#13 The Dragon King and his Werewolf Princess

The horse pulled the carriage along the bumpy cobblestone roads. We were nearing the borders of the Royal City, heading towards the Dark Forest. River pushed the dark red curtains to the side so she could look out the large window on her side of the carriage.

“It’s so pretty,” She said, watching as the tall buildings whizzed by, “Our cities don’t look like this.”

“What do your cities look like?” I asked curiously.

“More industrial. Think buildings twice as tall as these, streets instead of sidewalks bustling with moving metal boxes that speed by at a rate much faster than this horse and buggy, smokestacks puffing pollution into the air, and far less green space.” River waved her hands around as she spoke, but I could tell by the look on her face that she wasn’t a fan of these human cities.

Honestly, they didn’t sound so great, either.

“Are there many cities?” I asked.

“More than one, that’s for sure,” She laughed, “But, there’s more small towns and the werewolf realm isn’t as developed as the human one.”

“It takes about two hours to get to the Dark Forest from the Royal City. In between are open fields, mountains, and a few stray farming villages. We can stop and stretch our legs in about an hour, there’s a small village at the base of a mountain.” I explained and she nodded, not taking her eyes away from the window.

For a while, we sat in silence, River looking out the window and me looking at her. After a while, she shivered and I figured she was getting cold, so I raised the temperature inside the carriage and warmed up some tea in the small coffee maker on board.

“I’m impressed with the accommodations.” She laughed, taking the cup from my hand and sipping on the steaming hot tea.

“I’m happy to hear that. Only the best for the wayward werewolf princess.” I smirked devilishly at her.

As she sipped on the tea, she looked at me curiously, like something was brewing her mind.

“Vix and Magnor, are they your only siblings?” She asked after a moment.

“Oh, no, I must have twenty or more by now.” I chuckled.

“You don’t know for sure?” She asked.

“Twenty-six, twelve sisters and fourteen brothers. Mag is older than me, but there are four more above him and two sisters. The rest are younger than me, including Vix.” I clarified, sensing her concern.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound judgey,” She sighed, “It’s just, I’m very close to my brothers and I thought that maybe it wasn’t the same for you.”

“I’m not close with most of them, just Vix and Mag. The others have gone their own ways. Some have joined the army, others live among the people, some had other gifts other than shifting as Trainors or Guardians, and some of them have moved away to live in other regions,” I replied, “But, my parents make time to visit all of their children, no matter where they end up.”

“How did they know you were the King? I suspect you don’t have a Trial with that many heirs.” She laughed shortly.

“I have the black dragon which signifies the next King.” I said,

“Well that’s simple enough. Sometimes I wish it was that simple for us.” She scoffed.

“No you don’t. There’s a reason your monarch operates that way. It’s unique to your people.” I shook my head.

“That’s true. The first King and Queen of the new werewolf realm didn’t want the monarch to look the same as it did before. They didn’t want it to be a patriarchal society. They wanted the realm and all the packs to consider she-wolves just as powerful and strong as the males.” River’s eyes pinched together as they focused on her people’s history.

“See? There’s always a reason.” I smiled.

“And what’s the reason for the black dragon?” She asked.

“The Mother Dragon passes down the black dragon to whomever she deems worthy of being the next monarch, and it’s always been a son.” I explained.

“So, it could be a daughter? It could be a Queen?”

“I suppose so, yes,” I nodded thoughtfully, “Nevertheless, blood is only blood. I’ve told you before, River, the Queen is just as important and respected as the King. It doesn’t matter who was named first. I don’t want you to think for one second that you wouldn’t be valued.”

“I don’t think that, Calix,” She shook her head, “I understand that your people value their monarch, their King and Queen, just as much as my people do. I have no argument there.”

“You just have arguments everywhere else?” I laughed humorlessly.

“Well, maybe.” She smirked.

“I want to hear all your arguments, River, every last one and I want to talk about them.” I said seriously, leaning forward in my seat to close the distance between us.

“I don’t know if you can handle everything.” She leveled me with a teasing gaze.

“Lay it on me.”

We spent the next hour talking about all of River’s concerns from within the realm. She wanted to know how the monarch ran, how the realm was structured, about the people, the market, the finances, and everything in between. It was easy to see that she was a proud leader of her people, a proud princess who would accept nothing less than the best for her people and I couldn’t help but feel excited by the fact that she had the same desire to oversee the care of my people; our people, as I saw it.

We reached the village under the mountain and tied up the horses. I hopped out of the carriage and helped River out as well. We walked through the town until River found something that attracted her attention. We ordered food from a small stand and sat at one of the many picnic tables in the market to eat. Her guards stood around us along with Grier and Vix, keeping a watchful eye on the town while we sat side by side at the table.

“They should sit and eat.” She said, eyeing the guards.

“They’re fine.” I replied casually, chewing on the delicious food.

“They aren’t fine. If we’re hungry then so are they. Certainly we don’t need all six of them standing guard right now, send them off in shifts to eat,” She commanded, “Or are you not capable of protecting me yourself?”

My dragon snarled in my mind and I knew she was attacking my ego on purpose. I narrowed my eyes on her and she smiled smugly, knowing exactly what she was doing.

“Fine.” I huffed, sending a link out to the others to separate and eat, “They’re going to start to think that I’m going soft.” I grumbled.

River shrugged and took another bite of her food, her eyes dancing with humor.

The next hour of the carriage ride was spent on lighter topics of conversation. From our childhood friends, to our families, to our holiday traditions. I learned more about River’s Beta and Gamma, Beau and Kennedy, and all the trouble they got into as kids. She told me about her brothers, Rohen and Rodrick, and her lovestruck parents. I listened eagerly to all the details of my mate’s life, lapping up anything she was willing to reveal about herself.

“We’re here.” I said, pushing back all the curtains to reveal the Dark Forest outside.

It was appropriately named, a thick forest so dense that hardly any light shined through to the bottom. It was about two-hundred acres of woods with a camp set up in each of the four corners. The camps were set high up in the trees to avoid spooking the animals and to be closer to the light. Outside the forest was nothing, the mountain village we came through was the closest village on either side and to the left and the right of the forest were steep mountains.

“We have to stay on the paths so we don’t set off any of the hunter’s traps or mess up the migration patterns of any of the animals.” I explained as the horses carefully and silently crept through the forest.

“It’s so quiet.” She whispered, the silence of the forest almost forcing one to speak in hushed tones.

Just then, a few birds started singing from somewhere above and something with long legs took off through the woods, rustling leaves and dirt on the forest floor.

“It’s not a popular tourist destination,” I chuckled quietly, “Mostly it’s just a route that travelers pass through. Those who do live here are hunters, gatherers, trackers, and their families and they all stay in the treehouses.”

“Treehouses?” River asked, looking at me.

“The camps are in the trees. A series of huts and houses connected by drawbridges high up at the top of the trees. There’s a sort of pulley system to get supplies to the houses and an elevator system for the people. Merchants from the City make weekly trips into the forest to deliver supplies and retrieve the hunters and gathers’ hull for that week.” I explained.

“Can we see?” She asked, wonder lighting up her expression.

“We can see the camp that’s near the exit of the forest, but only from the ground. It’s not safe to be outside the carriage.” I said sternly.

“Why not?” She demanded.

“The Forest is primal, River, all natural. The hunters keep it as free from mankind as possible so that we have continued game for our meat market. The animals here are dangerous.”

“So am I.” River revealed her dark eyes for a brief moment before they settled back to blue.

“I know, my dear, but it’s not a risk I’m willing to take.” I softened my voice, but still, I earned an irritated sigh from my mate.

We reached the otherside of the forest and the carriages stopped so we could get a good view of the treehouses up top. It was hard to make them out at first, they were designed to camouflage with the natural surroundings, but once you figured out what you were looking for, it was easy enough to see.

“In the human realm, there are places like this for fun. It’s called camping.” River said, her eyes wide as she looked up.

“It’s for survival here, but the occupants don’t seem to complain. The people here are mostly Dragonhearted, Benders, and Enhanced, and they enjoy the freedom living in the trees provides them.” I said,

“I think I would like that freedom, too.” River answered, but she seemed to mostly be speaking to herself.

She sighed and settled back into the carriage, leaning her head back against the cushioned seat. I tapped the roof of the carriage and we continued on our trip. It would be another two hours until we reached the Harbor and then, from there, about three hours to the Snow Cap Mountains. River’s eyes slipped shut and, a few minutes later, the rocking of the carriage had put her to sleep, the soft sound of her breathing immediately soothing me.