บท 442: Captives
Renat stared at his wolfish self in the mirror. He had been suspicious for a long time, but now his fear was confirmed. The creatures...they were all human! Or they once were...
"Why?" the prince could not help but ask. He looked up at the hundreds, possibly thousands of monsters in the camp. "Why did you do this to all these people?"
"Do it to them? No, no. We did this for them. All of these people felt helpless in their current condition and wanted to be stronger. So we gave them what they asked for: power." Livie heaved a contented sigh. She was very proud of the army she had helped create.
The gangly scientist narrowed his gaze. "Gave them what they wanted? You act like you are the hero in this story."
Patting her bun gently, Livie backed away and handed the mirror to her assistant. "Oh, dear prince, you have much to learn. We are not just wanting to save these people. We want to save all of humanity."
The words sent a chill down Renat's furry spine, but as he opened his mouth to try and procure an explanation, a human woman came and whispered in Lady Livie's ear. The noblewoman tapped her chin as she listened.
"I will be right there," she answered. She dipped her head to the prince, "Excuse me, Your Highness. I have taken up enough of your valuable time. I will make sure cook brings you some food. Would you prefer raw or cooked?"
Renat glared at her, and Livie nodded as if he had spoken.
"I understand. Most people don't prefer raw food right away. I shall have my assistant send word on your selection. Good day, Prince Renat." Standing, the lady swept out of his presence.
Now mostly alone, the scientist had a chance to look closer at his surroundings. They had positioned him on the edge of the camp to keep him out of the mass of tents that dotted the landscape. Or perhaps it was because this tree was close to the largest tent, which would likely belong to Lady Livie.
Although the stunning woman had left, he knew the lady would want to keep an eye on him for a number of reasons. Already he could feel a new set of eyes watching him. Covertly, he cut his gaze to see a timid servant girl.
When she realized he had spotted her, she backed away but continued to monitor his every movement. 'She would be too afraid to hide anything from her mistress,' Renat thought sadly. 'I doubt she will be any help."
"Hello," he tried speaking to her. The servant took another step back, refusing to speak. Renat could see it was indeed a dead end.
'If she is frightened of me, what must she think of these other creatures?' Turning his gaze back to camp, Renat noticed that many of the humans seemed wary of their monster allies. Other than Livie and her assistant, the rest seemed to avoid the creatures as they completed their tasks. It was as if they did not want to be in the camp at all. Like they were being held...
"Captive! Are you being held here against your will too?" Renat asked the woman. She scooted back even further, nearly disappearing into the tents. She wasn't trying to ignore him. She was trying not to get in trouble. "You don't need to be afraid. I want to help."
A woman with a plate of food walked up and paused, unsure what to do. Like the younger woman, this female was fully human. Her brown hair had streaks of grey.
"Food?" the older woman asked tentatively.
Renat's belly grumbled loudly. His stomach had been empty for far too long, and the transformation had left him famished. "Yes, please," the prince tried to sound polite. "I won't bite, but I also cannot feed myself... Unless you care to untie me."
The prince could see his suggestion was met with suspicion by the two ladies. The scientist sighed.
"Or you could hold up the plate and I will do my best."
The woman held out the plate and Renat used his elongated maw to lap up the meat and bread as he had seen the palace hounds do when they came back from a hunt. He instinctively avoided the fruit on the plate, but forced himself in the end to clear the platter completely.
The longer she stood there, the more the older woman relaxed. "Are...are you really the prince?" From the curiosity in her eyes, the woman had not seen him transform but had heard about it.
Renat saw no reason to lie. "I am Renat, husband of Princess Mairwen."
"I'm Tessa and that skittish thing over there is Ami. What are you doing…here…like this?" Tessa lowered her voice even further.
The prince gave a sad smile. "I was scratched by some wolfish brute and am now being held against my will. I would say the latter seems to be true of you also. You don't seem to be part of their group."
Looking to see if any of the wolves were watching, Tessa brought her lips close to Renat's ear. "Those of us who are still human either came as unwitting servants of Lady Livie or were abducted. Those of us who are too weak to be of any other use are put to work. The others were experimented on. You don't want to know what happens when..."
"What's going on here?"
Tessa backed away and Ami curled up into a ball. Hadley stared at the two women. She obviously thought they were both quite weak by her disdainful glare. Behind her Clyff looked ready to pounce at the slightest provocation.
"I was just feeding the....g-g-guest," Tessa stammered, holding up the empty plate.
"It looks like you are d-d-done," Hadley jeered, her tan fur standing up on edge.
Tessa scurried away, possibly with a few more streaks of grey in her hair than when she came. Hadley growled at Ami, who curled up as tightly as she could, but knew better than to completely abandon her post. Hadley turned her attention to the chocolate colored wolf.
"You look much more handsome as a wolf than you did as a man," the tan wolf purred. "You should thank me for saving you."
"I would thank you more if you set me free," Renat tried to keep his voice neutral. He had seen Clyff's anger was easily triggered and wished to avoid a confrontation by saying the wrong thing. Yet he knew that staying silent was not wise.
"You hear him, Clyff. This one has jokes." Hadley looked him up and down. "Though it's a tempting offer...I can see why the princess fell for you." She winked.
Renat's food suddenly did not sit well in his stomach. He managed a grimace at the female wolf to keep from looking ill. Fortunately for him, she didn't seem to know the difference.
Clyff, on the other hand, did not like the flirty interaction. He bore his teeth and growled. Renat watched as Clyff's eyes became unfocused. The black wolf's heartbeat increased so rapidly that it was close to bursting.
Instinctively, Renat ducked as low as he could on the trunk of the tree as a hail of splinters rained down upon his head. A fraction of a moment later, and his face would have been among the things ripped to shreds.
As it was, the bark and a large portion of the massive trunk were now missing from where his head had just been. Clyff's eyes seemed to burn red with anger as he shook off the bark hanging from his claws.
"Stop it Clyff," Hadley grabbed the black wolf's arm, "You've made your point!"
But Clyff was too far gone to hear her. He pushed her away, oblivious of her plea.
Pulling back his massive paw, the black wolf aimed at the curled up prisoner. There was nothing Renat could do this time that would make much difference. The prince did the best he could, pulling his body to one side so that maybe only his arm would be severed.
Closing his eyes, Renat waited for the devastating strike.
Cold liquid covered him, and he wondered how much pain he would be in when he finally felt the damage that had just been done. 'Wait, blood isn't cold.'
"What is going on here?!"
Slowly, Renat opened his eyes to see Lady Livie with an empty bucket, tapping her foot at Clyff. The blind hatred in his eyes was gone, and his ears were strangely bent backwards in a submissive gesture.
Glaring at the offending black wolf, Livie came close to his face. "Do not harm my guest, Clyff. This is your only warning."
Clyff scurried off like an injured puppy. The difference in demeanor was striking. Hadley furrowed her brow. "I'll check on him, my lady" she said to Livie with a bow.
Livie leaned over to her assistant and handed him the bucket. "Keep an eye on Clyff. He is getting more erratic. We may have to take...drastic measures if this keeps up," she whispered, thinking no one could hear.
But Renat heard. 'Erratic? Drastic measures?'
"Understood, my lady," the servant bowed and scurried off.
The scientist wondered if he would ever see Clyff again. Somehow, he didn't think so.
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