Shadow

Raedwulf Dolph

The night was interrupted by my mate jumping out of her skin. Her breath is ragged and her eyes held the deepest terror. When I try to grab her, she jerks away, falling off of the bed.

"Idonia," I get up and rush around the bed to her side. One hand clutches her chest, her heartbeat hitting my ears louder than anything. "What's wrong?"

Her eyes finally meet mine and I see a single tear run down her cheek. I take her arms and bring her into my chest. Her head tucks itself under mine, black hair tickling my nose. Our bare skin touches, her hands on my chest.

"I..." she mumbles some more words, the hot air on my chest makes my beast growl with approval. "I had a bad dream."

"Miss Osmund said you had nightmares after the last time you shifted."

She nods, her hair ruffling more against the stubble of my chin. "It's the same as before."

"My love," I cradle her head, stroking her hair. We rock back and forth before I finally lift us both back into bed. I set her gently in my lap as I hold her, comfort her in the only way I know how. "Will you tell me about it?"

"No, not yet," she whimpers, her hands wrapping around my torso more and gripping tight. "Please, just hold me."

"Always," I promise her, then I repeat myself, "Always."

After an hour, she drifted back to sleep. I move her back into bed and tuck the blankets around her. When I climb back in with her, she subconsciously moves into my touch. With that, we slept through the night.

In the morning, we ate at the inn before leaving once more. By now, Rikki will surely be back at the Torbet homestead. That means that the Aeral will believe by now that his daughter is dead. News will spread quickly that the three of us died, versus the truth of the single death that occurred.

The road clears, turning from forest to open fields. In the same way, day turn to night. We don't find a town, village, or even farm before the suns sets. Camp is made rather quickly, with a small fire. For dinner, there is bread and cured meats from The Last End.

For bedding, I laid down my cloak to separate us from the cold, hard ground. Idonia drapes hers over us, which is barely big enough to cover me, let alone the both of us. However, with a fire at my socked feet and my mate in my arms, I slept in a warm blanket of comfort.

When I awoke, the embers of the fire had died and Idonia no longer laid in my arms. I sat up immediately, looking from the fire around the area we made camp in.

Of course, I find her by the horses.

Jarl and Edilda are happily grazing in the golden grasses as Idonia brushes them out. Jarl whinnies contently as my mate scratches behind his ears. I shake my head, grabbing her cloak and moving over to her. My arms wrap around her, covering her in the cloak.

"You'll get cold again," I whisper in her ear, fastening the brass clips of the animal skin.

"Then you should cover yourself as well." Defiantly, she continues to give my stallion more attention than me.

"Ah, well you see with my mate in my arms, I feel no cold," I remind her, nuzzling my nose into her neck and taking in a deep breath of her scent.

"You don't even have your boots on, Rae. We need to get moving with the light."

"Of course," I plan a quick kiss on her neck and leave her to saddle the horses while I but on my boots, stop out the fire, and fasten my own cloak over my shoulders.

We set off again, the journey taking us longer due to the fact that we cannot travel at night. As we travel, we speak of many different things. Out siblings, our childhood, training. Idonia always seemed more open with no one else around us. She tells me a few words about her nightmares, and what the shift is like for her. Then, finally, we speak of our future together.

"When will you be crowned?"

"Now that I have you, a year, maybe more. It all depends on the Khannun."

"He decides when you are crowned."

"Precisely. It may be for years yet, till his death. It may be very soon after we land on Bethlianna."

"And when will the court expect us to have an heir."

"That is not up to them," I look over at her, half assuring her that we have time. I won't tell her there is no pressure, the Aerals, Masters, and Viker will all be wanted to see us have a pup soon after the coronation. However, I have younger brothers, two in fact. An heir simply assures a lineage, if something were to happen to either of us, Avon and Mikkeal can take the throne. "We will decided on when we mate, and the gods will decide when to bless us with a pup."

"A son, hopefully, for the throne."

"It does not matter to me, I only wish our pup's health. Pups will come in plenty, we need not worry about having an heir."

"Listen to us, talking of pups when our families are thinking we are dead," she laughs slightly, shaking her head in amusement. Then she turns solemn, "My parents probably think we're dead. It won't be long before all of Theris knows. Then Bethlianna. The whole Bethley Isles will mourn us."

"We will return to them, we are not dead, Idonia. I don't plan on dying for a long time."

"Me either," she states with a firm voice. "I would like to see a different Isle than Theris before I die."

"Then you shall see all of them," I promise her. I'm sure we will have time to travel as mates before the coronation. "You've already seen the most northern part of Theris, how about the southern shores of Maelifell, the deltas of Waerham? No, what about the Fallen Lake of Øysten? The trees will be blossoming in the spring, it will be absolutely breathtaking. Just like you."

Idonia blushes, "Don't compare me to the Fallen Lake, not with the legends of its beauty."

"When I am done being Khannun their shall be legends of your beauty that outshine the Fallen Lake."

"Sometimes you're too much," she tells me with a playful smirk on her face.

"Maybe I'm just enough," I correct her.

"Maybe..."