–––––
"Aren't you the prince? Why do you have us walking? Where is your ride or something?" Tara inquired as she walked like her feet were sore.
"Why board a plane when you have wings?" The prince responded.
"What does that even mean?" Tara stopped walking as she began breathing heavily. He turned to look at her.
"From your outfit, I can tell you are among the watchers for tonight. Is this how well you will protect my bride and me when you can't even keep up with walking?" He asked,
"That's it." She said, allowing herself to fall to the ground. "No more. I quit." She said, gasping for air.
"We are almost there." He told her.
"You are a wolf. Just transform and I'll get on your back. You have speed, we will be there in no time. Enough of this punishment. " she said,
He shook his head in disappointment but still found it amusing as a faint smile appeared on his face.
"You are such a child." He said,
"That needs to be pampered. Yes," she said,
"I see." He said,
"Go on. Scared you wouldn't look so hot with the furs, huge fangs and claws?" She asked,
He smiled warmly and then he paused. It was almost as if something had caught his attention and she could tell from his face. Uneasy, she got back up at once.
"What is it?" She asked with worried eyes. He remained silent. It scared her even more. After a minute, he turned his face to hers.
"You do not hear them?" He asked her.
"Hear who?" She responded. He stared at her for a bit.
"Hmm. We have to go. I left the palace when I shouldn't have and the Queen has sent the guards to fetch me. They mustn't find you with me. I am not the king, they won't obey me so much." He said,
"Oh okay then let's get going," Tara said running ahead of him.
He laughed to himself quietly.
They had soon come to a certain spot which happened to be behind the Palace.
"Oh my God. It's so gigantic.." Tara said, amazed at the structure of the palace.
"You should take that way and you would be back to town. " He told her.
"Oh okay. Thanks." She smiled at him. He smiled back. Once he proceeded towards the palace, she could see some soldiers approach him. She immediately made herself hidden.
"Where have you been?" The Queen asked as she approached him with the King by the entrance. She embraced him warmly, planting kisses all over his face and checking his body for a scar. " Are you okay? Were you attacked? Ambushed? Taken? " she asked.
"I am very well mother. I only went for a walk." He answered with a smile.
"Told you he was alright." The King said, "come on, I have something for you my son. Walk with me." He added with a smile.
"She keeps treating me like a kid." The prince said as he walked alone with his father.
"You know her. Always so paranoid." The King said,
"So what is this thing you have for me." The prince asked.
"Patience, son." The king replied to him as they both approached his room.
––
She hurried away being careful enough to not be noticed.
"Enjoyed your time without me?" Beth startled Tara. Tara rolled her eyes and remained quiet while making the move to walk away.
"Quit following me around, mummy," Tara told her.
"So stubborn. You are going to get yourself killed." Beth said, turning towards her.
"That you care so much, is suspicious. Do you realise that at all?" Tara had turned back and was standing face to face with her now. Beth sighed.
"Fine. At least be careful–" She told Tara.
"I am careful," Tara answered immediately.
–"with the prince. He is dangerous." Beth added.
"He only helped me from being devoured when you were nowhere to be found–" Tara said,
"You didn't want my protection. You needed to see for yourself just how this world works." Beth told her.
"Yeah, thanks cause I did and I am lucky to still be here because he came into the picture and that's all there is to the prince and me," Tara said,
"Roy, Prince Leroy is his name," Beth told her as she turned to walk away. "You should come along, you need to be prepared for the task." She added.
"You make it sound like this watcher thing is some big deal. Where I am from, it's called a security guard's job." Tara stated.
"Yeah. We'll see." Beth smirked.
––
The prince and his father stepped into the room. The door was shut behind them by the guards who kept watch. The prince had his hands crossed behind his back as he moved towards the window.
"I remember falling from here." He said,
"And you broke no bone." The King added with a smile as he approached him from behind with a small box in his right hand.
"Here." The king said, Roy turned towards him slowly.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Open it." The king instructed.
He collected it and then moved on to unpack it. Inside was a sort of ring bracelet, golden in colour and befitting as jewellery for a prince.
"You will be far from me. I need to know you are always protected. " the king said,
"What does this do?" Roy inquired.
"In it is a guardian spirit. It will detect evil in disguise and when it does it will glow." He replied.
"I see. The senses of a wolf are not good enough." Roy said,
The King exhaled and then collected the box from his hand. He collected the bracelet from it and placed the box by the window. He held onto Roy's left hand, wearing the bracelet on it.
"As extraordinary humans, even our powers have their limits. You can never be too prepared." The king said, looking in his eyes with a smile.
––
The Wedding.
The time had come and final touches were being made. On the roof of a certain building that wasn't too far apart from the palace were Tara, Beth and several others.
"They keep staring at me," Tara said to Beth. They stood on the left wing separate from the others.
"You are new, they would have questions," Beth responded with her eyes screening the vicinity.
"Precisely the reason, I didn't want to come," Tara said,
"If you are here it's because you need to blend. To be known. For your safety." Beth answered back.
"Well, we've been here long enough and not a sign of threat. We should be in the palace having fun." Tara said,
"In a world like this, you don't get to have fun," Beth told her. "You stay alive." She added.
"That's boring. You need a vacation to my world." Tara said sarcastically.
"Just shut up and watch, okay? Your words are distracting me. You can't afford to be distracted, don't you get it?" Beth said,
"I see something!" A voice cut in on their discussion. It was someone from the group. He had his eyes fixed on a certain direction and Tara couldn't quite get what he saw since all she could see was darkness.
Beth has swiftly gone over to his end.
"Where?" She asked,
"There." The young man pointed with his right index finger.
"We go down, the rest of you stay up here," Beth ordered.
"I'm not staying up here," Tara told Beth.
"Oh trust me, pretty face. You do want to stay up here." A lady from the group said to her. Tara gave her an upset look and proceeded to walk behind Beth.
"Don't say I didn't warn you." The lady added.
––
The path was dark, they tried to act as normal as possible to avoid causing any tension. They headed for the woods and Tara could only walk in Beth's footsteps since she had no idea how possible it was that they were seeing so well at that hour.
"Stay behind me," Beth told her, while the others took their positions.
"Where the f*ck else am I gonna be?" Tara asked her.
They could now see movements in the wood. It sounded like some huge bear was running in their direction and it freaked Tara. Right before her eyes, Beth transformed into her beast and she didn't even take note that the others had as well. She began gasping for air as it was all so frightening. She had gone from skin to dark fur with four legs. Tara couldn't stand it. She didn't wish to see any further. She slowly moved backwards and began racing confusedly but it was too dark. She had lost her way in the woods and she stood confused at this point.
Scream!
Someone had held onto her hand. It was the prince.
"It's you.." She began catching her breath.
"What are you doing here and why are you–" He paused, noticing his bracelet glow. He looked up at Tara's face in shock and his grip had gotten tighter. Tara became afraid.
"Let go, you're hurting me" she struggled but he only had his eyes buried in hers.
"You heard the lady, let her go." A voice spoke from nowhere. She turned her face to the direction because she could very well recognize the voice but thought it impossible.
"Stark?" She voiced in utmost disbelief.