Se connecterBy the second month, the ragtag assembly of three hundred rogues and displaced camp workers had grown to over a thousand. Words were beginning to spread and rumours began, the surrounding packs and villages hid themselves whenever there was a passage through their land. We moved deeper into the valley, establishing a massive hidden camp beneath a canopy of dense, ancient pines that hid our fires from scouting parties. The sheer scale of the operation obviously brought new, staggering challenges. The struggle shifted from basic survival to building an organized infrastructure. I spent my days walking the perimeter, my mind heavy with the weight of what was coming. We were a community now, yes, but we were long far years from being an army. “We have numbers, Lord Dorian,” Roderick said without proper understanding of the situation. “The camp workers who broke out are skilled in the ways of the army, what else do we need?” Jonn and Tomas nodded in agreement. “It’s true we have numbers,
The woods beyond the Alpha King’s borders can never be a place of sanctuary; they were a graveyard for the living and for a moment I felt a drop in my emotions for the people that lived there. For weeks, I had been living among the damp earth and decaying leaves, his clothes ragged and his boots worn thin despite living in a cabin. The air here tasted of old ash and damp soil, a stark contrast to the structured, fragrant halls of the fortress. I reflected on the transition from a life of nobility to one of absolute destitution that had been brutal, punishing my body and testing the absolute limits of my resolve. From the time I began the work of gathering my own army and fighting for survival, every muscle in my back ached from sleeping in the most uncomfortable position and the damp cold that settles directly into his bones. Yet, I knew that showing any sign of weakness would mean my own demise, because in the wild, the weak were consumed.I would never forgive my father for having
I pushed open the door to Selene’s chambers, the brutal tension that usually gripped my shoulders whenever I wore the perpetual armor. The tension that rattled me softened the moment I stepped over the threshold and saw Selene's face. Selene was sitting by the dying embers of the hearth, bathed in a soft, amber glow that caught the chestnut shade of her hair. She looked entirely ethereal, a stark contrast to the cold, harsh realities of the war council I had just left behind. Even stripped of her royal finery, wearing a simple gown, she held an innate grace that commanded my complete adoration.Maddie was sitting across from her, but as soon as the rustle of my cloak betrayed my presence, her eyes snapped up. Sensing the sudden shift in the room, Maddie stood quietly, dipping her head in a respectful, silent nod. She gathered her sewing basket and slipped out into the corridor, closing the door softly behind her.That left just the two of us, alongside the small, rhythmic breathing c
In the evening, the fire in the hearth crackled, throwing long, amber shadows across the tapestries of my private chambers. Outside, the wind howled through the ramparts of the fortress, a bitter reminder of the world beyond these stone walls. Maddie sat across from me, her fingers nimbly working a needle through a heavy woolen cloak. For a long time, the only sounds between us were the snapping of the logs and the rhythmic shhh-shhh of her thread."The fortress feels different lately, my lady," Maddie said softly, not breaking her stitch. "Since alpha Kael defeated the blackthorn leader, the air itself feels heavier. Safer, perhaps, but tightly wound, like a bow string pulled just a fraction too far.""A kingdom born from blood is rarely restful, Maddie. You should know that by now" I replied, resting my teacup on the small side table. I looked out the window facing the garden and bushes that covered the other minor clan. "Kael’s rule is absolute because it has to be, but absolute ru
Kael and I sat in my chambers quietly, I was reading while he watched Ash. The guard announced Bram’s presence, drawing my attention to the door. Beside me, Kael shifted, his posture snapping from relaxed to lethally alert in a fraction of a second. As Bram entered, he looked out of breath, his dark cloak damp with the evening mist, his eyes wide with a frantic sort of energy."He’s done it," Bram panted, not bothering with a formal greeting as he stepped fully into the room. "Dorian has crossed the line, he’s rallying the rogues. My scouts just confirmed he’s mapping out the weakness in our lower valley walls, he intends to wage war on the fortress."My heart thundered in my chest, I could not describe the emotions that flowed through me. For how long do we continue in this strife? With the execution of Vespera and Lara's banishment, I thought everything would be at ease for a while. I had come back from the cold mountains to make sure stability was reinstated in the fortress, not fo
Every morning before first light, Tomas would leave a bundle at the hollow oak near the creek; a wrapped heel of bread, a handful of dried beans, sometimes a strip of salt pork stolen from his own plate. Every evening, the bundle was gone. In its place would be something else: three skinned rabbits, a pouch of wild onions that didn't make you sick, a carved wooden bird for Tomas.The plan was working but on the seventh day, the supply cart did not come. Dorian woke to Jonn tapping on his door, "Prince. The water barrel is almost empty. And we're out of grain."Outside, the sky was a flat, iron grey. The creek that had been ankle-deep last week was now just a dark stain of mud with a trickle in the middle.Brandon arrived at noon, but not at the oak. He came straight to the cabin, which he had never done in daylight, his face was tight with panic."My sister is sick," he said without greeting. "The little ones drank from the lower pool. Now they can't stop vomiting, the water is bad."







