Yay! I love horses, I want one, daddy says one day I will have my own.”
‘’This is my first horse; I'm still getting used to her’’ I explained to her.
‘’What is your horse’s name?
I named him Apple.
Apple, why Apple?
‘’Well, we just bought him a few days ago, I didn't get to know his name, He loves Apples, so I just called him Apple. Little kids sure ask a lot of questions and have a lot more energy than some adults.
Arcadia started Giggling, ‘’I love his name’’.
‘’How old are you Arcadia?
I’m 7 summers old.
‘’Why were you out here by yourself?
I wanted to see momma.” Looking over at Elijah, I see he is struggling with what to say. “Where's your momma?”
Elijah spoke then, ‘’she has left this world for the next life. She rests in her favorite place over the hill. Arcadia was 5 when we lost her.
Arcadia usually stays with her guard, but she snuck out without them seeing her. We were close but not close enough. We get rouge wolves sometimes that cross into our borders but those were Blood Pearl wolves.
Zelos wolves, right? I ask Elijah.
‘’Yes, they don't cross our borders without notice, even then it's rare they come this close.
‘’They usually are not in this area then?”
‘’No, they don't come here often, Zelos found out I don’t play around, I refused to join him in his schemes. He didn't like that and thought he could take me out, he found out I’m not that easy to take down. Elijah smiled with a wink in my direction.
I smiled back, “I'm glad you are on our side”. Elijah was easy on the eyes, his smile, lips are sinful. ‘’Wow’’ my mind is on a dangerous route.
The village was set deep into the forest, in a world of its own. Trees tall and wide some close together, some full of green leaves, some with brown spots. Little huts with grass roofs lined the paths, Gardens were sparse, but seemed to be enough to feed the people. This would be paradise if it was flourishing. Elijah reaches over to pluck Arcadia from my lap. People came out of their huts to see what all the commotion was, and wolves came out to greet their Alpha.
‘’Alpha, you found the princess, shouts were heard from all over. ‘’Thank goodness she is safe, who are the strangers, Alpha?” Why are they here? Elijah stood tall in front of the town people, “I would like you all to Welcome Aykiz Sparrow and her companions, she protected Princess Arcadia from the Blood pearl pack’’. Shouts of joy and appreciation from the townspeople were heard all through the village. Feeling proud that I protected Arcadia, I sat up taller in the saddle waving and nodding.
We came up to a larger Hut, where we dismounted. Walking over to Drayce, ‘’We are safe for now, but I do think we should tell Elijah, who we are and why war is at his door, he has the right to be prepared’’ I whispered to Drayce. Drayce turned his head to speak to me so no one else heard our conversation and keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.
Agreed, we should talk to him privately, if anything goes wrong you get on your horse and get out of here. I started shaking my head no when Drayce put his hand up to silence me. Listen to me Aykiz, without you there will be no life here. Everyone you see here will parish. Okay, I will do what you say, but you better be right behind me.
It wasn't what I was expecting when we walked into the wolves’ den. There was wooden furniture covered in furs throughout the great room, a fireplace with a kettle. Candles throughout for lighting, kid’s toys lying about. Arcadia went right to an older woman wrapping her arms around her middle. Elijah spoke up, ‘Mother, this is Aykiz, Drayce and their friends, they protected Arcadia. This beautiful lady is my mother, Alice.
‘’Welcome friends, thank you for protecting my granddaughter. She is precious to me. You must be tired and would like to clean up. Come on in, we will get your rooms ready.
‘’Yes, thank you, we would appreciate getting freshened up. Good I will get things settled than, dinner will be soon. Alice wandered off with Arcadia down a hallway.
Come have a seat and a drink, helps the nerves a bit.”
‘’So, I've heard, laughing and thinking of my father. I wonder what he is doing right now, did they take out the enemies at his gaits? Are they safe? Reaching for my necklace he gave me, sending out my positive energy to him. I wish I had more time with my family. Taking a seat, looking over at Kalypso have you heard anything yet? Shaking her head no. ‘’Can you at least try to connect to him?”
‘’I will try my lady.
‘’Elijah, my sister and I would like to speak with you privately if you don't mind.”
‘’Yes of course, what is it? Glancing around to see his guards are still here, Elijah noticed where I was looking. “You may speak freely here Aykiz; my men are loyal to me. ‘’