The Werewolf Princess

Chapter 25

When I woke up everyone was still asleep and it was still fairly dark outside. I sat at the fire stuck in my thoughts about my future in Phoenix Drop, O'kahsis and Zane. When Ren sat next to me by the fire breaking me from my inner conversation. "What are you doing up this early?" Ren asked me looking into the fire. "I should be asking you the same." I looked at him and he let out a small laugh. "Listen I didn't mean to say I don't trust you..." "Hey it's ok I get it." He said reaching for my hand. "Your eyes look very bright in the moon light." He stared into my soul as he started to lean toward me I remembered something. "Bright? Bright Port!!" I said dodging his kiss as he looked at me in confusion. "What about Bright Port?" He said hiding his embarrassment. "I almost forgot Bright Port, Azura told me and Lord Aphmau about Lord Burt being gone on business for awhile and she is worried about him and she asked us to check up on him if we where ever near Pikoro village which is were he's at I am pretty sure its somewhere around here." I explained to him. "Why is it our responsibility to make sure some other Lord is ok." "Because Ren I am afraid that Zane might be holding him there until he agrees to join the O'kahsis Alliance... Which would mean that Zane would have a way to make a small camp near Phoenix Drop and possibly invade!" I whisper yelled at him. "If anything we should make our own alliance." Laurence said as he came out of the tent and sat on the other side of me. "L-l-laurance?! You were awake?!" Ren looked at him with wide eye probably hoping he didn't see me reject his kiss. "Yes I have been awake since Blair left her sleeping bag. Remember? A guard sleeps with one eye open at all times? Oh yeah I forget your not a guard anymore." Laurence teased him as Ren got up to make himself look tough. "Ren sit down." I said as he angrily sat down. "In all seriousness, Blair we should talk to Lord Aphmau. O'kahsis is now starting to pose a real threat to our world and its only going to get worse the longer we do nothing about it." Laurence explained and my heart sank with the realization that Zane is getting exactly what he wants. "So you mean... Just have our own alliance before O'kahsis finds a way to take over... But how would we do that if Lord Aphmau isn't here?" I asked him. "Easy. We save Lord Burt and get to Bright Port where Aphmau is at get her and him on our side, then talk to Cadenza and get Meteli on our side, then we go for the big fish, Scaleswind." He said dramatically. "Doesn't O'kahsis fear Scaleswind?" Laurence turned toward Ren. "Uh... Yes, even though Scaleswind isn't as big as O'kahsis." He simply said to Laurence. "It's because Scaleswind is the home of Lady Irene and messing with it would prompt any village to go to war with O'kahsis." I said to them.  "Correct..." Ren looked at me and Laurence rolled his eyes. "It's settled then. At sunrise we stock up on supplies and head for Pikoro village. Logan can recover here and we'll go save Lord Burt. Now get some rest you two. Especially you. And smooth move Ren." He laughed, punching Ren's shoulder. "Pff, I don't even know what you're talking about!" Ren said back to him as I held in my laughter. "Good night." Laurence said as he went back into the tent. "He's a sneaky one, I didn't even hear him." Ren said as I got up from my spot. "Is this a good idea Ren?" I asked him. "What? Laurence's idea? Yeah its a very good one." He assured me. "Let's do this." I said flatly. "Agreed. You should get some sleep. We'll head out first thing in the morning. Good night... B-blair." He said as I went back into the tent and into my sleeping bag, where I fell asleep.
      I woke up and everyone was already awake except little Malachi. The sun was rising and Dante was by the fire sharpening his swords. "So what's this I hear of us heading towards Pikoro village?" Dante asked me when I sat next to him rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. "We need to save a Lord." I said sleepily.  "Ah Lord...? I see... Well we should get going then. Oh!! And I except your offer of joining you guys in Phoenix Drop." He smiled at me. "Oh yay!!" I said in excitement as I hugged him. "Ok, you should go get ready I'll saddle your house up." He said still grinning. I put on my wig so that the O'kahsis guards don't recognize me and I grabbed my sword from the tent. I went over to Laurence he already had his sword in his hand. "I've got a bad feeling about this..." He said not look at me. "What?" "A visit to discuss "peace" should not take longer than at least two days. But, if a guard from the Jury of Nine is there... Well, Ren and I might have some problems." Laurence gripped his sword harder causing his knuckles to whiten. "H-how so?" "I take it you don't know much about the "Jury of Nine", allow me to explain... I'm sure you know of Lady Irene and how she destroyed the King's monarchy and established the Lord's like mean Lord today Lady Irene was not alone, she had guards as well. But Lady Irene did not establish the guard system we go by today. No... That system was established by Xaviar, Guard of Light also known as the admirer of Lady Irene." He explained to me even though I new half of that story. "Who is Xavier?" I asked moving so he was looking at me. "Xavier was a man of nobility and humble to the very end. Before Lady Irene was well... A lady or lord which is what people refer to her as, Xavier and a few other warriors traveled with her and helped her on quest to bring peace to the realm. Though it is said Lady Irene was a powerful warrior herself, every warrior needs allies. Once Lady Irene brought peace to our realm many sought after her for her hand in marriage, to assistant her, to glorify her... You name it. She had a hard time going anywhere. So Xavier established the Jury of Nine, to pass judgment on anyone who dared to speak with her with intent both pure and malicious. Eventually more and more Lords came to be and also needed protection, so Xavier established a Guard Academy to teach those with hearts pure to protect. He is recognized as a hero to many for his service to Irene during the Human/ Wyvern War. There are statue's dedicated to him much like the Irene statue in Phoenix Drop actually there's one in Bright Port." He explained more. "Why is he her admirer?" "He loved Lady Irene, but... According to rumor she didn't return those feeling, Heh sound familiar?" He said as he winked at me with a cocky grin. "Ha... I mean. Um... Yeah..." I said as my cheeks got hot. "I'm just yanking your chain. But, he was very much in love with her for a very long time. But her heart belonged to her people. She eventually married but due to her fame she kept her family a secret in order to keep them safe. Weather she married Xavier or not its one of the most greatest mysteries of today. It's pretty sad... Having to keep your family a secret from everyone. If it were you I'd want you to tell EVERYONE about us." Laurence made heavy eye contact with me. I put my hands on his chest pushing him away a little bit. "Laurence." I let out a nervous laugh. "Oh your face is super cute when you're feeling awkward, I love it! But really... The reason we might have a problem is because over time the Jury of Nine has seemed to become corrupted... And if it's a Jury of Nine member protecting Lord Burt, Ren and I wont be able to take them. Even if Dante joined us... I'm just saying we should play it incredibly cool, and I know your a werewolf/witch but I don't want to see you get hurt, I also know you can take care of yourself. We just need to be safe." Laurence said as he went over to his horse and I went toward Lucinda's cottage and went into her familiar home. I went in threw the kitchen and up a stair case that lead to a room where Lucinda was attending to Logans wounds. "Donna... I'm sorry..." Logan mumbled in his sleep as I came to his bed side. "Morning Blair! I have fantastic news! I was able to repair Logans bones before they pierced any of his internal organs! He is going to make a full recovery before no time." "Oh my Irene your amazing Lucinda thanks!" "I know I am. Hmm... You look like you have something on your mind... Are you okay?" Lucinda raised her neat eyebrow at me. "How far is Pikoro village from here?" "Pikoro village? Um... It's not far at all. Why do you want to go there?" She fidgeted with things. "I need to save a fellow Lord." I simply said. "I see..." She glanced up at me from what she was doing. "We are doing this for some alliance we are making just in case things with O'kahsis get out of hand." "Y-you trust me with this information?" She said wiping a tear from her eye. "Anyways um, Pikoro village is a tad North of here. Not to far off. There's a path right to it. Um... I-if you're going to go there um, please be aware that that village is not fond of ANY kind of magics user what so ever. I know in this day of age magics and witchcraft is widely accepted but... Pikoro village sticks to normal human activity and yeah, just be careful please?" "Thanks for the heads up and of course." I smiled at her as she gave me an awkward hug. "Good Logan needs just one more day to recover before he becomes conscious again. Are you planning on leaving now?" She asked. "Uh yeah that's the plan." "Well I am assuming you aren't taking Logan since he's in no shape to travel. I don't mind if he stays here to recover, just don't forget about him." She said going back to her normal Lucinda ways. "I promise." I said rolling my eyes. "You look good as a blonde!"She yelled at me as I went back down the stairs and grabbed a cookie before I left her house. When I got outside I noticed Malachi had just woke up so I went over to him. "I'm ready to go went you are mom." He said thru a tired yawn. "Well Malachi, you uh can't come with us this time. Pikoro doesn't except magical beings and it'll only put you in danger." I said to him putting my hand on his ghostly cheek. "Really? Pikoro feels that way about magics users? B-but I'm a ghost can they really catch me?" "I just don't want to chance it... Plus I am a hybrid and Laurence and Ren are coming with me, we are bending the just by us three going." "I completely understand. Oh I know I can help Logan recover while your gone! Please be safe mom." He said as he ran into Lucinda's house. "Hey ah Blair I need to speak with you for a sec." Ren said as he walked over to the tent where I was sitting. "We need you to head to Pikoro before us." I gave him a confused look. "Why?" "I fear anyone there finding out you are "zane's to be wife" might bring more bad attention than good. If a guard acting under the Jury of Nine finds out than... They might take you to Zane. If that's the case then us walking in with you will draw more attention." He explained.