Staying Back With The Giants

After listening to all Alorea had to say, the captain of the fox wolves, Frey was not ready to believe her. He had so much loyalty to the family of Daemon, more than he ever had towards Alorea's grandfather when he was the king of the giants.

"If what you say is true, I will get back to you. If what you say is nothing but crumbs of lies and deceitful plots, I will get back to you. For now, you should leave this place." He told Alorea, but she was not ready to leave.

Alorea had her own plans, oblivious to Frey. She could not achieve her ambitions if she turned her back and returned to the night wolves. First, she needed to secure the claws of power again, all five of them. She still had one with her, a secret that nobody was aware of except the wizard Okrapticuiz.

Also, she had to get Shereena exposed for her evil plots against her own father. Not because Alorea wanted Daemon to live, but she just felt a need to alert Daemon. This would make him more suspicious of the people around him. She thought that if he had more issues surrounding his domestic self, he would not have enough time to plot a war outside his borders. That would keep the entire werewolf community at peace.

After losing all of her friends apart from Baldwin to Daemon's evil executions, she was even less ready to see a war befall her people again. That would mean that all of her sacrifices were for nothing.

Lastly, she had to get back at Clingy for all he had done to her. Since he betrayed her at the tavern, she had not gotten to speak to him again. She wanted to see him one more time, and ask why he had done that to her. It was not as though she hoped he would be remorseful, but she would not feel better if she did not speak to him.

"I cannot leave yet." She told the scarred leader of the fox wolves.

"Why do you say so?"

"I cannot return to my land without securing peace. Your alpha still owes me one thing - A promise to not invade my land the moment I turn my back. I need to hear that promise."

"If that is what you want, I guess it is what I will give you." Frey sneered. "If I discover that you told a lie against our princess, then it would be easier to get back at you."

He smiled, evil in his eyes. Yet Alorea responded with a smile too, not minding his efforts to instill fear in her.

"You should find a place for me to stay." She said.

"What? How dare you?!" Frey felt insulted. She was not his princess, how dare she try to give him commands?

"Forgive me, Captain, but is that not the best way for you to know where I will be when you come looking for me?"

As he heard those words, his sneered receded and he found some amount of sense in it. He smiled and responded.

"Very well, then. I shall help you to get a place. Nobody else shall know about it but me."

Alorea smiled inside. She had managed to acquire a safehouse, under the protection of the captain of the giant foxes himself while she would live within an enemy territory. Her plan was going exactly the way she would hope.

As Frey found her a house to stay, she told Baldwin to return to the night wolves.

"Go, Baldwin. Tell my parents that I am safe."

The old man did not want to leave, but in the end, he conceded to her requests.

"Give this to my father. Do not allow anybody else to receive it in his stead. He must be the only one to read it."

It was a letter which she had written to her father. A letter containing massive secrets which she had not shared with anyone before. It also contained a request. A request that would help her understand the most confusing things that she had encountered ever since she woke up back in time.

"Very well, princess. I will do as you please."

As Baldwin exited the land of the giants, riding on the giant horse which she had acquired from Daemon's palace, Alorea watched with a cloak over her face.

Gone were the days when Baldwin would travel down every werewolf kingdom as a wolf, running and pacing across borders with his blistering speed. Alorea could remember some of it when she was still a child. But now he was too old and weak for that. He could only depend on the existence of horses to ease his travel.

Then Frey came to meet her from behind. He had found a place for her to stay, with even a female servant to attend to her during her stay. Alorea knew that this female servant was nothing but a spy for Frey. After everything which she had experienced, she knew how deceitful the people of the giants could be.

"Cloris is a good wolf maiden. She would take care of you for the time you will remain, until I can help you to see the alpha again. And that will happen only if what you accused Shereena of is true". Frey said, showing Alorea to the young lady who would serve her during her secret stay.

Cloris was a girl of little stature, of great similitude to every other giant women. She had significantly large eyes and a nose pointing forwards, her skin glistened to the touch of the rays and she seldom smiled.

Alorea knew she would be more of a monitoring spirit than a actual help to her, but still she welcomed her with smiles.

"I shall go and meet your former partner, whatever his name is."

He was talking about Clingy. Alorea nodded.

"His name is not really Clingy, but Nathan." She said. It was not like she was entirely sure that he was Nathan, but she was ready to throw all her coins into this. She could no longer allow herself to be in the dark. Demeatris knew something about Nathan and whatever it was, she could tell that it was definitely connected to Clingy.

She also recalled a memory where Clingy was telling her something about his past. It was their last night together, the night when she got drunk. He told something which was supposed to be a secret, his real name, his real identity.

But it was blur in her head, she could not seperate the words. She could not connect the dots. But she knew that it was there.

"His father was killed while protecting prince Scorpio many years ago. He is full of resentment for the prince of the rising sun as well as anyone who are allies with him. And that includes the alpha Daemon."

"What about the princess? She is set to marry Scorpio."

"Shereena has no desire to marry Scorpio. She is just using him to achieve her own objectives..."

"And how do you know that?"

"I know that because I am a woman. I have lost count of the number of men who have requested for my hand, sire. And I can tell you, if I did not like them and I just wanted to play along, I would do exactly what princess Shereena is doing."

"But that does not prove that they want to kill the king." Frey noted. Even if all what Alorea had said was true, there was still nothing suggesting that Shereena and Clingy were plotting treason.

"There is a something I have not told you." Alorea smiled, happy that their conversation had finally come to this stage.

**********************

After listening to Alorea, Frey sighed, seeing some little sense in what she had said. Then he turned away, about to leave.

"If I interrogate him and find the slightest bit of treachery in his responses, I shall drag him in front of his majesty and make him confess his sins."

Frey promised as he left.

Alorea watched him disappear, his most loyal men accompanying him.

Then she noticed another figure leave as well.

"Who is that?" She followed in suspicion. Whomever it was, they had been eavesdropping on hers and Frey's conversation.

When she got to the place, it was too late. The person had vanished into the crowd of people who walked up and down the streets in numbers. There was no way she could them out apart from the other people.

"What is it, mistress?!" Cloris had run after her the moment she raced after the suspicious fellow.

Alorea wondered if apart from Cloris, there was another spy whom Frey had stationed to watch after her. If the person was not sent by Frey, then could it be that Shereena had someone watch over her? Could it be Clingy himself? Or worse, was it Daemon who sent the person?

Whatever it was, whomever it was, something told her that it was just a matter of time before she got to the root of it.