The Broken Crown

Secrets of the Day

Hushed voices echo around me, racking up my nerves as I try and calm myself, my fingers shaking as I hold the pelts of fur in my hands. The cold winds of winter spiral around me as I hold my head high, the ends of my dress brushing against the forest floor, picking up mud created by the melted snow, and my bare feet guiding me forward to the center of the circle. It feels like yesterday when I was here last, with a bonfire raging as the palms of my hands were cut and I endured the ceremony to become alpha.

It has been two weeks since I returned home from Eternal Shadows and parted with River, coming back to protect my back and to declare to my pack that William and Erik would no longer continue their roles as Beta and Gamma, for their sons would continue that legacy. William and Erik plotted treason, they wanted to control me like a puppet, and I am still on edge from it...wondering if I should act upon what I heard. Yet tonight I need to forget about those concerns, for tonight is about offering Bryson and Cedric the titles they have been training for their entire lives.

Two bonfires are lit, standing close to one another, and their flames rising high into the night sky as before them stand the two men I am going to transfer power over to tonight. The bear fur pelts in my hands grow heavy the more I hold onto them, yet the warmth they offer me make the weight worth it as my thin black dress picks up every gust of wind.

Looking to Elder Oliver, I nod my head to the one Elder who has been by my side through all of my decisions. Elder Oliver begins the ceremony, speaking in Nordic tongue as he greets everyone who has come here tonight to watch our pack accept Cedirc and Erik as the Beta and Gamma of Crimson Lock. Oliver begins to walk around the circle, outstretching his hands as he paints upon his face two stripes down his cheek from the blood of a deer caught this morning. The moment Elder Oliver comes before me, he offers me a slight bow and reaches into the small wooden bowl he holds, painting upon my face with the blood the same markings down my face from my eyebrow to my chin. The longer the stripes shows the greater the importance the individual holds within the pack.

Oliver continues his chant, having explanted to me earlier he is calling to Selene, the Moon Goddess, praising her for the silver moon she placed into the night sky, for creating us creatures – the creatures of the hunt. One day I will be the one to speak in this language as I say these words in this ancient and forgotten language. Soon, Oliver draws the parallel lines upon Cedric and Bryson, displaying the importance they shall soon hold within this pack.

Stepping forward, I walk over to Cedric first as he kneels upon my approach. I place the bear pelt over his shoulders, a weight lifted from my arms as I look to Oliver as he hands me a simple dagger. Taking the dagger, I outstretch it to Cedric, watching as he takes it and places the blade in his palm and wraps his hand around the blade. As he slides his palm across the blade, blood begins to run down his forearm as I watch him wince. Handing the blade back to me, I motion for Cedric to rise and, in the best effort I can, repeat the words Oliver practiced with me earlier.

"Hí standar þessi tribes nýr leader inn striith," I announce, declaring before the pack that Cedric is now the pack's Gamma. Taking Cedric's bloodied hand, I do what I was instructed to do earlier, pressing the palm of his hand against my left exposed shoulder, his handprint left in blood as I back away from Cedric and nod. Cheers are restrained as I walk over to Bryson, the sleeveless dress I wear only making me wish I were wearing the bear pelts.

The same actions take place as Oliver places two stripes along Bryson's face and I place the pelt over Bryson's shoulders and hand him a similar dagger to the one which Cedric had used. I watch too as Bryson slides the blade of the dagger across his flesh and winces in pain as blood runs down his arm.

"Hí standar þessi tribes nýr leader inn striith ok delegation.  Hann munu munu annarr til þinn yarl," I announce as Bryson's bloodied handprint is left upon my right shoulder and the pack members are now allowed to cheer in celebration.