~Serana⚜️

I had tried my best to cover up the dark purple mark Mira had left on my neck. It wasn't as dark compared to last night but it was still very noticeable.

All through breakfast every person at the table was staring at the mark on the queen's neck. It didn't take a genius to know I had caused it considering I was beet red sitting beside her. But none of them had seen my mark, so until they did they wouldn't be able to say for sure.

Leaving a mark was a show of possession, it was a statement that the person wearing it had entered an exclusive relationship with whoever they marked.

When Fyko asked me a question and I absently turned my head to answer a gasp went through the room as the gathered people spotted the matching mark on my neck. I had gone bug eyed and quickly turned my head to hide it once more. It wasn't that I was ashamed, I just didn't like people talking about me, especially while I was in the same room.

I only glanced up to see Nani giving me teasing look, then looked to my side to see Mira sporting a self satisfied smirk.

Thankfully the queen took mercy on me and finished her food quickly before excusing herself. I followed without hesitation and nearly sprinted from the room.

It wasn't until we were in the hall and the doors closed behind us that Mira openly laughed at my state of distress.

"It's not funny." I whine knocking her in the side with my wing.

She barely wavers in her steps and continues to chuckle lowly. "It is from my end." She grins knocking my side with her own wing.

I stumble a fair bit more than she did but managed to right myself before I actually fell. I scowled at her while we made our way to the infirmary per Selina's orders.

"Don't scowl." Mira chides grabbing my hand and pulling me to her. We've stopped in the middle of the hallway and she leans down and kisses the corner of my lip until I stop frowning altogether. "See, that's so much better." She husk lightly, nuzzling my cheek as she does.

"You're gonna make me sick. Honestly, the middle of the hallway, really?" The familiar female voice of, none other than, the high general herself, intrudes.

"Good morning to you too, Katal." Mira greets sarcastically. "And who is it you were just with?" She questions with a raised brow, nodding toward where Katal had come from.

"She's my mate, I walk her to the infirmary every morning." Katal shoots back. "I was actually on my way to see you, your majesty." She continues before Mira can respond with another smart-ass comment.

"What for?" Mira ask all joking gone from her demeanor. It was frightening how fast she could switch from friendly to deathly serious.

"Saltur has just arrived back from Ocenalos. Zyna carried him to the infirmary, they were attacked not far outside the wall and Saltur took an arrow to the right shoulder pierced straight through to his wing. He gave me the official reply from the Deamon King to give to you." Katal informs holding up a sealed tube meant for long carry messages.

"Thank you." Mira says nearly snatching the letter from Katal's hand.

Stepping around the general Mira starts walking toward the infirmary absentmindedly. Trotting to catch up I try to get a flips of the letter as Mira quickly takes it out of the tube and unrolls it.

I read a few of the words, and while the symbols were the same, I couldn't make heads or tails of the language. "What is that?" I find the question leaving my mouth before knew I was thinking it.

"Deamon's speak a different language than we do. I learned to speak and read it when I was young." She answers scanning the document with a critical eye.

I have to dodge a few guards as I try to keep up with the queen's longer strides. When the infirmary doors come into sight I finally speak up. "Well, what's it say?" I ask, my excitement was bleeding into my voice and I was nearly bouncing with anticipation.

"It says that his majesty King Mykel sends his deepest regards for the mishap and has already issued a resume in the trade between our kingdoms and wishes us good fortune and an offer of metals as aid to fight the rebels." She breaths scanning over the letter again as we enter the infirmary.

As soon as we cross the threshold she rolls the letter back up and returns it to the tube. I follow her as she makes quick work of the distance to the next door.

We enter to find Saltur on one of the cots with a fresh bandage wrapped around his shoulder and wing. Zyna was sitting on the cot next to him while Selina looked her over and inspected the woman for wounds or illness.

"Saltur." Mira called out to the man, quickly striding to his side.

"Your majesty." He greets craning his neck to look up at the queen. "Good news I hope." He nods to the letter still clutched in her hand before rest back on his uninjured side.

"The King sends his apologies and has reopened trade with the promise of metal as reconciliation." She answers him in a low voice.

The man visibly relaxes and even the woman on the other cot loosens at the good news.

"Your majesty." Zyna calls for Mira's attention. "I spotted a band of lycans headed toward the supply transport. That was also the same time arrows came from the opposite direction." She reports.

I spoke up once she finished. "Selina, did you happen to keep the arrow?" I asked.

She motioned to a table on the opposite wall. "Over there, it appears to be lycan in nature but I'm no weapons expert." She adds.

"Lycan? Why would they attack a messenger?" Mira questions.

Looking over I spotted a long shafted arrow sticking out of a tray. I ignore the group and walk over to inspect the arrow.

It was made from solid hard wood, or that's what it should be made from. I picked it up and frowned at the light weight. Gripping it firmly in both hands put all the force I can down on it, snapping it in half.

"Serana!" The violet winged doctor shouted.

"This isn't lycan." I interrupt before anyone else can yell at me.

"What makes you say that?" Mira ask walking over to inspect the broken arrow.

I angled one of the broken ends toward her. "I've personally never met a lycan that uses hollow arrows. They're not strong enough to pierce the hides of most herbivores, and definitely not strong enough to pierce a lycan's hide." I state.

Mira takes the half of the arrow I offered and inspects it. "Sneaky little rats." She mutters. "I'll bet you the rebels are trying to interfere with something and don't want the lycans getting in the city." She theorizes, spinning around and marching to the door.

"Where are we going?" I call after her as I jog to catch up.

"We have guest, the polite thing to do is greet them." She responds without so much as a backwards glance.

She found a guard and told them to head for the west wall and have the group of lycans there brought directly to the castle. As we waited for their arrival Mira had another guard hunt down and find Katal while she ordered near thirty to form around the beginning of the prel ramp where the lycans would step out.

It was a good precaution to have considering they ranged from seven to nine foot tall. I had only ever encountered lycans a few times over the century I spent hunting around my village, but I remembered each and every encounter in perfect detail. Lycans were big, brawny, fury, and surprisingly fast given their size.

Carriages with eight prel teams were coming in fast and landed hard on the ramp. When the first finally slowed to a stop there was a pause before the large door slung open and giant eight and half foot mass of black and brown fur stepped out of the two small confines followed by another light brown and gray/white lycan.

They stood tall with only leather belts slung across their torso and decorative cuffs on the bottoms of their digitigrade legs. They were completely covered in fur and had long snouts and pointy rotating ears atop their heads. They looked frighteningly similar to babbo but larger and far more friendly without the serrated fangs.

"Your majesty." The darker one greets in a deep rumbling voice. He was a little difficult to understand between the accent and the deep base. "I am Chief Racktou'lirret'ma of tribe Tekani'ma. This is my wife Nikvim'lirret'ma." He introduces pinning his ears back and bowing his head in respect.

Mira and I return the bow in kind. "Why are you here?" Mira ask as more lycans step out of their carriages and join the chief a few yards in front of us.

"We know you and yours are no longer responsible for my tribes suffering and we wish to seek sanctity within your walls." He answers.

"Why do you seek sanctuary?" I asked before Mira could speak up.

The large lycan turns to me. "The ones with war in their hearts have left a permanent shadow over my land and set our home ablaze. We have no allies that can harbor our numbers and no place to stay." He informs. Though his voice remained strong I could see the weariness in his eyes and now that I looked I noticed the children amongst the large group of lycans and the way their fur was matted and they seemed to be hungry.

"If I grant you sanctuary I must ask something of you in return." Mira says, I glanced over at her but her expression gave nothing away.

"What is your offer?" The lycan questions, growing weary.

"I'm afraid we cannot discuss that here. Come inside and we can talk while the rest of your tribe is being tended to." Mira suggest half turning toward the castle in offer.

The large chieftain hesitates but steps forward to follow. His mate steps forward as well intending to go with him. "No, stay with the tribe. They will need you." He speaks softly, stopping her argument with a large paw on her shoulder.

She looks like she may argue anyway but her shoulders drop and she steps back to stay with their tribe.

The chieftain turns back to us and walks over. "Lead the way, your majesty." He nods toward the castle.

Mira turns and heads in with Racktou and I close behind.

"I was unaware the queen had taken a wife." He speaks up turning his attention on me.

I freeze for a moment but quickly fall in step again. "Umm... I don't... we-" I stumble over my excuse for the mark on my neck.

"Unofficial at the moment, it is a recent occurrence." Mira cuts me off.

I sigh, thankful for her saving me from explaining the situation.

"I see. Good spirits in your favor then." He wishes.

"Thank you." Mira responds gratuitously.

I wasn't sure what to do and didn't quite trust myself to speak so I did this weird nod-bow and tried to keep my whole face from turning as red as my wings. Mira flicked the tip of my wing and half heartedly glared at me.

The lycan though, chuckled and seemed to be amused by my awkward display and some o the tension around him eased.

The rest of the trip went in silence as Mira lead us to her study. Ovah was already in the corner when we entered and jumped up growling when Racktou ducked in behind us. Etria quickly joined in from her spot on the divan.

"Ovah. Etria." Mira scolds, not breaking her stride toward her desk on the far side of the room.

"I did not know Angelo kept vyx as pets." Racktou comments reaching out and patting Etria with his large paw-like hand.

"Not usually." I respond wryly looking sideways at Mira.

Narrows her eyes at my but the smile pulling at the corners of her mouth betrays her. "Normally would suggest you take a seat but I don't believe our furniture was designed with lycanthrope in mind." Mira jokes lightly trying to make the man feel at ease.

His shoulders loosened and he seemed to appreciate her efforts. I shooed Etria off the divan and took her spot while Racktou remained standing.

"What is your offer?" He ask, all signs of friendliness gone as his broad muzzle sets a firm expression and his brow lowers in a serious line.

"The ones who have been causing all the trouble, the rebels, have managed to sneak a sapian weapon into the city. All we know is that it needs one of the lavalieres to be used. But as long as that weapon stays intact and within the city it is a threat. My proposal is that you allow my general to take a few of your warriors to help find it. Lycans have superior hearing and sense of smell, coupled with our sight it could be what we need to find where they are hiding this 'bomb'." Mira explains her offer and the reasoning behind it.

"A sapian weapon could bring down the shelf, could it not?" Racktou ask, I watched his expression and posture but he remained neutral and impassive.

"Yes it could." Mira responds seriously.

Etria nosed at my hand whining for attention. I absently started scratching behind her ears as I listened to the conversation between the two leaders.

"If Broken Peak falls, it will break all of Skyris." The lycan rumbles lowly.

"Aye." Mira breaths, reverting to her natural accent at the weight of the admission.

"I will ask my people, but I will force no one to do this against their will." Racktou offers his own compromise.

Nodding her agreement. "That's all ask." Mira accepts his deal. "Come, I will personally escort you to the dinning hall. The cooks should still have breakfast out and I'm sure the rest of your tribe will be waiting there for you.

Mira stands and rounds the desk to stand in front of the chieftain. She holds out her hand to seal the deal but the lycan frowns and hesitates before copying her. With an amused grin that showed off her fangs Mira grabs his significantly larger forearm and grips it firmly.

The lycan smiled back a little sheepish and coughed to cover it up. "At least I'm not the only one who didn't know about that." I comment standing from the divan.

"Lycan custom is different, what's your excuse?" Mira teases stepping around the lycans large frame.

"I shot at animals not nobles." I defend following her into the hall.

The lycan pauses and looks at Mira with a slightly concerned look. "You shoot at your nobles?"

"No! No." She quickly spins around to rectify his confusion. "It's, sort of an inside joke." She tries to explain.

I snicker and continue down the hall past her. When I pass, her wing shoots out and nails me at shoulder level.

"Ow!" I shout stumbling to the side. "What was that for?!"

"Snickering." She huffs, spinning back around and marching down the hall with the hints of a smirk on her face.

My jaw drops as I stare after her.

"You two are cute." Racktou chuckles smiling at me.

I look back at him for a moment as I feel my cheeks heat up. "We try." I comment before turning and practically sprinting after Mira with the lycan following close behind easily keeping up with his long strides.

We catch up to the queen and she slips her hand under my wing as we walk to the ground floor. "You really are far to easy to rial up." She chuckles lowly.

I glare sideways at her but don't comment.

When we reach the dinning hall there is a huge commotion on the other side. All three of us quickly enter to see fifty plus lycans heartily eating and nearly stretching themselves across the table to reach more food, and the children were darting in and out of the adults snatching food from their plates.

"Now this is how you're supposed to eat." Fyko's voice booms from somewhere in the room. He appears around the table and trots over to us, throwing his arm over Mira's wings.

He was grinning broadly at the sight but it quickly turned into a grimace as Mira lifted her wing and whacked him in the back of the head with her sword hilt. "How many times is it going to take me hitting you upside the head before it sinks in that I don't like your arm on me." She growls stepping farther into me to get away from the touchy man.

"I forgot." He groans rubbing the back of his head.

"Papa, papa!" A young black and brown lycan runs over.

Racktou laughs and steps out scoop the toddler up.

I smile at the little lycan and direct my attention to his vavi. "Who's this?" I ask nodding at the boy in his arms.

"Ah. This is my youngest Pinerak." He introduces setting the body down.

"Hello." The boys voice sounded a bit growlly and fumbled a bit.

I smile back and nod in greeting.

Mira was all grins as she got down on her knees to be more on his level. "Hello, I'm Mirandiona." She greets in return.

"It's nice ta meet ya." The lycan grins. Before his vavi can stop him the boy steps forward and sticks his nose in Mira's face to sniff.

"Pinerak!" The chieftain scolds, joined by a new female voice.

Looking up I spot his mate approaching with a younger woman that was around our height. As she nears I notice the look of distress on her face. "I'm so sorry your majesty, he still doesn't know any better." She tries to explain his actions while reaching for her son to pull him back.

"It's quite alright." Mira assures as she lifts her hand for the boy to sniff instead.

He happily obliges and presses his wet nose flush against her skin. "You smell like- like, ah..." he trails off trying to find the right words.

"Woodbee honey?" I supply, knowing exactly what she smelled like and how good it was to be close enough to breath in her scent.

"Yeah! Woodbee honey." He agrees enthusiastically. His ears perked up, not dissimilar to the way Etria's and Ovah's did when they got excited.

Speaking of, Etria decided she wanted to take part in the sniffing as well because she quickly slipped around me and starts sniffing at the young lycan. I didn't even notice her following us. Looking back over my wing I spot Ovah standing behind us as well.

"Miss..." Racktou's voice calls but trails off. Turning back around I see him staring at me. "I'm sorry, but what are you called?" He ask.

"Just Serana is fine." I answer smiling politely.

"Serana." He nods in acknowledgement. "It was a pleasure meeting you. You as well your majesty." He nods in the queen's direction as she climbs back to her feet. "If you please, I must speak with my tribe." He bids his farewell, picking his son up and walking over to the table the tribe of lycans were gathered around scarfing down food.

"Good day your majesties." His mate bows before trotting after him with the young woman it tow.

I sigh and watch them for a moment before I realize where they were likely staying. "They're gonna be living here aren't they?" I question Mira without turning my gaze away from the fury mass of bodies.

"It would be easiest, there is plenty of spare room, and the general population will not likely take well to their presence. It is also impolite to house allies in lesser dwellings." She says as way of answer.

I sigh again but don't comment. After a few long moments of silently watching the group I turn to Mira. "I better head to the infirmary before Selina comes and drags me there." I tell her. Leaning in I lay a kiss on her cheek before turning and trotting out of the room.

A woof has me turning to look over my wing to see Etria trotting after me, happy to follow me to what ever new place I was headed.

Laughing at the vyx I hold the door open for her and glance up to see Mira watching us with a smile pulling at her features. "Try not to get too banged up." She teases flashing a fanged grin at me.

I flash my own teeth at her before spinning and making my way through the castle to the infirmary.