Chapter 7-Help Me?
Thanks to my reviewers betweenthelines77, , , gigglesandbooks, and Skatzaa.
Y'all gonna love this chapter! AHAHAHAHAHAH!
Max
The Cardinal had a proper burial, unlike my father who'd been too lost to be buried. The Cardinal was a great mentor and the closest thing I had to a friend in a long time. In the village, I was an outcast expect for Amandria who'd died of flu when she was 9. It had been six years since then.
Mom, Angel and I decided to go East to search for another city and hopefully more survivors.
We were passing through the Tuskine Forest when a stray arrow almost hit me. It slid threw my hair and thwacked into a tree. I slid into a lynx form, defensive. It was new to me, the fur, yet it felt familiar too. I crouched and growled.
"Iggy, what was that for?" a familiar dark voice appeared in the direction the arrow came. The leaves in the underbrush rustled three times at a disturbance. Suddenly, a face appeared, on I had hoped never to see again. It was the dark-haired, dark-eyed prince-ling with a name like a tooth. I moaned and covered my head in my arm. Fang. God, I closed my eyes in frustration. I slid back into my human form.
"Something moved!" the one named Iggy said. And then there was a pause when Fang saw us, "What are you looking at- oh."
I lifted my head up. He had grown leaner, his cheekbones more pronounced. He looked wilder as well and a scar marked his face stretching from the bridge of his nose to his right cheek.
"No," he said under his breath.
"Max?" Mom asked, "Who's this?"
"Mother," I say, softly and slowly, "This is the son of the Queen, Fang."
"Max, is that your name?" Fang asks.
I glare at him. Angel seems to sense between us, "I don't care if you're the Prince. Leave her alone!"
Something hurtles out of the trees and lands between us two groups. It hisses at Angel's hostility. There's a monkey. Another shifter?
"There seems to be a lot of explaining we need to do."
Fang
"Max, how have you been?" I try to make it less tense between us.
"I've been good," Max replies, her tone very dry, "How's life being the Queen's puppet?"
I frown, "Max, you-"
"He was disowned," Iggy interrupts, "Because he let you escape. We've been tracking you down for the past three weeks."
"Tracking me down?" she snarls, "I'm not a criminal."
"He didn't mean it like that," I tell her.
"Sure he didn't. As if humans ever care about anything but themselves."
I opened my mouth, wanting to say, I care about you. But decided against it. I look at Gazzy who turns into his human form again. Gazzy turns to look at Max, suddenly gasps and then bows low.
"Gazzy, what are you doing?" Iggy asks.
"Your Grace," Gazzy mumbles to Max.
"Your Grace?" Iggy echoes in confusion. Then I notice the blue markings circling her forehead.
"Max, why don't you introduce us," her mom said cautiously, observing the fight. Her mother was a retiring beauty, her once brown-black hair streaked with grey; her eyes were a light hazel brown just like Max's. Her sister, however, had blue eyes, maybe like her father? They seemed very close. They would have to be, considering they had no one else left.
"This is Fang, the Prince's son," she almost spits out, "These are his friends. Fang and friends, this is my mother, Valencia, and my sister, Angel."
"Iggy and Gazzy," I point to them.
"Good, now that we got that out of the way, we can go our separate ways, ta," she turns to leave.
"Wait, Max," I put an arm out to stop her.
Max
I almost jump out and lash at him as he touches me. He took my hand gently and I shook it off. I was three seconds away from turning into a wolf and tearing his throat out. I didn't care anymore that he risked his life to save mine.
I huff and my hair blows out of my forehead. With a familiarity I didn't like, he felt them.
"You didn't have these before, did you?" he asked.
"No," I turned my head away.
"Where did you get them? What do they mean? Why was Gazzy so shocked to see them?" For a moment, I though he actually cared.
"I don't have to tell you anything," I hiss, "Let go of me."
"Your Grace!" The monkey shifter, Gazzy, called out, "We've been looking very hard to find you. Please, if not for him, for me. I don't have anyone left."
I glare at Fang, "I'm the new Cardinal. These are the Cardinal's markings. I'm not only a hawk anymore, I can be anything. I'm the new ruler of the North, but what good is a Cardinal without a nation to rule?"
"Gazzy explained to me about Cardinals," and then something clicks in his head, "Max, one skin on the Queen's wall has those markings. Not three. Do you have any idea what this means?" He got excited. This is probably the most he's ever said in his life. He reeked of excitement and his eyes shone like lightning.
"No," I say cautiously, fearing this idea.
"There's at least two survivors left," he says, hushed but urgent.
Despite my mood, a grin slowly spread across my face and I threw my arms around his neck, laughing. Once I realized what I was doing, I calmed myself and stepped back.
"Will you help me?" I asked when I released him.
His perfect lips- no, bad Max what are you thinking?-turned down in the corners in a mock frown. A quizzical expression marred his face. It was a long, tense while before he spoke, "I'm considering, the last time I helped you I woke up with a massive headache and mom disowned me and gave me this," he traced the scar. I look at him and he finally smiles a little, barely more than a lip quirk, "I'll help you."