We just came to see where you were, scout the area, see the quarters, you know.'

'And bring you hope.'

'You've done a fine job in that respect.'

'How is it here, Luna?'

'Dull, boring, lonely. I could cope if it weren't for their attitude. They treat me like the scum of the earth, forcing me to do this and that instead of asking.'

'What happened to your leg?' Draco was staring at the fresh pink scar.

'That was the trap, don't step in one of those things - it hurts like hell. It's fine now, it's healed up now.'

The clank of a lantern came to Luna's observant ears, a shot of panic coursed through her veins and her eyes widened as her gaze alternated between the wolves and the direction of the approaching sentinel,

'Quick, you must go now. The guard is coming. I'll see you another time.'

Grasping the urgency of the situation, Draco nudged his brother, 'Goodbye, dear sister.'

'Here, we thought you might need this,' Sirius pressed a tattered old piece of rabbit skin into his sister's hand.

'Mr Bunny. Thank you.' Tears sprang unbidden to her eyes at the sight, feel and smell of her favourite childhood comforter. The wolves embraced each other through the bars before the twosome melted back into the bushes. Luna howled deafeningly to cover any noise of their escape as the watchman entered the confines of the menagerie in his own pool of yellow light, anxious as to the cause of the clamour.

'Who goes there? Oh, it's just you, wolf.'

'See you soon, my beloved brothers,' the inaudibility of the utterance made it that no one but herself and the moon could hear, but she was sure her siblings knew what she said.

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Jasmine, the future Queen of the Fourth Kingdom, was panicking. No matter where she looked she could not find her son. Kidnapping and evil plots haunted her thoughts. Normally she would have asked Arc's help, but he was away with her mother, fulfilling his duties as royal bodyguard. No one would dare to harm Her Majesty while Arc was watching over her. As a last alternative she went to the menagerie. On rounding the cage where a pair of lynxes watched her from a branch, she saw Wendell talking to the wolf.

The young prince was sitting cross-legged only a few feet away from the beast and apparently conversing unconcernedly with her. The very notion was absurd, everyone knew that wolves were just dumb animals. Besides, she didn't trust that creature with her only son despite her mother's raptures. Old age had finally got to her mother, she thought. To her the boy might as well be in a pit with man-eating lions.

As she moved closer she noticed that the two weren't talking but that Wendell was telling the wolf a story. Her sanity wasn't at risk, then. It surprised her though to see that the animal was listening intently to every word. The story was just ending. It was "Cinderella". Jasmine silently praised her young sons' wisdom at not choosing one of his favourite stories, which usually involved the exploits of the Big Bad Wolf. She didn't like to interrupt and listened quietly as Wendell finished.

'The handsome prince put the glass slipper on Cinderella's foot. It fitted perfectly. He held her hand and said, "You will be my queen." Then they got married and lived happily ever after.'

Only now did her son notice Jasmine's presence, the wolf had seen her as soon as she'd appeared, 'Mummy!' Luna's going to tell me a story now!'

Jasmine smiled, it was a game they often played with his toys up in his rooms. Such as, "Horsey's going to tell me a story tonight," and then she would take the specified toy and animate it on his bed as if it were telling the tale.

She sat him on her lap and began, 'Well, Once Upon a Time...' But the little boy put his chubby fingers up to her lips.

'Ssh, Mummy. It's Luna's turn.'

The wolf shifted itself into a more comfortable position and, to Jasmine's utmost astonishment, began to speak in an odd singsong voice. 'It is a shame my good friend Arc isn't here for he would like this tale, it is called "The Pledge" and just like your story, little prince, it concerns not imaginary characters but those who lived many years ago. Their names have been lost in the passage of time but their names are not as important as what they did for two different races.

'Long ago there was a great pack of wolves living in a dark forest far from here. The Lord who controlled the forest hated the wolves as they killed the deer and other game that the Lord himself wanted to hunt. So this Lord made a promise to exterminate all the wolves that dwelt on his land. This plan found favour with the villagers who wrongfully accused the pack of stealing their livestock and threatening their children and they banded together to eradicate the wolves from the region.

'In those dark days many of the wolves were massacred, males, females and cubs, their heads being proudly displayed as trophies of a brave kill. One wolf alone escaped the slaughter and he fled to the mountains whilst his pursuers followed.

'Those mountains were said to be a haunt of dragons, but the wolf thought that he would rather die at a dragons jaws than at the bows and clubs of his hunters.

'One night the villagers caught up with him while he rested and the wolf ran into a cave to avoid being captured. In his panic he ran into a solid wall which grunted and moved. It froze the wolf's blood and he closed his eyes expecting either the snap of sabre-teeth or a burst of flame to end his life. When it didn't happen the wolf thought that the dragon was merely toying with him and making him think he was safe before snuffing out his life.

'"You can open your eyes, little friend, they've gone."

'The wolf did as he was asked and found himself looking into the most gentle pair of sapphire blue eyes he had ever seen. They seemed to catch every fragment of light. In their gaze the wolf felt very much at ease and felt duty-bound to apologise.

'"I hope you don't mind me disturbing you, sir."

'"Not at all, We are both in the same boat, apparently. Once my brothers ruled this entire region. All types of dragon lived here in peace. That was until the dwarves discovered the secret in our caves. They housed a great horde of quicksilver. Their greed drove them to kill all who called this once good place their home. Behemoth, the giant chieftain of the Fire dragons, made one final attempt to save our birthplace. This failed and now his bones stand as a monument and guardian to the Dwarf Mines, ever watchful for the return of his brethren. When he died we fled and are still being hunted to this day."

'"Sir dragon, it is a familiar tale you tell. My entire family was murdered because we needed meat to survive and the men begrudged us the deer that we ate. We two must be the most maligned creatures in all the Nine Kingdoms."

'"Alas, all our kind suffers the same fate. We should form a partnership."

'"Why not? Let our agreement here spread through the generations," the possibilities of the suggestion sparkled in the wolf's golden eyes.

'"Wolf and Dragon will become as brothers. When we find one of either kind in peril we will help them as we would one of our own. This shall be our Pledge and our purpose. At sunrise we will spread the word of this exchange so our species will become as one."

'The wolf and the dragon talked until morning when daylight paled the coal black sky. They stepped into the rosy light and embraced like the brothers they were before turning to go their separate ways. The good wishes of their friend rang in their ears as they went to carry out their mission of telling all of the glorious pact which had been made that night. The wolf watched as his brother's great wings opened and he took flight, his mauve body merging seamlessly with the dawning sky. He, in his turn, took the harder way down the mountain and lived as a wanderer and a teacher of the Pledge.'

Luna finished her tale just as the sun was setting and a chill wind blew, heralding the onset of autumn. Mother and son had sat spellbound as the wolf had spun her tale. Finally Wendell piped up with a question; "Did they live happily ever after?"

"Their teachings and the Pledge have continued for generations, so in a way, yes they did."

"Will you tell me more stories?"

"Another day, my friend. I think it's time for your supper."

Jasmine was grateful for the interlude, "Indeed it is, young man. Go indoors and see what's been made for you."

Wendell was about to rush inside before he remembered his manners, "Thank you, Luna. I'll come back and see you again."

"Little prince, if you ever get tired of being a king become a teller of tales. The wolves will appreciate your gift, trust me."

With a last toothy grin the little boy ran in for his meal. Jasmine stayed a little longer as fascinated by Luna as her mother was.

"Can I help you, Your Highness?" The constant stare of the woman made Luna feel uncomfortable, especially after the circus incident. Jasmine seemed at a loss for words, "Or shall I guess? You have never heard a wolf bard before?"

"Well, no. To be honest I've never even heard a wolf speak."

"Most wolves are much better than me, I'm really rather mediocre. And you don't need to fear - your son is in no danger with me. Wolves are not the vicious monsters we are believed to be. Was there anything else?"

"No, thank you, wolf."

"Luna, please, Your Highness."