12. The Dream
twelve
The Dream
*AZADEH*
W alking next to Endellion, I realize he is quite tall, definitely taller than Flinn. His facial structure is even, looking like he jumped right out of a painting. He looks a bit stern but also more composed than Caelan… and those silver eyes.
He smirks. “Do you like what you see, Princess?” he teases.
I try hard not to look flustered. Luckily, I don’t tend to blush even when utterly embarrassed, unlike Simin, whose neck turns red then. “I apologize for staring,” I say quietly. “Of course, you are all very attractive.”
To my surprise, Endellion is the one to look flustered now. He turns his head away and mutters something. I can swear something flashes in his eyes, and for a moment his eye color changes to black.
“How are you doing that?” I whisper. “With your eyes?”
“Goddess,” he groans, the tips of his ears turning slightly red. “You noticed. It’s just… when our eyes change color, it’s our wolves who come forward. Normally, it happens when our emotions are strong, or our wolf is triggered by something… something they like or a threat they feel.”
“Did I upset your wolf?” I ask worriedly, staring right into his silver eyes.
Again, something flashes in Endellion’s eyes. He sighs. “Don’t be scared now, Azadeh, please.”
I nod, noticing how his eyes turn black and his whole demeanor changes. “Hello, little princess,” he says, his voice darker and hoarser than before. He reaches out his hand towards me, and I carefully take it. “I’m Caspian.”
My eyes widen as I look at him, fascinated. “You are Endellion’s wolf? It’s an honor to meet you, Caspian.”
“And, you are not scared?” He smirks as he keeps staring into my eyes, like he is looking right into my soul. “It’s been a while since someone has dared to look right into our eyes, for so long.” He sounds pleased.
I tilt my head, feeling flustered by his words. “It’s not my intention to upset you,” I soothe him. “It’s just… everything is so new to me.”
“You are not upsetting us. I like a strong princess.” His lips tug into a smile as he bows his head, and gently squeezes my hand. He turns it slightly, tracing my palm with his finger. “You have a beautiful little mark here.”
“That’s a mole,” I tell him. “It’s shaped like a sun. I thought it’s ugly, but somehow it became part of me.”
“It’s not ugly,” he says, making a movement as if he wants to kiss it. Then he moves away, and when he looks back up at me, Endellion’s eyes have returned to silver.
“I told him to behave,” he chuckles. “I think he was about to kiss your hand and slobber on it.”
His words make me suppress a giggle.
“Come, we are here.” Endellion gestures towards a beautiful house close to the town’s center. I was so busy talking to him and Caspian I didn’t pay much attention to the town, but now, as I look around, I see lots of small shops and little bars and restaurants. It’s fascinating how they organize their packs like towns.
Ita’s parents live in a beautiful and fancy house. It’s obvious they are ranked members of this pack.
Endellion puts a hand against my back and gently leads me towards the door. The gesture surprises me and warms me up from inside. Before we even have reached the door, a man who looks in his forties opens it. His eyes gleam with pride and joy, and he bows towards us. “Prince Endellion and Princess Azadeh.”
I’m shocked he already knows my name, but follow Endellion’s example, who greets the man warmly. It’s Ita’s father, I realize, a man named Sloan. Inside his house, I see two boys running towards Endellion excitedly. They must be Ita’s brothers.
Endellion gets down on his knees to be at eye level with them and tousles their hair. “Look at how tall you’ve become.”
They beam in pride before eyeing me curiously. “Prince Ende, who is that?”
“That’s Princess Azadeh, the Desert Princess,” Endellion explains to them.
“Boys,” Sloan scolds. “This is not how we greet a guest.”
“Sorry.” They scramble to their feet and bow in front of me. If I had to guess, I’d say they are between eight and twelve, and clearly two joyful boys. Their father sends them away so that we can finally meet his mate, Doreen, and their newborn. She is currently resting in their living room with the baby in her arms. “Oh, Prince Endellion and Princess Azadeh, what an honor!” She smiles brightly at us, her smile only growing when Endellion hands her a basket, full of presents the palace had prepared. I’ve heard they put gifts for the newborn baby in it and food.
Doreen and Sloan seem to know Endellion and his family well, which makes sense, seeing how Ita is Gamma and how she is part of the royal family in a way. What surprises me more is how welcoming they are to me, a literal stranger. “Princess Azadeh,” Doreen looks at me and casts her eyes downward in an almost submissive gesture. “Ita told me that you saved her life during the blizzard. That you saved them all. I wanted to thank you for saving my daughter. It means the world to me.”
My eyes widen. “But I didn’t do anything,” I say. “It’s all just working on instinct.”
“Your instincts wanted to save my girl,” her mate backs her up. “And we are so thankful you were there.”
A part of me feels I don’t deserve the praise. Maybe me being there was the reason they were attacked in the first place. It reminds me all of a sudden that I still didn’t have the talk with the king yet, about what happened that day.
Endellion and I spend half an hour with the family before we return to the castle.
“Endellion-” I look at him earnestly. “When does the king, your father, want to talk to me? I know he wants to find out what I saw that day during the blizzard, and also hear about what happened during the werebear attack.”
Endellion sighs. “We wanted to give you a few days to settle in before pestering you with this.”
Their consideration touches me, but it’s not necessary. “If there is danger lurking out there, I want to help as much as possible.”
Endellion looks at me, marveling. “You are nothing like I expected you to be.”
“Is this a bad thing?” I ask cautiously.
A smile lights up his earnest face. “Not at all,” he beams at me. “In fact, it’s a huge honor for us all that you are trying to learn so much about us and our customs, and that you wish to help already.”
I’m not sure what to reply to his words. This is my new home, and I need to make an effort too, if I want to find a place here. I wonder what they expected when they heard that I’d come to live with them. Well, at least they seem to be positively surprised. It was a busy day, and we’ve missed lunch, but it seems that’s nothing too unusual either. Endellion shows me where the kitchen is, and the sweet kitchen chef promises to bring me something up to my room, and something for Endellion to his office.
“We hardly ever make it to lunch in time, due to work,” Endellion explains to me. “The staff are prepared for that and usually has leftovers from lunch for us. So, never feel embarrassed to come here and ask for your lunch. They are actually waiting for us to tell them we are ready to have it.”
I nod and reassure him I won’t starve myself just because I’m embarrassed to ask for something to eat. Endellion then accompanies me to the floor my room is on and leaves me alone to take a bit of a rest. I take a swift bath before I change into fresh clothes and drop onto my bed.
I didn’t plan to sleep, but after the last few days where I was hardly able to sleep, I welcomed the rest.
Princess of the Sun. Princess…
I shift around when I hear the voice in my head, still in a place between sleeping and waking. “Who is there?” I whisper.
Princess … In front of my inner eye, I can see a young man. His skin is pale, piercing blue eyes looking at me in despair. His hair is white and long. Next to him, there is a young woman. She looks almost identical to him, just that she is a female. She looks tired, her lips are pale as if they have been drained of blood. Princess of the Desert .
Who are you? I enquire.
You can see us? He asks with a mixture of surprise and hope.
I’m fully alert now but force myself not to wake up from my dream. She is here , the young man whispers. We can’t wake up. She is here. I have to go .
Your name , I urge.
Favian . He says before he disappears.
I sit up straight in my bed, a pounding headache accompanying my every movement. Was this real? I groan as I make it out of my bed and trot to my small office, noticing a plate of food there. It seems one of the maids was here while I was asleep. Before I can sit down and take a bite though, there is a knock at the door.
“Yes?” I mumble sleepily while I open it, surprised to see Royan.
“Princess.” His smile falters when he sees me, worry clouding his eyes. “You look pale. Are you not feeling well?”
“I’m fine,” I say quietly. “Did something happen?”
“I’m here to pick you up,” he says, still eyeing me cautiously.
“Pick me up?”
“For dinner,” he clarifies. “The royal family always has dinner together.”
“Dinner!?” I exclaim. Shock has to be written all over my face, as Royan looks at me, concerned. It was barely past lunch when I came to my room. How is this possible?
“Princess Azadeh,” Royan’s expression is dead serious now. “I can feel that there is something off. Please talk to me.”
“I’m just… I didn’t notice that so much time had passed.”
His expression relaxes, to a degree. “You had a few, very hard, days traveling here,” he soothes me. “It’s just natural that your body needs some rest.”
I’m not sure if that’s truly what happened, but I don’t want him to be even more worried, so I just nod at his words. I need to figure this out first before I talk to someone. Maybe Shayan could give me some advice.
“Is Simin in her chambers, too?” I ask.
“Yes, I can pick up her scent here,” Royan says.
We make sure to halt at her door and pick her up, too. Unlike me, Simin is actually prepared for dinner and seems to be already waiting for it. “I’m so hungry,” she exclaims.
Royan smiles at her. “It’s good you found your appetite.”
“What did you do for the remainder of the day?” I ask her.
“I spent most of my time with Alana, Ita and Tynan,” she tells me. “They seem to be really good friends.”
“They are,” Royan explains. “Alana and Tynan underwent the same training, and they went to school together. Gamma Ita is a year older and a mentor to both of them. The three of them are inseparable actually, always have been, even as kids.”
“It’s great that Alana has such good friends,” I say. Things might have been lonely for me in the desert, but at least I had Shayan and Simin. Friends are so important.
“Say, Royan,” Simin eyes the Gamma curiously. “You are Azadeh’s bodyguard, right?”
He nods. “I’m actually her Gamma. It’s unusual for a pack to have more than one Gamma. But the king announced me as one to make sure the princess is protected.”
“How come you aren’t around Azadeh all the time, then?” she asks directly, before clapping her hand over her mouth. “I apologize! I didn’t mean to suggest that you weren’t diligent about your duties.”
Royan just smiles, though. “You are right to ask, little Simin,” he advises her. “Whenever the triplet princes or another ranked member are with Princess Azadeh, I’m supposed to go on about my other duties.”
He offers me and Simin his arms, and we both take them. There is something in his whole being that makes me feel comfortable around him.
“Dinner is grilled meat and fish today,” he tells us.
I notice Simin’s face and chuckle.
“Don’t you like meat?” Royan asks her.
“I… I’m normally a vegetarian, mostly,” she admits. “It’s not that I hate meat.” She looks at me for help.
“We just have a lot less meat in our home kitchen,” I explain. “But, please don’t worry, we will adjust.”
“Oh, but we can make sure that there are always side dishes,” Royan reassures us.
“I don’t want to be a bother,” Simin worries.
“I will be subtle about it,” he promises. “We have a meeting between the ranked members every second day. I will just casually point out that we should make sure you get enough food with nutritional value, since you are humans.”
I contemplate pressing the point that it’s not necessary, but seeing how Simin looks so hopeful, I decide to go with it. To be very honest, a few more vegetables wouldn’t be bad. Simin and I aren’t wolves after all.