"Yes, my lady we do." Hildy said. I wanted to protest her coming with me, but I could see from the look in her eyes that she wasn't going to back down.
Besides, Mother will be furious once she discovers I have left and I wouldn't put it past her to torture Hildy if she thought that my maid knew where I was or where I was going. I didn't like the idea of Hildy being subject to my mother's wrath. "Very well. I'll head down to the stables and see about horses. Beta ...?"
"William, my lady."
"Beta William, once we are out of Sicilia, can you guide us to the palace?"
"Yes, I can."
"Hildy, only bring the essentials, no more than what you can carry. Be ready to leave in an hour." I used the castle's secret passages to slip out of my room. Thankfully, I knew of an exit that was right by the stables.
I walked into the stables and right behind where our stable master, Solom was. I tapped on his shoulder.
"Holy shit lass, you scared the livin' daylights out o' me. What are ye doin' here, milady? If Her Grace catches ye here again, she'll have ye beaten 'til yer skin can't hold water."
"Exactly, you know I wouldn't be here if it weren't an emergency. What will you be doing in an hour?"
"Lass, what do ye need with the horses?" Solom said with a look of concern on his face.
"Solom, don't ask me to tell. When my mother asks, you won't be lying when you say that you don't know. So I'll ask again, what will you be doing in an hour?"
"By the Goddess lass, yer clever. I expect I'll be headin' out for the noonin' meal and then a walk I suppose. Won't take me but an hour to get back, milady. Goddess forbid that anyone would steal the fastest of our horses in those stalls there." He pointed to the stalls where they were.
"Of course, Goddess forbid it." I said, playing along.
"If I were to see anyone in the stable, of course, I would be honor bound to tell Her Grace." he said.
I nodded, understanding. Solom leaned down to whisper into my ear "Lass, may the Goddess see ye safely to where ever it is that yer going."
After that, I slipped into my room via the castle passages quickly as possible. When I got into my room, Hildy and William were talking quietly. I cleared my throat to declare my presence because I didn't feel like eavesdropping.
"Ready to go, my lady?"
"Yes, but we must wait an hour." There was a confused look on their faces so I explained the conversation that I had with Solom.
"That is a risky plan, my Luna. How do we know that he won't inform your mother of this plan?" William said.
"William, we would never betray our lady to anyone, especially not Her Grace. Duchess Margaret is quite cruel to everyone in the castle." Hildy said.
"Even to her daughter?" he said disbelievingly.
"Especially to my lady. She once burned all of Lady Rose's books because she had caught my lady riding her horse. It was on her 15th birthday too. William, every servant has obeyed Lady Rose without question since she was 10 years old, because she is the alpha and almost every servant in this castle is either a werewolf or a mate to one. Even the few that are regular people obey her because she is kinder to them than the Duke and the Duchess combined."
William looked at me strangely, "She-wolves begin to grow in to their powers around their 8th birthday. Since Rose is such a powerful she-wolf, her power would have allowed her to hold a pack, even at 10. What do you remember of your 15th birthday?"
I thought about it and realized that I could remember everything about that day, right up until I passed out. Before, I could only remember snippets of that day, if anything at all.
"Everything. My wolf was sealed away and it was so painful, that I wound up passing out."
"You are a natural leader, Luna, any wolf can see that. I actually came here looking for the alpha of the local pack, but I did not expect to find the realm's future queen."
"Hildy, get the pack beta in here now. Before we leave, we have a crisis."
"Yes, my alpha."
A few minutes later, the pack Beta appeared with Hildy. It was Everard, the head of the castle servants. He bowed and said "My lady, what is it you require?"
"Everard, we have an emergency on our hands. Once I leave this room, spread the word to the pack that the females need to hide. I don't care if they are she-wolf, human or dancing bear but every female involved with the pack needs to hide, especially the ones especially the ones expecting pups. Hide the pups along with the females. If Mother thinks a servant knows where I am, she won't hesitate to torture them, their mate or their pups. Tell the Cacciatori that their first priorities are the pack and the village. Protect them above all else. In case you haven't noticed, my mother is quite mad."
"Yes, Alpha."
"I would stay and help protect the pack but one does not simply disobey the summons of the Alpha King."
"Hildegard, you will need to come with me. You are mated to a werewolf."
"Everard, I am going with Lady Rose and my mate. "
Everard finally looked at the man other man in my room and about had a heart attack. "Forgive me, Your Grace, I did not see you there."
"You would do well to bow to your alpha, because not only is she the heir to the duchy, she is the future queen."
"Of course, Your Grace." Everard turned to look at me, "My Lady, I shall spread the word."
"The word I told to spread or that I have found my mate?" I said with a smirk.
"Both, my queen." Everard bowed deeply and left the room.
I looked at William and Hildy and said, "It's time for us to leave as well, we don't have much time."