Her stomach rumbled, but it was quiet, and for the sake of her dignity, she hoped that he hadn't heard it.
“You don't need the sun, you need food; I know a place.”
“Get out of my sun.”
“I’ll take you there.”
Quickly she was on her feet, his arm along her waist to keep her stable.
“Are you even listening or are you just deliberately ignoring me?”
“Deliberately ignoring you.”
“What? I expect the elderly to behave with more sense,” she jabbed, annoyed with his interference.
“There are no elderly here.”
In a flash, he is with Arlo.
Then before she could tell, they were before a table that must have been prepared for them only moments ago. She was dizzy from the speed but the lovely aroma in the air could not be mistaken; there was food here.
She felt Ikrus push her into a chair and she took her seat, blinking to regain her stability and clear vision. When she finally did, she looked around. They were in a kind of glass room with flowers on the ceiling. The table before her was small but filled with different options; Arlo had his own chair in a way that ensured that the trio weren't far from one another.
Her stomach rumbled again, more loudly this time and she rolled her eyes.
“Well, I am not hungry, but since you have brought me here, I will endure this gesture because I am a lady, I cannot afford waste, and I am polite.”
“Of course.”
They held each other's gaze and then burst out in laughter.
Then they began to eat.
They talked about many things over lunch; nothing too deep. They talked of the weather, of the flowers and their seasons, of the tasty food and their favourites, of Arlo and his babyish tricks, of anything they could think of, of everything light-hearted.
Aniya never thought that Ikrus was one to laugh so loudly as he did at her jokes; she never thought he was one to find anything so humourous that his black eyes would sparkle with tears when the joyous sound would bellow from him as he kept Arlo occupied with flying food.
She liked that he laughed.
So, she laughed.
That moment… was beautiful.
____
____
Arlo did not return with them to the Pack House that evening. He was crying because his gum was hurting.
“Another tooth is going to grow,” Aniya had said, saddened that she couldn't take this pain away from her son.
However, Ikrus assured her that his Priest friend would take care of everything. “Veris will administer him herbs. Also, he has magic. Let the maids take our son to the Temple to meet Veris.”
Aniya felt weary about that. “No, you are only trying to take my son away from me again. I won't allow it, by Ignas, I won't!”
It took much assurance and a promise to return Arlo to her, before she could let him go.
“I trust the maids, I have assigned guards to follow them. Worry not. He will be returned to us shortly.”
“I will take him to the Priet myself,” Aniya said. “You can accompany me, along with the maids, and the guards.”
There was no way she wouldn't know where that Temple was; knowing the way to get her son back was the only thing that would assure her that they weren't trying to take her son away from her again.
Therefore, she had been the one to give Arlo to Veris herself. He promised that Arlo would be returned in about an hour.
Aniya stated that she would wait and she would have done so if she had not bumped into Oana while strolling around the Temple with a guard keeping an eye on her.
“What are you doing in the Temple?” Aniya asked, looking her over. She was dressed in a plain blue silken dress with a knitted robe over it, and a blue silk scarf covering most of her hair.
“Praying for Eldrick to return safely from the Hunt. What are you doing here?”
Aniya told her everything.
“You cannot stay here for an hour; you must leave.”
“Why?”
Oana looked around wearily then she held her hand.
“Even here in the Temple, many are not accommodating of you; as they are not accommodating of many strangers. It makes it worse that you wear your uniqueness on your face. I don't mean to alarm you, but you are in more danger here, and you will be safer in the Pack House.”
Aniya's heart raced.
“Then, my son—”
“Don't worry about your son; he is young, and they believe he can learn our ways. He is safe here.”
“But I was safe with you when you introduced me to those Moon Guardians in Training.”
“Moon Guardians in Training are only a tiny bit of the Temple.” She looked around, then back on her. “You really have to leave. I can hear their whispers. They think you are a stranger. We don't want the Elder Superior to come here and claim that you are soiling the holy grounds; he is a bit of a madman, but what makes that dangerous is my father listens to him.” She smiled, shaking her head.
Suddenly, Aniya didn't feel right. “Ikrus should have told me this.”
“Maybe he is trying to protect your feelings?”
“He is always blunt and does not care about my feelings when it comes to things like this. He would tell me, even if my feelings would decide to fall into the cold arms of death after that.”
Oana chuckled. “You really must leave though. I will bring him to you, don't worry.”
Just then, she heard Ikrus’ voice.
“Aniya, we really have to leave. I’ll explain everything to you—”
“She understands,” Oana said.
“Oana?”
“Brother!” She declared excitedly like she hadn't seen him in decades; she saw him just yesterday.
He lifted her in the air like a child, then stabled her on the floor. They talked with smiles, while Aniya looked around.
She saw no one else but Oana had said she heard them, so they were definitely there, watching them.
She walked over to the trio; Arlo was being taken care of in another room. Where they were in right now was a big, long hall with a glass ceiling, and their voices echoed lightly around them.
“So, I will bring him to you,” Oana said, pressing a kiss on Aniya’s cheek. “Goodbye brother, goodbye Priest. I must return to my prayers.”
Then she left.
After that, Ikrus and Aniya returned to the Pack House. There, Aniya waited.
This time, she did so with ease and confidence, not fear; after all, if an hour passed and her son wasn't returned, she knew the way and could retrieve him herself. She could endure the hatred of the Temple then.
It didn't look like Ikrus would try to stop her. He was, as always, very plain and open with his plans; if he had anything dubious planned, he would have told her.
He was too blunt not to.
Oana wasn't one to lie like that though, so she might have nothing to worry about after all.
Ikrus would not let her return to her room though, not after she had told him about the shadow intruder. He had told her that they didn't find anyone by the description that she had given, but the security had been tightened. It was easier to carry this out because Oana had also told the Luna; she couldn't tell the Alpha, though; he had been too “busy.”
“It is safer for you to stay here.”
“Just tonight?”
“Every night. With Arlo.”
“I thought you didn't want to form attachments.”
“You will merely be sleeping in my bed. Not with me. I shall be in my study the whole night.”
His cold demeanour seemed to be creeping back to the surface and she couldn't shake the feeling that it had something to do with his Priest friend.
That Priest must have said something to him, it had changed him from the version of him that existed this afternoon.
The version that she liked.
At that moment, she came to one conclusion - she didn't like this Priest Friend of his.