Chapter 4 - Shadows of the Past

The atmosphere in the room was heavily tensed, with the weight of Lylah’s last words hanging like a challenge. Shay's unblinking stare and the horrified look on her face were all silent urges for Lylah to explain what she had just said. 

At last Lylah shrugged, and began.

"You know that eight years ago, my father, for whatever reasons he alone knew, gathered some members of the clan and led a revolt against the Alpha. I don't know all the details - my family rarely speaks of it - but I do know that my father failed, and even though reparations were made and he asked the Alpha's forgiveness, things have never been the same with them."

Shay looked bewildered. "So what has that got to do with anything?" 

“It's simple." Lylah answered. "My father feels the need to find his way back into Alpha Asher’s trust - they were best friends before all these, you know - and he believes that marrying me off to Cormac would cement that trust.”

The realization hit Shay like a thunderbolt. She looked up sharply, her forehead puckered in concern. "Alpha Asher has never really gotten over your father's actions, then?" She asked. 

“Apparently not.” Lylah frowned. “Alpha Asher thinks my father would still try to usurp him if given another chance, so he'd using our marriage as a way to bind our families together. My father readily agreed, of course. So here I am, a peace offering to get him back into the Alpha’s inner caucus, as if it was me that told him to lead a rebellion against his Alpha eight years ago. Now I won’t be able to marry the person I truly love!” She ended with an exasperated sigh.

Shay frowned, “Wait a minute...” She said, looking intently at her. “The person you love? Don’t tell me you’re still talking about Thane...”

“Of course I’m talking about Thane!”

“Come on Lyl, we’ve been over this before! You need to remove your mind from him, he’s not one of us.”

“But he is one of us, just from a different clan. You make it sound as though he is a simple human or something...”

Shay regarded her for a moment. “I’ve only met this Thane once, and for all I know, he’s just one of the regular visitors from Lunarville. What is it about him that makes him so special to you?”

“He’s different, Shay...” Lylah’s eyes were twinkling.

“How?”

“Well...” She began, a subtle radiance spreading across her face, “He treats me kindly. He is strong, from a noble family, and he’s an adventurer! He brings me gifts from his adventures, and he’s told me countless times that he loves me, and would marry me if only given the honour.” She finished, staring up at Shay like a child that had just done a nice recitation and was looking forward to an applause.

“Well, he wouldn’t be the first.” Shay said after studying Lylah skeptically for a while. “There are plenty others who would marry you if they had the 'honour.'”

Apparently she had meant for her words to sound funny because a wide smile was plastered on her face, but Lylah wasn’t smiling.

“But he’s not like those others, Shay...” She began, her eyebrows slightly raised over her eyes which were wide with a quiet desperation, as though imploring Shay to truly hear her.

“I’ve told you, he’s just...different.”

The smile on Shay’s face faded, replaced by a concerned, empathetic gaze.

“He really has wormed his way deep into your heart, hasn’t he?”

“He has.” Lylah whispered.

Shay’s expression turned solemn. “What are you going to do about your marriage, then? With your heart already longing for someone else this much, can you really go through with it?”

Lylah didn’t reply, Shay continued, her words measured. “We both know the situation, and that there’s nothing to be done about it. Your best option is to try and forget him, so you can properly face the life ahead. Most importantly, your father must never know about this.” Her voice dropped to an urgent whisper. “Do you understand?”

Lylah remained silent, her gaze fixed on the floor, with tears welling up in her eyes.

Shay held her around the shoulders, tilted her face up, and asked, in a pressing tone.

“Your father must never know or hear about this, okay?”

Lylah nodded slowly, but at the same time a deep voice spoke from the entrance of the widely open door.

“I must never know or hear about what?”

Lylah and Shay froze, their heads snapping towards the speaker.

Lord Girad, Lylah’s father, stood in the doorway, his huge, bulky frame almost obscuring the entirety of the whole door, his  face a thunderous mix of suspicion, disapproval and anger.