Nyx woke up the next morning to see a group of maids in her room. They were cleaning and preparing some things in her room.
She sat up puzzled, "What is going on?" She asked.
They all stopped and bowed, "Good morning my Lady." Gladys spoke up.
Nyx felt relieved seeing Gladys there, "Oh, Gladys." She sighed in relief.
Gladys signaled the rest to leave, "The work is done now."
They all left, except Gladys and Yvonne.
Nyx stood up, "What is going on?"
"It's the king, my Lady, he ordered us to prepare this room for tonight." Yvonne responded.
"And what is happening tonight?" She asked.
"We have no idea, my Lady." She shook her head.
Her head began to swirl with so many thoughts.
"I hope it's not what I'm thinking." She slowly shook her head.
"We will come back and get you ready, later in the day. He went out with some of the elders, he should be back before nightfall." Gladys informed her.
Nyx gulped down nervously, "He makes me nervous." She sat on the bed.
"It's okay my Lady, he's not that bad... that's if he's not provoked."
She sighed and palmed her head, "I don't want to think about him right now, can I do something to clear my head?"
Gladys looked at Yvonne and they nodded.
"Let us take you around the palace."
"Just the palace? Nowhere else?" She whined.
"I'm sorry my Lady, I don't think the king permitted that. You're not allowed to leave the palace." Gladys sighed.
Nyx bit her lips, she was used to this, being a prisoner all her life. She had no other option.
"Take me round the palace then." She sighed.
"Go get ready my Lady, we will be here when you're done." Yvonne assured her with a warm smile.
Nyx smiled, she headed to the bathroom. She did her thing and came out soon, wrapped in a towel.
Gladys and Yvonne were done arranging her dress. She sat down, Gladys combed and packed her hair, added finishing touches to her face and helped her in her dress.
While Yvonne was tieing the laces at the back of her dress, Nyx spoke up, "You both are so nice to me. You are the only people who have ever showm me kindness and her Majesty too."
"Why do you say so my Lady?" Gladys asked.
She smiled bitterly, "No one has ever been kind or loving towards me, not even my family members." She shook her head sadly.
"We understand how you feel my Lady, such things happen but we must not forget that better days lie ahead." Yvonne said while Gladys nodded.
They were done dressing her, "You look very beautiful my Lady." They curtsied.
"Mmh, why don't you just call me Nyx? You both are my friends after all." She smiled.
"Oh my, my Lady, that's against the royal rule, we can't call any of the royal members by their first names." Gladys replied.
Nyx arched her brow, "Hmm, why?" She began to move towards the door, both of them walking behind her.
"It is forbidden." Yvonne answered her question.
Yvonne opened the door for her and she walked out of the room, "That's not right but I permit both of you to do so. Isn't that an exception?"
"I don't know my Lady, but we can't be found doing that, it's an offence and it could even take our heads." Yvonne told her.
She was shocked by the cruelty of that rule, 'These rules are crazy and just too harsh. How do they expect the pack to live with such rules that take their lives?' She wondered.
"I will talk to Oberon about it, these rules should not be allowed to be upheld anymore." She shook her head.
Gladys and Yvonne glanced at each other, was she really going to do so?
They took her round the palace, showing her different parts of it, its basements, rooms, the halls and the kitchen. They took her to the garden and together they explored its beauty and wonders.
They made sure she had so much fun that day, they told her stories of the past Alphas and their rule, stories of rogues who wanted to threaten the peace of the pack.
"Alpha Alcide the father of Lord Oberon put an end to all those rogues, they were defeated and completely driven out of our pack." Gladys rounded off.
"Whoa, Alpha Alcide must have been a very strong king, I never knew him." She shook her head.
"Who wouldn't the Alpha of our pack?"
"That should be me because my parents never told me anything, I only knew we had Alpha kings and nothing else."
"That's bad, your parents weren't really nice." Yvonne shook her head in disgust.
"Yes, that isn't nice, they are your parents for crying out loud." Gladys chipped in.
Nyx sighed, "Let's forget about them." She looked at the sky, "Oh my, we have spent so much time outside."
"We must retire inside." They all stood up.
"Thank you both so much, you really made my day. I hope we get to spend more time together like this." She grinned.
"We will, my Lady."
...
Nyx laid on the bed, she was so tired of waiting for Oberon. She had been told something was happening tonight but it seemed nothing was going to happen.
She shook her head and closed her eyes, she was feeling sleepy, she couldn't resist it no matter how hard she tried.
She eventually dozed off.
She was surrounded by clouds, she admired the serenity and beauty of the clouds. This was where she wanted to be, away from troubles, away from pain.
She happily skipped around the clouds, lying on some, playing with some.
She was completely absorbed in this little game with the clouds, nothing else mattered. All of a sudden, she felt one of the clouds pressing on her, it drew her to itself, somewhat soothing her.
She didn't pull away, she just melted in it.
Oberon had noticed Nyx was mumbling and hugging herself. He intrigued him so he went and sat beside her.
He gently caressed her hair, she moved and smiled in her sleep.
A smile played at the corner of his lips, he was about to stand up but noticed something pulled him back. He turned, Nyx was holding his hand mumbling some words.
He sat down again and gently pulled her to himself, he wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her hair.
She was beautiful from a closer view, her hair fell graciously on her face, her lashes giving her a peaceful look, her lips kept mumbling and he couldn't help but admire them.
He leaned forward and kissed her lips, this went on for some seconds, Nyx creased her brows, opened her eyes and quickly pulled away.
She heaved heavily, "What are you doing?" She widened her eyes.
"What? You wanted me to kiss you." He shrugged.
Her jaws dropped, "I never said that, I was sleeping."
"Oh, I wanted to leave but you drew me back so well I took it as an invitation to kiss you so I did so."
She looked at him in disbelief, "You're impossible." She shook her head.
"Well, I'm already in the mood anyways, how about we make a pup?"