Page 62 of Heir of the Autumn Queen

“Are you following me?” I ask the wolf teasingly. It sticks its tongue out to the side and pants, looking sort of goofy for an animal that could so easily rip my throat out. I shake my head.“Talking to a wolf… I must be going crazy out here.”

I swear the wolf huffs a laugh, mocking me. I narrow my eyes at it in warning, but it just turns and scratches behind its ears with its massive back paw. I lay down in the grass, remembering that I wanted to try and use my hearing ability again once I left the Blest Quarter, but it hasn’t crossed my mind until now. Sadly, I doubt it would stretch all the way to Staghorn; one, because of the sheer amount of distance between me and my home, and two, because of the mist in the Nevoa Pass. If Celeste can’t see through it, there’s no way my measly abilities could get through either.

With a pang of homesickness, I focus on my surroundings instead, closing my eyes and listening. I hear my breath, my blood running through my veins, my heart pumping. Then Shadow’s, her powerful heart beating at a much slower rate than mine. I push beyond her to the stream, then land on the wolf in my mind.

Its panting has stopped completely, only slow, steady breaths remain, its heart thumping along at about the same rate as mine. I listen for any other sounds around us, but there’s nothing significant. I focus on the wolf again and think,Are you lonely too?

A faint male voice answers in my head;Loneliness is just a state of mind.

I snap my eyes open, but the wolf is gone. I’m breathing heavily, spooked by whatever just happened. I’m sure I only imagined the voice, but it felt so real. It takes me several minutes to calm back down, all the while looking around for the wolf.

I toss and turn for hours, unable to get comfortable, and by the time I fall asleep, dawn isn’t far off. I sleep restlessly, haunted by the feeling of the voice in my head. I'm up and moving before dawn, anxious to get to town and forget the lone wolf in the woods.

∞∞∞

“Ten?”I ask the bowyer, unable to hide my surprise.

“You asked to see my finest bow. I have others that may be more… affordable for you.” The lean, blonde-haired man answers me, taking in my disheveled appearance. I suppose after spending multiple nights in the woods, I probably look like I’ve never seen ten gold pieces in my life.

It’s not that I don’t have the coin, I do. I’ve just never spent that much in one place before. The bow I got in Staghorn was a gift from Killian, so I don’t know how much he paid for it, but it couldn’t have been much; we just didn’t have that kind of money growing up.“Is there any way I can test it out?” I ask him, running my hand along the smooth wooden limbs.

“Of course. Right this way.” The bower leads me around the back of his shop to an open field, straw targets already set up at different distances; if I had to guess, they’re twenty-five, fifty, and maybe a hundred yards away.

He hands me an arrow, and I take my stance. The grip feels good in my hand, comfortable and sturdy. I nock the arrow, taking aim at the first target. I exhale and release, and the arrow whistles through the air, hitting the target right on the red spot in the middle. I smile to myself as the bowyer hands me another arrow. I wipe my sweaty palm on my dirty pants as I walk the few paces it takes to get centered with the second target. I take aim once again, and the arrow flies through the air at a ridiculous speed before hitting the target, slightly to the left of center. The third arrow is in my hands a split second later as I get lined up with the final and farthest target. I don’t think I’ve ever hit anything this far away before, but there’s no harm in trying. I take aim, spending a little extra time in perfecting my stance and breathing before loosing the third arrow. It hits the target, but much slower than it should, and it's toward the bottom of the painted rings.

The perfectionist in me wants to stay and keep shooting arrows until I hit the farthest target in the middle, but I don’t need to do that to know that this bow is a beautifully crafted piece of weaponry. My godfather is an expert barterer, so he would be outright offended if I didn’t at least try to get the bowyer to come down on the price.“Would you take seven?” I ask him, knowing he’ll counter.

“Nine,” he says simply.

“Eight.” I try one more time.“I still have to buy a quiver and arrows.”

“Nine, and I’ll throw in a quiver and ten arrows,” he says, considering me.“And if you fetch the arrows from the targets, you can have those for free.”

“Done.” I extend my hand and he shakes it roughly with his calloused palm. I hand him back the bow and jog to fetch the arrows, then meet him back inside his shop on the side of his cottage. I hand over the nine gold pieces from my coin purse and he gives me the bow, arrows, and quiver which I promptly throw onto my back. We part ways as I mount Shadow again to head back into the town center to find accommodations for the evening.

My funds are dwindling, but not so much that I can’t make it to the capital without affording food or shelter. The inn I choose has several options for rooms, but I still don’t feel comfortable enough to stay in a shared room, so I pay for a private one, pleased there’s a small tub for bathing.

It took most of the day to get to town, and when I arrived, I went straight to the bowyer, not even bothering to stop and eat anywhere. My stomach is painfully tight at this point, so I leave my knapsack in my room, but keep my bow on my back, unable to part with the most expensive weapon I’ve ever owned. Plus, it feels nice to have the familiar weight on my back again.

I’m in the main tavern room of the inn, scarfing down a meat pie and roasted Brussels sprouts, too hungry to notice anything going on around me. I’m vaguely aware of a presence next to me but haven’t bothered to look up from my plate to see who it is. I know I’ve lost weight since I left Staghorn, simply from not having access to quality food all the time. Luckily, I haven’t lost much strength or muscle, either from how much I’ve walked these last few weeks or the fighting I’ve had to do to defend myself from the various threats I’ve encountered.

Someone clears their throat next to me, and I finally look up from my meal to find a young male with ash-blonde, shoulder-length hair and bright eyes, watching me with curiosity. He’s very handsome, with a smaller button nose and light brown freckles, like mine, all over his face. I can tell he’s tall, even sitting down, and he’s broad in the shoulders and chest. Unable to look away from his intense, vaguely familiar eyes, I ask him,“Have we met?”

His mouth ticks up in the corner but he remains serious.“Not officially,” he says casually. Confused by his answer, I frown slightly.“I’m Shepherd.”

I eye him suspiciously but decide to lead with honesty here in the Summer Kingdom.“Aurelia,” I say around the food in my mouth.

“I thought you looked hungry last night, but I definitely underestimated how much you could eat,” Shepherd says, his eyes glinting mischievously.

“Last night?” I ask, shaking my head. We were in the woods last night. There was no one around except… the wolf.Those eyes.I put the pieces together, realizing that Shepherd must be a wolf shifter. I compose my features to try and hide my surprise.“So you are following me, then.”

His smile grows but still doesn’t reach his eyes as he shrugs.“Well, after you spoke directly into my mind, I figured I should introduce myself to you properly.”

My eyes go wide at the mention of the strange moment I experienced with the wolf in the woods, having thoroughly convinced myself that his voice in my head was an illusion, fabricated out of loneliness.“I thought I imagined it,” I whisper.

“You didn’t,” he says, his tone sure as the sunrise.“I thought you might’ve been a shifter, but upon closer examination…” he leans toward me slightly and breathes deeply.“definitely not.”

“So you can speak to other shifters telepathically when you’re in wolf form?” I ask, not knowing anything about his kind.

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