Heir To The Iron Crown: Dyrith

36 - þrjátíu og Sex

A lot had happened in the last two hours.

And I was involved with none of it.

Imadis was pacing in my mind, but for once, she wasn't half as restless as I was.

After Valente found my Hef ring in that ominous ring box, he immediately mindlinked border patrol to retake their position. The remaining guests were sent home, and all warriors were on guard.

When my mate instructed some warriors to take me home, I didn't realize I'd be sitting in Valente's room again, after over five years.

Renee and her family had probably gone to our home, and I was stuck in here all alone.

Valente told me to not leave, and to stay put.

Sigh.

Someone had put together some of my clothes and essentials from my house in a small bag that was now lying on the bed. I was almost certain it was Renee who had packed it, by the looks of all my essentials present.

I'd tried to occupy myself, and had changed into yesterday's comfortable sweats that I'd worn, carefully folding my dress and putting it away with my shoes. Since then, I was walking around Valente's room mindlessly.

I'd tried to reach out to him, but he'd blocked himself out in his frantic search.

Last I'd heard from him was well over an hour ago. He'd told me that he had called Sven, to find out whatever had happened to Bayo.

Sven informed him that Bayo never made it back to the Dwelling, and was out of reach ever since.

That had given weight to our suspicions.

Bayo was here.

Bayo wasn't one to intimidate us, however. It was the fact that the Hef ring made it inside the pack, without Valente's knowledge.

The warriors that walked me to his house had informed me that although they were invited to the Luna ceremony, they were alert enough to quickly take action if needed.

Valente wanted everyone to accept his Luna. And he would know if our borders were crossed, that's why he was willing to take that risk.

But at this point, that's exactly what worried him.

Valente insisted that there hadn't been any trespassing, yet my ring, which was previously in Bayo's hands, had made it inside Fathilagt, and had been sitting on the gift table for the greater part of the day.

That could only mean, there were traitors in our pack again. There was no other explanation.

Valente had been furious, and he'd been running around since, ensuring the perimeter is accounted for, and had multiple checks done within the pack as well.

There was no sign of Bayo, or of anyone else.

By now the whole pack knew something was going on, and word had gotten out that we were under attack.

Everyone was on edge.

And at a time like this, I was forcefully cooped up in this room, listless, nervous, and jittery. I just wanted Valente to come home to me soon.

Not being able to reach him made me anxious, but I was patient.

Rather, I had been patient, for over two hours.

Fathilagt is a small pack, and if they didn't find Bayo by now, they weren't going to find him anytime soon.

I was starting to get a headache, out of the tiredness I felt, and the sheer anxiety of not having Valente next to me. But I couldn't bring myself to lie down and try to relax.

I sighed as I walked around the room dejectedly, taking a closer look at Valente's origami collection, and his metal coil tree.

He had made a lot more things since the last time I was here, all of which he had placed on his shelves neatly. They had grown in complexity and seemed to have required a lot of skill to make, just like the collection he left for me in my room.

I saw various objects, apart from the origami pieces that an entire shelf was dedicated to.

There were many miniature sculptures, in wood, in metal, that stood next to each other beautifully. But what had caught my eye was something else entirely.

A collection of three daggers were placed in front, sharpened and engraved with intricate designs, all of them a replica of one another.

It almost looked like they were made by a machine, but I'd known Valente enough. He wouldn't place them on this shelf if he hadn't made them himself.

Valente loved working with his hands, and judging by his large collection, I could tell that this is what he enjoyed the most.

I wondered where his workshop was, because clearly he needed one to make all these things.

My eyes flitted to the ring box that was placed on the bedside table, causing a shiver to run down my spine. My Hef ring had been just like when I'd last seen it, but I couldn't imagine how many hands it went through before finally making its way back to me.

I tried to reach out to my mate again, the usually simple effort seeming difficult now through the headache, and the soft, yet eerie humming that had taken permanent residence in my mind.

Calling him was out of the question. He'd left his phone here, knowing he'd probably have to shift.

I sat down on the bed, hoping the pain in my head would dissipate, but it didn't.

Instead, it became substantial, excruciating in a matter of minutes, and everything in my head was loud, beckoning.

Am I having a migraine?

I held my head in my hands, shaking, as the pain ran through me, leaving the confines of my upper body to spread all the way to my feet.

I had control of all my senses, yet the painful feeling was hard to ignore. It was getting harder to breathe, and I knew I had to get out.

I opened the door of Valente's room, only to find a warrior standing right outside.

"Luna, do you need anything? You look pale," she said, worry etched onto her features for my sake.

"No, thank you. I'm fine," I said to her, managing a tiny, pained smile.

I closed the door behind me, my back leaning against it.

There was no way I could leave like this. Valente must have instructed them to make sure I didn't leave this room.

I sighed and looked up, facing the opposite wall, which held the only window of the room.

"Rayne, no. No. Please no, I'm telling Sterkur. You can't," Ima's empty threat was echoing in my mind, but it seemed so far away.

It had been too long, and we hadn't heard from Valente or Sterkur still.

I needed to make sure he was okay.

I couldn't just sit and wait around like this.

I may be a Luna now, but I was a warrior first.

I focused on only that one thought, pushing down the guilt I felt for not listening to him, but Valente would understand.

Besides, there would be no way he would sit around in waiting if the situation was reversed.

I opened the window, and looked back at Valente's room.

A tiny thought made its way to the surface of my mind before I pushed the window all the way and climbed out.

Please don't be mad.