"Oh, it's a popular thing now my king," Felix said, chuckling. "Even their villagers are aware, it's not just the lords." Calhoun scowled terribly.
"I thought it was known to be just Wisteria. That was the plan."
"Well sorry my king, I bet the people who discussed this thought it wise to inform the remaining species. Also, Yara is of an ancient bloodline of werewolves." Felix explained. "His knowledge about this is inevitable."
Calhoun roared and punched his hand into the wall, angered. All the while he had assumed that his reputation was intact, he never knew it was already tarnished by the world.
"But if they do know that I cannot be killed, why then do they keep trying?" Calhoun wondered.
"Aren't they just foolish?"
"Foolish, perhaps." Felix nodded. "But if Yara ever finds out that there is a way he can harm you, even if it's temporary, don't you think he will do it as quickly as he could?"
Calhoun whooshed around and was at his balcony door in an instant, unlocking it. Once he heard the click, he pushed it open and stepped out of the chamber, enjoying the cold air that caressed his face.
"Also my king, we now ought to be more careful. If the wind carries the words we speak about how prepared we are for this battle, the blood pack and the other packs behind them will prepare as well." Felix warned.
"The wind?" Calhoun asked, turning slowly to face Felix. "I didn't know the wind carries words. Must be so powerful to do that, and the words must be so light."
Felix chortled softly. He loved Calhoun's sense of humor. But most often he pretended to take things lightly especially when they are more serious.
"My king, the letter." Felix reminded. "Let's see what our spy has delivered this time around."
Calhoun put his hand inside his robe and took out the letter. The cover of the letter had a wonderful design and the paper wasn't as white as that of Wisteria.
"Well, this sure looks like a close-by town. Not Wisteria." Felix sounded off, looking at the letter. "But the original paper encompassing the words itself looks older than the covering. This is someone who doesn't want their footsteps to be uncovered. They want to do this secretly and have sent the letter elsewhere first, and had someone send it again."
"Sunshine town," Calhoun interjected. "I have been there one time when I searched for Diana. This is exactly how their paper looks and feels like." He took the paper up to his nose and sniffed it. "Smells the same too."
"How can you visit a place for a reason and discover something entirely different?" Felix wondered.
"I had to search through the emails for anyone Diana must have written," Calhoun said. "Or anyone that was written to her."
"Did you find any? Would you even know what her handwriting would look like?" Felix asked.
Calhoun paused. "That is correct. But I hoped to sniff it out. Regardless of how long she had been away, I hoped to still be able to whiff out a little, even a little of her scent from the paper. So I spent my time, sniffing the papers of the incoming mail that looked like they belonged to someone on the run."
"This inscription," Felix murmured suddenly, grabbing the paper and raising it to the sky. "It looks like something about an army."
Calhoun snatched the paper from his hand and looked at it with the same method Felix had done. He saw the sign of a sword and a gun on a shield, and a cap rested perfectly on the shield. He took it away from the sky and placed it on the railing where they could gaze at it with the light above it and not behind. He didn't find that inscription, instead, it was a tree that had a serpent crawling over it.
"The capital city," Calhoun whispered. "The capital city is in Fraco, that's where the army base is."
Felix wasn't paying attention and was surprised when he found Calhoun sneering at nothing in particular.
"Did you happen to solve the riddle?"
"Yes," Calhoun said. "It's from Fraco."
"Fraco? The country that is two to three days away from us?" Felix asked in disbelief. "I don't believe that!"
"Look here, this symbol is of the capital city," Calhoun said, pointing it out to him. "The army is based in the capital city. Their rulership is different from ours."
"Whereas we have kings in our different kingdoms, they all come together as one in a country and they have one body of military protecting the entire country."
"Unlike here where we are just a country of werewolves who have no name together and are still fighting for who's going to take down Calhoun Montego."
"We cannot let them have that opportunity, we already have taken steps for that," Felix said. "My only issue now is, who knows us from Fraco? That place is very far!"
"But that is where my guard sent the letter to. He was a spy for the governor of Fraco." Calhoun said. "According to his letter which I read, he told them that my kingdom was flourishing and he didn't think I deserved it because I watered the ground with the blood of my people."
"He ended it with, "help, save all of us humans". Isn't that just barbaric?"
"Daylight folly," Felix answered. "How was he able to get the letter out of the castle too? That would also mean he has cohorts."
Calhoun paused. He didn't think to punish the cohorts! Perhaps that is why the castle has had the eerie silence ever since the death of that guard. The other accomplices have been taking steps to save themselves.
"Felix, aren't you just a wonderful man!"
Calhoun exclaimed. "Your mind works so beautifully, I love it. George is too slow to think and yet he dares to stop me from doing things."
"Naive," Felix commented.
Diana was in a frenzy. She had been having weird feelings of late. She couldn't help herself at all. She would be at work and her wolf would be longing to come out. She had to wear thick coats and equally thick gloves so that when her nails begin to elongate to form her talons, she could just hide them.
She had been having weird feelings and that was why she had to send another letter to Calhoun. She wanted to find out what was going on, but she didn't want to seem to care as it would raise suspicion. And knowing Calhoun, she could tell that he might already know that the letter is not actually from Sunshine town. That bothered her as well.
What if Calhoun decided to find the real sender? If she didn't show herself or allow him to take her home, he would cause havoc in Fraco and she was trying to not make waves. Calhoun finding her would be a tsunami!
"You seem too uncomfortable of late." Her fellow worker commented. "Perhaps you should try taking off your coat? It's hot in here."
"Oh. I will." Diana said, chuckling wryly. She always said she would and she never did.
"Here, let me help you." The lady suggested, walking to her back. Before Diana could refute it, she peeled the coat off her body. Diana was praying that her fur had cleared completely and it was just her skin now. Once the coat was taken off, the cool breeze hit her and she calmed a little. She checked her skin to find it normal. She exhaled sharply, grateful.
"Thank you."
"It's nothing." The lady said. "You know, I figured that since you stared at your skin first, you might have had a rash or something. It's common in Fraco and it's nothing to be embarrassed about. Especially in the capital city. Next time, just let me know and I will help you get the lotion that could help."
"Thanks," Diana said again. "That's so lovely."
The lady offered her a smile and then walked over to her seat. She had heard everyone talking about how weird Diana was for wearing such thick coats in the hot weather. She just had to walk up to her and help out.
Diana slowly took off the gloves. Her palms were so sweaty and she had to dry them against her clothes.
Perhaps joining the army wasn't all that much of a bad idea. The best way for her to protect Wisteria if she so much loved it was to be a part of the nefarious plan to destroy it. She had to join them so that she could know exactly where and when and how they wanted to destroy her kind. Perhaps she could also help in telling Calhoun and giving him heads up, although she wouldn't admit to caring about him.
The same lady walked over to meet her. "You're Diana right?"
"Yeah."
"Good, you have mail from Maggie in Sunshine town." The lady said, reading the details in the mail.
"Oh, Maggie!" Diana exclaimed happily. She collected the letter from the lady. "Thank you so much!"
She quickly tore it open and she peeped inside firstly to find two letters, in the same way she had done. Her smile cleared from her face.
She took out Maggie's letter and read it. It was full of talks about her kids and how fun sunshine town was, and it left Diana smiling.
She folded it and returned it to the cover and then carefully placed it in her small bag. She was going to read the second one when she was within the private confines of her small home.
Work didn't take any much more time and before Dusk, Diana was home with her boy. Looking at how big he had grown within the few weeks after six months, she smiled to herself.
She opened the second letter and began to read it slowly.
Thank you for your help but I can't stop this feeling that tells me you are of Wisteria. I also know you are a female and your name is Diana.
Please come back, I miss you much.
Her eyes became a little moist. Did Calhoun miss her for real? She turned to the back of the letter only for her to see more words written there.
If you want to punish me by not returning, rest assured I'll be on the next train to Fraco just to find you.
"What?" She whispered. "Calhoun wants to find me?"
"Wait, what if this is all a plot to have me return? How can he tell that this is me and not someone else?"
Her heartbeat was in a frenzy. The only way she could hide and be properly hidden from him was to join the army. Eugene was going to protect her all because he believed she was a werewolf.
She took out a pen and paper and began to write a letter. She wrote in a different handwriting other than the one she used to send emails to Maggie and Calhoun. Once she was done, she had it sent to Eugene's office.
She sat back in her house. Two could play the game. Calhoun could not mess with her and then suddenly came up to mess with her mind again, she wasn't going to take it. She just wasn't going to take it. With that resolution, she went into the bathroom to shower.
After bathing, Diana came out, feeling refreshed. She dried her body and wore her night dress. She carried her son and went into the bathroom to bathe him as well. Once she was done, she fed him and put him to sleep.
Soon after she laid him on the bed, she heard a soft knock on the door. Confused, Diana went to check the door.
"Who is it?" She asked as she got to the door. The person did not respond. "Who's there? Julitta?" She asked, peeping through the hole in the door. A shadow ran past the view and the next thing she saw was the jagged teeth of a wild beast.
With her heart in her throat, Diana silently went to carry her baby from the room.