“What am I going to do?” Arion said. He looked like he was about to hyperventilate.
“Relax, Arion. Maybe send the dragon to the northern side of the castle while we slip back inside? People will most likely keep their attention on the dragon.”
He frowned. “I don’t see how that will help. I’ll still have to explain myself to Her Majesty. How will I explain myself to Her Majesty?”
“Leave my mother to me. Let’s go?”
“I think this is hopeless, but okay.”
Arion’s dragon changed direction. It seemed that no one on the castle’s walls was even looking down, but Damien still made sure he and Arion kept to the unlit spaces.
They passed through the back gate without issue. When they reached a side door, Arion made the dragon dissolve.
Since pretty much everyone had been woken up by the bells, there was nothing suspicious about Damien and Arion walking down the corridors. Maybe the confrontation with Mother could wait until morning.
Turned out someone else had decided to confront them now.
The viceroy was leaning against the wall by the door to Arion’s rooms, opening and closing his fan. He was dressed in one of his elegant robes, but his long black hair was loose and there was no jewelry in it.
“Ah, there you are.” He slapped his fan against the palm of his left hand and pushed himself off the wall.
“I’m so sorry, Your Grace,” Arion said, looking down.
“No, it’s my fault,” Damien said. “I should have informed the guards in the towers.”
“But you thought I was only going to grow some plants. You didn’t know what I would actually do.”
“Even then, they could have noticed us and mistaken us for spies or something. If I had told them, we would have avoided this chaos.”
“But—”
The viceroy slapped the fan against his palm much harder this time, making Arion flinch. “My, my. I’ll settle your argument and just say that you are both at fault. His Highness is right, the guards should have been informed. The castle’s walls are very high, so if not for the bells, we wouldn’t have had everyone panicking. And you, dear Arion, did you not notice that we have defense towers here?”
Arion looked down again, blushing. “I forgot.”
“You forgot.” The viceroy raised an
eyebrow. “I informed everyone that the dragon was harmless, so in the end, most
people had fun watching your show, but this could have ended badly. What if the
guards had noticed you and tried to shoot you?”
“Uh…” Arion swayed a little and Damien moved to support him.
“Your Grace,” Damien said, “could we finish this conversation in the morning? Arion needs rest.”
The viceroy shook his head. “That was all I wanted to say. I’ll make sure you don’t have to listen to the same lecture from Her Majesty. Once is enough. We’ll let you sleep as long as you need to, Arion, and then we’ll start our lessons.”
“Thank you,” Arion said. “I… I need a shower. Was outside. And dress. Undress. That first.”
Damien chuckled. “I don’t think you’ll make it to the shower.”
“Shower.”
The viceroy tapped Arion’s head with the closed fan. “You don’t have the strength for that. I can give you an instant magic wash if you care so much.”
“Instant… magic wash?” Arion said what Damien was thinking.
“Yes, come here.” The viceroy grabbed Arion’s hand and tugged gently. Arion moved to go. The viceroy glanced back at Damien and said, “This won’t involve any undressing, Your Highness, so please don’t worry. You may go get your rest, too.”
“Um, all right. Thank you, Your Grace.”
He resisted the urge to keep standing there until the viceroy left Arion’s rooms. It would have made him look silly, and besides, he was also getting drowsy.
***
He woke up with the sunrise. Although he hadn’t gotten much sleep, he didn’t really feel like staying in bed. Perhaps he could talk to Mother, as she was most likely awake, too. He wanted to make sure she wouldn’t pester Arion about last night. The viceroy had said she wouldn’t, but… just to be certain.
He found her in the dining hall, already done with breakfast and finishing her coffee.
“Oh, Damien,” she said. “I actually wanted to talk to you.”
“Mother. About last night—”
“Never mind that. Xavier explained everything to me. From now on, Arion can use that meadow behind the castle as much as he likes. The guards will know nothing dangerous is happening. I wanted to talk about something else.”
He sat down. “Has anything happened?”
“No. I just wanted to ask you about Arion. What do you make of him? Can he be trusted?”
“I sure hope so, because I’ve already told him that we’re investigating his father.” Damien lowered his voice to add, “And I also may have let it slip that we’re werewolves.”
Mother’s eyes widened. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
“I’m afraid not,” he said with a sheepish smile.
“But why? Couldn’t you wait, I don’t know, two days at least?”
“I thought he deserved to know about his father, especially after that incident with the assassin, but the werewolf thing was unintentional. Apparently, I just sucked terribly at keeping it from him.”
“That’s unlike you,” she said, frowning. “Considering your lifestyle, you’ve always been really good at keeping it from people.”
He scratched the back of his neck. “It’s not that difficult when there isn’t much talking involved.”
She cleared her throat. “Right. So, how did he take those revelations?”
“Well, he immediately agreed to help with the investigation, but other than that, he didn’t show much of a reaction to the news about his father. As for us being werewolves, I suppose you were right about mages being open-minded, because he took that shockingly well.” Damien smiled fondly. “And he called us magical beings.”
“Magical beings. That’s… nice. Not what we’re usually called.” She searched his face briefly, then said, “You seem to like him. And it didn’t escape my notice how displeased you were when he and Xavier complimented each other.”
Damien sighed. “I thought I didn’t show it, but since both Remi and you noticed, then I guess I did. Damn, I don’t want to be a jealous asshole. There was never any indication I even could be one.”
“This is just new to you.” She smiled. “And I didn’t raise an asshole, so I’m sure you’ll figure it all out. But you’re still a werewolf, Damien. It’s natural for you to be a bit territorial and possessive. There’s no reason to feel guilty about it unless you actually hurt someone because of it.”
“Well, I hope—”
There was a knock.
“Come in,” Mother said to Ruby, who was hovering in the doorway.
Ruby greeted them, then walked over to Mother and handed her an envelope. When she left, Mother opened the envelope and read the letter.
“Anything important?” Damien asked.
Mother nodded. “A few days ago, I sent an investigator to this small town. Ravenholm. You know where it is, don’t you?”
“Honestly? No,” he said, embarrassed.
She raised an eyebrow. “Master Elric was too lenient with you.”
“I’m sorry. I find it hard to focus long enough to remember those things.”
“Oh well, Remi will know the way.”
“So you want me to go there? And… investigate the disappearance of your investigator?”
“Remi is supposed to do that. I’m only sending you with him because I know you wouldn’t forgive me if I sent him alone and something happened to him.”
Damien was glad she understood that. “And what was your investigator investigating?” he asked.
“Could you please not be all…” She waved a hand.
“Sorry. Hard to resist sometimes.”
She huffed. “Anyway, he was investigating some mysterious disappearances. And people had been reporting that they’d seen a monster.”
“A monster? What kind of monster?”
“Well, I don’t know the details. Marcus was supposed to write to me, but the mayor says he’s disappeared as well. Remi is good with such cases, so I hope that, with your help, he’ll find Marcus. Just bring a healer with you.”
“I certainly don’t mind an adventure, but I told Arion he could call for me whenever he needed help, so this is a bit… Maybe I could take him with me? If he wants to come, of course.” And Damien had a feeling he would. Arion was a curious creature and most likely wouldn’t say no to an opportunity to see more of the world.
“If you’re sure you can keep him safe.”
“I’ll protect him with my…” Damien trailed off when Mother glared at him. “I mean, the three of us can keep each other safe. If Arion agrees to come, we won’t need to bring a healer, either.”
“Fine. But really, be careful. You should set off in the afternoon so you arrive in the evening. The mayor will provide lodgings and food.” She stood. “I’ll brief Remi myself.”
When she left, Damien immediately asked for pancakes.
After breakfast, he went to his study and took out a map. Ravenholm was only a bit over 20 miles away from Yskar, so he must have at least passed through it before. He’d simply forgotten the name.
Not having much else to do, he went to the training grounds to work on his skills. And as he was swinging his sword at a dummy, he remembered Arion’s shock at that damned growl. What the hell had that been about? He had never once growled at any of his hookups, so the whole thing had startled him almost as much as it had Arion.
And should he apologize? He’d said he was sorry, but he felt it hadn’t been adequate. Yeah. He had to apologize and reassure Arion that it hadn’t been intentional.
When he was done with training, he spent some time in the bathhouse, then returned to the castle and got dressed properly. Since it was almost a quarter past ten as he was leaving his room, he decided to check if Arion had woken up.
There was no response when he knocked on Arion’s door, so he knocked harder. Still nothing.
He opened the door just a crack and said, “Arion?”
“Mmhm.”
Damien entered the room and closed the door. “I take it you’re not a morning person?” he said, smiling at how only the top of Arion’s head was sticking out from under the comforter.
“Morning is arbitrary,” Arion mumbled.
“Humans don’t see well at night, so it makes sense to start functioning in the morning. You know, to make as much use of the daylight as possible.”
“Mmhm.”
Damien chuckled. “It’s okay if you want to stay in bed some more. I just wanted to ask you something.”
Arion peeked from beneath the comforter. “Yes?”
“Remi and I have to visit this small town to find out what happened to the man my mother sent there. He was supposed to investigate some disappearances but ended up disappearing himself. According to the mayor, some kind of monster might be involved.”
Arion sat up. “Monster?”
“It’s just something people have been saying, but, of course, no one has any proof. So, um, I wanted to ask if you would be interested in coming with us.”
“Yes,” Arion said immediately. “I would love to come with you.”
“Excellent. We’ll be leaving in the afternoon, so you should still be able to have your first lesson with the viceroy.” Damien hesitated, but in the end, he had to say it. “Oh, and Arion. I also wanted to apologize for my weird behavior last night. More specifically, the growling. I didn’t mean to do that, and I’m sorry if it scared you.”
“Ah, that.” Arion blushed. “It startled me, but I wasn’t scared. Just… confused? I suppose I wouldn’t mind knowing why it happened. Was it something I said or did? Or was it just you feeling a little, uh, wolfier all of a sudden?”
Choosing the latter option seemed like a nice way out. It wasn’t okay to lie to him about this—and right after apologizing, too—but Damien was set on not making Arion uncomfortable. And telling him the truth would definitely make him uncomfortable. It would also make their little adventure with Remi awkward as hell.
“I had run in wolf form before,” he said, “and it was night, so yeah, it might have been just my feeling closer to wolf than normal. As I said, it wasn’t intentional, and I was surprised by it, too. Still, I’m sorry. I’ll try not to let it happen again.”
“Don’t worry about it. I don’t want you to feel you have to hide your nature as a werewolf from me. Actually, I have a request related to that.” He looked down, another blush spreading across his face. “Could you… show me your werewolf form?” He looked back up. “I mean, not the wolf that I have already seen, but the other one?”
“Oh. Of course I’ll show you if you want to see it. But I should warn you that it looks less friendly than the wolf.”
“I really want to see it.”
Damien shifted, the process smooth and pleasant except for the resistance of fabric and leather as they ripped. Having seen others shift, he knew that for Arion the whole thing would have been so quick it barely registered.
“Wow,” Arion said so quietly it was almost a whisper. He got out of bed and walked over to Damien. “That was so fast. Can I touch you?”
Damien swallowed. This wasn’t the reaction he’d expected. “Sure.”
Arion put a hand on Damien’s fur-covered abs. “The fur looks the same as the wolf’s and is just as soft.”
“Is that a compliment?” Damien joked, trying to relax. He needed to stay calm. If he popped a boner in this form, Arion would be scarred for life.
Arion was, of course, oblivious to Damien’s inner turmoil. He scratched his fur like it was a normal thing to do to a werewolf, and smiled innocently. “I think so. And you sound exactly the same as when you’re a human. I thought a different body would mean a different voice, but I guess you really are a creature of magic.”
“So you’re scared of neither wolves nor werewolves.”
Arion took a step back and looked up to meet Damien’s eyes. “The wolf showed no signs of aggression at all,” he said, “and I know that the werewolf is just you. I trust that you won’t hurt me.”
“Aren’t you a bit too quick to trust?”
“Perhaps. But not with everything.”
“Only with the most important thing—your life.”
Arion tilted his head and half-smiled. “I’m guessing it’s too late to start screaming ‘Please don’t eat me!’ and make it convincing?”
Damien shook his head, hoping his exasperated smile didn’t look too weird on this face. “I’m glad you’re not afraid of me. Just… if we do end up finding some kind of monster, please don’t try to pet it.”
“I won’t.” He looked Damien up and down. “So even if you shift into this bipedal form, your clothes get ruined? It must be inconvenient.”
“Yeah. Since I get taller and broader, the clothes get torn apart.”
“And is it okay for you to walk around the castle like this? Because now you don’t have clothes.”
Ah.
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