Page 28 of The Silent Mountain (Under the Werewolf Crown #2)

twenty-eight

Light and Darkness

*FAVIAN*

“T here is always light,” Stefan said.

The news that Alana and I officially marked and claimed each other spreads like wildfire in the clan, and despite everyone still mourning Barbara and fearing for Ludwig’s life, I can also feel how hope returns to them.

We have just bid goodbye to Barbara, and the warrior we have lost, officially in our ceremony, burning their bodies in the process and mourning them with the whole clan.

A ray of hope is definitely what the clan needs now.

“Favian?”

I look up to see my brother. “Elio, is something wrong?”

“No,” he pauses. “I know it’s not the right timing.”

“You can always come to me with any problem,” I reassure him.

“It’s not a problem either,” Elio sighs. “I just…“ He reaches for something in his pocket and pulls out a small box. “I made this a while ago. For you and Alana. I wanted to give it to you when you had marked each other.”

I get up and walk to him, reaching out my hand. Elio looks happy at my gesture, placing the box in my hand. Once open, I see there are two beautifully crafted pieces of jewelry. One pin and one brooch. Each of them is carrying a polished white moonstone, and is set into an intricate pattern of little stars that I assume symbolize snowflakes. “This is beautiful, Elio! Did you do this yourself?”

“Yes, while I was on the run, I collected stones, and Maggie taught me about them. I learned how to polish them and how to turn them into jewelry,” he pauses. “I know it might not be a suitable hobby for a prince.”

“I don’t care about that,” I tell him, sincerely impressed by his talent. “It’s beautiful, and you put a lot of heart into it, and definitely also a lot of skill!”

“You like it?”

“I love it,” I tell him. “And I am sure Alana will too.”

“I am happy she is your mate and that she is with us,” he says. “I think she will be the best queen we could have had.”

“I agree,” I say with a smile.

“What I like the most about her is that she makes you happy,” Elio adds. “I like seeing you with her.”

I take a moment for his words to sink in, and it breaks my heart a little to realize how it must have felt for him to save my life, yet have to see me so detached. “I was a pretty bad brother, huh?”

“Not at all,” he exclaims. “You were always amazing. But sometimes, it felt like you weren’t fully here.”

“It was hard coming back,” I tell him honestly. “I spent all those years fighting to stay alive and not to succumb to captivity, but once it happened, and I was back, everything felt exhausting.”

“And now?” Elio wants to know. “Do you feel it’s worth being here?”

“I have always felt it’s worth being here,” I assure him. “It just took a while for the chains to disappear fully. Even if I hadn’t met Alana, I would have stayed. You and the clan were always worth it. But I admit that she made things so much easier for me. It’s like she returned something to me that I didn’t know I had lost. And now I have you, I have Alana, the clan, and I have Stefan, as annoying as he is.”

At my last words, Elio giggles. “He really is annoying sometimes. But I think he really likes you.”

I don’t have time to reply to him, as the door gets ripped open unceremoniously, which is quite rare and instantly raises my suspicions that something is off… again. Indeed, Theodor storms inside. “My king!” he yells.

I instinctively put my hand on Elio’s shoulder and push him back, in case we get attacked. “What happened!?”

Theodor halts, taking a few breaths. “I… I… you will think I am crazy. Maybe I am crazy.” His eyes are wide open, his lips quivering. He is rambling something inaudible.

“Elio,” I say. “Go, alert Erin and Cassie, and Alana and Stefan, also. Something is off with Theodor.”

I don’t need to look at my brother to notice the deep worry. Theodor is his only remaining friend from his life before we freed the clan. He’s already lost Maggie, and now something seems to be happening to Theodor as well. Elio keeps it together, though, and just nods before dashing out of the door. His resolution makes me proud. Instead of panicking, he goes into action and tries to keep a cool head.

Talking about a cool head…

I instantly link Erin and Alana to tell them that we have a new problem at hand and that Elio will fill them in, before I shift my attention back to Theodor. He still seems distraught, pearls of sweat are on his forehead, and he keeps tugging at his hair, managing to rip some strands of it out. “Stop it!” I command. But he doesn’t seem to hear me.

“By Aengus, Theodor, get a grip and calm down!”

“No, no,” Theodor mumbles. “It’s insane. I am insane. I was her; it was clearly her, but it’s impossible. I am going crazy.”

I am completely out of the loop. Usually, my presence alone is enough for my clan members to snap out of whatever haze they are in. But now, not even me yelling seems to do the trick. I try contact instead, grabbing him by his shoulders. “Theodor!” I say, trying to keep my voice as steady and firm as possible. “You need to snap out of it. What is going on? Talk to me!”

“No, no.” Another shiver goes through his body, before he starts thrashing against my grip. “I am losing my mind. I am insane. Kill me, kill me. End it!” he yells.

I slap him, harder than intended, but it has the desired effect. Theodor blinks in confusion. “What… what… am I doing here?” He stares at me. Slowly, it seems like realization settles in, as his eyes widen in horror. He stumbles a couple of steps back before going down on his knees, bowing his head deeply. “Please forgive me, Your Highness.”

His reaction worries me once more. What just happened? I take a step closer to help him up and ask him what he just saw, and what he’d been through, when the door flies open.

“What happened?” Stefan yells as he comes running into my office, Alana hot on his trail. “Are you safe, Your Highness?”

He stops, his gaze going from me to Theodor, who is still kneeling on the ground, looking miserable.

“No, seriously,” Alana mutters. “What happened?”

“I sincerely wish I could answer that,” I say, before turning to the young warrior. “Get up, Theodor.”

Stefan helps him up, seeing as Theodor is in no state of mind to do that himself. He is still completely shaken. Fortunately, Erin and Cassie arrive too, and as usual, Erin is able to oversee the whole situation.

“What type of new evil happened now?” Cassie asks quietly. She shakes her head, her wild hair flying around and making her look even more anxious.

“Go and fetch some water for Theodor,” Erin instructs her. “And make him tea like I showed you yesterday.”

Cassie nods eagerly, looking almost relieved to be able to leave the room.

“Alright…“ I turn my attention to Theodor. “Now tell me what happened. You came into this room, completely in a panic. Something terrified you, didn’t it?”

“Yes,” he says shakily. “I thought I might be losing my mind.”

“What did you see?” I ask. “You were talking about her .”

I notice how he hesitates, making me wonder what’s so horrible that he can’t say it out loud. “We can only help you if you tell us,” Erin pushes.

“She is right,” I say.

We are interrupted by Cassie, who brings us some water, before she leaves again to look after the tea she is brewing. Erin hands Theodor the glass with water. “You can tell us,” she encourages him.

“And if I am truly going insane?”

“Then I will find a way to help you,” she says. “I doubt it though. You sound very well put together.”

“Barbara,” he breathes out. “I saw Barbara.”

It’s so quiet in the room all of a sudden that I could hear a pin drop.

“But, Barbara…“ Erin says softly.

“She is dead, I know,” Theodor heaves. “I know. But I am sure I saw her. I was doing my training, just by myself, when I saw a woman approaching. I thought it would be one of the clan members, but it was Barbara.”

“Could it have been someone who looked like her?” Stefan asks.

“No, it was her. I am certain. She… she… just stood there and looked at me. I tried to talk to her, but she kept staring, and then I started to feel so weak and dizzy. That’s when I decided I need to alert you, Your Highness.”

“Maybe you imagined things,” Stefan says.

I furrow my brows deeply. “I am not sure,” I say.

At this, the others look at me, surprised. “You believe what he is saying?” Stefan asks.

“I just know he came running into my office, completely in shock, terrified even, and thinking he was losing his mind,” I point out. “That much is certainly true. As a reaction to a nightmare, I feel it’s too strong.”

“It’s more like what I went through with the mare,” Alana says.

“That’s what I was thinking too,” I agree. “Could it be a mare again?”

“Their effect on us is different,” Erin says, frowning slightly. “From what I have heard, Alana suffered from night terrors, and started to sleepwalk and hallucinate strictly at night, which is typical for a mare, but what Theodor describes sounds different.” She looks at him. “Did she talk to you?”

“No.” A shiver goes through his body. “She was just staring. It was truly creepy.”

“Could she have risen from the dead?” Alana asks. “Is that possible?”

At her question, both Stefan and Theodor look truly horrified. I can sympathize, because this is probably the most unsettling thing we have ever had.

“It could be possible through a curse if her body were still there,” Erin says, her words horrifying me further. Is there a spell strong enough to use a deceased’s body? What an unsettling thought. “But Barbara’s body was burned. It’s not possible to use it anymore. It could be, however…“

“However…?” I push her.

“That someone recreated her body, which is why she didn’t talk with Theodor. It would give the illusion, at least,” she pauses. “But I don’t feel the presence of a curse.”

“Could it be-“ Alana asks before a scream rips through her words and interrupts her.

“Who was that?” Stefan demands.

“That’s Cassie!” Erin blurts out.

Cassie screams something. I try to use my dragon senses to get through to her, but she must be too scared to form a coherent sentence. I don’t waste any more time, rushing out of the door and towards the room where the screams are coming from.

She is in the kitchen. Of course. She wanted to make tea for Theodor. Ripping the door open, I am met with a truly horrifying sight. Cassie is standing next to the stove, almost hiding behind it, and in front of her… There she is! She has her hair tied back and is wearing her casual clothes, the ones she always wore when she was training. She is even smiling her signature smile.

I feel a twinge in my heart. I really liked her as a friend. She was a trustworthy warrior and clan member, actually one of the most trustworthy I had. She was one of the first to join my side during the last battle. She did so much, and she had to leave our world in such a horrendous way.

I try not to think about it when she got sick, and I intuitively knew there was no helping her. I try not to think about how unfair it was, or about the fate Ludwig is facing, another one of my most trustworthy people.

I respected these two so much that I made them Alana’s guides and bodyguards.

An overwhelming sense of sadness fills me, but there is also something else.

A sense of despair, as if something is sucking out all of my energy.

I feel Alana bump into me from behind, her hand on my back, while she follows my gaze. The others pool into the kitchen also.

“Barbara?” Erin mutters.