-1Faolan felt he was bleeding from numerous places. He could taste blood in his mouth and smell it in his nose. All it did was make him madder. He wanted to tear into whatever the figure in the cloak was, make him pay for doing all this. The problem was, he couldn't touch him. Every time he tried to attack, the figure would disappear and reappear somewhere else.
He shot another glance at Ivy. Still frozen, but still breathing. He couldn't give up. Not as long as there was a chance that he could still save her. Whether she would even look at him afterwards didn't matter. Actually, what mattered most right now was staying alive.
"You're getting boring, wolf." the figure warned.
Faolan bared his teeth.
"If I get bored, I may just have to kill you. Or maybe your little friend?"
Faolan could see the white of the figure's teeth as he grinned. Faolan growled louder and moved closer to Ivy.
"Aw, how sickeningly sweet. The wolfie's going to protect his girlfriend." he sneered.
"What are you?" Faolan demanded again, unsure why it mattered to him.
"Would you really like to know, wolf?" the figure slowly reached up and pushed back his hood, "I'm the last dark elf."
Faolan almost gasped. His eyes widened so big that they hurt. The dark elves were supposed to have all died out!
The elf's skin was dark with a blue tint to it. A long scar ran across his left cheek. He had short silver hair and glowing red eyes. Those red eyes fixed on Faolan and he felt fear wash over him. Dark elves were pure evil. Even worse than evil witches and queens and step-mothers. Faolan had to call on all the wolf in him to remain standing under that gaze.
"I think I will kill you now." the dark elf said.
He stepped closer to Faolan and reached out an un-gloved and claw-like hand. Faolan had the feeling that if that hand touched him, he'd be dead.
Ivy could hear everything, see everything, even smell everything around her. Something in the back of her mind knew that that was impossible, but that didn't matter. All the angry, hurt, and accusing words were swamping her as badly as the feelings had. Worst of all was Faolan and what she now knew was a dark elf. Her brain seemed to be working in slow motion. Her normally whirring mind was having enough trouble just keeping up with the tremendous amount of information her senses were feeding her. She did understand that both Danielle and Faolan were in danger of dying. She wanted to yell at both of them, warn them, but couldn't. She had never felt the need to move until now. She had to do something! Something inside her knew that if one of the group was killed the rest would follow.
"Ivy. Ivy. I can help you if you let me. You have to trust me. That's the only way I can do anything."
Snow White?
"Yes, it's me. Can you trust that if I take your body that I will give it back? Can you let me in?" she asked.
Take my body? You mean switch?
"Yes."
But you're dead!
"Yes. I need you to die. Once I have fixed things as much as I can, you will live again. But you need to let me in. I can't do anything unless I have your complete trust. You must hurry. There isn't much time." Snow White urged.
But I…
Ivy focused on the dark elf's hand moving closer to Faolan. Somehow at the same time she saw Danielle's hand moving closer to the witch's.
Okay.
"I need more than an okay."
Yes! Switch us! What do you want from me? I trust you. Now, save my friends!
Ivy felt her breathing stop. The cold swelled and seeped through her entire body. Her lungs froze, but burned for air at the same time. She wanted to scream, but couldn't get it out. For one moment she felt betrayed and a hundred other emotions at the same time. Then, everything stopped.
Faolan felt more than anything else that Ivy was stirring behind him. He felt a little hope at the same time as he was filled with a sinking despair. It wasn't until he felt cool hands pushing him back did he break free of the dark elf's gaze. He saw Ivy step into his place just as the elf's hand closed on her shoulder. He saw a shudder run through her and from her to the elf. The elf's eyes went wide. His reaction was mirrored by Ivy. They both fell to their knees. Ivy shuddered again and fell back on the ground. Her eyes closed and her body went limp. A moment later, the dark elf's eyes dimmed to black and he, too, fell to the ground, limp.
Faolan snapped out of his haze and fell to his knees next to Ivy. He hurriedly searched for a pulse. There was none. He checked the dark elf. They were both…dead.
Faolan howled and everyone stopped.
Danielle jerked back, snatching her hand back to her. She looked from it to the witch, shocked at what she had been about to do. Her hands curled into fists and dropped back to her sides. Her mouth was set in a grim line as she slowly rose to her feet. The witch would pay for making her feel that way, for saying those things.
"Okay, now it's time for major butt-kicking."
Danielle thrust her arms out in front of her, opening her fists at the last moment. She felt power run down her arms and burst out her hands. It hit the witch and she stumbled. Danielle hit her again and this time she fell to her knees. A third time nearly knocked her unconscious.
Danielle paused. She felt that she could kill her, but she wasn't ready to do that. She couldn't kill somebody! But what should she do? This was the part where the cavalry was supposed to show up and take the bad guy away. According to The Handbook. But there wasn't any cavalry in sight.
Before Danielle could react, the witch lunged at her and knocked her to the ground. She pulled a knife from her clothing and pressed it against Danielle's throat. Danielle struggled, but she felt the knife break the skin. The next thing she knew the witch was yanked off her. She looked up and saw Wendell throwing the witch aside. He looked down at her quickly.
"Are you alright?"
She nodded, stunned.
"Good." he said quickly.
Danielle scrambled to her feet in a hurry. She turned to see that the witch was lying face down in the grass, unmoving. Wendell turned her over and Danielle saw that she had fallen on her knife. And the witch was an old woman, again. Wendell looked back at Danielle. He looked sick.
"She's dead." he said.
Maive appeared next to Wendell and checked for herself.
"I don't understand. I thought she was nearly invincible with the rose." she said in confusion.
"She was." Danielle said.
She opened her fist to show them the golden rose in her hand.
"She dropped it." Danielle said quietly.
Faolan tried not to cry, but it was too hard. He couldn't believe she had saved him, given her life. No, no, no. He couldn't live happily ever after without her. Faolan buried his face against her shoulder.
"As long as you're there, could you scratch the top of my shoulder? Got a bad itch."
Faolan's head shot up. Ivy smiled at his surprise and sat up.
"You're alive." he said in disbelief, "You…you're alive!"
He hugged her so suddenly and fiercely that she fell over. He didn't seem to notice, he was too busy touching her face frantically with his hands, as if afraid that she wasn't all there.
"Yeah. I am." she agreed and didn't bother to push him off.
Faolan seemed to gain a little control over himself and pulled back, pulling her back up into a sitting position.
"But how?" he asked, holding her hand tightly.
Faolan didn't know how to tell her that he was afraid to let go. He had an over-whelming fear that the moment he let go, she would be gone again. He was surprised when she squeezed his hand reassuringly.
"Well, Snow White came to me and said that she could help, but I had to switch bodies with her. And since she was dead, I had to die once to do it. She had to die again in my body to kill the dark elf. It was the only way. She told me it was worth it. She also said that she thinks you're cute."
Ivy smiled.
"You died twice! For us?" he asked, gesturing at the group.
"Yeah." Ivy nodded, "And you know what? I've never felt so…good."
Faolan hugged her again. She finally laughed and pushed him away. She got to her feet and pulled Faolan up after her. He followed her over to her friends, still holding her hand tightly.
"So what do we do now?" Virginia was asking.
Her eyes were puffy as if she had been crying. So were many of the others.
"I think we should bury her and the rose." Wolf said, fidgeting nervously.
"The rose, too?" Cinnamon asked.
Everyone shot a look at her.
"I mean, after all the trouble…oh, forget it. I want that rose." Cinnamon admitted and tried to snatch the rose from Danielle.
"Cinnamon!" Wolf cried in surprise.
Cinnamon growled. The influence of the dark elf and the witch had set off some of the wolf impulses that she had suppressed. The bad wolf impulses. Truth be told, the reason she lived all alone in the deepest woods was that she had been exiled from all nearby villages. She stole what she could and traded it to traveler's for supplies such as food when the hunting was bad. She hadn't missed the villages much. A half-wolf girl was considered free game among village boys and the lowliest form of life by the village girls. Especially an orphan half-wolf. Those same villagers had paid for harassing her, though. If they wandered into her woods, she would chase them, scare them, and ensure they stayed out of her territory. If they didn't wander from their cozy little homes, she would target them for her theft. She new each and every one of them by name, face, and scent. Oh, yes. She had had a long time to memorize them all.
"Okay, I admit it. I'm a bad wolf. But I've been good. I helped stop the witch. Shouldn't I get some kind of reward?" she demanded.
"No one should have that rose. It's caused enough trouble." Tony announced.
"What am I saying? I want to be a good wolf, I really do." Cinnamon said almost a whine and, before she realized what she was doing, spilled out her story to them all.
"We'll help you, Cinnamon. But right now we have to get rid of that rose." Wolf said.
"Could I see it?" Ivy asked.
Everyone turned on her. Before anyone could question Ivy's intentions, Danielle gave the rose to her.
"Thank you." she said shortly.
She looked at Faolan quickly and slowly he released her hand, but stayed very close to her. She smiled reassuringly, then turned back to the rose. She cupped her hands around it and closed her eyes. There was a small flash and that was all. She opened her hands to show everyone that the flower was wilted and dead.
"What did you do?" Danielle asked.
"I used the last of both my and its magic to fix things. Time's a little different when you're dead. I had a lot of time to think. Plus, I had Snow White to give me advice for a little. I stopped the wars, that was the rose's magic. And I changed me. Much as I was coming to enjoy being a half-wolf, I realized that I couldn't stay that way. I didn't have enough power to make me completely human, I still have a little wolf in me, but nothing that could endanger me or anyone else. Cinnamon, I had to give the necklace back to the goblins. They'd declared war on wolves and sneaky red-heads. It was the only way to satisfy them. Sorry." she finished.
Cinnamon suppressed a growl and nodded. She didn't need it, she didn't. It was for the best really. Yes, this was the start of her being a good wolf.
"Dead?" Virginia asked, thankfully distracting her.
Ivy smiled again.
"Twice actually. I'll explain later. I think it's about time Wendell got back to his castle."
No one argued with that. Least of all, Wendell.
By the time they had reached Wendell's throne room, Ivy had managed to explain almost everything as best she could. She hadn't been able to restore everything. Riding Hood still fumed at Wendell and Wolf, the Council of the 9 Kingdoms was still upset with each other, there were still hard feelings all over. As for the 10th Kingdom, it was back to its normal self, which was pretty shaky at that.
She had even explained her new-found enlightenment about this whole adventure, that everything had to have happened. That had been hardest to explain.
"See, the reason Danielle and I were brought here was to learn something. That was the purpose behind all of this. Each of us had something that we needed to discover. I needed to learn trust. Danielle needed to learn to believe in herself. Wendell needed to relearn humility and a small lesson about self-pity. Cinnamon needed to find the good wolf inside her. Wolf needed to find his sister and learn a little about raising a cub. After Danielle, your cub'll be a breeze. Tony, you needed to find that you don't need to prove yourself to anyone. You needed to find your own self-worth. Maive needed to find that she is a good witch…"
At that point, she had been interrupted by Maive who claimed that she wasn't. Ivy smiled softly.
"But you are. You just don't know your talent. You brought out the magic in two 10th Kingdom girls who didn't even know they had it. Snow White believes the Major Coven will use you as the tester of new witch's potential. You see?"
Maive had nodded slowly, her eyes had been very wide.
"Breena needed to break free of the other fairies and learn to be her own person…er…fairy. Faolan, you needed to learn almost the same thing. You needed to be your own wolf, not the one your parent's wanted you to be, or even the one Randal wanted you to be. Or the one I wanted you to be. Plus, you were supposed to help me and you did. Randal needed to learn a little about fending for himself. Sorry, kid."
Randal had made a face.
"What about me?" Virginia had asked.
"Virginia, we were supposed to break you into the task of helping lost girls, but it didn't turn out too well. You needed to have faith in Wolf and Tony and in yourself. By the way, Snow White is very proud of you. Oh, and Wolf. She reminded me to give this to you. She said not to read it, just to have it sent to Queen Riding Hood." Ivy had then handed Wolf the letter.
Wolf had looked confused, but he'd taken it and nodded.
Later, when she got the chance, she might try to explain in detail. How becoming a half-wolf had allowed her to see that on the inside she was half like what Snow White had told her Virginia had been like and half like she was also informed Wolf was like. Unfortunately, the Virginia side had won out for a long time. And how Faolan had ultimately pushed her to the point where she could see these things and she could make a decision like the one Snow White had given her. But that was too much for now.
"You know, " Danielle's voice cut through Ivy's musing as it often did, "if I were a psychologist type person, and from what Maive's told me about that witch, I'd say this was a classic cry for attention."
"What?" more than one of the group demanded.
"Well, think about it. She was ignored by her village, ignored by the other witches. Plus, she's had a lifetime to stew about it. Just seems that's what it was." Danielle shrugged.
Wolf scratched his temple.
"And she was different, even from the other witches. Being different is a lonely path in life." he said, looking towards Virginia.
For a long moment, no one spoke. Then Wendell cleared his throat noisily to get their attention.
"Perhaps we should all get some food and rest. If you're quite sure my guards are all under my command and not the witch's?" he paused for Ivy to nod, "Good. For those of you who are hungry, I can have dinner ready in half an hour. If not, I can have rooms found for you. That is, as soon as I find Lord Rupert. Excuse me." Wendell said and left the room.
Everyone seemed a little lost. Now that it was all over, they didn't know what to do.
"Are you hungry?" a voice asked near Ivy's ear.
Ivy jumped and spun around. Faolan grinned. Ivy relaxed and smiled back. How many times was he going to do that to her before she would catch him at it?
"Not really. I'd rather just get some sleep. But I do need to talk to you."
Faolan nodded.
"You do realize that I have to leave? Go back to the 10th Kingdom." Ivy asked.
Faolan frowned. He hadn't realized that.
"Why?" he asked.
"I have to finish school. I want to go to college." Ivy said.
Faolan's frown deepened.
"You're still in school? What's college and how long will it take? If you're going, I want to go, too!" he said with such conviction that it made her smile.
"College is a school where you learn things, like for a job. College is usually four years long. But you have to be really smart to get into the best ones." Ivy explained.
"But…that means I can't go, right?" Faolan sounded terribly disappointed.
"I don't think so. Not because you're not smart enough, it's just…well, you don't have any records, any grades. Do you even have a last name?" Ivy wondered.
"Last names are for humans. I have a pack name. Four years is much too long. I'm going with you to the 10th Kingdom and that's that." he said with a huff and crossed his arms, as if daring her to say otherwise.
"Where will you stay?"
"With you." he said liked she had asked a very stupid question.
"You can't stay with me! I live with my parents! I just don't see…" Ivy began, staring at her hands as if they might hold the answer to the problem.
Faolan kissed her quickly.
"Shhh. Don't worry. Something will work out." he said, changing his tactics so quickly that she fell for it.
"Oh, my god! Can it be?" Danielle cried, hurrying over, "Ivy's first boyfriend? Am I delusional?"
"Shut up." Ivy said, trying hard not to blush. She broke into a yawn, "I'm tired. Faolan, we can talk with Wolf and Virginia tomorrow."
"Actually, would you mind if I went to talk to Wolf now? Just some private wolf stuff." Faolan said hurriedly.
"That's fine." Ivy shrugged.
Faolan quickly went over to where Wolf and Virginia were talking.
Danielle grinned at her friend, "Not bad. He's pretty cute. He seems to really care about you."
"He does." Ivy nodded, "I can see that now."
"Uh…excuse me?" Faolan said uncertainly.
Wolf and Virginia turned towards him. With both their gazes on him, Faolan was even more nervous. He fidgeted.
"Snow White said I should talk to you, Wolf. And that Ivy should talk with you, Virginia. But she's really tired. What I'm trying to say is…Wolf, could I talk to you?" Faolan said quickly before Wolf could refuse.
Wolf looked at Virginia, then at Faolan and shrugged.
"Sure." he said.
Virginia kissed him on the cheek.
"I'm tired, too. I'm going up to our room." she said.
Wolf nodded. He watched Virginia until she left the room, then turned back to Faolan.
"What do you want to talk about?" he asked.
Faolan glanced back at Ivy who was now talking to the recently located Lord Rupert. Wolf followed his gaze.
"Oh." he said.
"Yeah." Faolan agreed, "I really, really like her. And I think she likes me. Well, now she does. But it's been pretty shaky. I just want to make sure…." Faolan trailed off uncertainly.
Wolf nodded and grinned. He steered Faolan over to a corner where they sat down.
"If you want, tell her that she's your very first girlfriend and about wolves mating for life. Virginia seemed surprised by that. But huff-puff, don't be surprised if you're not her first…." Wolf began.
"Oh, I am. Her friend said so. I've been teaching her to be a wolf. It wasn't hard, really. I think she's a wolf at heart." Faolan said, glancing at her again and sighing.
"Lucky you. She seems like a nice girl. She reminds me of Virginia. And you remind me of me when I was younger, matter of fact. Oh! Whatever you do, don't even discuss shepherdesses around her. They don't like that." Wolf warned.
"Shepherdesses? I guess that excludes milk maids and farm girls, too, huh?"
After all that had just happened, sleep was the last thing on Danielle's mind. She had been disappointed to find that she didn't have any more magic. She guessed she had used it all up. She hadn't known that was possible.
So, she joined Wendell, Cinnamon, Maive, Tony, and the messenger, Peter, at the long banquet table for dinner. She sat on Wendell's left next to Maive and Peter. Tony and Cinnamon were on his right. Breena had gone off somewhere, probably to get her own dinner of whatever fairies ate. The others had all gone to bed, except for Faolan and Wolf who had still been talking when the diners had left.
"I've been meaning to ask you…" Wendell said quietly and Danielle jumped when she realized he was talking to her, "My grandmother, does she…well, what I mean is, is she…"
"Spit it out, Wendell." Danielle pressed.
Wendell seemed surprised at being addressed that way, but nodded. She was right.
"Did she seem like she was proud of me?" he asked so quietly that she had to lean closer to hear him.
"I'm sure she is!" Danielle assured him.
Wendell sighed with relief and smiled.
"Thanks."
"Wendell, about that princess thing? You really meant that?" Danielle asked, changing the subject.
"Of course. I'll do whatever I can. But don't get your hopes too high yet." Wendell warned her.
"I won't." Danielle lied.
She was silent for a little bit as she ate, half-listening to the conversation around her. Wendell kept assuring Peter that after he delivered one last message to Commander Forswell for him that he would have a long leave of absence. Tony was explaining bouncy castles to Maive. Cinnamon was silent, eating hungrily.
"You know, " Danielle commented suddenly, "This would make a great movie. Well, here I guess it would have to be a play. I would portray myself, of course. Maybe it could be a musical."
"A musical?" Maive asked.
"You don't have musicals here? I hope you have plays."
Danielle frowned.
"We tend to call them traditional reenactments and they're only at major functions." Wendell offered.
"Oh, no, no, no. That won't do. It looks like I've got a job to do. I'll whip up an acting troupe… I'll be like Shakespeare! Well, maybe not. I'll start working on it and after graduation I'll make a trip back and…boy, am I going to have to think to work this one out. Oh, well. I'll make Ivy do it." Danielle shrugged.
Wendell smiled at her enthusiasm.
"So you will be coming back?" he asked.
Danielle nodded.
"Definitely. You think we could stay in the boring old 10th Kingdom after this?"
"Boring?!" Maive exclaimed, "How could you call it boring? I'd like to go back just to figure out some of the things I saw!"
"I'd like to go, too."
"Wendell?" Danielle asked, surprised, "But don't you have…you know, king stuff?"
Wendell sighed.
"You're right, I suppose. I do have to try and repair the rest of the damages here. Paperwork all the way to happily ever after. Political conferences, official reports, diplomatic visits to the other Kingdoms. Especially the 2nd Kingdom. Sometimes, I almost miss being a dog." Wendell sighed again, "What about you, Anthony? Are you going back to the 10th Kingdom?"
Tony paused in his eating and thought. He slowly shook his head.
"I don't think so. Besides, I've still got those bouncy castles to make for you. I've made up some plans, but there's still a lot to do. Plus, I'm a lord here! Why would I give that up?" Tony finished.
Wendell brightened a little.
"Perhaps I will be able to sneak away one of these days then. You and Lord Rupert should be able to handle things."
Wendell said, getting more and more excited as he mentally made plans.
"Sure, Wendy." Tony agreed.
Everyone was quiet again until Danielle pushed her chair back and stood up.
"I think I'll turn in. Is that Lord Rupert person still in the throne room?"
"Most likely." Wendell nodded.
"Just look for a pink suit." Tony added with a small sneer.
"Ooookay." Danielle said as she back away, then turned and went back to the throne room.
She entered just as Wolf was leaving. She waved at him and he waved back. Danielle spotted Ivy's…( "Ivy's" and "boyfriend" still sounded weird together) whatever. She walked over and held out a hand. He shook it uncertainly.
"Hi! I'm Danielle, Ivy's friend. You are?"
"Faolan." he supplied.
"Faolan. Listen, from what I heard, you want to go back with us. As long as you're going, there's this party that a lot of kids from school are having that I've been trying to talk her into going to. She's never gone to a big party like this one and it's kind of important. It's our graduation party. If you were to ask her…" Danielle trailed off suggestively.
Faolan seemed to like the idea. He nodded vigorously.
"Thanks." he said.
"No prob. Is that Lord Rupert? Must be. Well, I'll see ya."
Danielle said and went over to Lord Rupert. He directed her to a room and she nodded and left. Lord Rupert hurried over to Faolan.
"Shouldn't you be getting off to bed, young man?" he asked.
"Yeah." Faolan agreed, "Could you tell me where Ivy's…"
"Of course not!" Lord Rupert interrupted, "Do you think I'm a fool? I was your age once. I know what goes on in the mind of a young man your age."
Lord Rupert smacked Faolan smartly outside the head.
"Ow!" Faolan cried.
"Bad thoughts! You will sleep in your own room and if I catch you sneaking into hers…" Lord Rupert wagged a finger at him.
"Okay, okay! Huff-puff!" Faolan agreed hurriedly, rubbing the back of his head and glaring in an annoyed fashion at Lord Rupert.
"Up the stairs, second door on the left. Can't miss it." Lord Rupert directed.
Faolan beat a hasty retreat and headed to his room. Lord Rupert looked after him and sighed.
"Young love." he said and wiped a tear from his eye, "It's just so beautiful."
Ivy woke with the sun the next day. She rearranged the things in her backpack, taking out Faolan's forgotten coat. She had nothing to pack. All she had to do was leave. That was the hardest thing of all, though. She didn't want to go. She really would have liked to stay and see the Kingdoms without having to worry about evil witches. But she had already been gone too long. Her parents were probably going out of their minds.
She turned, hefting her backpack and slinging it over one shoulder. She picked up Faolan's coat and opened the door.
When she opened it, she found Faolan sitting outside.
"Faolan! What are you doing…?" she began.
"I was waiting for you to wake up. I thought you would want to get an early start." he said, jumping to his feet.
"Not much of a chance of that happening with Danielle traveling with us. And I still need to go speak with Virginia, Snow White said so. How long have you been out here?" Ivy asked.
Faolan shrugged.
"A while. Come on. I smell breakfast being cooked. I'll bet Wolf and Virginia will be down soon." Faolan said, taking her hand and pulling her down the stairs.
"Faolan…" Ivy protested, "Would you wait a minute?!"
"What?" Faolan asked, stopping and turning towards her.
"We need to talk. I've been thinking about what to do next, but I'm not sure."
"Let's talk over breakfast. I'm starving!" Faolan insisted.
"Oh, alright." Ivy nodded and he proceeded leading her downstairs again.
Ivy let herself be dragged into the dining hall. Faolan pulled out a chair for her and she was so surprised, she plopped into it. No one pulled out chairs for her. Faolan ran around the other side of the table and sat across from her. No one else was there yet except for kitchen workers.
"I've got your…" Ivy began, holding up his coat.
"Oh! Thank you." Faolan said quickly, taking it and slipping it on so he wouldn't have to carry it.
Faolan took Ivy's hands, leaning across the table so he was closer to her. Ivy looked from their hands to Faolan and frowned worriedly.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
"Oh, no! Nothing's wrong! I just…I need to ask you something. Huff, I'm kind of nervous." he admitted.
"W…what?" Ivy asked, her eyes wide.
"Well, it's actually two somethings. First, your friend, Danielle, told me about an important party in the 10th Kingdom called the graduation party and I want to take you to it. Can I?"
"I…but I…I can't even dance! I wasn't going to go." she looked at Faolan who had dropped his head so that it rested on their hands and was looking up at her with his golden-brown eyes. Ivy sighed, "Okay. I'll go. I suppose that means I'll have to find a dress, too. Danielle's going to have way too much fun with this. What was the other thing?"
"Will you…," Faolan paused and took a deep breath, "Will you be my mate?"
"Your…oh, god." Ivy said and nearly fell out of her chair, "Faolan, you can't ask me something like that! Just please slow down."
Faolan clamped down on a whimper and nodded.
"Okay. I'm sorry. It's just that wolves always move fast." he said, looking down at the table.
Ivy saw how down he looked and felt bad. She wasn't really saying no, just asking him to wait.
"Faolan?" she said to get his attention.
Faolan looked up questioningly. Ivy leaned closer and kissed him. She was as new at this as he was, but somehow it seemed right. Faolan's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, then he closed them and kissed her back.
"Yep, I sent out two messengers already. One to my sister and another to Queen Riding Hood." Wolf said in an exceptionally loud voice.
Ivy pulled back and sat back down in her chair. Faolan had a dreamy smile on his face. Ivy felt a similar one appear on her own. She looked over at Wolf in time to see him wink at Faolan. Wolf saw her looking at him and quickly turned to Virginia.
"You must be ravenous. I know I am. Breakfast smells great." he said, leading her over to the table and sitting her down next to Ivy.
He slipped around the table and took a seat next to Faolan.
Virginia raised an eyebrow.
"Wolves on one side, um…associates on the other? Or guys on one side, girls on the other?" she asked, "Lord Rupert would be proud."
"Coincidence." Wolf offered with his wolfish grin.
"Virginia, I need to talk to you before I leave. After breakfast?" Ivy asked.
"Sure." Virginia nodded.
A servant brought out some breakfast trays just then, one piled high with bacon and sausage, the other with pancake-like things. Faolan and Wolf looked at each other, then at the bacon. Virginia knew exactly what they were thinking.
"Don't you dare eat it all, either of you. I'm not only eating for two, one of us has part of Wolf in him. I could eat a horse." Virginia warned.
"Yes, dear scrumptious Virginia." Wolf smiled.