Still with me? I don't know where we're going, but follow me. We'll get somewhere!

Chapter 3

Everyday, the infants grew. Regina had the finest clothes and the softest blankets of course. The other three were treated better than the village children, and together the four of them grew. Regina and Lorelei had to sleep in the same cradle, if taken away from one another for too long, they would cry until they were together again. So, three cradles and four infants were in the nursery. It was getting slightly crowded as they grew to crawling. Cora could never spend more than fifteen minutes in the room before becoming overwhelmed and leaving in a hurry. Eventually, once nursing was finished, Regina and Lorelei would move to one room and the other two would be given servants quarters with their mothers if they chose to stay.

Cora wasn't overly generous, but if her nursemaids chose to stay in her employ as nannies, that was fine by her. Reginas nurse never intended to stay and would soon be leaving the manor. Anita hadn't made a decision to stay or go.

The day finally came when Regina was fully able to eat without nursing and her maid took leave as quickly as she received her payment. Lorelei and Red had been eating for a few weeks but everyone decided it was all or none in order to make things smoother.

"Anita please. You can't take her to a pack. She needs to live in this world!" Granny argued wit her daughter for what seemed like the millionth time about Red and her future upbringing.

"Why mother? Why should a werewolf live in this human world?" Anita was pacing again, she needed to run free. She needed out of these manor walls and to be away from the villages.

"The wolves live in constant fear of being hunted. She won't be able to shift with you for at least 12 years. Are you going to carry her thru the forest as men hunt you down?"

Anita cried freely as she held her daughter close. Red smiled and laughed and tried to play with her wild hair. "No… But I can't stay here either. I can't."

In the end, Anita left. She left to run wild with the other werewolves and be free of human constraints. Red was left in the care of her grandmother and much to Coras' displeasure, in the manor.

…..

The three girls eventually grew out of their cradles and moved to small beds. Lorelei and Regina still insisted on sleeping next to each other. Red was allowed to sleep in their room on a cot if she behaved, which she tried very hard to.

By the time the girls reached six years old, Cora had finally gotten around to raising her daughter. She began pruning her for her future role as a queen, although she wasn't entirely sure how to go about that particular detail just yet.

"But mother, why do I have to wear this heavy dress? Lorelei and Red are allowed to wear anything they want!" Regina pouted as she stumbled around the room, trying to manage her dress and the shoes her mother insisted she wear.

Cora sighed and steadied her daughter as she learned to walk in her gown. "They are not my children, nor are they future queens. Red is an orphan I graciously allow to live here with her grandmother. Lorelei is your guardian and, quite frankly, as long as she keeps clothing of any type on, I'm overjoyed."

Lorelei had not wanted to wear clothes. Not any of them. Since she was just a month old she would pull and struggle until she weaseled out of her clothes somehow. It wasn't until she was nearly two that some servant had found her naked, again and since they could not find her dress, they put her in a ratty pair of breeches and a stained tunic that she maintained nearly constant coverage.

Every so often, some servant or another would sprint off into the direction of screeching giggles with a towel in hand to cover the naked child up. As if on cue, Lorelei darted into the dressing room they were in. She wore a pair of breeches several sizes too large and with holes in them. They were held up by a bit of ribbon alone. Her tunic was hanging off one shoulder and had what Cora prayed was mud on it. No shoes, naturally. The only bright side was that she had finally grown hair on her bald head. It was a short silver mop at best. When considering forcing her to grow it longer had been mentioned, the siren spawn immediately cut what she could with a kitchen knife. So she would likely keep her hair short, at least if Cora had it trimmed it looked better than the toddlers hack job.

Regina giggled excitedly and jumped up and down when Lorelei stopped in front of her, breathing heavily. "Lorelei! Look at my dress! Do you think it's pretty?"

Lorelei looked at her dress and then down at herself before wiping her runny nose on her shirt and then replied, "it's very pretty Regina. But I like my clothes better."

Regina giggled and hugged the siren tightly until Cora pulled them apart. "Regina! Must you touch her? She's filthy and likely has some sort of illness. Look at her nose! She's ill."

Regina looked at her mother and then at her guardian, then shrugged, "she looks fine to me. Her nose always is snotty after she races the horses."

Cora was confused. "Races the horses? Have you been riding horses Lorelei?" Surely such a small child couldn't hold onto a horse well enough to race it.

Both girls laughed loudly, making Cora grimace at the noise. "No, mother! She doesn't ride them! Lorelei doesn't much like the horses. She slaps their behind and races them to the fences!"

Coras mouth dropped open in shock. "Why would you do that?! Who is supposed to be watching you?"

Lorelei shrugged and wiped her nose again as Red slid into the room. She was at least in a dress even if it was stained and of poor material. "Lorelei! Wow! You beat the black stallion this time! I thought Tessa was gonna pass out!"

Cora pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation. Tessa, that was the woman who was supposed to keep an eye on the siren. "Nah, she was fine. I made sure she wouldn't fall down again." Lorelei looked so proud.

"What did you do?" Cora was curious as she walked to the window over looking the stables.

"Lorelei tied her to the stable pole so she wouldn't fall down. Last time she raced the horses, Tessa passed out and hit her head." Red looked proud of her friend too.

Cora looked down as two stable men assisted the one who must be Tessa into a sit position and fetched her water. Meanwhile, Cora noted, the large black stallion was rearing up as three more stable men tried to tame him. He was sweaty and rolling his eyes.

"Lorelei, do not do this again. You're going to kill the horses. Henry would be most displeased if you did." Cora sat back down and pulled her daughter out of a fierce hug between her and the other two girls. "Stop hugging!"

Lorelei and Red squealed in laughter as they tore out of the room again. Regina managed two steps before Cora caught her. "No. You are going to learn to wear proper clothing. No more playing today."

Regina groaned, and looked off towards the laughter in the hall. "Can I play with them tomorrow?"

Cora sighed heavily. She needed to prepare her daughter. On the other hand, a break from mothering would be delightful… "Fine. If you behave and do as I say today, you can play tomorrow. But…!" Cora said as Regina bounced around happily. "But, no horses Regina. They're dangerous. Ladies and queens ride in carriages for a reason."

Regina groaned but agreed. Anything to get to go play tomorrow!

…..

The only sound in her ears was the wind and the pounding of hooves on the forest floor. She felt so free, so alive! Nothing was ever better than speeding through the forest on Rocinante. Her father had given her this beautiful horse, no matter how much Cora hated it. Regina had ridden everyday that her mother did not force royal lessons on her. She was thirteen years old, and to Regina, that sounded very much grown up. She didn't want to be a queen anyway. She just wanted to ride through the forest with the wind in her hair.

She saw the clearing ahead and reluctantly pulled Rocinante to a slower trot. She jumped down once she reached the deep creek running through the clearing. She let him drink as she splashed water on her face. It was so very quiet out here, so far from the manor. Almost too quiet…

A low growl made Regina spin around. A large black wolf slowly crept towards her. Each step it took it released a small growl. When it was only an arms length from her, Regina put her hand up and shouted, "Oh no! A wolf!"

Laughter broke through the silence as Lorelei jumped out from behind a bush. "Regina! That was the worst acting I have ever seen or heard!"

Regina put her hands on her hips and gave her guardian a wiry look. "Well forgive me, but Red has a piece of twig in her big bad wolf teeth! It's distracting."

The wolf perked it's ears up and then shifted into the form of their friend Red. She started picking at her teeth and spitting out bits of leaf and twig. "It's not my fault!" Red shouted and threw a rock at the laughing Lorelei. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to run with your mouth closed when you're a wolf?!"

Lorelei finally let her laughter subside, wiping tears away. "I'm sorry Red. But how am I supposed to get used to protecting Regina from big bad scary things, if the only scary thing I know is you and you have a tree in your mouth?"

Regina was trying hard to keep her composure but started really laughing when Red launched herself at Lorelei and the two began play wrestling in the grass. They were a fair match really. Lorelei was strong and lean, and so was Red. Whatever Lorelei was must be close to werewolf, because they seemed the same. Of course, Lorelei had the silver eyes and hair, Red just had brown hair and eyes.

Regina finally regained herself and whistled loudly. "Now stop you two. Really, can't you go five minutes without fighting?"

The two girls disentangled themselves and instead starting stripping off their clothes to play in the creek. Regina bit her lip and desperately wanted to swim also. "Come on Regina. Your mother can't see you here." Lorelei said with a brilliant smile.

Regina thought about it, but Red threw water at her, making her jump back to not get her riding clothes wet. Mother hated these clothes, but they were of fine material, so she would be mad if Regina ruined them. "If you do not take off your pretty clothes, we will throw you in with them on." Red called at her.

Mind made up, Regina quickly peeled her riding outfit off and jumped in the creek. After all, either she ruins her clothes, or does not. It was an easy answer!

After swimming most of the day, the three finally admitted they were hungry. Red was too clumsy to catch anything and Lorelei didn't like killing animals, so they went back to the manor. Red and Lorelei easily jogged beside Regina on Rocinante. She wished she could run like them, but she just couldn't. They could run for hours at full speed and barely be winded. She would run for a half hour and fall over panting. She stopped trying to keep up with them physically long ago however. They were something other than human, and she was not. Instead she proved her worth with knowledge. The garbage her mother forced on her was useless outside of a court, but she had access to a library full of the most interesting things.

As they neared the manor, Red and Lorelei both stopped and Lorelei reached up to Rocinante, stopping him also. Regina listened and looked, but she couldn't see anything wrong. "What is it?"

"I don't know. It feels bad. Something in the air, like it's charged." Red said, a shiver passing thru her.

Lorelei looked up to Regina, "something is wrong Regina. Come down, let me walk you. Red can take the horse to the stables."

Regina accepted Lorelei's hand down from the horse and watched as Red quietly led her horse away. Holding tightly to Lorelei's hand, they headed for the front door. As they entered the door, Cora was on her feet instantly, she bore down on Regina so quickly, Regina stumbled back into the wall, Lorelei's hand slipping out of hers.

"Where have you been?!" Cora shouted. Without giving her a chance to respond Cora pressed towards her, breath on Regina's face. "I have been looking everywhere for you! For hours, Regina! You missed your luncheon with Prince Terrione!"

Regina cringed, she had forgotten entirely. Instead she had gone riding with Red and Lorelei. "Mother, I forgot, I'm s…"

"Do not tell me you are sorry! How are you ever going to be good enough for a prince if you cannot remember one luncheon?" Cora shouted above Regina's words.

Henry tried to step in, but as usual he went unheard and was told to stay out of it. As usual, he obeyed Cora and headed towards the kitchens.

Regina felt the tears stinging her eyes, not from Cora's screaming, she was used to that. She knew she could never be good enough for Cora. No, she was on the edge of crying because her father never helped her when Cora came at her. No one would ever defend her from her mother. The woman owned her. Cora was still screaming… "I have spent my entire life preparing you for the throne! How do you repay me? By running off to roll around in the dirt!"

Regina looked at her riding clothes, they were spotless. She was very careful. Frowning she looked at her mother and tried to speak, "Mother, please, my clothes are clean. I only went swimming, I forgot…"

Before Regina even saw it coming, her mothers hand had slapped her soundly across the face. The fierce burn on her lip told her in a daze that her lip was cut and bleeding. She was on the floor, it must have knocked her down. She looked up in absolute fear as her mother came towards her again, raising her hand to strike once more.

She closed her eyes and covered her face, waiting for the blow. But instead of a hit, she heard a crack, like lightening. Opening her eyes, she saw her mother hit the wall on the other side of the entryway, opposite Regina. Standing beside Regina was Lorelei. Her eyes were shining with a silver glow and she held her hand out towards were Cora had been. Taking a deep shuddering breath, Regina stood and took Lorelei's face in her hands. Instantly, the glow went out and she was staring at watery silver eyes.

"Regina, she hurt you…"

Regina nodded and wiped at her friends tears. "It's ok. I'm ok now"

Lorelei shuddered again and gasped as she pulled her shirt sleeve back. On her arm was a shimmering symbol of some sort. Like an ancient rune. They stared at it in fascination, Both touching it tentatively. It felt like the rest of her skin. But aside from Regina's name on her chest, it was the only mark she had.

Cora staggered up from the floor where she had landed. Aside from a migraine, it hadn't hurt so much. She hadn't seen Lorelei actually protect her daughter before. She had forgotten what she actually was. She needed to salvage this quickly.

"Regina…?" Cora called to her softly.

Both girls turned to her with wide eyes. Lorelei stepped in front of Regina. She suddenly looked… stronger, somehow.

Putting her hands up in a defensive gesture, Cora smiled brightly, "Regina, I am deeply sorry I hurt you. I had to." The girls looked skeptical at her. "Let me explain. Lorelei is old enough and strong enough to protect you, but she hasn't been tested. Not really. I had to make sure she could defend you, Regina. What if you ran off to go swimming and someone attacked you?"

Regina took a small step towards her, wanting to believe. "You didn't hit me because you're mad I missed my luncheon?"

Cora laughed lightly, "no dear. Prince Terrione isn't good enough for you. He was just a sort of practice run. He is third in line for his throne. You are going to be a queen." Cora finally came close enough to reach out and take Regina's hands. She nervously saw Lorelei tense up as she touched her daughter. "You scared me, disappearing like that. I had to make sure your guardian was ready to protect you. I am so sorry I hurt you." Cora smiled at her daughter and from the look on Regina's face, she had won. She decided to make sure the damage was repaired by pulling her daughter in and hugging her tightly. The girl always liked hugging and was so eager to be loved. It worked like a charm, every time.

…

Lorelei was pacing their bedchamber as Red and Regina sat on the bed and watched her fuming.

"She hit you! She made you bleed!" Lorelei repeated for the hundredth time. "I should have been able to stop her before she made contact… I have to do better. I have to be better."

Regina had been watching her do this same speech for nearly an hour now. Her lip had long since stopped bleeding, she was fine. Mother was just worried Lorelei couldn't protect her. It was all fine.

Red rolled her eyes and jumped up and stopped Lorelei with hands on her shoulders. She stared in the silver eyes. "Hey, you protected her. You can get faster and better. I will help you. I promise." Red smiled at her then hugged her tightly before forcing her to the massive bed they tended to pile into.

They all arranged themselves and soon fell asleep, holding each other tightly. Lorelei mumbled in her sleep through the night, "I will protect you…"

…..

After that night, not much time was set aside for swimming or just laughing together. The very next morning, Lorelei and Red started learning the weapons lying around the manor. This left Regina to focus on her studies, so Cora was thrilled to support them. She sent word out and got two swordsmen to come to the manor and teach the girls weapons.

The first session was mostly the swordsmen getting the girls to stop swinging wildly at each other. Fortunately, they were using practice wooden swords so other than bruises, they didn't get hurt.

Two weeks passed like this. Red and Lorelei were quickly gaining in their abilities and Regina was absorbing everything Cora force fed her. The three of them were just laying down to sleep when Red threw down a pillow and growled, stopping them halfway to covering up. "This is ridiculous. We've been working too hard."

Lorelei stared at her, bewildered. "Ah, okay… What precisely would you like to do about that?"

Red crawled on the bed slowly, grinning like… well like a wolf. She slowly crept toward the two sitting there, staring at her like she had grown three heads. "Let's run!"

Regina shook her head quickly, "no. Absolutely not. Mother would be furious!"

Red turned her wolfish grin to Lorelei, "she won't find out. If she does, Lorelei would protect you from her anyway."

At this, the siren visibly flexed her muscles, crawling up by Red and creeping with her towards Regina. "I'll protect you. But I don't think she'll know. Come on!"

Regina chewed her lip. She wanted to but… She was about to say no again but the other two were nearly on top of her whispering encouragement. Finally she let out a long breath and put a hand on each of their faces, mushing their heads together and squishing their faces. "Okay!"

The three girls jumped up from the bed and quickly changed from bed clothes to Thick breeches and shirts. The nights were getting cooler and they had no intention of freezing. Red was ready first, opening the room window and looking down into the night. She glanced back at Regina, "do you think you can climb down?"

Regina stopped after tying her boots on. "Oh… we can't use the door?"

Lorelei laughed while trying to get her long shirt on. She hated these cold clothes, there was more to them and she hated the lightest kinds of clothes. She always got tangled in all this fabric. She stopped laughing as she became increasingly more tangled. Eventually the other two were giggling at her. Red finally gave in and decided to help her. She pushed and pulled and twisted the fabric, occasionally earning a pained sound from Lorelei. Finally the girls arms shot thru the sleeves and Red pulled one more time and her head popped thru the top. Caught off balance and suddenly free, Lorelei fell forward, coming nose to nose with Red.

Red blushed furiously and cleared her throat jumping back quickly. Lorelei tilted her head, obviously confused, but decided to shake it off. She turned to Regina as she attempted to make her shirt more comfortable. "Regina, we can't sneak out using the door. We have to go out the window so no one knows we left."

Regina nodded but then looked out the window and shook her head instead. "I can't do that. I'll fall. I'm sorry. Why don't the two of you go and I'll stay here."

Red had collected herself by now and grabbed Regina by the arms, looking in her eyes, "we won't let you fall Regina. We would never do that." Regina looked away, obviously scared, but Red tilted her head back up. "Hey, we will never let you fall Regina. Not ever."

Regina swallowed hard but the sincere look in Red's eyes made up her mind. "Okay. Okay…"

Red squealed and her and Lorelei looked out the window, each one frowning in thought. Finally, Red snapped her fingers and whispered into the sirens ear. Lorelei grinned wickedly and nodded.

Regina watched curiously as Red shifted to her wolf and jumped out the window. Lorelei looked down and nodded before turning back to Regina. "Come on. We got you."

Regina steeled herself for whatever ridiculous idea her friends had cooked up. She stood at the window and Lorelei climbed out, holding onto the ledge and hanging down. "Regina, climb down me."

Her jaw dropped and she crossed her arms, "no. I'll fall and die. Or worse, I won't die and mother will kill me."

There was a muffled giggle from the siren as she hung on. "Don't make me laugh or we'll both fall. Trust me, climb down me; I'm easier to hang on to than the wall. Red is stretched to my feet, you can climb from me to her."

Regina finally gave in to her friend. It was only the second story, maybe she wouldn't die, just break her arm… or leg… or whatever. She slowly crawled out over Lorelei, clinging very tightly to the thick shirt. With her feet on the womans hips, Regina looked down and saw two yellow eyes waiting for her. If it wasn't Red, it would be terrifying to see staring at her from the dark pit below. She took a deep breath and reached her foot down, trying to hit Lorelei's knee. She missed, then she panicked, and then she grabbed Lorelei's short hair instead of her shirt. The silver haired girl squealed in pain and lost her footing. Her foot slid off the wall and landed on Red's snout.

Red growled, but didn't drop down. If she did Regina would definitely fall. Instead of letting down, Red pushed upwards, lifting Lorelei's leg back up and letting Regina reach it with her foot. Regina readjusted and released Lorelei's hair and started climbing down again. Once she had her legs around the wolf, Red brought herself back down onto all fours. Lorelei dropped down rubbing her head.

"Stay there Regina, Red can take you through the woods. You can't see when it's this dark." Lorelei explained as she pushed Regina back up to Red's back.

Regina frowned down at her, "you can see in the dark?"

Lorelei nodded, "like it's day."

At that, Red darted off towards the woods. Regina yelped and clung tightly to the wolf fur in her hands. She could see flashes of Lorelei running beside them every now and then. She had gotten more runes as she trained with the weapons. Most of her right forearm was covered in the intricate silver designs. They seemed to glow in the darkness. They raced thru the woods, Regina had no idea where they were or where they were going, and she didn't care. Red could run so fast. Faster than Rocinante.

They finally broke thru the trees and Regina sat upright on Reds back. She gasped as she looked up. The trees had been blocking them, but now they were far more than could be counted. As Red stopped, Regina slid down and Red shifted back to normal again. Her and Lorelei each took one of Reginas hands and led her to the river.

They sat and they talked for hours. They laughed and pushed each other playfully. Regina told the other two stories she had read in the library. They didn't like reading, but they would listen to her tell them things she read forever. She felt so happy as she laid her head on Reds stomach, staring up at the stars and listening to the river. Lorelei had fallen silent awhile ago and Regina glanced down to her own stomach where her head was. Her shining silver eyes were closed. She smiled and tried to memorize this feeling. Somehow she knew she might never get this again.

….

Cora watched from her mirror as the three girls made more noise than normal getting ready. The servants had tried to go investigate but Cora had stopped them. She wanted to know exactly what they were doing. She didn't encourage this behavior from Regina, but information was worth paying a price such as allowing her to 'sneak' out. Cora watched and rolled her eyes more than once at them trying to be clever; thinking she wouldn't know.

When Red helped the siren conquer her shirt, Cora raised a brow at the young wolfs reaction. Obviously, she had a puppy crush on the siren. Nodding in thought, Cora locked that bit of information away for another time. She jumped a bit when Regina slipped, but then they righted themselves again and she resettled, frowning in displeasure. If Regina got hurt, she'd kill both the other two herself.

She watched as they ran thru the woods, her magic mirror barely able to keep up with them. Pursing her lips, she considered how advanced Red and Lorelei had become so quickly. She listened to their conversations as she sipped her tea. Very interesting things they found to discuss. Apparently, there was a new stable boy that Regina couldn't stop going on about…