Page 54 of Enchanted Kingdom
He smirked. “I got fed warm bread and jerky. Of course we are coming back.”
“Thank you,” I whispered. “Thank you.”
He gave me a half a smile. “It’s the least I can do.”
* * *
I waiteduntil we returned to eat my jerky. I was eating it and taking in the beautiful forest on our way back to the castle. My last little taste of home before being shoved back into my cage.
“Could you walk any slower?” Owen asked, sarcasm thick in his tone.
“I don’t want to go back. The forest is beautiful,” I admitted. It was much warmer now compared to the morning. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes with how good it smelled.
Owen snorted. “The smell just reminds me of training. And all the damn running.”
I laughed. “So the princes had to train like any other Enchanted of age?”
Owen nodded. “They didn’t have to, but they both opted to. I think both were trying to prove they were worthy. Whether to themselves or to us, I’m not sure.”
I thought on that a moment while taking a bite of my jerky, trying to imagine them seven years ago, young and throwing themselves into training. I wondered if people were afraid to even speak to them for fear of retribution.
I thought I saw something gray out of the corner of my eye, moving between two trees, but when I turned, nothing was there. I decided to walk next to Owen after that. The forest was eerily quiet.
But then a few steps later, I saw it again. I slowed to a stop and looked behind some trees, the area I thought I saw a flash of gray.
Owen was turning toward me, probably to chide me some more for stopping, when he, too, went deathly still. He held up a hand, as if telling me to stop.
Out from around a tree trunk, I saw a snout peeking out. A moment later, the eyes and ears followed.
I was staring at a wolf. An honest to goodness large wolf.
My heart thundered in my chest.
“Don’t move,”Owen commanded at a whisper.
I didn’t. I couldn’t. The wolf was huge. And beautiful. I hadn’t seen so much as a bug the last trip through the forest, and now I was staring at a huge gray wolf. So much for birds, the forest had awolf.
The wolf just stared at us for a moment and then took off further into the forest.
I stood there, wondering if that had really been real. It had all happened so fast. “Tell me you saw that.”
Owen’s eyes met mine. “I did.”
With a shrug, I took one last bite of my jerky and then walked toward the tree I had seen the wolf hiding behind.
“What are you doing?” Owen hissed at me. “Tracking the wolf now?
I sat the rest of the jerky down and then walked right back to Owen. “Leaving that for him. Didn’t you see how thin he looked?”
Owen shook his head. “This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Not at all how I assumed. Now we’re feeding the wolf?”
I nodded. “He’s the only creature in this forest. Don’t you find that weird? I don’t want him to die too.”
Owen tipped his head up to the sky. “Unbelievable.” Then with a flick of his finger, he sent a small jolt of magic toward the jerky.
“Hey!”
He shut me up with a glare. “I warmed it. Just like I did with your blanket earlier.”
