[IC] Set Me Free {Love Dove&Sunflower}

[Love Dove]

For thousands of years the humans had been enslaved. Although humans are unaware of how it first started, they like to believe that they were once the stronger race. They believe their downfall was the weakness of their race, namely their rulers. However things changed thirty years ago, after years from being traded back and forth between packs, of watching their secrets, the humans started to upraise against their masters. One man, one man can change everything, he made a potion now called Lycium. When he tried out the potion it was by sneaking it into the food of his masters, however soon he realized that it had a different effect than he planned, instead it forced the change. After a year the potion had been passed along in secret, giving five others the recipe and soon the upraise started. Though he died Lycium still lives on.

Thousands were killed during the upraise and to insure that they were not enslaved once more the humans created a test to prove they were worthy of becoming the ruler. They also split up spreading through the land only meeting once every few years, many new Kingdoms sprout as the humans grow in numbers. One of these is a kingdom known as Arerille, due to the capture or kill of a werewolf tribe that passed years ago, Areille is rich. The buildings and the castle in the main town are made mostly of bricks and stone, and a thick wall of gray stones surround the town keeping the people safe inside.

The castle is far from the largest of the human castles, though there is still plenty of space for improvement which are being done almost unstop. Outside the city walls though the humans of the small towns and farms live in houses made of clay and strew almost forgotten unless the King and Queen have use for them. Queen Marjorie and King Declan happily rule over Areille as they see is the best, although many of their people would disagree strongly. They have only one child Princess Jolena.

Princess Jolena had dark green eyes and long pitch black hair, which though it was in a braid, it still went well passed her shoulders. The fact that her hair was not blonde as her mother and fathers was what made most of the kingdoms people think that she was not the true princess. However it was said that the color came from her grandmother, who died years ago in the uprising. Feeling the cold steel cut across her arm Jolena blinked looking at the man in front of her, her train of thought interrupted.

“Your Highness, you need to train your focus. However are you going to be Queen if you can’t defend yourself?” Ethan said in an almost bored tone, his sword pointing at her, he was one of many things. A hunter, a trainer, a friend, and the Princesses bodyguard now was added to the list.

“Perhaps I am more worried about the parts of the test I am not fit to take well. I can beat you any day.” The princess stated rather cockily as she pushed towards him with a smile, her sword cutting a rip in the arm of his shirt followed by some blood from breaking the skin. Ethan reaction was quicker than usually though, cutting Jolena’s leg, knocking the sword from her hand, and hitting her with the kilt of his sword.

“Yes your Highness but the person wanting to kill you will not be willing to take it easy.” He responded pointing the tip of the sword at her throat. Wide eyed she nodded slowly making the man sigh and offer a hand. In three weeks the princess would have to fight for her place as Queen and ruler, it would be a fight to the death, winner take all, it was the way to prove one’s self. As the two entered the castle they were meant by a servant, a free servant.

“Your Highness, I have been asked to fetch you for dinner.” Jolena nodded but Ethan turned and headed out of the castle, muttering something about rather being dead. Sighing Jolena headed towards the dining room, staying to one side of the hallway knowing that her fathers “pet” as he called the werewolf’s cage would be kept near the guard quarters on the other side. She never could understand why they needed him in the first place. But there the guards could quickly inject him with Lycium if the kingdom was under attack.

[Sunflower]

They once were a proud people, a people who prided themselves on their heritage and abilities as well as their strength to govern the lands for generations. Thirty years ago something tipped the balance of power; entire tribes were wiped out of existence in the name of the human liberation. Thirty years ago their way of live was disrupted and turned upside down. His family had been slain, save for a few of his cousins, one of which he thought of as a sister but surely she was dead by now! Thirty years ago he had just barely become an adult; in the eyes of those before him, he was still quite young to have been elected the leader in a time of crisis. Many had taken it as an omen after the previous leader had been killed, when he had been chosen to lead them all…And he had failed in his task. Only three remained of his tribe, not counting himself.

Now he was confined to a small cage by the guard’s quarters, where he was guarded by one day and night. They threatened him with injections of Lycium, the horrible ‘antidote’ as many had put it. He was not like a human in some ways, true he bled and looked like one, he spoke their language and he had even had his heritage tied in with theirs but there was one large difference; he was what many called a skin-walker, one that could turn into an animal. There have been others like his people but they had faded into history some time ago, long before he had been born. Sadly his people were subjected to a curse, according to their mythology, that kept them tethered to the moon. The moon influenced their cycles of being able to take the skin of a wolf. That had further been regulated by the Lycium, which had robbed them of their full transformations.

Glaring around the small and dirty cage, he snarled. This was no place for him; this was no place for any of his kind. One of the passing guards kicked the bars of his cage, causing the bars to create an unpleasant noise that hurt his ears. “Shut it you werewolf scum!” he snapped. Werewolf…The slur was a common one heard, even long before this turn of power. Isard was powerless; the cage had robbed much of his strength away.
The guard left a parting gift for Isard—a large blob of saliva sitting close to his feet.

His home, his cage, was barely big enough to allow him the room to stand. By no means was Isard a small man either. Standing at an even six feet his body showed signs that once, before he was allowed to waste away, he had been well muscled in his chest and arms. Isard’s red-gold hair had gone un-brushed for so long that it grew in mats that fell a little past his shoulders. In the early years his hair would have been kept short and out of the way of the injection site for the Lycium bot no they no longer cared about injecting it into his neck. There was an interesting thing about his eyes and the eyes of all skin-walkers—they were the color of amber. This often carried into their other halves, as there wolf selves were called. One could find many adults with gray, green or brown eyes but never blue. No the blue eye color was reserved to their children and it often faded into the usual amber as they aged into toddlers. Cold amber colored eyes watched the guards as they passed on their rounds, some were heading off for a good rest and others were just beginning their day.

He knew that it was almost time for the guards to change their rounds guarding his cage. Usually there was one guard that was more talkative than the others and he was willing to give him information of the other tribes, the few that had managed to escape although they had been greatly reduced in size. This guard was a simple man and Isard never could recall his name; there were so many damned humans that had come and gone in his thirty years of captivity. It wasn’t that he hated humans entirely, he did for the slaughtering of his family but he wished to be free. Freedom was something that he missed dearly. Being able to walk in the sunlight, to smell the sweet scents of the grass and flowers…and those damned fools overlooked those little pleasures. He had, at one time, been like them, ignorant to the simple things in life and now it was his deepest regret.

“Hello.”

The voice snapped Isard out of his thoughts, looking up he could see the familiar silhouette of the man that was his favorite human, although he would never admit it. “I brought you dinner,” the man said, stepping closer to the cage. “Dinner” usually was a chunk of stale, hard bread and either a slice or two of meat or cheese. Tonight he was lucky; it was meat. The cheese often made him sick.

”I snuck it out of the kitchens for you, the meat.” the man said. He appeared to be a teen with the beginnings of a tawny colored beard to match his hair that was a few shades lighter. To Isard, the man’s eyes often looked to be black or possibly brown.

There was no thank you as Isard tore into the meat. The juices dripped down his hands and, prompting Isard to lick his hands clean before working on the chunk of bread. It was painfully obvious that meat was a luxury that had been denied to him. The man simply turned around with a small smile on his face. “I’m glad you liked it.” After finishing his small meal, Isard stared at the back of the man’s head.

”Any word…of my people?” he asked, licking bread crumbs from his fingers.

The guard shook his head, ”No. Very few sightings happen anymore. Some say that there are no more were—skin walkers,” he corrected himself.

Isard nodded and sat against the back bars of his cage. He was nothing more than the neglected pet of the King and Queen and he had grown accustomed to sitting dumbly in his cage until they had use of him. Often he was paraded around to flaunt to guests. It was rare to keep one of the “Alphas”, as the humans called them. It was ridiculous, they thought of them as dogs! The Alphas were generally seen as something that the most powerful kings could have. They were the warriors of thirty years ago that were the most hated after all.

”What of Alee?” Isard asked the guard, sitting up a little bit straighter. Perhaps this time they had caught wind of her.

The man did not know the ties between Isard and this Alee but he knew that he often asked for her. Perhaps she was a lover to the werewolf? The guard shrugged his shoulders, there had been no word of any one captured lately nor had there been anything to suggest that.

Isard slumped against the bars once more, sighing softly. He was beginning to give up hope on Alee.

He had remembered their younger years, when they would pay together in the spaces between the great trees of the forest, or when they would lay side by side on a grassy hill and watch the stars in the heavens. Alee had been important to him and in return Isard had been important to her. Thirty years ago they had made a pact with each other—to help each other stay strong.

Where was she now when he needed her the most?

[Love Dove]

As Jolena walked down the hall she could hear the short older woman following her closely, a soft sigh left her lips as she turned to her head to look at the servant. A long time ago Jolena had made it clear that if the servants wanted to speak freely with her, than they had no need to ask. Unlike her mother and father who felt that the servants and guards needed to ask before even greeting them. Jolena actually liked the company of most of the people around her, some of them she had even grown up around, like the servant who started working here in the castle when Jolena was a mere teenager. Still some people were so afraid of a few little words stepping over the line, that they forgot, it was annoying after a while of the woman following her and simple glancing at the princess from the corner of her eyes.

“Words Arabella?” She finally asked tone sounding hash in comparison of the silence between them. It made the servant shift slightly as she looked over at the princess bewildered.

“I just believe you should be more worried about your logic than your fighting skill your Highness. With all due respect, you look like hell and….” Arabella said only to stop talking completely as the Jolena glared back at her, knowing she had just crossed a line. True she likely looked like hell right now but she always did after fighting, her dress had a few cuts in it with signs of blood from the skin getting cut, and where Ethan hit her in the head with the kilt of his sword was starting to bruise. However there really was no reason to point it out, this was signs of her strength in her mind, because she wasn’t running around crying about the fact she had lost.

“What good will having a good head on my shoulders do, if it gets cut off Arabella? If I have to prove myself twice because of logic, I’d prefer to be living so I can do so.” Jolena said her tone raising enough to make a few guards look at her, as Arabella moved away from the princess a little. The princess let not a soft sigh to calm herself before nodding politely at the guards she passed, she gave the same nod to the guard watching the werewolf as they passed, her green eyes looking at the cage at the man for a second before looking away.

Every day she walked this some way to get to the dining room and back, even when she hadn’t been fighting it was this same way from the entrance of the castle to her room. She simply was unable to not acknowledge the fact there was someone there in the cage as well like her mother and father did. The werewolf had been here since before Jolena had even been born, when she was a young child her young mind had been fascinated with the strange man in the cage. Of course at the time she was much too young to understand what and who he was, she even used to try talking to him, before her mother caught her and roughly pulled her away. She didn’t even wait until they were alone to yell at Jolena that the man in the cage was a monster that would try and kill her, then the fascinated look turned to one of fear. Even as she grew to realize that he would have to actually get out of the cage, to hurt her, part of that fear still there, part had gone away when she was a teen replaced with pity for him.

“….I’m sure you would rather take that place yourself. Yes?”

Jolena blinked looking at the servant in confusion, having blocked out half of what was said, for her own thoughts. “Sorry what?” She asked, making the servant look at her again.

“I said that I did not wish to offend. However if you could not pass then you will have to wait to be able to rule, I’m sure you would rather take that place yourself. Yes?” She repeated herself looking at the princess with worry that the blow to her head was causing her to not think straight, but in truth Jolena was simply not listening to the woman.

“If I stay alive I can simply retake the test, let my mother and father rule another year.” She answered with a shrug, sure she knew that she would be a kinder ruler, but that didn’t mean that she wanted to jump in to rule, kinder wasn’t always better.

Arabella rolled her eyes opening the door for Jolena, following her into the dining room and going to work serving the princess. The dining room was rather large the long table in front of her filled with food, Queen Marjorie sat on one of the far ends, King Declan at the other. Jolena always sat in the middle instead of beside either of them, as a child she had tried, but it always caused fights with her used as the toy they fought over.

“I see Jolena! You’d rather sit beside your father! Perhaps you do not love me daughter; perhaps if I could stand the idea of your father touching me, I’d have another!”

”I see daughter! You are just weak enough for your mother too make you sit next to her. I cannot believe that a daughter of my own blood would be so weak! Are you even my daughter Jolena?”

Such was the beauty of being the daughter of two competitive parents, no, it was better to sit in the middle. Most of the dinner was eaten in silence, it was such a lovely dinner for once, which only made Jolena nervous, she was only waiting for words to be thrown…..or knives. It made the quietness hard to enjoy. “Jolena…” Her mother started, making her look up quickly. The silence was broken around the end of the dinner, it was such a shame too. “Your father and I have agreed that we should start the test to tell who your husband will be.”

[Sunflower]

He did not know her name, or who she was for that matter but Isard had a faint idea that she was the Princess. He watched her pass and faintly he remembered a curious child who had ventured too close to his cage for the comfort of the Queen. There was little joy to be found when one’s life was spent wasting in a cage but that child had shown Isard that not all were like the King and Queen—some simply did not know the dangers that many had labeled him with. True Isard would gladly kill any human that got too close to his cage but there were some like the guard sitting before his cage that he could come to find saint like and without prejudice. The man knew that Isard could harm him but he chose to lean with his back against the cage like there was nothing going to harm him.

”That was the Princess,” the guard said to him, ”I wonder why she always looks at your cage? What does she see, do you think she’s like her parents and sees nothing in this cage?” His comment made Isard’s eye twitch but he knew that he meant well. Usually it was the guard doing all of the talking, rarely did Isard ever speak.

”You tell me.” Isard’s voice was deep and rumbling, much like one would expect of him.

The guard looked over his shoulder with a slight grin, “I dunno…she might see differently than her parents.” If the guard were to be caught speaking ill of the King and Queen it spelled death, no matter what. Isard knew at least one other guard had met his fate like that. ”I don’t see an empty cage. I just see someone who wants to go home…” he admitted.

There was a snort of bitter laughter, ”I have no home. This damned cage has been my prison for thirty years.”
The guard’s eyes widened, he didn’t know that Isard had een there for that long. ”How old are you then?” He had never been able to get Isard to speak this much before and he had so many questions to ask and—

”Fifty-one.”

Fifty-one? He looked just a few years older than the guard so how?

”I age differently than you do. By your standards I am somewhere in my twenties.” he shrugged, ”I’ve been about that age…in your human years, for quite a long time.” Isard fell quiet, he had spoken too much but he didn’t feel as guilty about it. The simple guard seemed curious and it was refreshing to the man in the cage. He had grown used to harsh scowls, slurs and even beatings on the bars of his cage or injections at random times.

The guard unleashed many other questions, Isard answered only a few of them but the guard seemed to be enjoying their semi-one sided conversation.

[Love Dove]

Jolena frowned at her mother and fathers news, mostly because it was insanity in her mind, for her husband to be decided before she even won. Both of her parents had been warriors they fought in the upraise in their twenties, they battled off the others to get Areille, and within the first years they captured their little ‘pet’. However in some ways Jolena wasn’t like her parents, it was what made the servants and guard whom where around her think she would make a better ruler. She wouldn’t though in her mind and despite her skills there was no way to tell if she could win the battle. The thoughts she would before time, they didn’t make her feel better either. “Is Ethan going to be in this test?” She asked quietly only to have her father laugh at her.

“Why would the foolish Hunter be in the test?” He muttered as if she was a fool, taking another bite of his food.

Ethan would have made a good king for her, only because he had no wish to be one, she could rule Areille how she really wanted too. How it really needed to be ruled. “I think that Ethan would make a gre….” Jolena started to explain before one of her father’s personal guards interrupted quite so rudely that it even made the princess glare at the man as he stood beside the king waiting to be told he could speak. When the king gave permission the guard leaned to speak quietly in his ear.

While the royals had been enjoying their dinner, the guards had actually catch the guard that sat by the werewolf’s change speaking to it. The king and queen had long thought this was so, they had heard that the guard had been sneaking food from the kitchens, some of the servants had reported the guard speaking to the man, but they had no proof until now. The guard was a trader, he had let the wolf get into his head, it was quite clear. Now the trader had to be gotten rid of, either killed or tucked away in a cage of his own….for the safety of Areille, of course.

“How dare you be so rude as interrupt someone spe…” Jolena didn’t even get to finish speaking before her father flicked his wrist at her.

“Leave us daughter!”

Jolena looked at her mother frowning, almost as if foolishly thinking her mother would override what her father had just said. Instead she simply pursed her lips, glaring at her. She wanted to throw something, if she was still a child, she would have thrown a fit, but instead she narrowed her eyes at the guard as she got up grabbing a few pieces of bread and left as she was told. Letting the door slam shut behind her, usually there was a servant around to walk with her, but they wouldn't have be there waiting for another hour. So she walked down the hallway herself, muttering angry hurtful words she would have liked to say to her father. “…And for all I care, you both can just go to a fiery hell!” She muttered louder than she had planned in her anger.

Looking around in a slight panic to assure no one heard what she had said to her imagery image of her father, she finally realized there she was by the cage once more. She peeked at the door of the guard quarters, to see no one there. How strange. Whatever her father was needed for must have called them away. Her eyes lingered on the man inside his cage for a moment, before she crossed her arms trying to look tougher than she usually did. “You would think, that they would leave one guard with you.” She said looking at the man, her voice was naturally soft and it did not help with her trying to pull off a tough look.

“After all from what I was told, you are supposed to be such a big scary monster. Yes?” She added with a small smile on her lips, not really mocking him and much as what she was told. For the first time in almost thirteen years she moved closer to the cage, looking back towards the dinner room, as if checking to see if she would get caught closer than she had ever been before. “Here, father doesn’t feed you as much as the human prisoners.” She muttered softly throwing the bread at him before wiping her hands.

[Sunflower]

One moment Isard had been listening to the guard talking happily of the girl that he wanted to marry, the next the guard was face down with three of his fellow guard upon his back. Three more had been standing nearby with their weapons drawn, as if the man had been a danger to them. Isard made a deep rumbling noise in his chest, as if he were growling. The guards that had been standing by jumped at the noise; one even kicked the bars to his cage before they drug away the young guard. Isard could smell the man’s blood on the floor; they must have pushed his face hard into the ground. Things fell silent after that and Isard knew that the man was going to be executed. The King and Queen were never shy about asserting their power. In the quiet his mind drifted back to Alee, the guard had been on the lookout for anything about a female just like Isard.

Alee, she had been important to Isard. Not in the sense of a romantic importance, no they were bound by blood through their mothers. Isard and Alee had been born weeks apart and their mothers always allowed them to play with each other. Isard hoped that she would be alive still, and if she was he hoped that she would not venture too close to the castle, or any of the humans. There were many of their kind that often walked among the humans freely. There was little to distinguish them from the rest of the poor that went about their business; their eyes always gave them away.

The sudden and unexpected appearance of the Princess made Isard wary. ”What do you want…come to spit on me?” He asked before the bread was tossed at him. He hungrily tore into it, the way he stuffed it in his mouth made it easy to see that such foods were a luxury to him. He watched her for a small amount of time, amber eyes narrowing slightly. What was she doing talking to him and giving him bread? Was she asking to be killed, wait she was the Princess so she wouldn’t be killed either way. Punished perhaps but not killed. Isard stayed against the back of his cage, his legs were stretched before him to relieve the cramping that had set in from not moving. Her earlier words echoed in his mind and he answered her question truthfully. ”You have no idea, Princess, how correct your mother and father are to say that I am a monster.”

Oh they were right to tell their daughter he was a monster; Isard would love to see them without the guards, without anything. He may have been kept in a dirty, stinky cage for thirty years but he was just as much of a warrior as he had been in his younger years. ”But I could say the same about them…or you, but you seem to be different. Am I correct? You desire something more than the reputation they would give you, even before you begin to rule.” He knew the reputation of the King and Queen, he had fought against them and he would not doubt that they tarnished their daughters reputation already.

---

Within the outskirts of the city, three figures emerged from one of the side paths that many took instead of the roads. Two were tall, masculine figured clad in the dark, fur trimmed cloaks common of the farmers up north in the Kingdom. The third figure was shorter and could have been mistaken for a young boy rather than for a woman. They quietly walked with the smaller figure closer to the front. They had hoods drawn over their eyes. Not many cared to look in their direction, thinking nothing of them.

“Alee…”One of the taller figures in the back caught the attention of the shorter one in front.

“What is it?” The figure was definitely female, although her voice had a harsh tone to it.

“Should we be here? Our—“The man was elbowed in the ribs by his companion by his side; he gave a slight grunt but fell silent.

“Yes. We need supplies that we cannot make…and we need to find out if there is word of Isard.” Alee said as they walked to the center of the city where the market was. The trio moved carefully, it was always risky coming into the city given the fact that many thought of them as nothing more than the faint memories of those from thirty years ago.

[Love Dove]

Jolena frowned when he asked if she was going to spit on him, she was certain that was something she had neither done, nor planned to do. “What purpose would I possibly have to spit on a man who can do nothing in response to it?” She asked with shake of her head as she watched the werewolf tear into the bread she had thrown to him, wiping her hands on her dress. Walking around cage, she peeked into the guards’ quarters to see that indeed there were no guards inside. It was an uneasy feeling to know no one was watching this man. Not that his next statement helped her nerves either, she turned to look at him, and smirked slightly.

“Ah well that is a same. If you truly are a monster, than perhaps it is an actual good thing you are locked in that cage where you can’t hurt anyone. Yes?” She answered.

She had no doubt that he was powerful, after all wasn’t that something her mother had told her. Or maybe that they were great warriors? She knew that he was one that fought against her parents, however that was how her father captured the man. Ah well she truly didn’t see it mattering very much anymore. After he was in the tiny cage and she wasn’t. She could leave and be done talking to him, while he could not. Jolena smiled softly making her way around the cage listening to him talk about how her parents were monsters as well.

Well almost everyone in Areille, hell even outside of Areille, knew that her mother and father were monsters. It really was something she could not control, she had tried to make them nicer, but they got so jealous of each other that it never worked. She looked at him when he mentioned the fact she seemed different and didn’t want her reputation tarnished. “You are quite correct werewolf, both that my parents and that I am different. However I’m afraid such things cannot be changed until I rule. Reputations could be fixed with work.” She answered showing a hint of sadness, before she could hide it away and out of sight quickly, but not out of mind.

“Besides, what kind of man that prides himself on being monster would care of my reputation?” She said frowning as her green eyes watching him for any body langue whatsoever. The way his wording was put it almost seemed as if he cared about her reputation, though that made no sense to her. After all the only thing that she would have to do with him after she got the chance to rule, would be the fact that she would be the one to own him and his cage then. She would be the one to figure out what was to be done with him, and not her parents.

[Sunflower]

”By your standards, the ones that you have been taught by the adults that once served in the lands of my people, I am a monster; Anyone could brand you a monster when you are defending your home, family and life.” he said. Isard sighed; he didn’t know how heavily the tangled history between his people and hers had been altered. It was easy to edit out parts in order to make yourself look better.

”When you were a child you approached my cage curiously. You were the first to show me any sort of…well, anything different than what I have been accustomed to. The guard that had been standing watch in front of my home has been executed, under the orders of your parents simply for talking to me and bringing me bits of food here and there.” Part of Isard wanted to break the princess, to teach her a lesson in what her parents and people really were. But there was that small section of him that seen her as that curious, harmless child from all of those years ago who had openly approached his cage. The man shifted uncomfortably, when was the last time that he stood? The cage didn’t allow him the liberty of standing, well he could kneel but that just wasn’t the same. He missed being able to works the knots from his legs by walking around.

”Is that really fair that he had to die for just telling me of himself, while you are here talking to me? If your parents really wanted to make an example that talking to me deserves death then they should kill you as they have him.” Isard was bitter, so very bitter that it reached down into his core. He hated the King and Queen, he hated the people of their kingdom and well, he hated the Princess for standing by when she could have done something. It really was not fair in his eyes that his favorite human had to be killed when the black haired Princess was standing before him and doing the same as the guard. He had never talked do much to anyone during his imprisonment here, his throat was beginning to ache and he was growing more and more furious with the presence of the girl. She was a product of those two, those whose war crimes far outnumbered his.

---

The men and Alee packed away their new supplies within the leather bags they kept hidden under their cloaks. Looking to the castle walls they could see the severed head of a recently killed man being placed on a pike. One of the men made a low grunt in the back of his throat as they followed after the female. She approached the bottom of the castle walls, a distance away so she would not come into contact with the crowd that had gathered there.

”THIS MAN WAS CAUGHT FRATERNIZING WITH A WEREWOLF! LETS THIS BE A WARNING TO YOU ALL! HE WAS A TRAITOR TO THE KINGDOM AND DESEREVED TO DIE!” One of the guards yelled, his clothing was richly decorated compared to those of the other guards that stood around, marking him as close to the King and Queen.

The crowd began to mumble and a cry rang out as a woman collapsed to her knees, crying at the sight and news of her son’s death.

”And they call us monsters…”Alee said as she turned from the wall. The men followed after her quietly. The men were on guard, one could never be too careful in a place where shakedowns were quite the norm. It was the way of the King and Queen to find any rats among their mice. Once they had been given away by an informant, someone who kept an eye and ear out for werewolves in hiding. The informant has been threatened with death and had spilled the beans faster than a man could run.

[Love Dove]

Jolena hadn’t been aware of what had happened to the guard that stood in front of the werewolf’s cage. Though part of her should have known, after all her parents seemed to enjoy getting rid of the people in the kingdom that they disliked by killing them in the title of traitor. Half of which were far from being a real traitor. The princess let out a sigh looking away from the cage to the doors of the dining hall. “It is a shame, I truly was unaware.” She said in a sad and soft tone looking back at the man in the cage. Unfortunately however she had no control of her parents whatsoever, in fact for most things like this she was told to just leave their sight. Her parents did better at keeping taps on her, than they involving her in their business, which the fact she was standing here talking to this man; clearly spoke volumes on their watch of her.

A frown spread across her lips and Jolena shook her head taking a few steps back from the cage at the suggestion that she should be killed like the guard had been. “It is not fair. Though you are older than me, shouldn’t you of all people be aware that life isn’t fair.” She said tilting her head to look at him with a curious look, wondering how he could be so upset about a human being killed in the first place. Having the truth twisted by her parents to believe that his kind would kill hers with no feeling but enjoyment, just for their freedom. That the human like look the man before her had was only a trick to make her feel sorry for him.“Besides, by not believing the same as my parents, I’m the most welcome among the other royals. I am safe because if I were killed it couldn’t be blamed on one of your kind. I can tarnish my parent’s reputation quite as easily as they mine. I’m just not the kind to do such a thing.” She said with a small smirk before turning on her heels.

“Good night werewolf.” She muttered quietly before leaving him and going to her room for the night. Changing from her dirty cut clothing before laying down on her bed sleep coming quickly to her.

~~~

Princess Jolena’s days were usually quite boring, eating breakfast in her room alone followed by lessons. It was important for her to know the history like even the non royal humans of how they overcame belonging to the werewolves, she also had training with Ethan. However from a very young age Queen Marjorie insisted that her daughter take singing lessons as well. Even after realizing that it was mostly to get rid of her for a few years, Jolena stuck with it.

This morning though would be very different. A loud pound on the door of her chambers was enough to make her jump from both her bed and her skin, she barely had enough time to make herself look even slightly presentable before another came and she hurried to open the door. A faked smile focused itself on Jolena’s face as she looked at the barely armored guards that stood in front of her room. “What can I do for you?” She asked kindly to the guards that didn’t return her smile.

“We have been ordered to retrieve you Princess.” One of the men said before grabbing a hold of her forearm, pulling her from her room.

[Sunflower]

High in the top of the trees rested the female known as Alee; her cloak was wrapped tightly around her figure. They were running out of time to find Isard alive and well, hopefully. Many voiced their opinions that Isard was in fact dead and she was just chasing spirits but Alee and a few others, such as the men that followed behind her, believed otherwise. Isard had been too strong to br killed so easily. The man was incredibly stubborn and his drive for freedom would be his only aid. She knew him so much better than anyone else, they had been raised together after all.

The fair haired woman sighed softly to herself and from her vantage point in the trees she could see the city below and the castle off in the distance. "Isard...I hope you're alive..." she muttered to herself before she climbed from the tree and settled on the ground where breakfast was already being made. Their camp was close to a stream and hidden within a small gully that was bordered by a few large boulders that created a wall against the wind. They would head into the city after breakfast to scout out a way into the castle, or if there was any news of Isard. He was their hope in restoring their people to their former glory, and to bring peace. There were many who talked of attacking the humans and taking back what was rightfully theirs. It was people like them that made Alee frantic in finding Isard.

"It is ready, Alee. You must eat." One of the men, a dark haired man with brown eyes, spoke to her. His name was Imir. To his right sat a man that resembled him very much and the only difference in their appearances was Imir was smooth shaven. "We've been-"

"You've been talking about me?" she stated with a raised brow.

The men shared a look of apprehension before Imir spoke up once more. "We're just worried about you. Trying to find Isard is taking a toll on you and we think that-"

"Finding him is not a waste of our efforts, Imir! He is alive, I know it." She did not have the tone of someone who was trying to convince themselves of something. Alee's voice was confident and sure in her thoughts. "You should both remember that Isard was a stubborn fool in his youth and that trait has probably grown by now. He wouldn't give up so easily...not when we're all out here." Alee, Isard, Imir and the other man, Yalen, had all grown up together; Imir and his brother Yalen sharing a close bond to the other two. All four were related to some extent as cousins.

They would not give up on Imir, he wouldn’tt give up on them in the same situation. For now the trio would hang back, collect more supplies and eventually think of a plan to rescue Imir.
--

Within the confines of the castle, Imir was fed a small meal of stale bread and water before the door to his cage was opened. ”The King and Queen demand your presence, werewolf.” Oh how lovely, his only taste of freedom and the ability to stand to his full height weighed on the shoulders of two people who couldn’t even decide if they wanted their daughter on one side of the table or the other. It was no secret that the servants gossiped about them, the royal family. There was no one to help him from his cage as the guards stood with their swords drawn as if the weakened man was a threat. Well he was, even in this state he was still plenty strong.

When was the last time he was allowed to stand outside of his confining cage? It felt like forever as his bones and muscles ached upon being straightened. Isard towered over many of the guards, his matter hair falling around his shoulders like a dirty halo, and his small covering made of strips of cloth sewn together hung from his thin hips. He was wobbly like a new born calf and it took him a few minutes to remember how to work his legs. Isard was pushed from behind and the orders to mover were barked out to him harshly. He grit his teeth as he walked like an obedient dog. Where was Alee and when was she going to get him out of this hell hole?