Chapter Fifeteen

Walking around the forest gave me a comforting feeling. I inspected every bush and tree and once in a while I collected some berries and popped them into my mouth. Nevertheless I always felt like something was observing me, something was watching me.

A shiver ran down my spine as the cold wind brushed through my wavy hair. It stung against my bare face and I knew that the winter was approaching. The leaves were all brown and laying on the forest ground. A satisfying crunching sound was made with each step I took.

But I couldn't forget the creepy feeling. I had a constant goose-bump on my neck as if my body reacted to something. It couldn't be the cold temperature. It was as if my body knew that something was wrong.

A loud snap echoed through the forest and I snapped my head to my right. "You." He walked towards me and stopped a few meters before he would reach me. His hands were tucked in his pockets. He scanned my body from top to bottom. "We're leaving", he said. My whole body tensed as he spoke to me.

"We're going to Ravakh", he simply stated. I cocked my head slightly to the left. "What is Ravakh?", I asked confused. He sighed. "Ravakh is the capital of Rivakh." I nodded and he turned around walking out of the forest.

"How original", I murmured to myself. "I heard that." I bit onto my lower lip as my cheeks reddened. I always forget that werewolves had good hearing.

We reached the clearing. They already removed all tents and were gathered around the carriages that brought us to this place. I spotted a red haired girl talking an ear off a poor werewolf. As she finally looked into my direction her smile widened and she grinned at me. I playfully rolled my eyes and made my way to her.

"Where were you roaming around", she asked me while wiggling with her brows. I rolled my eyes once again. "I was sleeping in the forest." She looked to her right and left and then leaned in that her mouth was right by my ear. "I saw you coming back with the king." I slapped her upper body. "How dare you to have a dirty mind", I nearly shrieked. She amused shrugged her shoulder and patted playfully my head. "You are the dirty minded", she snickered and my cheeks and neck turned red. Why did I think she meant being intimate with each other?

A guard called us and I scurried away from Ophelia feeling embarrassed of having these thoughts, of these assumptions. She followed me and we both were seated in a carriage together. I mentally slapped my head. It was a awkward atmosphere. I could never look into her eyes after this.

She grabbed my chin and turned me so I was facing her. Awkwardly I smiled at her. "Why are you so shy about themes like that", she asked. My whole face was now probably a crimson color. "Because it's inappropriate to talk about such things", I replied. "It isn't in Avalona. We are intimate with every merman or mermaid", she stated. I blinked several times to process the information she just dumped on me. "But aren't supposed to do these things with your chosen, with your partner?". She laughed out loud and aggressively slapped the bench. "We don't have one partner, we have multiple."

I raised my brows and stared at her as if she was an alien. Multiple partners? But why? Even though I wanted to ask her what she meant by multiple or why her kingdom allows her to have more than one I decided to shut my mouth and mind my business. She yawned and rested her head on my shoulder and I feathery caressed her hair.

She soon drifted into a slumber and quietly snored every once in while. A smile rested on my face as I realized that I made a real friend on this adventure. I watched the landscapes as we passed by it with the carriage. I was content that the king allowed us or better said stopped putting sacks over our heads. I could finally enjoy the ride and breath in the fresh air that streamed into my nostrils.

For a while the road got bumpier and I steadied Ophelia by wrapping one arm around her athletic body and hold her close to me. She seemed unfazed by every bump. She never budged or made a noise while driving over this horrific road.

Soon we drove by a village and I admired the beautiful werewolves living their fullest life. There were a lot of children, younger werewolves. In Estreia we did have children, but not as many as werewolves. I once read that werewolves are more likely to have twin, triplets and quadruplets while in Estreia it's pretty rare to have twins. I never met anyone who gave birth to twins. Most families had one child and even though if they wanted to have another it wasn't likely to give birth to a second child.

My heart warmed at the thought of me with a child in my arms. I feared of having my own but I always adored holding a child. They were pure, innocent and precious. But I knew that I would probably never have my own. I was scared of receiving one. Scared of giving birth to one.

We passed by multiple villages and soon they got bigger till we were surrounded by towns. We were probably nearing the capital. It's common that more people live near the capital than on the land. Being in another kingdom was weird. They had a different lifestyle and mindset.

But I wasn't here by my own will. I was brought here as a prisoner and if I wasn't a prisoner. I would have never stepped a foot into this kingdom ruled by this maniac. Werewolves were ruthless when it comes to foreigners. They would tear apart every other species.

Loud clapping and cheering tore me away from my thoughts. I looked out of the window and saw a horde of werewolves surrounding the carriage. They all shouted and were euphoric. I stretched my neck to see clearer. They all held joy in their faces and were creating a chaos. We couldn't get through with the carriages. But they all seemed to be focused on something or rather someone. He stepped out of the carriage and held his head high with grace. Female werewolves literally began kissing his shoes and praised his looks while the male were fascinated by his power. They all showed their neck in submission but continued to look in awe. Some female werewolves even began touching the king but he shoved the hands off graciously. As if he felt my eyes on him he turned his head into my direction and stared into my eyes. I sucked in a breath as I saw his dark grey eyes. Quickly I seated myself again and stared at the wooden ceiling of the carriage.

Ophelia was slowly waking up and rubbed her eyes. "Who's screaming around", she asked and I pointed towards the crowd. She sighed and continued to rub her eyes.

I patted her back and she send me a tired smile. I smiled at her being grumpy when being woken up and leaned against the bench we were sitting on. The noises slowly got quieter and the carriage began moving again.

We were soon standing in front of a castle. Ophelia was holding my hand and lightly squeezing it. The castle somehow looked exactly how I imagined it. Out of stone, cold, soulless. It portrayed the king and his attitude perfectly. A maid appeared and escorted us to our chambers. I was confused on why we got our own rooms but as soon as I entered mine I knew that I had too much hope. I didn't know why I thought I would enter a bedroom which would be light and have enough space but it looked like a storage room. It was little. There was a small bed which was probably made for a young kid than an adult. I saw a small closet with only one door. I opened it and saw two gowns or rather said rugs hanging in their. I sighed but asked myself what else I expected. This was way better than the cell in Idzor and having no clothes.

There was dust and dirt everywhere and I took one of the gowns out of the closet and tried to remove the dust and dirt from the floors with it. If they couldn't clean it doesn't mean I couldn't. As I held the brown gown in my hand I threw it into a corner and looked around the room once again. There wasn't even a window.

I sighed in frustration and kicked the closet which resulted in having now a foot which hurt and me being still angry at the situation I brought myself into.

"Ugh", I huffed out and went over to the tiny bed and laid on it. My feet dangled and I wondered how I should sleep in a comfortable position on this bed. I stared at the ceiling and thought of the letter Kyllan sent me. He will come. He will find me. But how? I realized that he may still think I was in Idzor on my way to the capital or roaming around the capital. But I wasn't in Idzor anymore. I was stuck in the kingdom of Rivakh in Ravakh. I scoffed at the name of the capital. Werewolves aren't creative that's for sure.

Someone knocked on the door and before I could tell the person to enter, they already did. I rolled my eyes at their hospitality and sense of privacy.

"Here is some dinner", the maid said and gave a piece of bread with some ham. "Thank you."

She exited the room and I put the ham away and placed it on the night stander. I didn't want to eat meat if I wasn't in a body of a carnivore.

After eating the piece of bread I laid back onto the bed and began thinking of my situation. What I should have done better. My eyes fluttered close and I drifted into a deep sleep.