Bab 855: WHAT (I THINK) RIVER WANTED TO TELL ME
4 MARCH, FRIDAY, 4:24AM
Even though I was certain I had cast the spell properly - like with all the right words and intention. I even looked straight at River when I cast.
Not that I've ever read a textbook on magic or anything (was there such a thing?) But that cast was textbook perfect! At least it was exactly like how I imagined an A+ cast to look like.
But I've come to realize it wasn't just the quality of the magic or the ability of the caster. Sometimes it's who you cast it on.
In River's case, he really didn't know much about the Last Fire Wolf. I mean, from the moment the spell was cast, and he opened his mouth, I realized I had asked the wrong person.
"Who?" River looked confused. (Which was the exact moment I realized I wasted the cast on him)
"Wolfgang. You said you had something to tell me about Wolfgang." I prompted somewhat impatiently. That was just a waste of good magic, luckily it wasn't my magic.
"Oh, right." River nodded, "About Sir Wolfgang..."
"Yeah?" I prodded when River trailed off.
"I don't really know much about him." River confessed.
I groaned. Tell me something I didn't know!
Next to me, Ben slapped his forehead with his palm, "If you've got something to say, just spit it out, Prince."
So River told us that Wolfgang was one of four Pillars of the Snow Moon Pack, he was also the youngest until Adele took over her grandmother's position last year.
His dad, Alpha Gunter, recently appointed Wolfgang formally as Prince River's mentor. This was apparently big deal, and a great honor bestowed on the fire wolf.
"Even though he has been my mentor for almost two years now, I still don't really know him very well. But I think he's a good person." River told me. But this was River and he thought vampires might be good people too, so...
Most of what River did know about the Fire Wolf was from Wilhelm, who was the only human whom Wolfgang accepted as an equal. In fact, Wolfgang and Wilhelm were old friends.
River said it like it was something surprising. He even tried to reason it out, aloud, in front of us.
As far as River could tell, Wilhelm and Wolfgang had run missions together before. They were both well-renowned in their respective military units.
Or it could be because both Wilhelm and Wolfgang were without family left in this world.
"Except that Wilhelm has found his sister now... I mean your sister. I mean your sister who is his sister, but only his half-sister, but still his sister..." Explaining things wasn't really River's strong suit.
I mean, till this point I was still trying to figure out what he was trying to tell me. I didn't think he brought Wolfgang up to tell me about his bromance with Wilhelm.
Which could also be due to their similar military backgrounds. Wilhelm was the eldest son of a Von-someone (River forgot), but "Von Someone" was a retired war hero.
Wolfgang was also from an ancient fire warrior family, which River deduced all on his own that it was the same thing. (Although, I doubted it.)
River concluded, "But I think it's also because Snow Wolves can be very cold."
I couldn't tell if River meant it literally or figuratively.
"But that's not what I'm trying to tell you." River quickly brushed it off and started over.
"This is about Sir Wolfgang..." River began again.
Sir Wolfgang was a proud old-fashioned wolf who was a critical and fussy mentor with a short temper and sharp tongue.
Poor River had suffered so much with the fire wolf breathing down his neck every day since the fire-breathing mentor's official appointment.
"Now everything I do reflects on him and my dad and the entire Snow Wolf Kingdom!" River ranted, "I know it can't be helped since I'm the crowned prince and all, but it just...it's just..."
If anyone else told me this, I'd have shrugged him off as a showoff, but River sounded sincerely troubled.
"Sometimes I feel a little like I have to represent everyone else but me." River said, somewhat melodramatically.
"Oh, River." Savy sighed. She sounded very much like how Mum said, "Oh, Sam."
She even rubbed his back empathetically.
Anyway, what River wanted to tell me was, "Wilhelm thinks the reason why Sir Wolfgang is staying is because he really doesn't want to mate Anastasia."
Which I'd say was pretty obvious from the onset.
But River was very troubled. Apparently, Wolfgang, his proud fire wolf mentor, had swallowed his pride and accepted the dishonor of becoming the mistress of a young foreign alpha for a selfless and noble reason. (Wow, when River put it like that, it sounded a lot like some lycan legend.)
He didn't reject Anastasia because she was a scary monster of a she-wolf. Anastasia was considered quite a beauty, and the only child of a respectable snow wolf lineage.
"Ah... but that's not to say she is safe." River quickly warned me, "It's best to avoid her if at all possible."
Wth did that mean?
But the reason why Hotstuff had chosen to bear such great dishonor was that Anastasia was the Young Snow Beta's soul mate.
"Have you met him?" River asked.
I shook my head. River frowned, "He did come over for a while. He usually has to fill in for Beta Glenn whenever Dad needs his beta with him."
Which was pretty much as often as a person might need his right hand I suppose. I remembered how Bell couldn't find towels without Ki... Which made me remember Bell's naked fury earlier. Omo.
Anyway, Beta Glenn's son, Wymer, was probably Wolfgang's only other friend besides Wilhelm. The three of them were about the same age so they met as young warriors in training.
"They're like WWW together." I commented.
"What? Oh... right. Haha, but I know, it's actually quite a weird trio." River laughed a little, "Like the young snow beta, the fire wolf, and a human. I always see them together though."
I nodded, not quite seeing what was so weird about it. They even had matching initials. How did no one notice? Okay, I know, Wilhelm was human, but it's only weird here because we didn't have all that many humans past Gate City.
Nearly half of Snow Moon's land was populated by humans. Applying Teacher Tabby's friendship lesson at C&C class, didn't that mean nearly half your friends would statistically speaking, be humans? So one in three good friends being Wilhelm the human shouldn't be weird, right?
And River was seriously making Wolfgang sound like a guy who only had two friends in his entire life. Either that, or he was only capable of making friends with people whose names started with "W."
It's like he was a social recluse or didn't know how to make friends or something. I was quite sure River was wrong about that though. I mean, Wolfgang had only started coming over this month and see how popular Hotstuff was!
But I couldn't really clarify because what River was REALLY trying to tell me (or at least I THINK this was River's main point) was that Hotstuff was rejecting the match with Lady Anastasia not because she was a scary monster (although that was not to say she wasn't), but because he didn't want to take his precious friend's soul mate.
Because unlike here in Night Leaf, wolves - especially purebred powerful wolves, did not mate their soul mates. They were matched by their families with the permission of the Alpha to other purebred powerful wolves of similar standing.
It was how Snow Moon had kept their magical bloodlines pure and safe within the confines of their white walls for the past century.
I mean, normal wolves sure, but the wolves born to old families had access to treasures like mating bands that helped control their more primitive urges.
Outside the white stone walls of Snow Moon, the magic is negligible. It would be a complete waste of talent for a Snow Wolf to be mated out. That would be equivalent to giving up their magic and snow forever.
And just like how Adele was betrothed to this Cedric guy (even though she was Wilhelm's soul mate), it was a great way to breed powerful heirs.
River paused and frowned at this point, "I guess it's never easy to see your friend's pain when their soul mate is given to another."
But all the wolves were loyal to their Alpha and pack and would never complain.
River squeezed Savy's hand, "I'd never be able to do it though."
"You better not." I said flippantly and then I laughed.
I'm not sure why I laughed, and the laugh came out hollow sounding too. I didn't like the way it sounded. That was not my laugh.
But I think I just didn't want to deal with it. There was wrong in the world everywhere and my hands were full as it was. What could I do anyway? Not my pack, not my wolves, not my business.
River took it quite differently though, "I'm going to change this when I become King."
Well, it was his kingdom. So I guess it was his business.
"And what could you do?" I asked. It's not like he could cast a spell or set a law and undo generations of mismatched soul mates.
"It's not just about you, you know." Ben warned, "Idealism sometimes does more harm than good."
Ben was always the naysayer, but this time, I had to agree with him.
"It's not like you can break up all the existing mating bonds and rematch them with their soul mates now." Ben continued, "What about protecting the snow wolf powers? As the future king, you need to consider national security. If a powerful female like Adele mated out to your enemy pack, what would you do?"
"And the magic outside your white walls is almost negligible - if your snow wolves mated out of the kingdom, wouldn't entire lineages of Snow Wolves end?" Once Ben started, it was like he couldn't stop.
The entire idea of it was hugely erroneous, even to me. I didn't like the idea of being forced to mate someone not my soul mate, but what if it was for the protection of my pack? If I selfishly chased my own soul mate, and if everyone else did that, wouldn't Snow Wolves be extinct by now?
"Now that Wolfgang is here, you guys are short of one pillar. What if you lost another?" Ben continued. Ben was fielding very convincing arguments.
I nodded, "Yeah, River. I have to go with Ben on this one."
"Sam!" Savy scolded, "Why are you being so negative about it?"
Hey! Ben was the naysayer... All I said was that I agreed with him. I looked at Ben... Did I just become one of the naysayers too?
"We need to respect tradition..." I started, and then immediately kicked myself internally. Wth. I was starting to sound like... Like wolves I hated hearing from.
"...is what stuffy old wolves would say." I patted myself on the back for the save.
Now Ben was looking at me, brows raised, "Yeah, but even if you hate it, it's been going on for generations. You can't possibly think you can change it overnight, right?"
Which did make a far better argument than anything I could think of.
"Right." I nodded, unable to deny what looked obviously true, but Savy narrowed her eyes at me, so I quickly amended, "Not overnight, but over time."
And then I grinned at River and Savy, "It's none of my business, I'm not going to be the king and queen of broken hearts. But for what it's worth, I think if you keep overcoming evil with good, you probably can turn anything around."
Just don't ask me how.
Savy looked worried now. It was like she suddenly realized that whatever mess River started was now her mess to clean up. Hahahaha.
But if you had to share in anyone's fate, I'd say better an idealistic young hero's dreams than the end game boss' warpath of vengeance and world domination.
River frowned, "That's not right."
"What's not right?" I asked.
"I can't really explain it." River said, "But just because something is impossible to change doesn't mean you shouldn't try."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because it's the right thing to do." River shrugged, looking down at his hands - one of them still firmly clasped in Savy's.
"I think..." River said, "I think I still want to try. Okay?"
But he wasn't asking me, or anyone else at the table. He was looking straight at Savy, "Sorry, I think I'm going to be hard to live with."
You think? I'm surprised he only realized it now.
Savy nodded, "I'll always be on your side."
Which made my heart pang a little. I was happy for my sister. She found her soul mate. He was nothing but trouble, yes, but at least he was the good guy.
Yeah. She should stay on his side, where it's safe and there would be a happy ending after overcoming everything. That's how it always ended for the heroes.
"Hey, River. We're friends right?" I surprised myself by speaking, or perhaps it was Boo who spoke.
But at that moment, I felt it was my chance to change fate.
"Yeah. Sure. I mean, of course." River answered immediately, "You could even say we're family since Savannah's my soul mate and your Rebel is my warlock brother or something."
"Yeah, then... If you ever face off your warlock brother, and if there is a chance you can win without killing him, no matter what he has done or how much he deserves it, you won't kill him right?" I asked.
"Huh?" River blinked nonplussed.
I was probably thinking too much into it.
"But just that if you could save his life, you would right?" I asked, "At least for me, you will do your best not to get him killed, right?"
"Of course." River said, "Why would I ever do anything to hurt your mate, Sam?"
I don't know... Maybe one day, you'd be the hero who had to stop him?
I shook my head, "No real reason."
We weren't in a Lycan legend.
"Just promise it, River." I said.
"Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I promise." River said, "I don't quite get it, but yeah, of course, I'll look out for him. You know... It's not like I'm much help to him now anyway."
I guess not, but no, please don't help him. You're supposed to be the good guy.
And then all on his own, River added, "I also promise that I won't take other mates or keep a harem even if you do. Savannah is going to be my only mate."
Wait, what?
"Don't worry Prince," Ben smirked, "It's already stipulated in your betrothal agreement, AND it's definitely going into your mating contract."
What mating contract? But yes. Make it airtight. This was my sister we were talking about!
But the reason why my betas had included it in the betrothal agreements in the first place was that this practice wasn't a new one in Snow Moon. The Pillar, Sir Cedric already had 3 mistresses besides being betrothed to Lady Adele.
"It's the humans. They practice political marriages." River tried to explain.
So part of reforming the Snow Moon Pack to the Snow Moon Kingdom included accepting humans into their political structure.
"I was too young for marriage, so Sir Cedric took them on my behalf. His territories were closest to the humans anyway." River said.
And then River laughed, "Don't worry, I'm not judging you or anything Sam. You can go ahead and do whatever you like."
So I can go ahead and kill you?
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone