The first thing I notice when I wake up from my dreamless sleep is the chirping of birds flying in the sky going from one tree to the other in search of insects to make a meal out of for themselves and maybe their young ones.
I take in a deep breath of the morning dew that brings along with it a sweet musky scent and the natural aura that dwells in nature. The sun is out to shine a light on Mu once more and for the first time in a long time, I feel comfortable with the rays of the sun.
It doesn't feel like the sun would bring pain or bad luck, on the contrary, it's the opposite, I feel like something life-changing would happen to me today in a good way and oh Boreas I am starving for some good news.
My hands absentmindedly dive into Arcotos' white thick fur that is so soft under my touch, he pushes more into my hand that rests on his head, I don't know what I would have done without this canis, some might call their breed a mountain white wolf but I rather call him a canis which was what his ancestors were called back then.
Only Boreas and Khione would know how my life would have been without Arcotos at my side, we had been inseparable since I found him and I know that a time will come where he would age and die and I know he would grow old far earlier than I would.
Tears prick my eyes as I do my best to chase away such gloomy thoughts of a life without Arcotos in it, I would never want that, till then but now I would rather enjoy his company while I can. Something I should have done with every member of my family.
I never knew my father and mother for this same reason, I barely saw them much less speak to them, I believe that's why I couldn't feel grief towards their death, their absence never for once brought me sadness.
A lot of wolfmen and wolfwomen would say that it is not normal for a wolfchild to not experience grief when he or she loses a parent, well my father and mother were practically strangers to me, and it makes a huge difference to me.
Sometimes during history lessons with one of the elders when something bad happens to the people of the past that caused them great grief I had always wondered what does it feel like to truly grieve, it is said to be a feeling that goes beyond being sad.
It had been something I had never experienced not until Ambrose lied about my family saying they all died, that is not possible and there is simply no way something that horrible could happen to me, and to prove why I strongly believe they are still alive is the fact that he didn't tell me how they died.
If you know about the death of someone you are to know the reason for their death, is it not? So if he could go as far as finding out my true identity and know about my family and kingdom then he should have also found out the reason for their death.
Again I will say it once more in my heart from the deepest part of my being I don't trust Ambrose at all, I don't know why I feel this way about him, it's not like he had done anything to make me have this strong opinion of him.
Maybe it could be because he was the one who told me all those stories of my near-death experiences which I am still trying to digest and accept the fact that five years had gone by, five years of my life had been wasted laying on a bed doing absolutely nothing.
But now is not the time to focus on me what is important is reuniting with my family, nothing else matters, I don't care if I die immediately after I see them, what matters to me is their well being.
"Your highness, are you awake? Bon dia princess, I'm sorry to wake you but we must be on our way." I look down to the forest floor that is covered in dirt and debris, there I find Dion looking up at me.
"Bon dia, I'll be right down." After weeks of my constant hostility, Dion had adapted to the whole guard role instead of pretending to be my friend.
It saddens me till now slightly that the only other wolfman who is my friend and not my family had been pretending all those years to care, I had always strongly believed that it is better to be alone and feel lonely than be surrounded by others and feel lonely.
I would very much rather know that I am truly alone than have anyone by my side claiming to be my friend, claiming to care and not care. It is very dangerous to keep anyone like that around you, it could lead to your death either by their hands or by another and if they see you in trouble they still won't help, so what's the point in having them around?
Grandmother had taught me this, I tell you that wolfwoman is the wisest being on Mu, she knows so much about almost everything, it's very admirable, I wish I could be like her but I have always preferred to run wild and free instead of sitting in the castle all day reading books.
And unfortunately for me, I had come across a lot of situations that knowledge would have been of great assistance to me but I was left to the mercy of the forces of the universe to decide my fate, which has brought me close to death more times than I am comfortable with.
"Uhm Dion, please could you help me get Arcotos down, he is really heavy." With a lot of effort on mine and Dion's part, I do my best to climb down the tree with Arcotos just enough for Dion to catch him when I make him jump down from the tree's trunk.
They both tumble to the ground and thank Boreas no one got hurt, I continue to make the climb down the tree when the skin of my palm gets caught on a small sharp wood that I didn't notice earlier on the side of the tree.
It cuts me and causes a small amount of blood to come out of the wound, I wince due to the sharp pain that goes through my body from the new wound, in a matter of seconds Dion is at my side trying to tend to the wound, I am shocked, in fact, I am beyond shocked at the speed he used to get to me and try to help me.
So I stand there dumbfounded as I watch him fret over a small wound, "Oh Boreas, does it hurt? Are you ok? Please be more careful, I don't want you to get hurt…" Is he pretending to care? Does he care? Why would he care? These questions swirl my mind as I watch him tear a small piece of cloth from the arm of the white shirt he is wearing.
This leaves one of the arms of his shirt sleeveless and it gives him an odd look, he cleans the sweat from his forehead with the back of his right hand then proceeds to wrap the small piece of cloth around my hand and securely covers the wound that had stopped bleeding a few moments ago.
When he is satisfied with what he had done to my hand he dusts his hands on his black trousers that fit him, he is wearing black thick boots like me and the other winter fairies.
I think it's time I know their names but first I look Dion in his green eyes that seem darker than the last time I looked into them.
Wait! Hold up! I thought his eyes were always blue like the sky? Why are they green?
"What happened to your eyes?" Confusion crosses over his features but it didn't remain there for long because soon realization rests on his face.
"I changed them." It's my turn to be confused.
"Huh? How is that even possible?"
"I asked Aoife to change them for me a while back."
"Why would you do that?"
"It's for personal reasons your highness." The moment he says personal something snaps in my mind and I realize I am being too close for a guard and one of royal blood relationship.
So without addressing him any further, I turn away from him, my hair that I had tied into a ponytail hairstyle accidentally hits his face, I choose to pretend like I didn't know and make my way towards the other two who had been whispering between themselves the entire time.
"What are your names?" They both look at me then they exchange a look between themselves, the golden-brown haired winter fairy turns to me and tells me, "Why are you suddenly interested in knowing our names when yesterday you chose to remain silent even when we tried to call your attention."
What? Was I that lost in thought? "When did either of you try to call my attention?" I watch them closely to see if I can catch any trace of a lie.
The black-haired fairy turns away from watching the ants that are gathering food on the forest floor nearby and gives me his full attention, his dark brown eyes carry so much intensity in them, and it makes me feel very nervous because it is clear to me at this point that he really doesn't like me.
"Ask your friend, you were being a bitch…" The brown-haired fairy hits him on the arm not hard enough to hurt but hard enough to stop him from completing what would obviously be an insult and Dion charges at him but before he could get to him I stop him by holding on to his arm.
"Don't you ever in your stupid years of existence ever address her like that again, do you understand me?!" The black-haired fairy takes a step forward with blatant mockery written across his face he goes on to say, "Ooouuu I'm so scared, what will lover boy do to me?"
He then gets into a stance with his hands forming fists at his sides and it is clear that he is itching for a fight, the tension in the air is very thick and it is capable of chocking me to death.
"Dion let it go, it's my fault anyway, and I was lost in thought throughout yesterday." I am unsure if he heard me because he still has a very scary look in his eyes like he is ready to kill; I've never seen him this way before.
It surprises me how ready he is to defend me even if I have no idea what a bitch is, so I let it slide and look at both fairies, "I am sorry I didn't answer any of you yesterday I was lost in thoughts so I didn't hear any of you, it was not my intention to cause any trouble, I've had a lot I've been going through."
The brown-haired fairy holds on to the black-haired one even if it looks like the black-haired fairy could easily through him off, he much to my surprise pull his companion to the side and they walk away from us not far away but far enough to communicate without us hearing them.
"Dion please calm down, I don't know what he called me but I don't need you fighting with either of them." His eyes move away from their figures and face me, I watch as they soften but I choose to not acknowledge it.
"You don't want me to get hurt, do you?" My eyes narrow into slits as I remember just how many times I wanted to hurt him because of how he hurt me with his careless actions, "No, on the contrary, I don't care what you do all I know is that I don't want them to return to their leaders with a scratch because you couldn't control yourself, besides I don't know what it means so I'm not offended." After all, grandmother did say what you don't know can't hurt you.
Before he could have the chance to say anything the two fairies both return to us, "My name is Twist and he is Oliver, let's start over shall we? Since we all got off on the wrong foot."
The brown-haired fairy says to me with his right hand stretched out towards me with a polite smile on his lips and friendly glow in his dark brown eyes, I return the smile with a smile of my own and take his hand then shake it.
"It's nice to be of an acquaintance to you two, as I'm sure you already know I'm Aadya and this is Dion, my guard."
I ignore the hurt look Dion carries on his face the moment I refer to him as my guard.
Twist and I shake hands then let go, "Alright I believe you both would lead the way to my home." I open my arms in a friendly gesture for them to lead the way even though Oliver still looks like he hasn't moved past this.
They begin to move ahead of us with Twist leading the way then Oliver follows after him but just as Oliver passes me he whispers loud enough for me to hear him, "What's left of it you mean."