"The pleasures all mine my king. I was beginning to think you would never find your way here."
He smiled at Vale as she placed a wood cup before him pouring what I could only guess was wine judging by the smell. She seemed to float as she walked, the illusion only making me more nervous around such a strange lot of humans. I thanked her as she poured a cup for me as well then sat down with her own cup.
Turning my attention back to Thoran I got straight to the point.
"So am I to believe that you have been expecting me?"
His white eyes scrutinised me like he was waiting for the punch line. When I didn't provide one he raised a bushy brow questioningly.
"My king did you not seek us out intentionally?"
I shook my head confused.
"Well no, I didn't even know you existed."
Thoran laughed.
"No my boy that's not what I meant."
I turned to Vale for help. This old geezer made even less sense then this village.
"When you ran from your pack, as your exhaustion set into your bones what was on your mind?"
I thought back to those final moments before I passed out to tired to go on. I had thought of a lot of things. My thoughts then were mostly of hopelessness. But mostly....
"Well I guess I was seeking guidance. Begging to find a way to help save the people I care about."
Thorans white eyes stared as his hair covered lips smiled widely.
"And that my king is what brought you here."
I stared at him speechless. Was he trying to tell me that I had willed myself to find This place? These people? Even if that's true to what end? What guidance was I meant to learn by being here?
"You are still skeptical i see. You never change in any of your life times."
My life times? How old was this guy? He was human wasn't he? Maybe the others were human with him as the exception. If that was the case what was he then? I sniffed the air to try figure it out but all I got was definitely human. He laughed at my actions.
"I am human my king I can assure you of that. However as you probably guessed I am older then time itself. You see I was one of the first humans in existence."
The fuck? How was that possible? To answer my unasked question Thoran picked up the now empty cup and before my eyes he became transparent the cup slipping through his hands to hit the table rolled to the floor. I watched its trail til Vale snatched it up. I expected her to place the cup back on the table but instead she smiled as she to became transparent the cup again falling to the floor. I stumbled back in fear growling at the strange phenomenon.
"What the hell are you?"
I glanced to the door wondering how I would escape these creatures. Thoran laughed at my reaction as he indicated the floor for me to sit back down.
"Calm down my king we mean you no harm."
When I didn't move he sighed.
"Please be seated and allow me to explain. If you still wish to leave when all is said you may do so."
Slowly I returned to my seat on the floor by his side but keeping a much larger distance between us. He steepled his hands before him as he started his tale.
"Firstly we are humans or more to the point we were humans. We were the first humans of existence. We were there when the first kings were created. I'm sure by now that you know the tale of your first life?"
I nod not trusting my own voice.
"The tale has changed much over the years. you are aware of the Chinese whisper effect?"
"Yes each time a story is told inaccuracies occur until the story is no longer the true one."
"Very good so you understand that after thousands of years the story you know now has inaccuracies that have changed it's true facts. That's not to say it didn't happen just like the story you know but pieces of information has been twisted or even left out completely. Well now I will tell you the true story as I witnessed it myself thousands of years ago."
Vale corporal once more grabbed my hands in hers as she urged me to close my eyes. Hesitantly I copied her closing my own eyes as I was thrown into darkness. When Thoran spoke once more I saw everything as he saw it thousands of years ago.
"It's true that there was two brothers made into kings one to rule humans and one to rule the supernatural world. It's also true that the human king forced the older brothers mate to be his wife with the power given to him by the moon goddess. When the wolf king realised she was his mate he didn't go to the moon goddess for guidance at first as you may have been told but he rejected her not knowing that her will had been taken. He sacrificed his mated bond in favour of peace.
Of course if he had of know about her circumstances he never would have let her go.
However things never turn out the way we think they will. It was the female that preyed to the moon goddess for help. Filled with hate towards both brothers for what they had done she begged to be free of both of them. The moon goddess granted her wish giving her part of her own power so that she would be free to choose her own path. However she left the female with a warning that if she continued to hold on to her hate she would be cursed.
The female now free of both brothers influences she tried to live a life of her choosing. However as the years passed her hate for what the brothers had done turned her bitter. She could not let go of her hate for them. It was a poison inside her that only grew with each year. Not being able to live with the pain that they had caused her she returned to the two kingdoms. To the human king who had stolen her will she stole his power while he slept.
With that power she travelled to the wolf king and secretly hid the power inside her former mate. When the human king found out that his power was now in the hands of his brother he accused him of stealing it. The wolf king tried to reason with him swearing that he didn't steal it and was prepared to give it back peacefully. However the human brother did not believe his wolf twin thinking he meant to trick him and steal his kingdom to rule over both races. A war broke out between the kingdoms. The wolf brother was forced into a war that he had sacrificed his own mate to prevent. The female had taken away what the two brothers valued most. The human king his power, the wolf king his peace.
Not wanting to go against his goddesses wishes of peace it was at this time that the wolf king prayed his the moon goddess to help him stop the war. The moon goddess appeared to him. She told him the truth about his mate and what the brother had done. Then she told him of what she had done to both of them fuelled by her hatred. The wolf king beside himself with grief over what had been done to his mate begged the goddess to show her mercy. He offered to carry her curse in her place believing his rejection of her was what sent her over the edge.
The moon goddess denied his request however she saw honour in him. She saw the error in her original plan of two kings to keep the peace between two races. Seeing that of the three the wolf king was they only innocent in all that had happened. So she offered him a way to save his mate and the two races from war.
The wolf king would keep the power that was given to his brother so that he may rule both races together as one kingdom instead of two. By doing this the war would end.
As for his mate, her curse would deny her the true peace of death. She would be reborn again and again forced to endure the same hardships over and over. To save his mate the wolf king would be reborn with her cursed along side her. Her curse would only be lifted the day she let go of her hatred and excepted her fated bond for what it was. A destiny of true happiness with the one she loved."
Vale's hands pulled from mine as I opened my eyes the things I had seen in the darkness gone as well. I didn't know what to say. While it wasn't that different from what Roake had told me it was different enough. However there was still something missing.
"I get that the wolf king shared in her curse but you didn't mention the human brother. What became of him? Did the moon goddess curse him with immortality as I'd been told."
Thoran sighed like that was an even longer story that he really didn't like telling.
"That my king is why we have been waiting for you."
This time it was Vale who told the story without the strange visuals.
"You see when the human brother was stripped of his crown for what he had done he was overcome with rage. He found out about the deal his brother made with the moon goddess. He Began to plan his revenge upon both his brother and the female he had called wife. He preyed to the sun god the moon goddess enemy and offered his soul for immortality. The sun god amused and more then willing to mess with the moon goddesses children granted his request.
Then he sort out the female who had caused his down fall. She had been in hiding fearing the curse she had caused upon herself not knowing what it was at the time.
The human king found her planning to kill her but before he did he told her what he had learnt. She wept with the knowledge that her mate did love her and had planned to share in her curse with the hopes of saving her. The human king enjoyed her pain and vowed to follow her through every life that she lived and with every power at his disposal would ensure her curse never ended. She would be forever cursed as long as he lived."
I growled just thinking of Driak. But there was something else bothering me about this new version of the story. Does that mean that when I was told my fated mate would help me control my power what it really did was end our curse and if that was the case that means in all these years all the times I had lived not once had we been able to be mates. If we had then the curse would have ended, but that's not possible surely I had heard of other times when the king found his mate hadn't I? The more I thought about it the more I realised no one ever told me that those other kings, those other reincarnations had found their mate only that when they did her power would keep mine under control. I was pulled from my thoughts as Vale continued.
"After the sun god made Driak immortal and he killed the female he then went on to kill the red eyed king. Thus starting their cursed existence. The moon goddess was unable to reverse what the sun god had done so she did the next best thing. She asked us her first creations to help. She asked that a select few offer their souls to help keep the peace in the world. We the people who loved and were loyal to the wolf king for his kind and just rule were more then happy to give our souls if it would help keep our kings peace.
She created this place so that we may help the red eyed king if ever Driak interfered in the curse upon you and your mate. You see with each life that you live you have no knowledge of your previous lives which puts you at a disadvantage against Driak. That's where we come in to tell you of what transpired so that you are better equipped to use the power the moon goddess allowed you to keep to stop Driaks interference. While you can not kill him indefinitely you can at least trap him for a time giving you a fare chance to break Raines curse."
I shook my head not quite understanding.
"What do you mean by use my power? Use it how? I always thought of it as something bad, to be feared so when I feel it I force it back down. To me it's like a darkness that's trying to take over."
Vale stared at me in shock like I was saying the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard. It was Thoran who spoke this time his eyes glaring at me.
"Do you mean to say my king that you have had your power but never learnt to use it to its full extent?"
I groaned in frustration.
"I don't even know what's it's meant to do?"
Thoran seemed shocked at my words.
"No wonder you found your way here. The darkness you've been feeling the power you've been fighting is pure magic. The power that was given to the king to rule both races is not evil or dark it just is. It is an extension or your will. If your heart is pure It can be used for great good. If your heart is full of hate it can be a source of great destruction. It is dangerous in the wrong hands which is part of the reason it was given to you. It only feels dark because you fight against it. If you let it into your heart you can do many wonderful things to help keep peace in this world. If you want to stop Driak from influencing your mate you must let it in for only with its power can you hope to stop him."
Great that helped....not! That didn't exactly tell me what it did. I sighed rubbing my eyes feeing tired again. This was getting to much my head was reeling trying to take in all that they had told me. Sensing my fatigue Vale smiled as she stood up.
"Why don't we take a break you can rest upstairs if you want."
Mentally exhausted I nodded as I followed her up the stairs. There was only one room with hand made mattresses stuffed with feathers and fur but hell I didn't care I just needed to close my eyes even for just a little while.
"I'll wake your for the feast the village has planned later if you'd like?"
I nodded to tired to even answer as I lay down not even waiting for her to leave as my eyes closed. Even though I'd only been awake for half the day after everything I couldn't stop the sleep from taking over. maybe things will make more sense when I wake up. Yeah right it would take a life time to wrap my head around it all lucky for me turns out more life times is about all I have. Still maybe this life time will be the one. Maybe this life time I'll save her and end our curse. Maybe this life time will be when I finally know what it feels like to be with her, to be loved by her. It made me glad I didn't remember my other lives who would want to remember thousands of years where you almost got to be with your fated mate only to have it ripped away from you? It made me even more determined that this life I would do it right. I will strip her of her hate. This time I'll replace it with my love instead.