This is a little excerpt from my story currently titled “Protected By Elysium”. It’s a story that I hold near and dear to my heart, and I hope you enjoy this little peek at what it holds! (Also, I have decided that I will not post the prompt for day 13. It is very spoiler heavy and as much as I love sharing my writing, I don’t want to totally ruin the stories that I hope to publish one day!)
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Fall was officially over. The leaves had left their trees, creating blankets of brown that coated the forest floor. Had Elys been home, she would have hated it. The changing of seasons meant the lessening of prey, and with dry leaves coating the ground it would become that much harder for her to quiet her steps.
She didn’t have to worry about those things anymore, living in the castle like she did. She’d been working for Prince Tristan for nearly two whole months. Like the leaves on the trees, her hatred for him had slowly fallen away. They were almost friends–if one could be friends with someone when they were hiding their entire identity from them.
On this particular day, Elys was awake bright and early, intending to sneak out into the woods for an hour of quiet before Tristan woke up. She hurried about her rooms, binding her breasts carefully before picking up a brown tunic and black breeches. The black cloak that Tristan had gifted her earlier in the week hung over her chair, and she eyed it for a long moment before slinging it on. It was a good cloak, hefty and warm, but it wasn’t her father’s. She regretted every day that she sold it, even though the resulting money had saved her family’s life.
She pushed her darkening thoughts from her mind and whistled sharply. The covers on her bed shifted and Shadow’s head poked out, ears twitching. The wolf’s mismatched eyes landed on Elys and she whined, clearly annoyed at being woken up.
“Come on, you oaf.” Elys buttoned the cloak at her throat and slid her fur-lined boots on. Shadow jumped off the bed and shook herself before stretching slowly. Her black fur had grown much thicker recently, Elys noticed.
They trekked through the castle, careful to keep quiet, before slipping out the servant doors at the south side of the castle. The sun was just barely rising, though, through the thick, grey cloud cover, it could barely be seen. Snow drifted from the sky, piling on the ground where a thin coat of it already sat. Elys shivered and stepped into it, her eyes on the woods just beyond the wall. A low whine caught her attention and she turned, looking back at Shadow. Shadow sat in the shadow of the castle, at the very edge of where the snow had started accumulating.
“Come on, Shadow.” Elys patted her leg. “It’s time for our walk.” The wolf huffed, breath billowing out in clouds, and plopped down onto her haunches. Elys frowned. “Shadow, come,” she said, her voice hard and commanding. Shadow tilted her head, then looked down at the snow. She had the gull to look disgusted.
“It’s just snow. Come on now, we don’t have long.” Elys crossed her arms over her chest and was half ready to just pick Shadow up and drag her out when a voice startled her.
“What, Peter, having trouble reining Shadow in today?” Tristan’s voice was filled with amusement, his eyes dancing in the early morning light.
“Your highness! You’re not supposed to be awake just yet.” Elys flushed, just barely remembering to force her voice lower.
“I felt like joining you on your adventures today.” He strode to her side, his forest green cloak swishing with every step. “Come on, Shadow, let’s go.”
The wolf jumped to her feet, trotting out after Tristan as though she’d been intending to join them the entire time. Tristan winked at Elys as he walked past, the corners of his mouth lifting into a grin.
“Traitor,” Elys muttered to Shadow before she fell into step with the prince.
“Shadow likes antagonizing you, Peter. You make it too easy.”
“Or maybe she’s just a traitor who forgets who feeds her.” Elys wrinkled her nose, but reached down and patted the wolf’s head to take the bite out of her words.
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