“It weighs on my heart all the same.” Dyna blinked her watery eyes. “Forgive me, but I ….” She had to pause so she would not cry again. “I find what befell the children was such undeserved cruelty. No one deserves hatred or death for their birth.Coming from two species doesn’t make them or you any less valuable.”
She needed her cousin to remember that.
Zev sighed. “I know.”
Dyna sensed the change in the room and met the stares of the royal Celestials.
“He’s a half-breed?” King Yoel asked.
She flinched.
“I have upset you, Dynalya.” He canted his head when she hesitated to respond. “This is not the royal court, my dear. You’re free to speak what comes to mind.”
“Zev is my cousin, Your Majesty,” she said, cautious. “He is half-human but I’m not fond of that distinction. To be called half of anything suggests one is incomplete or a mistake.”
“You do not see it that way?”
“We exist because the God of Urn willed it. He is the God of Life, and he created life in all varieties. To be of mixed lineage doesn’t revoke one’s right to exist and the right to live.”
A slight curve tugged on the corners of the King’s mouth, but she wasn’t sure if he agreed or if he found her belief amusing. The Prince’s brow furrowed as though her answer was strange.
Dyna bowed her head. “It may be of little value coming from me, but on behalf of humans, I’m sorry they did this to your people.”
“You carry no blame, but I am honored by your apology,” King Yoel said.
She met Cassiel’s gaze. “You had no reason to spare me but by some grace you did, and you continued to see to my safety. Forever will you have my gratitude. I owe you an eternal debt.”
He finally spoke after being quiet since their entry into the study. “As I have said, I relieve you of your debt. This is the last we speak of it.”
Dyna smiled. “As you say.”
The High King raised his brows in bemusement but made no comment. He focused on Zev instead. “On lighter matters, Master Wolf, I’ve been told you can shapeshift at will. That is unusual for your kind.”
She glanced at Cassiel and he looked away. He was the only one to witness Zev’s shift.
“Might it have to do with your … pedigree?” King Yoel asked him, giving her a wink. She flushed, embarrassed that a king would accommodate her.
“Perhaps, sire,” Zev said. “I’m uncertain. There are no others like me in the Lykos Pack.”
“In your pack, you mean.”
Something flitted across Zev’s expression before he hid it behind an impassive shrug. “I have no pack.”
He hadn’t been part of the Lykos Pack for many years. Werewolves were social beings, and they thrived in a group setting. It was a great shame to be a lone wolf. Often it was the death of them.
“Weare a pack,” she said.
Zev gave her a faint smile. “Aye.”
“Is that so?” King Yoel asked. “But you do not live in Lykos Peak. You’re of a small remote village that lies within the Zafiro Mountains, about a day’s walk south-west of Hilos.”
“You have heard of it?” Dyna asked, surprised he knew its location.
He looked away for a moment then back at her, his blue eyes now guarded. “Tell me, what brought you here? It must be important enough to risk your life.”
She shifted her ankles around her satchel where she had placed it. He didn’t press, but he waited for an answer, as did the others. She had planned to tell Zev when they were alone, but something about the High King and Prince told Dyna she could trust them with her secret. They had trusted her with theirs.
She brought the satchel to her lap. “I came because I needed to see you, Zev. To tell you I found the answer.”
