Page 81 of The Wolf and Her Shadows

Offering Mariane an apologetic smile, I rise up off the couch and follow Old Greyva out onto her small front porch.

“I was hoping I’d have a moment to speak with you as well, I say, pulling the door shut behind me. “I have a few questions, and I have a feeling you might have answers.”

She nods. “I know. Ask away, child.”

My eyes narrow at being called a child, yet I do my best to rein in my irritation. “How is it that you seem to know so much about us? About Vannaria’s magic?”

To my annoyance, the old woman chuckles. “Ah, I know a great many things. My own magic allows me to see hidden aspects of people that even they themselves may not know.”

I cross my arms, narrowing my eyes even further. “Hmm. Is that all?”

My anger grows stronger when her lips curl into a smug grin. “With all due respect, Your Highness, there’s also many things about myself that I don’t freely share with others.”

Gritting my teeth, I mutter, “I see.” I’m about to turn and rejoin Mariane inside the house, when a thought suddenly comes crashing into the forefront of my mind and I blurt out, “If all of you knew what had happened to Mariane, and where she was, why did no one attempt to rescue her?”

Old Greyva’s grin vanishes in an instant and she looks away, the guilt clear as day on her face. “As I said, there are things about me you don’t yet know. And that includes why I told the village we needed to wait for Mariane to return on her own.”

I take a step toward her. “You’re a seer.” When she doesn’t respond, a fresh wave of fury spreads like fire through my veins and I snarl, “If you are, that means you could’ve also known exactly what those monsters were doing to her. And you all left her there.”

Smoke begins to rise from where my hands are touching the fabric of my shirt and I immediately let go, clenching them into tights fists by my sides instead.

Letting out a sigh, the old woman briefly glances down at my hands before meeting my gaze again. “Your anger is entirely justified, Aren. It pained me immensely to allow Mariane to suffer as she did, but I assure you…” She lowers her voice to a barely audible whisper. “Things had to happen as they did.”

I roll my eyes, a bark of laughter ripping from my throat. “Of course they did. Let me guess, you’re going to say the Fall of Amzarath had to happen the way it did as well, aren’t you?”

She quickly shakes her head, foolishly grabbing onto my arms. “No, Aren. I never foresaw your kingdom’s destruction, nor who was responsible. Not until after it had already been done.” She winces, no doubt feeling the heat gathering beneath my skin. “I did, however, see a vision of you escaping. And of your arrival here, with Mariane at your side.”

“You what?” I whisper, shrugging off her hands and taking a step back.

Before she has time to respond, the door opens and Mariane pokes her head out, glancing between us. “Is everything alright out here? The children are getting a bit antsy.”

Forcing a smile, I turn to her and nod. “It is. I apologize, I just had a few questions I wanted to ask your village elder.”

Likely noticing the hint of lingering anger in my tone, her brows furrow. “Well, are you finished, or…?” When I simply nod again, she hesitates a moment before holding a hand out to me. “Then come on, I promise I’ll help keep the miniature vultures at bay.”

With a small, yet genuine smile, I slip my hand into hers, giving Old Greyva one last glare before allowing Mariane to lead me back inside. As we return to our previous positions on the couch, a few children turn to look at us and I internally wince, bracing for the onslaught of questions they surely wish to ask me.

But, as promised, Mariane gives them a stern look, causing them all to immediately whip their heads towards Old Greyva, now sitting back in her rocking chair. As if none of our previous conversation had happened, the old woman casually takes a sip of her tea before picking up from where she’d left off in the story.

“As I was saying, our hero decided to venture out into the world, wanting to use the gifts he and his fellow mental companions possessed to help others that might be in need. Like their mother had been when they’d first been born.”

Stephan raises his hand in the same manner as the children had. “I forget, did their mom tell them what had happened to her, or did they find out through magic somehow?”

Greyva smiles, clearly amused at his question. “One of the fragments did indeed have the gift of empathy, and when she’d felt their mother’s fear and sadness around their father, she confronted her. The mother had no choice but to tell her the truth, considering the girl could tell if she was lying.”

“I thought the hero was a boy?” the same girl who’d questioned my gender asks, flinging her hand into the air so violently I fear she might’ve injured her shoulder. She then whips her head toward me, slowly lowering her hand as she mutters, “Oh… Um… Nevermind.”

Mariane chuckles softly, giving the child a bright smile. “Fragmented Souls are numerous people sharing one body, remember? Just because the leader of their group was a boy, and they had a boy’s body, doesn’t mean that all of the Fragments were boys.”

The girl nods. “That makes sense.”

And then, she turns back to Old Greyva, who offers Mariane a warm smile before continuing her story. “The first town our hero came to, had just been raided by bandits. After helping heal the injured townspeople and repair some of the damages that had occurred, they set off on a mission to find the bandits and bring them to justice”

She takes a quick sip of tea, clearing her throat softly. “With all of their combined abilities and magic, they found them easily. And when they did, they rounded all the bandits up, bound them in rope, and hauled them back to the village to be put on trial.”

There’s a scoff inside my mind, and Rayne mutters, *Trial? Yeah right, I bet they hung ‘em. Especially if it was in Zaris, like I’m assuming it was.* I snort in response, unable to help myself.

Luckily no one else besides Mariane seemed to notice, and all she does is smile knowingly, her eyes briefly darting up to my forehead.