Author's Note: Hello! Well what a time it's been (both personally and globally) since I last updated this story about 2.5 years ago. I graduated college last May with a triple major and am now working on figuring out my way in the world. Hopefully this will include writing! Thank you for your support and patience, enjoy!
Chapter 11
Maria tended to Safiyya's wing. Seeing it up close, she could make out the glistening patterns woven across it. Obviously she'd never had to mend a broken wing before, but, as Loveday had said, moon princesses were natural healers. Though Maria wished she hadn't needed to utilize those skills as frequently as she had lately. Soon Maria found herself saying,
"It should mend in a couple weeks, Safiyya, but until then I'm afraid flying is out of the question." Safiyya glanced back at her wing and sighed. She brightened after a moment saying,
"If you hadn't gotten there when you did, it could have been…so much worse. How did you know I was in trouble?"
"I…I just knew. It's really something I'm only starting to understand."
"Well whatever it is I'm grateful for it."
"Safiyya," Robin spoke slowly, "how did Dulac find you? And what did he want from you?" Safiyya scrunched up her tiny face as she thought.
"It wasn't long after you two left actually. I was minding my own business when someone grabbed me and shoved me in a bag. I don't know how long I was in there but it certainly felt like a long time. Next thing I knew that big lug Dulac was interrogating me—"
"The person who shot the arrow," Robin interjected. Maria and Safiyya gave him blank looks. Robin continued, "the person who shot at Maria and I, that must be who took you. They were watching us the whole time." Maria caught on.
"Oh Safiyya, it's all our fault you were taken." Safiyya placed her tiny hand on Maria's.
"It isn't."
"What did they want to know Safiyya?" Robin asked. Safiyya's face sombered.
"They wanted to know about the evil side of magic." What little color there was in Robin's face drained.
"And what did you tell them?"
"First, that they were foolhardy to try to seek out that kind of magic. They didn't like that answer," Safiyya gestured to her injured wing, "so I told them about the…the lycanthrope." Wrolf, who had nearly blent into the background, suddenly growled in a low tone.
"What is it Wrolf? What's the lycanthrope?" Maria asked.
Not what, who. My brother. Maria's jaw dropped.
"Wait, you can talk to Wrolf now?" asked an equally stunned Robin.
"Yes, another new development," Maria said, still distracted, "Wrolf said the lycanthrope is his brother." Robin breathed deeply and slumped down in disbelief. Safiyya wrapped her arms around herself, protectively. Wrolf looked Maria in the eye.
My brother and I's paths started very similarly. We draw our power from the moon, same as you. But he…never got along with humans. He considered them inferior and thought they did not deserve to live with magic. His anger led him to fall into the ways of darkness and destruction. He became a being whose name incited fear. When the moon princess cast her curse, however, it transformed him and the magic as it did the rest of us. My new reflection looked so much like him… For a long time I thought he had been cast out of Moonacre Valley like many others. Until one full moon I saw him, just for a moment, on the crest of a hill in the forest. By the time I approached he was gone and a group of villagers was passing through below. But then I heard his voice, "Cursed to be me while I'm cursed to be one of them. At least now I know what you hated most." Wrolf paused and Maria for the first time could see the centuries of loss behind the light of his eyes. He never revealed himself to me again. I knew only that he must still be out there and, from what he'd said, that he was at least somewhat human. Ever since the curse was broken, I've felt his presence again. It started faintly, but it continues to grow stronger. I've been searching for him and when I sensed you were in danger I was worried he'd found you. If Dulac is trying to find him it will only mean disaster.
"But wouldn't he destroy Dulac?" Maria asked.
Not immediately. Not when he knows that he can be a pawn to something much bigger.
"Which is?"
I can only guess, but the destruction of Moonacre Valley seems a fair assumption. Which is why you must be careful most of all—to him you have been and continue to be a threat. Maria found she had a lot of questions but the one she asked was,
"What's his name? Not the one he became feared for, the name you first knew him by?" Maria saw Wrolf's memory stretch back through time.
Lunn.
As soon as Maria heard the name she knew exactly where that unsettled feeling she'd been having came from. A knock at the door startled Maria into giving a small shriek.
"Robin, are you okay?" a voice called through the door.
"Yes Henry, I'm fine!" Robin called bolting up from his slumped position and wincing in pain at the sudden movement.
"Loveday sent me to see if you needed anything…help to the privy or with a chamber pot?"
"Not now, thanks!" Robin replied blushing. Maria held back an embarrassed giggle.
"Okay, someone will be by to check on you again in the morning." Safiyya hadn't moved except for her wings continuing to droop steadily down as Wrolf had spoken. Maria waited until the sound of the footsteps had retreated to relay what Wrolf had said to Robin. When Maria had finished, Robin took a deep breath. The bags under his eyes were dark and Maria wondered when the last time was that Robin had slept through the night. In spite of this most recent revelation, Maria felt the adrenaline beginning to wear off her and fatigue setting in once again.
"We won't be able to face anything as long as we continue to wear ourselves out. It'll be morning soon—we should try to at least get a little rest," Robin said finally.
"That's true. I think I'll head back to Loveday's room, it sounds like Henry may be back soon and all of this is more of an explanation than I care to give," Maria said, a faint cheeriness returning to her tone as she gestured around her. She moved close to Robin and gently kissed his forehead. Maria started to pull away when Robin pulled her back in for a tender kiss. Maria eased away and went to pick-up Safiyya who was smirking at her. Even Wrolf seemed intrigued.
I didn't think I'd actually live to see a de Noir and Merryweather fall in love again. Now I've seen it twice in a matter of days.
"Shhh..," Maria whispered as she went to open the door. In reality, she hadn't thought about herself as loving Robin. She felt strongly about him for sure, but was that love? She was less than experienced when it came to romantic love. She peeked her head out the door, saw that the corridor was empty, and gestured for Wrolf to follow. Maria smiled one last time at Robin before closing the door and hurrying down to Loveday's room. She expected to find Loveday asleep inside, and already had half an explanation prepared as to her late appearance and the presence of Safiyya and Wrolf, but to her surprise the room was vacant. She looked to Safiyya perched in her hand,
"Is there anything I can get to help make you comfortable?"
"As much as I miss my tree I'll be fine if you have something to keep me warm," she replied. Maria set her gingerly on the desk and opened up the drawyers until she located a handkerchief.
"Will this do?" Maria asked.
"Very nicely." Safiyya took the fabric in her hands and pulled it over to where an ink bottle was. She laid down, minding her wings even more than usual, and draped the fabric over her and rested her head against the bottle. In the meantime, Wrolf had chosen a corner of the room to curl up into.
"Need anything, Wrolf?"
I'm okay, thank you. Maria slipped into a nightgown and crawled into bed just as pale sunlight was beginning to peek in. Within moments she had drifted off to sleep.
"Robin? Robin," Robin opened his eyes even though he felt like he'd barely closed them. He soon recognized that was not the case as his room was bathed in light and not from candles. Loveday sat on the edge of his bed smiling at him. "Good morning, almost afternoon, sleepyhead," she said, chuckling.
"I didn't mean to sleep so late," Robin replied, mildly indignant. Loveday continued laughing,
"Don't worry, I'd say you earned it. I checked in earlier to see how you were healing and you didn't even stir. I knew you must've been exhausted because normally I would've had a knife to my throat getting that close,"
"You make me sound so jumpy,"
"It's only what you were taught to do." The smile faded a bit from Loveday's face. She recovered quickly and resumed, "The good news is that you seem to be healing wonderfully and I think you'll be able to get up, provided you don't engage in anything too strenuous such as chasing after certain redheads." Loveday arched her eyebrow in light-hearted warning.
"She starts it."
"I know, she keeps you on your toes. That's not easy to do." Loveday's smile twisted into a smirk. "When were you planning on telling me about you two?"
"About us!?" Robyn exclaimed. Loveday laughed again.
"Oh Robin, you really thought I wouldn't notice?"
"Well…" Robin's normally quick wit failed him.
"Don't worry, I won't tell Benjamin. Or Miss Heliotrope. Or Father."
"Or really anyone while we're at it. The clan is barely keen on one de Noir falling in love with a Merryweather, let alone two."
"Falling in love?" Robin's breath caught in his throat. He hadn't meant it. Or had he? Loveday saw his concern and comforted him,
"Seeds can take root even when we least expect them to. Perhaps I more than anyone know how suddenly that can happen."
"I know. I didn't want to believe it when you left, but I had no choice," Robin's tone turned icy.
"Leaving you was the hardest part, Robin," Loveday furrowed her brows.
"You didn't come back even after."
"You know I couldn't."
"But you were in the forest all this time!" Robin's voice steadily rose, "Surely there was some way you could've let me know where you were! That you were…okay." The abrupt silence was apparent. Loveday took a deep breath before responding,
"I didn't think you wanted anything to do with me anymore. I believed you only thought of me as a…traitor."
"You're my older sister, I never forgot that." Their words hung in the room. Robin noticed that Loveday had brought him soup which by no doubt had now gone cold.
"I'm sorry Robin. Truly I am," she paused, "I don't expect you to forgive me. What I did was wrong. I was selfish with you and even again with Maria," she exhaled, "I do hope one day I can earn your trust again." Robin didn't respond. He didn't really know what to say. This wasn't how he thought the day would start. Loveday breathed deeply again and stood up and forced a smile onto her face. "Well in any case, as I said, if you're feeling up to it, Father would like to see you and I think it would be good for morale to see you roaming around again." Robin nodded. Loveday opened the door and closed it softly behind her. Robin let out an exasperated sigh. Well if there was anything good to come out of that conversation, it was that, as much as it terrified him, he couldn't deny that the seeds of love with Maria weren't just present—they were indubitably sown.
Maria smelled Marmaduke's stargazy pie. She opened her eyes and expected to see the pie sitting beside her. It was only then that she remembered where she was. She glanced around the room and saw that Safiyya was still lying in her make-shift bed on the desk and that Wrolf snoozed in his corner. She took a couple of sniffs and the unmistakable smell persisted. Surely, it must just be coming from the kitchen in the de Noir castle. Still, Maria couldn't shake the feeling that her initial instinct was right. Another one for the list. Great. A light knock issued at the door.
"Maria? It's Loveday."
"One moment!" Maria said, shuffling out of bed. Wrolf stirred and gave a large open-mouthed yawn. Safiyya's eyes fluttered open but she stayed nestled in the handkerchief. Maria opened the door and said, "You can come in, but please don't be alarmed," Loveday tilted her head quizzically, but slipped inside. Her eyes surveyed the room and its three occupants.
"Well, definitely not what I expected to see today, but I guess I'm glad it's me that saw them first."
"Well..," Maria started sheepishly.
"Who else?"
"Only Robin and Richard. Henry almost saw them when you sent him to check on Robin and we'd just gotten back and were in his room—"
"I didn't send Henry to check on Robin, I guess he must've just been trying to help."
"Oh well, in any case, he didn't come in so he didn't see us but when we were originally on our way to see Robin Richard did. I guess since you didn't know though, he must not have told anyone."
"I guess not which I'm grateful for. I'm not entirely sure how we explain this, especially after the chimera incident." Maria looked down, deflated. Loveday lifted her chin and continued, smiling, "we'll figure out something, though. In the meantime, let's get you something to eat."
"Is stargazy pie an option?"
"I didn't see any, but I could have missed it. If not I'm sure I could have one of the chefs fix some for you."
"No, it's okay, I was just curious." Maria turned to Safiyya and Wrolf. "You two will have to stay here while I'm gone."
"Sounds good to me, " Safiyya said, snuggling back in, "but please bring some fruit back with you!"
I wouldn't mind some fresh meat.
"Fruit and fresh meat, I'll do my best," Maria said as she threw on a dress and followed Loveday out the door.
