Five Hundred Years Ago
Ruby did not get back home until the next morning. She knew her father would be worried to death–but she couldn’t have gotten back any sooner.
Eric had brought her to a cave deep in the mountains, where nobody would find them. He assured her that the warriors would not flush him out. They were all like him.
His entire clan was made up of werewolves.
It had shocked her to hear that. But not as much as she was terrified for him.
He was not well. When they got to the cave and he shifted back to his human body, he had lain down, his entire body shivering. He was also incredibly hot. Luckily, there was a stream rushing by. She had torn off a piece of her dress and used it to cool his body, soaking it in the stream countless times.
That’s what she had done most of the night. He had gone in and out of consciousness many times. She hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep.
She didn’t ask questions. Partly because he wasn’t in the state for interrogation, and partly because she did not know where to begin.
Tales of werewolves had only ever been that–tales. Nobody had ever seen one. Nobody actually believed they existed.
There were several folktales in the tribe, traded around bonfires at night. Ruby thought werewolf tales were so rampant in the tribe because the mountains around them were full of the wolves. But now, she knew better. Were the folktales stemmed in truth? History, maybe?
He was looking better in the morning, but she was hesitant to leave. He encouraged her to. They must be looking for her, and he was also worried whether his clan’s true nature had been discovered. He wouldn’t know what to do next unless she got the information for him.
As she walked out of the cave, his weak voice reached her. He had told her he had been poisoned. That’s why he had been unable to control his transformation at the market.
“I would never hurt you. I would rather kill myself than hurt you.”
Her lips trembled. She swallowed and nodded, then looked back at him. She managed a small smile. “I know.”
No matter what he was, he wasn’t a monster. But could she get everybody else to see that?
It took her two hours to get back home. It was a long trek down the mountain, and she wasn't nearly as fast as Eric’s wolf.
She had barely walked through the front door when her father rushed in from an inner room. He went straight to her and wrapped his arms around her. She embraced him back, feeling all the worry he had for her rolling off his body.
When he pulled back, he held her shoulders and studied her, head to toe. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” she assured him.
Once he was done confirming that, he stepped back. “Why did you do that?” His worry was replaced by anger.
“He did not hurt me,” she told him. Three elders peeked out of the door of the room her father had emerged from. One of them was her uncle.
Her father’s younger brother. Her father’s biggest rival. Her single-biggest obstacle to the chief’s throne. He believed he was more suitable to succeed her father. If not him, any of his three sons.
She reached for her father’s hand. “He is not dangerous, Papa.”
He pulled his hand from hers and paced. “You don’t know what you are talking about. His entire clan, they are all monsters. If we don’t get them before they come for us, we are finished!”
So they already knew about the warrior clan. Her uncle walked over to them. “Where is he hiding?”
“I don’t know,” she replied instantly. “He left me behind and disappeared in the mountains.”
“Where have you been all night, then?” he demanded. He didn’t appear to believe her.
“I got lost on the mountain,” she lied effortlessly. “I feared running into beasts, so I took shelter.” She had never been a good liar. Her concern for Eric was enough to make her an expert in an instant.
As they stood talking, one of her father’s generals rushed through the entrance. He was one of the tribesmen who protected the community but did not come from the warriors’ clan.
The chief walked past her and met him. “Mobilise all your men. Take whatever you need from the armoury. Do not let any of them get away.”
Ruby hurried to his side. “Papa, shouldn’t we talk to them first?”
“Talk? What is there to talk about with monsters?”
“How can you say that? They have been protecting the tribe for ages! They have never attacked any of our people. How can you just attack them?”
It was her uncle who answered her. “They are beasts, girl.” He often referred to her like that. Girl. As if he wanted to remind her of her biggest flaw. “Animals. You don’t reason with animals.”
Ruby barely held her frustration back. “We’ve been reasoning with them for ages. Strong as they are, they have never tried to take over the tribe, and we all know they would have if they wanted. They have treated us as equals all along, protected us from the worst of threats. How can we see them as our enemies?” She turned back to her father. “Papa, don’t be rash.”
Another elder stepped forward, displeasure evident on his face. “How dare you challenge the chief’s wisdom? This is no place for you. While you hid in the mountain all night, we decided on the best way to protect the tribe. Are you wiser than all of us?”
Ruby kept her eyes on her father, begging, pleading. He was a sensible man. Surely, he could see that this was not the right way to go about it.
He motioned to a guard standing nearby. “Escort her to her room and stand guard outside.”
“Papa!”
“Princess,” the guard said, stepping up to her.
“Stay indoors until it’s safe,” her father said. He turned and walked back to the inner room. The elders and the general followed him. She took a step forward, but the guard blocked her path.
She eyed the entrance. Another guard stood in the doorway, as if ready to stop her if she ran. Her heart beating in her stomach, she whirled around and led the way upstairs.
She would find a way to save him, whatever it took.
The day was long, unending. She couldn’t keep calm for a minute. How could she when she had no idea how he was doing, whether he had gotten better, whether he had been found? Night–when she hoped to sneak away–was a long time away.
So she sent Maeve.
When Maeve brought her lunch, Ruby told her Eric’s location and begged her to check on him. She packed some medicine she hoped would help him–she didn’t know anything about werewolf medicine, whether what worked on humans would work on him. But she had to try.
“Tell him I’ll be there after nightfall,” she told Maeve, looking into her eyes. It wasn’t easy sending her off on such a mission, alone. She was the closest thing she had to a sister. They had grown up together, been through so much together.
When Ruby’s mother had passed when she was five, Maeve’s mother had unofficially taken her under her wing, filling in the motherly gaps her father never could.
Ruby placed her own dagger in Maeve’s hand. “Two are better than one,” she said, to which Maeve smiled. She hugged her tight. “Please be careful.”
“Don’t worry. I know that mountain like the back of my hand.”
Once she left, Ruby almost called her back. Was it too reckless? She would have sent her along with a guard if she didn’t think he would run straight to her father, ready to tattle.
Maeve was the only one she could trust.
What she didn’t know was that that same noon, Maeve’s elder brother had succumbed to injuries inflicted by one of the werewolves.
Maeve did not have the heart to tell her that the man she had been in love with for so long was truly a monster. She knew Ruby would never agree. She was too blinded by love. Hence, it was up to her to protect her friend. She was not going to lose someone else to those monsters.
As she left the compound, she tucked Ruby’s dagger next to the new one her brother had handed her earlier on as he bled to death. The one with the silver blade.
At nightfall, Ruby sneaked out through her window using a makeshift rope fashioned from her bedclothes. She left right after another servant brought her dinner. They would never know she was gone until it was too late to stop her.
She hurried up the mountain. It was more laborious than the trip going downhill. But she didn’t rest even for a minute on her way up. By the time she got to the cave, she was out of breath and about ready to drop to the ground in exhaustion.
In the end, it wasn’t the fatigue that brought her to her knees.
It was the body that welcomed her just inside the cave of the mouth, lying lifeless on the ground. She came to a halt. No. It couldn’t be. It was dark, and even though moonlight made it that far into the cave, she hoped she was seeing wrong.
But the face, the clothes…they were unmistakable.
Lying before her was Maeve, with a pool of blood around her head, her torn dress soaked in the stuff.
She went to the ground effortlessly. “Maeve?” she called her name softly, touching her face with gentle fingers. “Maeve?”
There was no response. She swallowed as she saw the gash in her throat, where the blood around her head had come from. Lower, the tear in her frock appeared to have been made by claws.
“Eric?” she looked around, her eyes searching the dark corners of the cave. “Eric!”
How had Maeve ended up like this? Where was he?
He emerged from the shadows. But only far enough that she could see him.
“What’s wrong with Maeve?” she asked, her teary eyes turning back to her friend. “What happened to her?”
“I’m sorry.” His voice was raspy. Heavy with guilt. “She had a silver dagger.”
Ruby looked at him. What was he saying?
“I could have avoided her, or overpowered her without hurting her, but…the poison. I cannot control my body, Ruby. When she took out the knife, I…I just…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to kill her.”
Kill. Kill her. He had killed her.
Eric had killed Maeve.
It couldn’t be true. It was Eric. He would never do something like that.
She didn’t want to believe it. But when he took a step forward and she saw the blood lining the front of the shirt he had put on the previous day after they got to the cave, she instantly placed herself between him and Maeve’s still body.
She brandished the dagger she had brought with her. “Don’t come any closer.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You killed her.” The words were strangled. “You killed her!”
“I’m sorry.”
“She is dead!” Maeve was dead. She had sent her to her death. Her voice broke. “You are a monster.”
His face twisted in agony. “I never would have done it willingly. I couldn’t stop myself.”
He couldn’t stop himself? Because he was an animal. A monster! This was not the man she had fallen for. He was not a man at all. Maeve was the most harmless, the gentlest, the most lovable person she had ever known. Only a beast would have the guts to hurt her.
When he took another step towards her, she got to her feet and held her dagger ready.
“You heard the girl.” The new voice came from the mouth of the cave. Ruby positioned herself so she could see both men. A strange man with platinum blonde hair that glowed in the moonlight walked into the cave. “Stay away from her.”
Ruby watched as the man bent over Maeve’s body. “May I?” he asked, looking up at her. His eyes were a pale blue.
She nodded, speechless. She had never seen him before. But he was offering help, so why not?
He hooked his arms under Maeve’s body and came to his feet. He looked at Eric. “Let us go and nobody gets hurt.”
Eric’s gaze went to Ruby. “Don’t go with him! He is a…he is a…” His brow crinkled in a deep frown, as if it was taking him too much effort to say the words. “He is a…” The frown dropped. “He’ll protect you.”
Ruby was not sure what to make of his words. It had sounded like a warning at first.
“Let’s go,” the man said, turning around and walking out of the cave.
Ruby met Eric’s eyes one last time. They looked vacant. None of the sorrow, remorse, or fear that had coursed through them a minute ago existed. It was like she was staring into an empty hole. It was the first time the look in his eyes had creeped her out.
With a shuddering breath, she hurried after the man.
“Why are you out here alone?” he asked her as he led the way down the mountain.
She was too shaken to answer him.
“Don’t worry,” he told her a few seconds later. “I’ll get you home safely. Both of you.”
This time, she found her voice. “Thank you…” she looked at him. Who was he? Where had he come from?
“Alexander,” he told her. “My name is Alexander.”