The Forest

Forty-Four.

"That should be the last of your stuff."

I set down the last piece of Xerxes belongings in front of him.

Today was the day Xerxes officially moves out. He had been in our house for months now. A constant figure since Lyell's death. 

But now he's moving out. He wasn't leaving our new home, but he was going to live with that human girl Maisie. The two were together from what I had gathered.

Maisie lived about a mile out in her own little wooden cottage. It was smaller than ours and lacked the fancy oven that I have. Perhaps Xerxes will give Maisie her own fancy oven like Court gave me mine.

"Thank you, Ruby. I assume you'll be fine here?" Xerxes asked.

"Yeah, I should be fine. Lotus is coming over more often, and Court will be home more often as well. He's also offered for me to come along with him when he has pack business stuff with Thorin." I told him.

"Good. Well Maisie and I aren't that far out if you need anything." Xerxes told me.

"Thank you, Xerxes. It'll be different without you around, but things are different in general." 

"Yeah, they are, I miss how things once were, but the future holds a lot of good things." Xerxes stated.

I smiled. "Yeah, I miss the cabin when it was just the four of us there and Court was balancing his life with the village and being both a prince and a wolf-shifter." I whispered.

Xerxes let out a sad smile at the mention of Lyell.

He moved forward and hugged me. I was taken back by the sudden display of affection from him. I wasn't expecting it. To be exact Xerxes had never really been one to display affection to anyone besides his brothers.

But I welcomed the hug none the less.

"I'll miss having you around." I told him.

"I won't be that far." Xerxes told me.

"I know, you should get going. I'm sure Maisie is waiting for you." I told him.

"Yeah, she's been getting that house ready since I told her that I'd be moving in with her." Xerxes mused with a smile.

He looks really happy which makes me happy. He seemed very closed off since Lyell's death. Now he's moving out to be with a woman he's in a relationship with.

"I should get going, thanks for helping me pack. Be safe Ruby."

Xerxes gathered the last of his things before he left, leaving me alone in the cabin once more. I let out a small breath before closing the door and walking in.

I did miss the old cabin and the life that I had there.

Things were so simple there. Everything ran according to a schedule and things never changed there.

Most mornings Court was gone as he did have a life as a prince and had to keep up appearances to avoid suspicion. But he was still available for me. Most of the time was spent reading books from Lyell's collection, mostly my grandmother's journals, and baking.

Everything was so simple. Both my parents were alive even if I didn't get to see them. Back then I was just some ordinary human girl that Court had taken as part of the monthly sacrifice.

I missed the way things once were. They were some of the best times of my life.

But I couldn't just reminisce over former parts of my life forever. There are still good things here to do in Court and I's new cabin.