Word Count: 2610

~Ivara

I find my next note from Viviana on the mantle in my room.

'Befriend Luna Nyra. Quickly.'

It weighed on me as I readied myself for the day, and now, at the private breakfast hosted for territory leaders, and somehow, me, it's all I can consider.

The dining hall is grand and well appointed. At the crest of the vaulted ceiling is a sprawling fresco, displaying the stunning view of the night sky. Stars glitter and wink, forming familiar constellations.

Everyone eats at the table in near silence. The werewolves are distracted with the prophecy, no doubt.

Luelle, on the other hand, is using this opportunity to view each Alpha and Luna in turn. Her gaze hops from one to the other, although her attention is most generously appointed to Eria.

The Luna I find my gaze continuingly lifting to is Nyra, who sits on the opposite side to me, next to Eria.

Nyra is fascinating to me. I've studied her pack and her reign a lot back home, yielding mixed results each time.

To many of her pack members, she is the sweet, adoring young Luna who stepped up as her mother stepped down. She dotes on the wily children and fusses over the sick and injured.

Yet some report her as shrewd and malicious. Calculating and cunning.

I imagine there is some truth to both accusations.

In this moment, her attention has seemingly drifted, her eyes are glazed, mouth moving slowly as she chews on a ripe strawberry.

She has soft, supple features. A pert nose and round, flushed cheeks. She is lovely, pre-possessing. No wonder she is adored by many.

Her raven hair is pulled off her face, laced into a thick plait that she drapes over her left shoulder. Her eyes are sweetest shade of cornflower blue, framed by thick, dark lashes.

She looks easy to befriend. But I have been wrong before.

Eria suddenly pinches Nyra's bare arm, hauling her out of her daydream. Her brows furrow together at the Luna opposite her, who leans close to mutter something too low to catch.

They know each other. They are familiar.

Others around the table have finally broken into conversation. I let it hum around me, not grasping onto any particular line of conversation as I stir my spoon through my boysenberry yogurt.

A presence suddenly fills the seat next to me.

It's Ezra. I know without looking, noting his bright and citrusy scent.

"Good morning, Ivara," he greets lowly.

I pass a quick look over the table. Everyone else is occupied by their own private discussions, including Luelle, who has been snared by Rune into yet another dull conversation about wine tannins.

"Morning," I mumble back.

In the short time I've been here, Ezra has learnt more about me than the girl I'm sharing rooms with. It is both unnerving and comforting, knowing at least one person is aware I'm being blackmailed.

"It was quite the interesting night last night, wasn't it?" He fills a cup with water, downing it in a few swallows before he tucks into his breakfast.

"I suppose it was." I lick the back of my yogurt spoon.

I gleaned that Eria despises Ezra. It must be his flippancy, or perhaps relations between them have soured for political reasons. The other pack leaders don't take him seriously, although Syre, Rune and Arik favour him more than others, it seems.
 
"Have you received any further instructions?"

"I've been asked to befriend Nyra." I nod subtly in her direction. She still speaks intently with Eria.

"Hmm."

I glance at Ezra, noting the strangeness of his tone.

He cuts into a fried egg with the edge of his fork, golden yolk spilling out on the ivory plate. Lines of scepticism form around his eyes.

"What?" I question.

"That shouldn't be difficult for you," he muses equivocally. "She's a gentle soul. Or so she is perceived."

"Do you have any theories on why it was her I've been asked to befriend?"

He thinks for a moment, pausing his eating.

He has such an incredible facial structure, it seems quite miraculous. He is truly beautiful, and from this close, it is not difficult to understand why he has gathered a flock of such dedicated admirers.

From the strong cut of his jaw, to the pronounced slant of his cheekbones. The layered brown tones of his unkempt brown hair, the variegated assortment of greens and golds in his irises—it all works so harmoniously.

"In my experience, Nyra is outwardly friendly to all she meets. Her and I have spoken on several occasions, and not just about business. Yet, I find I know almost nothing about her." A frown gathers between his brows. "Perhaps whoever has hired you is interested in getting you to root out all her secrets."

I glance at the Luna in question. She expresses something to Eria, who rolls her eyes.

"It's not you who has hired me, is it?" I ask him lowly.

He smiles, genuinely pleased that I would lob such a casual accusation his way. I seem to provide him amusement at every turn, even if I cannot decipher what is so funny about all of this.

"Now why would I hire a third party to blackmail you when I'm so willing to do it myself?" He taps the tines of his fork against his plate.

"To deceive me. To ensure blame is not put on you if I were to tell someone," I guess.

I have to consider everyone as a possibility, and naturally, I have plenty of suspicions about Ezra.

He admitted himself that he has dark secrets. It has also been weighing on me thinking about how easy it was for me to sneak into his room without guards interrupting me, or to find his faux seal. Not to mention, the timing of his arrival in the room.

He leans back into his seat, eyes glistening. "You may believe it is me if you like."

I scowl, glaring at my breakfast. "Well...obviously it's not you."

It seems like such an unnecessary effort to blackmail me, when, as Ezra said, he had no trouble ensnaring me into a deal of his own. Also, he doesn't seem to have any overarching motivations yet.

Only time will tell.

He braces his elbow on the table, turning to face me. "Does it trouble you, not knowing? Would it make it easier to follow their commands if you did?"

"I want to know who would threaten me like this." I frown at my plate, a shiver slowly walking up the base of my spine. "Who would threaten to share to the world a secret that would change everything?"

He leans close. So close, I can feel the warmth of his breath against my cheek and jaw.

"Anyone here is capable of threatening you, Ivara. Anyone." He flicks a gaze over the tables occupants, smiling slowly.

I watch to see who his attention lingers on, to see what he might reveal with a single look. It reveals nothing, though—he is exceptionally careful despite his relaxed demeanour.

"You know better than me."

"Indeed." He leans back slightly. "I would love to know this secret of yours."

It takes a great deal of restraint not to let my gaze instinctually flick in Luelle's direction. Let him think it pertains only to me.

"Not happening." I focus on the butter I generously lather onto a thick hunk of bread, even if my appetite is waning.

His eyes flick down to my décolletage. "What if I bought you the most exquisite necklace? One crafted from rare gems from my own mines? Then would you tell me?"

"Not even a little tempting." I chew on the bread thoughtfully.

A rare necklace would get me absolutely nowhere. I couldn't sell it back home without being arrested, and it is not as if I commonly attend lavish parties where such a piece would spark positive conversation.

Ezra rests his chin on his hand, ensnared by the challenge to root this secret out of me.

"I could buy you a palace." His fingers drum against his cheek.

"Sounds lonely."

"Not materialistic then." His eyes drift up as he thinks, brows pressing together. "I could pay for the treatment of an ailing family member?"

I laugh faintly under my breath. "I have no family."

He sighs, as if this is a great burden and not a just fun game for him.

"You are quite the challenge, aren't you?" His eyes glisten, dancing over my face.

I carefully wipe bread crumbs from my fingertips before shifting in my seat to face him.

"This secret is so compelling, it's being used to blackmail me," I remind him. "If you want to learn it, you will have to be more creative than that."

Aid for the hungry denizens of our Kingdom would be a good start. I know it is not so simple for him, that the King would not accept it, but it might be all that would compel me to spill such a secret.

He watches me as I raise my mug of water to my lips, eyelids heavy.

"If you came up to my room tonight, I could give you the most mind-blowing orgasm you have ever experienced," he murmurs.

I choke, water I was busy swallowing catching down my throat. It makes me splutter, liquid nearly spilling from the mug as I set it back on the table.

Attention sweeps to me, conversation careening to a violent halt.

"Ivara, are you alright?" Luelle asks, patting my back as I cough up the rest of the water.

"I'm fine. I just choked a bit." I wave a hand in front of my throat, eyes watering.

How mortifying. Ezra watches with an unrestrained grin, knowing it's his words that initiated this.

He really does live up to the rumours about him.

"Quite an intense conversation you two were sharing," Eria notes from across the table, a vicious slant to her cruel smile. "How much can a human and a werewolf have in common?"

Everyone stills, including me.

Atreus, who sits on the other side of Eria, leans forward. There is something predatory in the movement, in the way his focus settles entirely on me.

What did he do with my silver coin? Is its meaning burnt into his mind as he looks at me?

"You'd be surprised, Eria," he says quietly, but everyone hears it.

I shudder. He thinks Ezra and I have slept together. He probably resents me for it, believing a human is not good enough to warm the bed of an Alpha.

"Perhaps you're inclined to share what you've been speaking about," Eria says, smirking knowingly.

No one voices their disagreement. Their curiosity is like a hunger that can't be sated.

What am I supposed to say? I can't tell them about what we were really speaking about, or the fact that Ezra just offered me an orgasm like it's basic currency.

I glance at Syre, who is down the other end of the table. He watches this exchange silently, a low fire burning in his dark eyes.

"Ivara was just telling me a secret," Ezra announces.

My breath catches. Bastard.

"A secret?" Rune's head appears from around Luelle.

"How trite," Eria mutters.

"What secret, Ivara?" Luelle asks softly, frowning at me.

I hate the look on her face. It already wavers with betrayal, like she expects it of me. I suppose as a Princess, she has never been entitled to privacy, nor to friends who do not use her for their own advantage.

She has no idea what I'm willing to do to protect her heirdom.

"Well if I said it, it wouldn't be a secret anymore, would it?" I tell the table, my face burning beneath their scrutiny.

"You told Ezra," Eria notes. "A stranger to you."

Ezra nudges me. "We're not complete strangers, are we, Ivara?"

I glare at him, willing him to escape the prison that is his own stupidity. Does he not realise that while his ruse worked with Atreus, it won't work with Luelle? I could lose my job over this.

I race through my thoughts, compiling ideas on how to navigate my way out of this mess.

Then, it hits me. Two birds with one stone.

"It wasn't so much a secret as it was a...story," I exclaim. "A story about...a dream I had."

Silence falls, disappointment rippling down the table. They thought the strange human might invite some salacious gossip, but now, I bore them.

"How odious." Eria rolls her eyes.

"What kind of dream?" Cassian asks.

Eria pins him with a cold stare and the poor young boy recoils back into his seat, diverting his attention to his empty plate.

"Why should we purport to care about the dreams of a human? They bear no consequence on us," she snaps.

"You asked her to speak, Eria." Irritation has finally edged into Ezra's tone.

She shrugs. "An exercise in futility."

If she is goading me, it won't work. My temper doesn't flare as easily as others at this table, plus, I know her type. Reactions are what feed her, entertain her. She is nothing without them.

"I had a dream that it would be Luna Nyra who gets crowned the Queen. The ultimate sovereign," I tell them all.

The Luna in question straightens, lips parting in shock.

"Me?"

I nod. "It was...vivid."

She blinks. I think she is only just now acknowledging my existence, as if a curtain has been drawn back from around me.

Now, I am no longer the focal point of the table. Everyone looks at her, seeing her now as a threat to their own interests.

My goal has been to get her attention, and it worked. Now, she'll surely want to know why I was graced with such a dream.

Eria slumps back in her seat, indignation ghosting across her face. "Anyone else entirely bored?"

"I believe breakfast is over." Ezra stands, his chair scraping across the floor.

Everyone disperses quickly after that, minds occupied by what my dream could mean, and if it's of any real consequence.

Luelle and I are the last to leave the dining room. She stops me in the corridor outside.

"What was that?" She questions.

"I was encouraging Ezra to continue courting you. I didn't think you would want anyone to know, so I made up some silly story about a dream," I tell her hastily.

She pauses, deflating. She expected the worst from me.

"I suppose that is true, I don't want anyone to know." She picks at her nails. "I need to keep my options open until my match is secured."

I smile weakly. "Very true."

Yet another catastrophic issue evaded, as long as Atreus doesn't go around sharing what he's gleaned from Ezra's words the other night.

"Well...good job," she says awkwardly. Praise isn't something she's used to dishing out.

"Shall I meet you in the room? I want to get some air." I gesture down the corridor, where the hall breaks off into a balcony.

She nods, leaving me to my errant thoughts.

Resting a hand over my forehead, I sigh raggedly. I feel utterly depleted of energy and a little nauseous. I'm going to have to be more careful moving forward.

The cool mountain air soothes my skin as I step out onto the balcony. Finally, a moment to myself...

I stiffen, the moment swiftly corrupted. I can feel someone's presence behind me.

Whirling around, it's Syre I see at the balcony's threshold, looking at me.

🩵••🩵

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~Midika 🐈‍⬛💜