Author's Note: Again, please excuse the long time between posts! Homework should be pushed off a cliff into a sea full of famished great white sharks that tear it into billions of little pieces so small that even the most studios professor would spend the rest of my high school and college career trying to piece it back together again. Can you tell I really don't like homework? Lol, anyway, I am sooooooo excited for Anne Bishop's new book, Sebastian. I can only pray that it's as good as the DJT! Anyhow, I'm sure you're tired of reading my mindless ramblings, so I'll let you read the story now….

Disclaimer: See Prologue (Part One)

Chapter Two Ebon Rih – Riada – Morning

She awoke as the first hint of light began to creep slowly over the horizon. Orian had never been very adept at sleeping in, for she slept too lightly to let even the smallest of sounds go unnoticed. If all of Riada was completely silent for a whole day, she would happily remain in a dream state until late in the afternoon, but when one had a wolf whining in one's ear, sleep didn't like to hang around too long. Orian, however, hadn't gone to sleep until very early that morning, for she had stayed up over thinking and over analyzing the past day's events. This would explain her stubborn reluctance to get out of bed.

"Le' me alone, Mane. Its too early," She yawned, pushing the female wolf's prodding muzzle away as she turned over. The wolf, however, was not too keen on letting the little she-pup fall back into a mindless slumber. So, instead of whining, she barked. Loudly. Orian jumped a few inches off her bed at the sharp sound, and with a dramatic sigh, she turned back to face the wolf and simply glared at her.

A lazy pup doesn't get the best piece of meat. Mane scolded. At least the grass is still wet.

Orian couldn't suppress the soft giggle that escaped her lips. Kindred did not measure time the way humans did, and according to Mane, if one woke up after the morning dew had dried on the grass, then one was to be considered quite sluggish. Tired of waiting on her charge, the lean, gray wolf trotted out of the room and used craft to move through the walls to the small clearing beside the eyrie.

I will wait until you are ready. She sent as she lay down in a patch of grass.

After mumbling under her breath about pushy, unsympathetic wolves, Orian rolled out of bed shuffled into the bathroom. When she had cleaned her teeth and pulled her unruly black hair back so with a tie at the nape of her neck, she threw on a pair of soft, cotton trousers and a ratty old sweater, and tiptoed through the still quite eyrie to join the waiting wolf.

Mane had started visiting Orian right after the girl had just settled into Riada. Her pack had considered Orian and Alanar to be berefit of a good dam, so they often played with the two children. To be more precise, they played with Orian while Alanar looked on. The older boy let many of the wolf pups chew on his clothes and lick his face, but he constantly worried about his sister, so preferred to sit by and watch her instead of joining in on the fun. He, unlike Orian, understood, at least to a point, the contempt with which Dorian held the kindred, and he was scared she would take it out on him and his sister.

The playtimes did not last very long, however, for the small pack was driven away by her for fear of incurring bodily injury. Even after Dorian died, they did not return for many years, for they still felt unsafe. Mane was the first of the pack to visit the children again, and at least once every five days or so, she came to collect Orian to bring her to the rest of the pack. Sometimes Alanar joined them, but usually it was just her. He was too preoccupied with his training to spend too much time "rolling around with the wolves," as he called it.

Orian followed quickly behind Mane as the wolf trotted into the small wood between her eyrie and the next. Because of the early hour, the normally cool forest was quite chilly, and she was glad she had thought to wear a sweater, albeit an old, thin one. When they reached their normal spot, a little grouping of rocks situated against the mountainside, Orian sat on one of the cool boulders and waited for the rest of the pack to arrive.

While she waited, she picked a long piece of grass, placed it between both of her thumbs, and blew. The reedy, quavering sound that it emitted caused Mane to jerk her head up from her comfortable position on one of the warmer rocks and give a wolfy equivalent of an eye roll. Orian laughed and made to blow into her hands again when the rest of the pack materialized out of the trees. Forgetting about her makeshift whistle, she quickly hopped off the boulder and sat cross-legged in the center of the milling wolves. After letting her admire the pups and scratch a few itches, a few of the adult males and females pushed their way to her side.

The three males, Neam, Kalar, and Thrash, and the two females, Mane and Haavi, settled in a semi-circle around her, effectively telling the others in the pack that it was their turn with the she-pup. Every time she visited, the five wolves would claim her for a while, so they could share bits of interesting craft and odd tidbits of information. As she told them about her last craft lesson, she noticed that Kalar seemed a bit distracted, but she decided to let it go. His mate was pregnant, which would explain his constant glances towards the female sleeping a few yards away.

After she finished explaining how to move one solid through another, Haavi punched her foot through a fallen leaf and gave Orian an exasperated look.

Why use craft? What would you need to move through that you can't already?

"Walls?" She replied, and at the feelings of bewilderment she perceived from her friends, she added, "Trees?"

Trees are meant to hide and shelter. If you go through them, you defeat the purpose.

Haavi had a point, of course. From her perspective, one should never need to go through something because in nature, there were no walls to entrap a creature. There were of course mountain faces and canyons and what not, but the wolves figured that they were there for a reason. They all knew how to move through solids anyway, but Orian was pretty sure they had never actually done it. She opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by a quick snarl. Kalar, his lips curled back in a ferocious grin, jumped to his feet and growled softly in the direction of Teare, his mate, who was walking awkwardly towards a shadier spot. It did not take a genius to tell that she was limping.

Orian slowly moved to kneel beside Kalar and placed her hand on his back to warn him of her presence. "What's wrong, Brother?" she asked, keeping her voice level and calm. Kalar was a Warlord Prince who wore the Sapphire, the darkest jewel among the pack. When she found that he hadn't descended into a cold rage after brushing his inner barriers, she gave a soft sigh of relief. What ever it was, it couldn't be that bad.

Why is she limping? She shouldn't be hurt! She was fine when we came here…someone must have hurt her.

With that last thought he whirled away from her steadying hand and faced the rest of the pack, his body tensed and his fur standing on end. The others stood completely still, unsure of what had brought on this sudden bout of rage and scared that it would lead to a fight. Therefore, it was a surprise to all when he abruptly relaxed. In fact, he looked slightly sheepish.

I cut one of my pads on a rock. It will heal. Teare broadcast to the pack and to Orian. Within moments, activity was resumed.

"Over protective," Orian tsked at Kalar.

If you were worried about her, why didn't you just ask her instead of jumping to conclusions?
She added privately. He didn't reply, but she knew the answer anyway. If any human female was pregnant and had suddenly started limping, not only would her husband or consort be at her side within moments, but he would also be filled with a keen anger focused on anyone or anything that had hurt his lover. Come to think of it, males were like that whether or not one was pregnant or a lover…

Shaking her head at males in general, Orian stood up and walked over to Teare, who was now laying with her head resting on her paws and her eyes half closed. "Let me see you're paw," she said, and Teare lethargically complied. The kindred had healers to be sure, but there was not one among the small pack. It was hoped that one of Teare's pups would be born with the gift.

Orian wouldn't be able to heal the cut completely, for while she was a Queen, she most certainly was not a Healer, but she did know how to reduce swelling and protect against infection. So absorbed in her work was she that when a chorus of low growls and snarls rang out from the males of the pack, she almost jumped out of her skin. Before she could react, Teare pulled her paw out of Orian's hands and joined the rest of the pack, who were in the process of forming a protective circle around the females, the pups, and Orian.

"What is it?" she asked to the wolves in general, hoping one of them would answer.

Strange males. They do not belong here, was the terse reply given by Neam. When Orian saw who the strange males were, she tended to agree with that description. They were not unknown to her, but she would certainly describe them as strange, yes.

Warlord Prince Lucivar Yaslana stood at the edge of the small clearing with his normal arrogant expression firmly in place. Next to him, his brat of a son stood with wide eyes, his façade of cool aloofness temporarily forgotten as he took in the sight of Orian surrounded by fifteen-odd growling kindred wolves.

Review Responses:

Silver Sky: I love your story! Keep writing!

kestrel2106: You're right. In the books, her mother isn't all that evil. I decided to make her a meany 'cause it would give me something fun to work with, lol! That's what I love about fanfics! Also, just because someone doesn't like someone when they're ten doesn't mean it lasts forever (hint hint hint)

shadow hound dancer: thank ya!

counterspell: -worships back-

Dibs: Lol! Happy is good!

nikkila: Aah, but guilt from being a half-breed can lead to fear, which can lead to anger, which can lead to rage…. Basically I just wanted to make her evil, lol!

alenasaso: Wish granted! Hope you enjoy!