Theobald strolled quickly through the forest, almost too quickly considering the enormous sack hanging from his shoulder. Malaina had been crying while packing the sack, bless her heart, the lovely woman wouldn't let them leave without supplies. She'd hugged Fenrir before they departed, speaking soft consoling words to the child. Then she stood at the edge of the Iron woods territory, and watched them until they were out of sight. Theobald sighed, his thoughts were a mess.
What now?
He'd been the right-hand man to Harald the vast. Harald had died, and so had Aeson. In one night, he had lost his closest friends, his brothers. The pack was quick to select a new alpha, naturally Fenrir would have succeeded his father but the pack had insisted that the cursed heir be expelled. So the council had elected Harald's next closest relative, Gerard Faire, to succeed him as alpha. They had even offered Fenrir a chance to remain in the pack if he joined Gerard's family as an adopted son, Theobald had put away that notion immediately.
His stomach clenched each time he thought about it, Aeson poisoned Harald?. What nonsense, the man couldn't harm a fly and the three of them had been friends since they were children. Another thing that bothered him was how quickly the whole matter had been settled, he'd have liked to dig into it but he'd given his word to Harald. If anything was to ever happen to Harald, Theobald was to take Fenrir and leave the iron woods. Theobald had never really given much thought to where they'd go, he wished he had. He stopped and glanced at Fenrir, the boy did well to keep up with him, his silence was also a blessing for Theobald, he liked things quiet. In all honesty, Theobald was worried for the child. Asides from the fact that Fenrir was mute, he also lacked feeling. The child had not shed a tear at his father's funeral, neither had he whined when he was expelled from the pack, the boy took everything in stride. But what worried Theobald were the boy's eyes. In his twenty seven years, Theobald had seen many werewolves and had fought two wars with neighboring packs, but only once had he seen eyes like Fenrir's. They belonged to a man who'd killed his mate on a whim, who burned entire villages and strung up the survivors like beef, a man who hung his victims heads on the gates of his territory. Empty eyes that were accustomed to boredom, cold and calculating eyes fit for the cruelest and most foul of werewolves. Such eyes were inappropriate for a child.
Theobald looked at Fenrir and decided to break the silence, for better or worse from here on out they were in this together.
"Tell me kid, is there anywhere you've ever wanted to go?"
Fenrir tilted his head in consideration, then shook it. Theobald sighed, when he'd first met Aeson and Harald he was eight years old, ten years younger than them and then it seemed to him that they were the ones who drove the friendship and kept it alive. Looking at Fenrir now he couldn't help but see a bit of himself in the boy, he was freshly orphaned like he had been and was suddenly thrust into the care of a guardian who wasn't cut out for the role. Then he'd met Aeson and Harald and everything from that point on kept getting better.
Fenrir turned to look back in the direction of the Iron woods and the slightest trace of emotion touched his eyes. Theobald noticed this and smiled slightly.
"You won't miss there much"
Fenrir looked at him, confused. Theobald sighed, he was going to be doing a lot of talking. And for once, he didn't mind. He placed his hand on the boy's shoulder and they continued walking, soon they came to a freshly cut path in the forest. It led them to a meadow with short grass, only a shallow creek separated them from the field up ahead.
Hoisting Fenrir unto his shoulders, Theobald waded across. The field was large and well kept, wheat grew on one side and corn on the other, the farmers stopped to watch them. Theobald waved at them, they were from a small pack that lived near the hills. One of the farmers whistled as he worked, Fenrir seemed interested in the sound so Theobald whistled until they had passed the field. Soon they came across a flower patch and Fenrir sat on a rock. Theobald watched him retrieve a wooden flute from his pocket, he played a little tune from a song the women at the Iron woods often sang to their children. It had two parts, the first was about a lonely bird who lost its way home and starved during the winter, the second was about the bird being rescued by other birds and going up to a large tree where it was never lonely again.
Fenrir only played the first part.
Theobald sat besides Fenrir. A gust of wind blew over the flowers, it pushed at the large collars of Fenrir's shirt, parting them and exposing the marks on his cheeks. For the first time in his life, Fenrir didn't try to cover them. Theobald watched him for a while before wrapping one hand around the boy. The afternoon sun was high and the breeze offered relief from the heat.
"You're going to be alright kid, you've got your whole life ahead of you and the whole world around you." He inhaled shakily, the pollen that was getting to him "We'll go anywhere you want and do whatever you want."
Fenrir placed his hand over Theobald's, his fingers moved. Theobald soon realized he was writing something.
What's up there?
"You mean the mountains?"
Yes.
"Werewolves, lots of them." He inhaled again " They've got their own foods, music. I heard the houses look different there as well"
Have you been there?
"No. You want to go there?"
Will you come with me?
"Of course, it'll be an adventure."
Fenrir smiled a little, his fingers moved again.
Then what?
"If you want, I could take you to the edge of Ulfenheim, there's a train there."
What's a train?
" You'll see"
Thank you Theobald.
Fenrir rested against his guardian. By now, Theobald's face was quite puffy, he'd forgotten how bad his allergies were. But for the first time, he didn't mind.
They'll be fine.
***
Gisela was ushered into presence of Gerard Faire, the new alpha of the iron woods pack. He was a tall man with blond hair, sharp green eyes and a nose that looked as though it had been broken repeatedly. He stared at Gisela and she stared right back. Aunt Mally did not trust this man, so Gisela didn't either. Gerard's long legs quickly ate up the distance between them and he knelt on one knee to speak to her.
"Are you the little healer?" his voice was smooth and comforting, Gisela relaxed a little.
"I'm five"
Gerard's laughter boomed across the room.
"I'm Gerard Faire, but you'll call me thirty three." His smile was contagious "You'll be living with us now five, come, I'll show you to your room."
He took her hand and led her down the hallway
Halfway there, they met a young boy of about seven years of age. He had the same blond hair and green eyes as the new alpha. Gerard introduced him to Gisela.
"Five, this is my oldest son Renard."
The boy was not as pleasant as his father.
"What kind of silly name is five?"
Gisela just stared at him, Boris did not approve. The boy flushed from embarrassment under Gisela's unamused glare.
"I'm sorry" he said before running off in the opposite direction.
Gisela and Gerard continued on their way, they met many attendants most of whom openly glared at Gisela. But she didn't mind. She was too busy listening to Boris, he knew so much, even the names of all the attendants. Gisela had to hold in a laugh when Boris told her that the short lady who tried to trip her was constipated.
Gisela wasn't sure how she felt about this new place, but as long as Boris was with her, she didn't mind. It was just as Aeson said, she'd the fine.