Chapter Eleven

HORNS OF SHAME

MILA 

I lifted the axe again and let it fall on the log. My side hurt, but I ignored it. I had ignored worse pain before.

I kept thinking about the prince.

Prince Lucien had ordered punishment for someone because of me. No one had ever done that. Not in Silverclaw. Not in any place I had ever lived. No one ever stood up for me. No one ever defended me and  I didn’t know what to make of it.

Why did he care?

Why did he look so angry when he saw the blood on my shirt?

I brought the axe down again, harder this time.

I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter.”

But it did. And I hated that it did.

Just then, light footsteps rushed toward me.

It was Selena.

Again.

She carried a tray with two cups and a teapot.

Her eyes were on me the whole time.

“Erwin… I brought you tea,” she said softly. “It will help your side. Marge told me to give it to you.”

I didn’t bother looking up. “I don’t need it.”

Her face fell. “Can you just try?”

“No.”

She put the tray on a nearby stump and stepped in front of me. “Are you angry with me?”

“No,” I said. “I just don’t want tea.”

She bit her lip. “I’m sorry I told Prince Lucien the truth. But you should be grateful I did. Bren deserved punishment. He hurt you.”

“I don’t care,” I said, wiping sweat from my forehead.

“You don’t care?” she repeated, louder. “He stabbed you! You almost died! How can you not care?!”

“I don’t care,” I said again, this time colder.

Selena’s eyes watered. “I was only trying to help.”

“I didn’t ask for help.”

She let out a shaky breath and looked down at her feet. She picked up the tray again.

“Fine,” she whispered. “Do whatever you like.”

I turned away and raised the axe.

Just then—

Boooooom.

The sound was loud enough to shake the ground.

I froze.

Another horn blast followed.

Selena gasped. “Oh no.”

“What is that?” I asked.

“It’s the general horn for punishment,” she said. “Everyone must come out. If someone refuses, they get punished too.”

I sighed. “Great.”

“Come on,” she said, tugging my sleeve. “We have to go now.”

I followed her through the trees and around the side of the pack hall. People were already gathering in a large open square. Warriors stood in rows. Servants pressed together in the back. Everyone looked nervous.

Then my eyes landed on the center stage.

Bren.

He stood on the podium, his back covered in fresh bandages under his torn shirt. His face was swollen, one eye half-closed from crying or hitting the ground earlier.

I stared.

Is this the prince’s doing?

Did he cause all of this?

Selena whispered beside me, shocked and excited. “I can’t believe it. They said Prince Lucien gave Bren thirty-two lashes. That’s why the Alpha came down. They said the hall shook when the Alpha shouted.”

I kept staring forward, trying to piece it all together.

“Didn’t you hear?” someone else whispered behind me. “They said Lucien challenged the Alpha in front of everyone.”

“No way,” another voice said. “Lucien wouldn’t do that.”

“He did,” someone else replied. “Rolkan almost fought him.”

“How can the prince be so bold?” a woman whispered.

“He’s reckless,” an older man said. “He’s always been trouble.”

I stayed silent, listening to them. 

Why defend me like that? Why risk anything for someone like me?

Just then—

A man stepped forward onto the podium.

It was Darius.

Lucien’s brother.

The crowd went silent the moment he lifted his hand.

His voice carried over everyone. “Today, I stand here on behalf of the royal family.”

He paused.

I watched Lucien standing at the side of the stage. His head lowered. His shoulders were stiff. He looked drained, tired, pale… and hurting.

Darius continued loudly, “I apologize to Bren Rolkan for the actions taken earlier by my brother, Prince Lucien.”

Selena gasped. “What?”

I felt my stomach twist.

Darius kept going, his voice sounding calm, almost kind.

Too kind.

“It was not right. It was not fair. And it does not reflect the values of Nightveil.”

The crowd murmured.

I looked at Lucien again.

His jaw was tight. His hands were curled into fists. His eyes refused to look up. I didn’t know the exact words said before, but I didn’t need to. I understood enough.

He was hurt.

Badly.

Darius stepped back and suddenly raised his voice again. “Erwin of the servant hall!”

My breath froze.

Selena’s eyes widened. “Erwin… he means you.”

I lowered my head fast. “Don’t move.”

“But—”

“Don’t move.”

I slipped backward into the crowd. No one noticed me. Everyone’s attention stayed on the stage.

“Erwin!” Darius called again. “Step forward!”

I stayed quiet.

Selena whispered, “You can get in trouble for this.”

I took another step back.

Then I slipped between two people, ducked behind a cart, and moved away from the noise. My heart pounded as I reached the trees near the edge of the camp.

I didn’t stop walking until the crowd’s noise faded behind me.

The stream was quiet.

Water flowed over smooth stones, and the wind brushed the surface gently. I knelt and touched my hand to the cool water. My bandage was still tight, but blood had stained the edge again.

I breathed slowly and let my mind replay the scene.

Darius apologizing for him.

It didn’t feel right.

It didn’t feel fair.

I didn’t know why I cared.

I didn’t want to care.

I dipped my hand into the stream again and cleaned the blood off.

Then—

I heard a soft crunch of leaves behind me.

I turned fast.

Lucien stood a few steps away, leaning slightly on his wooden leg. His face was pale. His eyes looked tired and red around the edges.

He stared at me without speaking.

I straightened. “What are you doing here?”

He took a weak breath. He stepped closer.

I could see the pain in his eyes now. The pain looked  deeper than the leg he walked on.

“It’s normal,” he said quietly. “When it’s the disabled son… things like this always happen.”