Chapter 173: Realisation
(...Continued - Skarthheim)
"Cerbs...Cerbs! Slow down, please!" Autumn laughed,though breathless, stumbling slightly as the massive hound tugged at the hem of her night robe with his teeth, his tail wagging like a wild fan.
It wasn’t even dawn yet. Her chamber still swam in dusky golds and silvers from the low lanterns, but Cerberus was already charging about like an overexcited child, dragging her across the room as she tried to wriggle free.
He wasn’t leashed. He never had been since he decided to tag along Autumn,willingly volunteering as a domesticated species. Yet, this morning, she noticed something...something curious. A thread like sensation along her palm as if something invisible linked her to him... a tether. Almost like a leash.
Her brows knitted. She stilled for a moment and stared at her hand.
"Is this what you want, buddy?Seriously? Alright! Alright!" she murmured to herself.
She closed her fingers around the invisible pull and imagined a leash forming in her grip, trying to rein him in with her mind.
"Cerbs... Calm down, boy! Calm down now!" she tried again, bracing herself with one foot on the ground. The hound halted briefly to glance back at her, tongue lolling from his jaw. Then with another excited bark, he sprang again, dragging her a few more steps.
Autumn groaned and let out a breathy laugh.
"Goddess save me from you."
She finally managed to reach the wardrobe, one arm still half-hugging Cerbs’ giant, fuzzy neck. "Let me at least change, buddy," she scolded lightly, prying herself away. " You know I can’t go for the hunt in my night dress! "
But as she began unlacing her robe, her fingers paused mid-air. Her gaze dropped to her bare shoulders... then her hip... her thigh.
Faint, silvery nail marks trailed across her side...healed already...barely here...but no doubt they were real. There were bite imprints curved along her collarbone. Not deep or savage. But unmistakable... undeniable... The traces were all too real.
Autumn stood still, half undressed, heart thudding in her chest... as she looked at herself in the mirror.
"Not a dream after all,huh," she whispered.
She ran her fingers across one mark, the same exact spot she remembered from the shadowy embrace of last night. That hallucination...dream like reality.Those silver eyes.
She was about to retrace another when a knock came at her chamber door.
"My Lady? Princess!The caravan will depart soon.Alpha Thorgar is waiting for you downstairs."
Autumn jolted back. "Just a moment!" she called out, hurriedly pulling on the thick leather hunting corset and the forest green cloak that matched her boots.
She didn’t speak a word of the marks. Not to the maid. Not to anyone else. But she knew she needed to investigate... she needed to know what was going on...and she had this strange feeling that this dream was not a one off.
Once outside, Cerberus was already bounding towards the outer courtyard, barking at the waiting horses and guards, startling one of them into dropping his spear.
Autumn chased after him, half laughing, half scolding. "Cerbs, you big boy! Don’t bite the guards, they are not your chew toys!"
But then her laughter caught. Froze.
Across the courtyard, lined up neatly beside Velor and three other guards, stood Kieran.
His eyes...the golden dimmed a little like shadowed coals caught fire...lifted to meet hers the moment he heard her laugh.
She stopped in her tracks. A breath hitched in her throat.
The skull pendant he wore glinted...too cold...under the muted sun. It was surprisingly still on him. Still resting over his chest like some silent talisman. Her father’s words echoed in her mind.
"You will be pitted against the beast after we catch it...."
What was this beast? Why had the maid and the rest reacted like she hadn’t given him a neck piece but a death sentence... Ahhh!!! So many questions...
But now wasn’t the time to dig.
Autumn swallowed the lump forming in her throat and looked away just as Thorgar’s boots crunched into the gravel behind her.
"Did you sleep well, my sweet pea?" he asked, his voice kind, eyes scanning her face. " Ready for the Hunt, darling?"
"More or less," she murmured.
Orion stood beside him, inspecting the line up.
Thorgar gestured towards the black carriage waiting behind the mounted guards. "You will ride in there, Autumn."
Her head whipped around looking at the line up of super fine horses...exotic and elegant in every sense. "What? No. I want to ride like the rest of you."
Thorgar gave her a long look. "You can ride when we are coming back," he said gently, walking closer. "The inner woods aren’t safe. If anything happens out there, I want to know you are protected. Not directly exposed...not in your current state. " His eyes flickered briefly towards her lower abdomen, then he immediately looked away and turned around... brokering no more argument.
Autumn’s lips thinned. She didn’t like being tucked away. Not at all. She loved fighting her own battles...that came to her like instinct...like her second skin. She was never a damsel in distress.
And now something dark seemed to be threading through her thoughts...like a whisper of shadow...a dream...something bugging her...like nothing in her life made real sense...like she needed answers for everything...But as of now she said nothing.she didn’t push. She sort of surrendered.
Thorgar turned around once more after briefing his men. He opened his arms and pulled Autumn in for a quick hug. "Next ride, I promise,I will let you lead it,my warrior queen!"
Autumn sighed against his chest, then nodded. "Fine. But I want the window seat."
Thorgar chuckled. "The carriage is all yours,darling.You surely didn’t think I would let anybody else ride with you, did you, silly?"
A hint of a growl came from the rear. Definitely Kieran. But luckily Thorgar did not pay any attention , strolling to the front.
Cerberus barked again, this time already circling the carriage, scratching lightly at the steps as if telling her to hurry up. His tail wagged in agreement.
Autumn took one last glance at Kieran...still standing silently in the row, eyes on her,but surprisingly Velor had his hands on his shoulder...It looked more like a strained leash than a hand holding a friend.