Huo Lohse had just reached the wood-plank deck surrounding The Great Hall when she heard Bear Tribe Leader Tragen call her name.

“Huo Lohse Lang.”

She stopped dead in her tracks and felt her heart sink just a little. She turned to face Tadellos Tragen and forced a smile. “Hello, sir. What can I do for you?”

He walked up to her, stopping uncomfortably close, which forced her to look up in order to meet his gaze. “You are a lot like your father.”

Not really sure where this was coming from, Lolo stumbled through a response. “I take that as a compliment, thank you.”

Tadellos was wearing a sour expression. “I understand that I have you to thank for such an enthusiastic lunch break.”

Lolo suppressed a nervous laugh. “Enthusiastic lunch break…. What do you mean?”

Tadellos did not clarify his meaning; he merely narrowed his eyes at her.

Lolo cleared her throat. “Is there anything else, sir? If not, may I be excused to my room? I need to clean myself up before dinner, and I was hoping to try some of those breathing techniques you taught us this morning.”

Without a response either way from Bear Leader Tragen, Huo Lohse bowed slightly before backing up a step or two and continuing her trek back to her cabin.

***

Huo Lohse waited for Standig to show up for over an hour. As six o’clock approached, Lolo began to fear that something had happened to him, so she returned to the Leader’s Lodge to look for him. After blindly wandering around for a while, she found a maid watering some flowers in one of the gardens.

“Excuse me,” Lolo whispered to her. “Could you please help me?”

The maid looked around in all directions before asking in a whisper, “what can I do for you, miss?”

“I’m looking for Standig Tragen. Have you seen him?”

“He’s been confined to his room, miss.”

“What? Why?”

The maid shook her head to say she didn’t know.

“Do you know where his room is?”

The maid nodded and whispered, “the second cabin of one of the north aisles,” and then left without another word.

Huo Lohse didn’t think that Standig’s room was on the same row as hers, so it must be the aisle where her brothers’ rooms were. She didn’t waste time, but she didn’t make it very far either. As she approached the north aisle on the left, a male servant stopped her.

“I’m sorry, miss, but no women are allowed in this area.”

“Wait, what?”

“No women are allowed to enter this row of cabins, just as no men are allowed to enter that row,” he said, indicating the aisle to the right where her room was.

“Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” she said flatly. Frustrated, she returned to her room. “What do I do now?” Lolo decided to try and get a note to Standig, but just in case it was intercepted, she kept it vague.

She then found a small rock and crumpled the note around it before entering the garden between the two north aisles. Pretending that she was seeking a comfortable spot to meditate in, but really searching for a handful of pebbles, Lolo wandered the garden until she found the edge next to the men-only row of cabins. As she suspected, the cabins on this row also had plenty of windows. She found the second cabin, and, checking to make sure that she was alone in her corner of the garden, she started chucking pebbles at the window.

Standig was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling when he heard the sound of small rocks hitting his window. Plink! Plink! Plink! He moved to the window but didn’t see anyone and returned to sit on his bed. Plink! Plink! He moved to the window a little faster this time to see Lolo half-hidden in a bush in the garden. She waved and indicated for him to open his window. His window couldn’t open very wide, but he managed to open it enough for her to throw another pebble through it. Confused, he shrugged at his friend. She pointed at her eyes and then at another pebble in her hand. “Got it,” he registered, “find the rock.”

The pebble had rolled under his bed, so Standig had to get down on his hands and knees to find it. To his delight, the rock was burdened with a note.

I heard you’re stuck. Are you ok? -L

“Trust Lolo to come up with a way to communicate with me in isolation.” He shook his head and smiled before finding paper and ink.

I’m ok. See you in class. Sorry.

He held his note up to the window for her to read. She gave him a smile and a thumbs up, then waved and disappeared behind the bushes.

Flopping back onto his bed, Standig replayed the infuriating scolding from his uncle for the umpteenth time. “Huo Lohse Lang is a bad influence,” his uncle had said without bothering to explain his reasons before locking him in his room “to reflect on his mistakes.” Well, whatever mistakes Standig had made, he was certain of one thing: being friends with Huo Lohse Lang was not one of them.

***

The trainees didn't see much of Tribe Leader Tragen except for their morning class with him, but classes were rough. Tadellos Tragen was impossible to please. Students were not allowed to speak unless spoken to, and when they were spoken to, they were usually put on the spot and publicly humiliated in front of the class if they were not prepared to answer his questions. Tadellos particularly liked picking on the Lang siblings, and Standig often had to restrain Huo Lohse from standing up to his uncle.

Getting bullied in class wasn’t the worst thing though. Standig was confined to quarters after classes every day for the next month, so every night when it got dark, in an act of rebellion that even Standig was willing to indulge, Lolo would throw note-laden pebbles through his window to cheer him up. Standig got into the habit of leaving his east window open for her. Her notes never said much, but they were sometimes accompanied by a riddle or a joke, and once she even tried to draw a picture. Standig couldn’t quite tell if he was supposed to be looking at a drawing of a lopsided dog or a short and very chubby horse, but he loved the sketch all the more for it.

Without classes on the weekends to give him reprieve, Standig was locked in his room all day. Lolo was so angry at the injustice of it all, and, in her mind, isolation could only be described as cruel and unusual punishment. Standig hadn't done anything wrong, at least, he hadn’t been able to provide her with a good reason for why he was being confined. If anything, he was being punished because of her. The frustrating thing was that there was very little she could do to support Standig through his isolation. She was lost in thought, as she often was these days, pacing the garden near his window and trying to figure out a way to help him when she crashed right into someone.

"Oof! Sorry! I'm sorry!! Are you-," she looked up at the person she'd bumped into, "Philige! You're finally back!"

He was a most welcome sight. "How are you, Lolo?" he laughed.

"Oh, I'm doing alright. I have so many questions for you."

“Why am I not surprised? Well, let’s hear them.”

“Why is your uncle the way he is?”

“You mean cold, unyielding, and obsessed with silence and perfect obedience?”

“Yes. That, and why does he seem to hate you and Standig? And what does he have against me and my brothers?”

Philige sighed heavily. “Lolo, it’s a long story, and even I am left to make conjectures about it. Tadellos Tragen is my father’s little brother. They were separated by about ten years in age, but they were as close as two brothers can be. Losing his brother changed him, and not for the better."

"Changed him how?"

"I remember that he was always a bit of a control-freak, but that escalated to a kind of obsession after the accident. When my parents died, Tadellos was suddenly saddled with the role of Bear Tribe Leader and the care of two distraught little boys while struggling to deal with his own overwhelming grief. He never wanted to be the tribe leader, and he was completely unprepared to be a father-figure."

"Some father-figure," Lolo muttered bitterly.

"To his credit, he has tried to do his duty in his own way. His method for dealing with Standig and me was to teach us meditation and introspection and then create an environment here at the Leader’s Lodge that discourages forming human attachments. I think he hoped that we would grow up completely self-sufficient. What he didn’t count on was that, by being emotionally distant toward us, Standig and I felt like we only had each other, and our relationship has become similar to the relationship Tadellos had with our dad. I get the sense that Tadellos resents my relationship with Standig because it is precisely the thing he was trying to prevent, but to be fair, I think that in his grief-deranged mind, my uncle has been trying to protect us from the pain of loss more than anything else.”

“Do you think that’s also why your uncle seems to hate me and my brothers so much?”

“You do represent an entire culture that promotes deep personal relationships. I also suspect that Tadellos bears some sort of grudge against your father."

"My dad?"

Philige nodded.

"Come to think of it, your uncle has compared me to my dad a few times without explaining his meaning."

"What’s more, you have established a relationship with Standig. Tadellos seems especially protective of him; I think Standig reminds my uncle of himself. That might also be the reason he’s had Standig confined to his room for the past month.” He paused, mulling his thoughts over. "By the way, what brings you here?”

Lolo gave him a long look. “If I were guessing, I’d say probably the same thing that you’re doing.”

“Oh? And what might that be?”

“Trying to plan a prison break.” Lolo laughed at her own joke. “Just kidding! Well… sort of. I’m more trying to figure out how I can help Standig. What are you doing here?”

“More or less the same thing.”

“Any breakthroughs yet?”

“No. You?”

“Apart from throwing notes through his window to try to cheer him up, I’ve got nothing.”

Philige laughed, pleasantly surprised. “You’ve been throwing notes through his window? How have I never thought of doing that before?! Show me.”

“It’s pretty simple really. Why don’t you write him a note and I’ll help you get it to him.” Lolo pulled a small bottle of ink and a pen from one pocket while procuring a small pile of haphazardly torn-up papers from the other.

Philige sat on the grass to scribble out:

Just got back. Working with Lolo to get you out. It would help to know exactly why you’re in there. -Philige

“Are you done?”

“Mn.” Philige handed her the paper. Huo Lohse picked up a small rock and crushed the note securely around it. “Ingenious!” Philige grinned at her.

“Not really. My brothers and I used to throw notes through each other’s windows like this all the time, though, back then, it was just for fun…. Alright. Now we just need to get into position and make sure no one is around to see us.”

The pair snuck around the garden to the bushes at the perimeter. It was a little trickier being sneaky in the middle of the day than it was after dark, and hiding two people in the bushes instead of one also added to the challenge. Once successfully concealed, Lolo pointed to Standig’s window. He’d left it open.

“Wait, Lolo. Sometimes during isolation, my uncle will come check-in to make sure the lesson is sinking in. We should confirm that Standig is alone first,” Philige whispered.

“I haven't run into that problem. I always throw my notes to him at night. How do you want to check? We could throw some rocks at the window and see who responds,” she suggested.

“Too risky. What if my uncle is in there, and he sees us?”

“Do you have a different suggestion?”

“See that bridge on the southern side of Standig's room?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to walk past his room, and if it’s all clear, I will give you a thumbs-up from that bridge.”

“Ok. Be careful.”

Philige left. Pretty soon, Huo Lohse saw him walking along the deck to Standig’s room. As promised, he returned to the south bridge to give her the signal, but he stopped short when he looked in her direction.

“Don’t tell me that sitting in the bushes helps you meditate better.” Bear Tribe Leader’s sarcasm gave Lolo chills. She stood up and turned to face him. “Out!” he ordered.

Still holding Philige’s note, Lolo started to feel a little panicked. It was bad enough getting Standig into trouble without dragging Philige into it as well. Using the rustling of the bushes to strip the note from the rock, she intentionally tripped out of the foliage and onto the ground at Tadellos’s feet. She then shoved the note down her shirt.

“Sorry, sir,” she said, picking herself up off the ground and dusting herself off.

He glared angrily at her, but his voice remained level and cold. “Sorry? What for?”

“For playing in the bushes and then tripping back out of them,” she hung her head, trying not to give anything away.

“Is that really all?” Tadellos’s voice was dangerously quiet.

“Sir?” she said, still looking down.

Without warning, Tadellos grabbed her face under the chin, digging the tips of his fingers and thumb into her cheeks, and forced her face upward. Startled and frightened by the sudden violence of his behavior, Lolo stepped back and batted his hand away as her own hand instinctively moved to the hilt of her sword. Tadellos’s fury was supplanted by an expression of malevolent victory. “Guards!” Seemingly from out of nowhere, Huo Lohse was instantly surrounded by four armed men. She removed her hand from her sword and raised it to her shoulder to indicate that she had no intentions of fighting. “The wolf princess needs some time to cool off,” Tadellos declared, addressing his men with an air of reasonableness and integrity that belied the events leading up to her sentencing. “Take her to the isolation room.”

Lolo looked at the Bear Tribe leader in utter disbelief and horror as two guards grabbed her by her upper arms and led her out of the garden. The abruptness was jarring and the injustice maddening, but she knew it would be useless to try and plead her case, so she followed the guards quietly to The Great Hall, around the deck, down one of the southern corridors toward the lake, to a small, windowless room at the very end. Briskly deposited in the room with only a cutout too small to fit through in the roof for light, Huo Lohse heard the key turn to lock her in.

Never before had Lolo been locked into a room by herself like this. Wolves were never intended to exist in isolation, and for her, this qualified as torture. The walls seemed to be closing in on her and her chest felt tight. Breathing became difficult as a sharp pain developed under her ribs, making it feel like a knife was trying to puncture her lungs with every inhale. Her breaths became quick and shallow. Adrenaline coursed through her body, but without an available outlet, it only succeeded in making her skin crawl and her heart race. Her head was spinning, and she suddenly felt nauseous. It occurred to her that she could die in there and no one would know until someone was sent to release her. No one was coming to help her either as no one except the Bear Tribe leader and his guards even knew where she was. The fear and panic rapidly spiraled out of control, escalating until, mercifully, she passed out.

***

Both Philige from the bridge and Standig from his window helplessly witnessed the proceedings in the garden. After the guards took Lolo away, Philige heard something crash inside Standig’s room.

“Uh-oh. He saw everything.” Risking punishment to do so, Philige rushed to Standig’s south window and knocked loudly. “Standig!”

“Philige? You’re back!” Standig rushed to crack the window.

“I take it that you saw what just happened.”

“Get me out of here, Philige! He’s gone too far!” It was hard to miss the rancor in Standig’s voice and eyes.

“I agree, but busting heads won’t help Lolo. Where do you think they took her?”

“She is probably being confined to her room... Philige, she’s a wolf,” Standig sounded desperate. “More than that, she’s the wolf princess and a wolf spirit host. She won’t last long in isolation."

"Why do you think that?"

"Partly because she's Huo Lohse, but mostly because last summer we were taught that the quickest way to a wolf is through the pack. I suspect that removing a wolf from the pack has an effect too.”

Philige understood what Standig meant. “I’m on it, Standig. I'll find her."

Philige found Et’zana walking toward the pavilion for lunch. “Et’zana,” Philige caught up with her. “Et’zana, you share a room with Huo Lohse Lang, right? I need your help.”

“What is it?”

“It’s Lolo. She’s been taken to her room.”

“Are you sure?” Et’zana looked confused. “I just came from there.”

“You mean, she’s not there?” Philige’s heart sank into his stomach.

“No, but I can go check again.”

Philige shook his head. “No, if you just came from there, then I must be wrong. Thank you.” He turned on his heel and sprinted back to Standig’s room.

“Wait! What’s going on?” Et’zana shouted pointlessly.

“Standig, she’s not in her room,” Philige tried to sound calm.

“What?! She has to be!”

“No, I just talked with Et’zana, her roommate. She’s not there.”

“You-you don’t think… Philige, he wouldn’t….”

“You’re thinking of the isolation room?” Philige voiced their mutual fear.

Standig’s face was murderous. “If he-”

Philige cut Standig off, afraid for his brother to continue that thought. “Standig! I’ll find her. I promise.”

Philige followed the south path down to the isolation room. This row of cabins housed an assortment of servants and soldiers, so, during the day, it was mostly deserted. As he got closer to the end of the row, he stopped to smooth out his hair and adjust his clothes. If Lolo was being held in the isolation room, there would likely be a guard at the door, and he would have to use his crown prince card to get past him.

Sure enough, there was a guard posted at the isolation room. His fears seemingly confirmed, Philige’s stomach did an uncomfortable back-flip.

“Excuse me,” Philige approached the guard, “what are you doing here?”

The guard bowed to the prince. “Sir, I am guarding a prisoner.”

“A prisoner?” Philige was unnerved to hear this term used. “What crime did this prisoner commit?”

“She threatened Tribe Leader Tragen, sir.”

The color drained from Philige’s face. “And how exactly did she threaten him?” His voice, now quiet, resembled his uncle’s.

The guard faltered. “I didn’t witness the incident, but I was told that her hand was on her sword.”

Philige laughed a cold, bitter laugh. “Did she draw her sword or in any way verbally threaten to do so?”

“I-, uh, I’m not sure.”

“You’re not sure," Philige scoffed, "I need to speak with the prisoner. You are dismissed, soldier.”

Unable to meet Philige’s burning gaze, the guard bowed and left without arguing. As soon as he was sure the guard was gone, Philige rushed to the door.

“Lolo! Lolo! Are you in there? Are you ok?”

No answer.

“Huo Lohse Lang, don’t scare me. Are you in there?”

No answer.

Without the key to unlock the door, Philige drew his sword and broke it down. Lolo was curled up slightly, face down on the floor. Philige brushed her hair out of her face and checked that she was still breathing before carrying her outside. He set her down on the deck and started working to revive her. She was pale, a bruise was forming on the right side of her jaw where she had collapsed onto the floor, and her hands were freezing despite the hot summer weather.

“Lolo? Come on. I need you to wake up for me,” he said, rubbing her hands.

It took a few minutes, but Huo Lohse eventually woke up in a panic.

“Whoa! Lolo, you’re ok. It’s ok now,” Philige comforted her.

“Philige? How long was I in there?”

“Maybe an hour?”

“Only an hour?! It felt like an eternity!”

Philige couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “Let’s get you back to your room.”

“Wait! Philige, are you going to get into trouble for this?” she asked, noticing the broken door.

“Let me worry about that, alright?” Philige said while helping her up to her feet.

“No!”

Philige was startled. “What do you mean, no?”

“I mean no, Philige. I’m not going to let you get into trouble for me.”

“Wh-”

“I’ve already somehow managed to get Standig confined to quarters for over a month. I’m not going to take you down too.”

“Look, Lolo, I’m touched by your concern, but you aren’t exactly in a position to be protecting anyone right now.”

“No, Philige. You don’t understand. I would rather be locked in that horrible, dark room than watch you or Standig or anyone else get locked away. The quickest way to a wolf is through the pack. Philige, you and your brother, whether you like it or not, have become part of my pack.”

This was the second time Philige had heard that saying in under an hour, and while he had heard it many times last summer, the implications of that statement were just now sinking in. “So what are you proposing?”

“Go back without me, Philige. I’m staying here.”

“You know I won’t agree to that.”

“Then you should have carried me away while I was still unconscious!”

“Good idea. You go back in there, and I’ll wait to rescue you until you pass out again.”

The absurdity of the stalemate was not lost on either of them, but neither one was willing to yield their position. Huo Lohse would not put Philige in jeopardy, but Philige wasn’t going to leave her to be locked up again either. Besides, there was no way he’d be able to face Standig empty-handed. The stalemate was broken by the arrival of the Bear Tribe leader and his guards.

“Philige, I’d expect something like this from some of the other trainees, but from you...?” Tadellos seemed disappointed but not surprised, and, maybe it was just the result of her talk with Philige earlier, but Huo Lohse did indeed detect a sort of insanity in his eyes.

Philige took up a defensive position between his uncle and Lolo. “Did you fully understand what you were doing when you put a wolf into isolation?”

“Of course, I did,” his uncle said completely remorselessly.

“You knew, and yet you still sent a fifteen-year-old girl to be tortured?!” Philige was shaking and struggling to keep his composure as the gravity of what his uncle had done registered. Lolo tugged at Philige’s arm and pulled him behind her before he could say anything more.

“Tribe Leader Tragen, please forgive Philige this time. And please release Standig from his confinement as well. I acknowledge my fault and accept my punishment. There’s no need to involve them any more.”

“Lolo-”

“I already told you, Philige. I said ‘no’, and I meant it,” Lolo whispered back to him.

A bizarre smile spread across Tadellos Tragen’s face. “So be it.” He nodded his head to the guards, and Huo Lohse was swept to the side so Philige could be escorted away.

Before leaving, Philige addressed the guards, “I know you don’t take your orders from me yet, but I want you to think about what it is you are being ordered to do. This is wrong! Anyone with any sense can see that.”

Tadellos approached Philige and slapped him hard across the face. “I’m disappointed in you, Philige. You know perfectly well the damage this wolf has already done to our family.” Tadellos turned to the guards. “Take the prince back to his room until further notice.”

Philige did not go quietly. “Use your heads! Think! This. Is. WRONG!”

Huo Lohse noticed several of the remaining guards shift uncomfortably and did her best to memorize their faces in case it became important one day to remember which guards still had a conscience.

“And you,” Tadellos rounded on Lolo, “you are to return to the isolation room until I decide otherwise. Guards, secure the wolf princess, and fix the door.”

Lolo was too upset to feel panicked. “You promised to leave your nephews out of this.”

“Did I? When?” She thought back. “So be it” wasn’t exactly a promise even though it had been used to sound like one. Tadellos laughed mockingly at her inability to answer, and Lolo was forced back into the small, dark room.

She could hear Tadellos outside ordering more men to guard her. She leaned against a wall and sunk down onto the floor. “What damage had she done to their family? Was he referring to her friendship with Standig? There had to be more to it, right? It didn't make sense, but then, when did insanity ever make sense?”

With things to brood over, Huo Lohse managed to keep her panic at bay for a while, but as the day got later, the sun started setting, and her room got darker, Lolo’s panic gained the upper-hand. Finding a loose thread on her clothes, Lolo twisted and untwisted the thread around her fingers over and over again, seeking to minimize the rising terror by occupying her mind and hands with something to focus on. She really just wanted to cry, but the tears would not come. At least Philige knew where she was this time. At least someone could find her besides the people keeping her here.

By the time the first light of morning came, Lolo’s fingers were raw from the thread she had been fiddling with, and she hadn’t slept a wink. It got cold on the mountain at night, and without a blanket or heat source, she had been left to shiver. Her hands, feet, and nose were numb from cold, and her muscles were all aching. She was also hungry and dehydrated, having been made to forego yesterday's lunch, dinner and now breakfast.

Finally, around ten o’clock, word came to release her, and with it, Standig.

“Lolo,” he looked her up and down, “you look terrible.”

“It’s nice to see you too.”