At the Wolf camp, the situation was very intense. The entire palace had gathered for this important meeting.
"Hail The King!" echoed through the hall as the Wolf King made his way to his throne.
The people in his presence included all the ministers, his children, and queens.
"What do we have here today?" he asked the minister sitting at his right.
"My Lord, we have gathered here today to discuss the reemergence of the curse." He bowed with a long scroll in his hand with details and particulars of the event.
"And what are the developments?" He asked.
"We have eyewitnesses claiming the involvement of the Foxes in this," He reported.
"Idiot. Of course, both clans have to be involved for this curse to emerge. Do we have any leads to the offenders' identities? " He was furious.
No, my Lord. None as of yet," He replied sheepishly.
"No? Not even the one from our own tribe? We can't even trace those who committed such a heinous crime to our own clan, and we dare to point fingers at others. Do you want us to look like the laughing stock amongst all immortals?" The king stood up in anger.
The entire court went down on their knees to ask for forgiveness.
"Please forgive us for our incompetence, Lord." They echoed in a chorus.
"Stop wasting my time and get to some real work. I want results quickly. Is that understood? " He roared past them.
"Understood," They replied in unison.
As the king walked towards his chambers, he whispered to one of his queens.
"You know very well, but the others don't."
"What do I know, my Lord?" The queen stopped in her tracks as she faced her husband.
"The fact that somebody from our Royal Family is involved in this The entire world just knows that any kind of blood tie evokes the curse. Nobody, except a few, has knowledge about the fact that the blood tie that actually evokes the curse must be formed between members of the Royal families belonging to the two clans," He said, pointing at themselves.
"I am well aware, my Lord. But what are you implying? " She asked with inquisitive eyes.
"I am implying that, as the Chief Queen, you must keep your eyes open. Somebody among us is responsible. They might have some ulterior motive for evoking the curse. We must get to the heart of it before others do." He gave her a knowing nod.
Yes, of course, my Lord," She agreed as they strolled to their respective chambers.
In the meantime, the princes had gathered around to discuss the happenings at the court.
"I marvel at the courage of the defector. Whoever amongst our clan might have had the courage to brave the curse for love," Remarked the mischievous twelveth prince.
"Ssshhhh! Soso, do you think this is a matter to joke about?" His elder brother tried disciplining him with a nudge.
"But how do we trace the person?" Asked the tenth son.
"That is the question we are all wondering about." The fifth one replied.
As they were having this discussion, an arrow from afar came rushing towards them. It hit the ground as they dispersed. A beautiful lady swam down behind it, laughing her heart out, quite amused at the prince's reaction.
"What are you all having this discussion about, Brothers?" She poked them.
"Roe. You are a young lady now. You must try to behave more in a ladylike manner." Her eldest brother tried to correct her.
"Says who? The King of this land, my father, has given me full permission to do what my heart desires," She retorted rather angrily.
Yeah, we know. He is the one spoiling you." The second prince nudged
"Enough. Stop bullying her, all of you." The third one, her favorite, Xie, came to her rescue.
"Anyway. We were developing strategies as to how we should find the culprit from our tribe." The eldest said, "Would the princess have any insight into it?" He almost mocked her.
"Do you really want to know?" She teased
"Do you have one?" They asked together.
"I just know one fact. The curse finds the defectors. So if you sit patiently enough, one day or another, the curse will follow the defector to our tribe. You can arrest him then." She rolled in laughter as she teased them. Their bewildered faces gave her too much satisfaction. She then went away hurriedly.
From there, she went directly to her room to pack her stuff before her journey. She had hoped to sneak out alone in the middle of the night. When all the lights went out, she tipped her toes out of her room and bounced on top of the terrace. Just as she was about to make her jump outside the boundary walls, a pair of hands held her hands.
"You? " She was shocked.
"I knew something was up with you. Where are you heading this time?" Xie asked, worried.
"I will tell you if you promise not to stop me," She urged.
"I promise," He assured.
"Brother, I thought about the curse situation. No matter what you do, it comes back to a dead end, unless." She stopped.
"Unless what?" He was genuinely curious. His sister was one of the wittiest in their clan.
"Unless we get to know more about it, And there is only one place we can gather such information," She looked at him.
"The tree of knowledge," He replied.
"Precisely. So I am off. Bye bye." She tried freeing her hand and making an escape.
"Mei mei wait. The road towards the tree of knowledge is very dangerous," Xie replied.
"I know." She was still tugging and pulling.
"Let me come along with you," He insisted.
She immediately stopped pulling and asked in amazement, "You will accompany me?"
She was very happy.
"Since I can't stop you, I better try helping you. It's about the future and safety of our tribe, after all," He winked.
"You are the best, Xie." She hugged her brother tight before they both jumped to embark on their secret journey in the silence of the night.