It had been almost two weeks since they had left the familiar forests of Alura's childhood. Fenic was content to listen to her sing from atop her horse as they made their way to Lythania. The blonde wolf was upset that Fenral had refused to let such vulgarity cross his innocent wife's lips as it had on the first day of their journey. As for Fenic he was relieved that Fenral had decided to leave their conversation with a warning of what would happen to him if he ever turned on Alura. Alura was happy to be free of the nightmares that haunted her past and had even taken to using some of the wolves phrases in her daily life.
When they came to a deep fast moving river Fenral had said they would have to go two days ride out of their way to cross it. Fenic protested and was quickly shut down by Fenral telling him that if it wasn't suitable they could back track five days and risk the port town where he had bought their horses. And so now here he was standing on his head atop a large bright red leather ball while Alura sang a silly Diddy about a pack of demon wolves that set out for war and have no sense of direction and less thirst for blood than a new born bunny.
'It could be worse, I could be playing one of the demon wolves.' He thought to himself. He had strapped Fenral's sword between his legs to portray the foolish king who rode his sword like a horse. At this point the song was mostly her yelling at the four wolves to 'go the other way' and 'do the thing. No not that thing the other thing!' It was clear to him she was making it up as she went. She would tell three of them that they were doing the incorrect trick half way through and no matter what Fenral did she would praise him. He even peed on the town's high priest at on point to ruckus laughter from the audience. And just then she told the demon wolves to be good like him only to scream at them to not urinate on the priest seconds later.
That was what did him in. Fenic toppled over and joined the crowds mirth. "Brother how on earth did you end up on the ground?" Alura asked. Fenic lept up and started prancing about as if the sword were a horse.
"If those demon wolves will not to me come then ride to battle shall I!" He shouted as he pranced towards the four wolves. "Fear not good and righteous man I shall save you from the clutches of evil!" The wolf he had come to know was Fenral looked horrified by the grievesous missuse of his weapon.
"And so the foolish king slayed them with his boot." Alura sang loudly to the crowd. With no hesitation Fenic dropped the sword and, pulling off his boot, flung it at the closest wolf who just so happened to be Cathous. He caught it in his teeth and sprinted away with it.
"HEY! GIVE ME MY BOOT BACK YOU MAINGY MUTT!" Fenic shouted and gave chase on foot to another round of laughter this time it was at his expense. Soon the crowd dispersed and Fenic had yet to gain his boot back though not from lack of effort. He suspected that Fenral's Mother found it amusing as she lay next to Her son and his wife, her tail happily thumping the dirt of the road.
"Brother do you think it will secure our passage?" Alura called out.
"I give up! You win! Mutt!" He called as he collapsed next to her. "Your mother was a lap dog! I don't know." He said to her as her face fell.
"How can you not know? You said-"
"I know what I said sister! Lower your voice!" He snarled quietly as he pointed to a group of people who were watching them from the shadows of the house just up the street. "While you were singing I was watching for them!" He positioned himself so his back was too the assassins. Senora stood and nudged a little girl toward her nurse maid. "Any time I was sent on assignment my passage was assured and I was given room and bored at the temples on my journey."
"How did you never pay passage anywhere?" Alura asked.
"With this." He pulled a silver amulet from under his tunic just enough to show her. "But it's far too risky to attempt it here. People would ask too many questions."
"Well I have no experience with money." She whispered so low he almost didn't hear her. Fenral looked astonished by her statement.
"Let me see sister." He said loudly as one of the town guards started towards them.
"What seems to be the problem here!" He asked in a voice that was hardened by authority.
"Oh nothing. My sister and I were wondering if we could purchase room and bored and still have enough for the faery across the river in the morning." He paused as if he was thinking of something. "You wouldn't happen to know where we could get a cheap room for the night do you?" Just then a very fit man rode up on a horse.
"Daddy!" The little girl squealed as she ran from next to the cart of fresh vegetables that the nurse maid was bartering for. "Daddy I want the pretty lady and her puppies to come sing for me at the keep!" She whined and pointed to them. The man looked where his daughter was pointing as he leaned down to pull her up onto his horse. 'Thank all the gods for spoiled children.'
"What do you say sir?" The man asked of Fenic as he assumed that it was him who was in charge of the traveling circus. Might as well play the part of a money grubber.
"I don't know my lord. We are quite expensive. You think it is easy to train enchanted direr wolves? Five years it took to train them and that one is not even fully trained!" He pointed at Cathous. Who proved his point by shaking the hell out of his boot. "DROP IT!" He bellowed and Cathous looked at him and cocked his head as if confused. The guard laughed at his plight. The lord looked highly offened.
"Do not insult me! You are no more than some no name bards and their muts performing cheap tricks for a few measly coppers!" He snapped and pointed to the small amount of money that Alura was still trying to gather up. "Word of advice boy! Sell your whore at the inn! You'll get a few silver for her at least!" Fenral's head came up and he growled.
"She is my sister not my whore." Fenic said calmly. "And you would know all about cheap tricks wouldn't you lord Fenis."
"And what is that supposed to mean exactly?"
"I was there the day you bested your brother in the tournament. How unfortunate it is that he passed of his injuries shortly after that." The lord paled and kicked his horse into a trot as his brat of a daughter screamed about the funny puppies that she wanted to show off.
"The inn is up the road and on the left. It's the only one on this side of the river unless you would rather chance the woods. Lord Fenis is right about your sister. You'd make more selling her body than you will Preforming on the street." With that the guard left them.
"Not now sister." Fenic said as he started for the inn and stopped as Cathous walked over and dropped his now ruined boot at his feet. "You are entirely too proud of this." He said in defeat. Cathous' tail thumped on the road a few times and he snatched the boot back and rushed in the direction of the inn.
"I'm sorry about your boot brother. Maybe we can get you new ones." Alura said as they started after Cathous.
"Not likely how much do we have?" They passed the group of assassins and moved into the alley by the inn to count their money. It was in this alley that he had told her he had never needed money so he was never taught the value. They came up with the solution of laying it out for Fenral to assess and detrimen if they would have shelter or be sleeping in the woods again tonight.
As they were leaving the town a well dressed young man approached them. "His lordship Fenis extends to you an invitation to preform in his banquet hall. He said to offer you lodgings and fair compensation of Fifteen gold."
"Make it twenty-five." Fenic said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"thirteen." The boy countered. Fenic had never haggled in his life but did not want this boy to know that.
"Fifty."
"Twenty."
"Seventy-five."
"Fourty. Take it or leave it."
"Two hundred or I walk."
"A hundred. Final offer."
"Deal." They shook and the boy lead the way to the keep. "Just so you know, I'd have settled for the price of a new pair of boots and passage on the faery." Fenic smirked.
"Just so you know I was instructed to offer no less than three hundred gold as my opening bid. You cheated yourself for settling on a hundred." At that Trenton put his paws on Fenics shoulders and almost knocked him to the ground.
"All right." Fenic grumbled as Alura started to sing again from atop Fenral's horse and a line of wolves formed behind him brought up by Cathous with the leather cuff of his boot. Nevermind where the rest of it had vanished to.
Once they were safely closeted in a very warm room with only two beds fenral shifted. "How in the name of all the gods do neither of you know anything about money?" He asked exasperated.
"Excuse me mister look I can count coppers and growl when my wife is called a whore! My father knew that if I could use money I would have no need to put up with him!" Alura snapped.
"My needs were always taken care of so it was deemed useless and a waste of time. Anything that wasted time is not taught to those blessed of darkness." Fenic said flatly. "Thanks for letting me know when to accept by the way."
"And to think you two were going to run away. Did it ever occur to either of you that you might not survive in the world without the backing of your church or the crown?"
"Holly fuck! You two would have been completely fucked if not for us." Cathouse laughed. Just then there was a knock on the door and both men took their wolf form once more.
Fenic opened the door to see several men holding huge trunks. "Sir we were told that the wolves should be clothed as you will be performing for his royal majesty Nicolai." The maid who had knocked explained. Fenic paled and turned to look at the equally pale Alura. Surely he would recognize his own daughter.
"Um yes thank you very much." He said and waved them in. After leaving the trunks the men left the room as they whispered and pointed at the four large wolves. The maid pointed at a large tub while looking at Alura.
"Do you need assistance with a bath?" She asked with a friendly smile.
"No I can bath my self. Thank you for the offer though." She returned the smile and closed the door in the maids disappointed face. She threw the bolt and turned to the room at large.
"Ahh! But Alura! She wanted to see you naked!" Cathous whined and him and Senora burst out laughing until Fenral snarled at them.
"Do you not understand the significance of what she just said! The king is here and even if he doesn't recognize Fenic he will recognize Alura!"
"What choice do we have Fenral?" Alura asked as she placed her hand on his arm. She looked at him as if pleading for him to save her from execution. "Please tell me what to do!"
"We change your appearance as much as possible in the time we have. Be fast with the bath I'll find something to change your hair color."
"Trenton needs to stay here. My father saw his wolf on several occasions while at the capital."
"You remember the Time I lost control and shifted? He saw me too. How bad do you think that bitch will be if two of us are missing."
"We'll tell them that you two are sick or something." Fenic said.
"That reminds me, what happened at the tournament?" Cathous asked.
"He drugged his brother's horse so he'd get thrown. He doesn't have to know that his brother only had a broken arm." Fenic smirked.
"How do you die of a broken arm?" Senora asked.
"You piss off the church by going against their doctrine in a very open and public way."
"What does that mean?" Cathous asked.
"The doctrine of Sebeenhime is too keep women oppressed and compliant. Drevic refused to allow that anywhere near his Quahtelth." Fenic thought a moment. "His own wife was barren and Fenis' wife gave her life to bring that sweet little girl into this world. Drevic wanted her to inherit his title as she would be the only one of his blood in her generation."
"He was on your hit list, wasn't he?" Fenral asked.
"Yes but no he is still alive. He and I had a long talk. I was struggling with my faith at the time because I had to keep Alura off that same list. I felt torn in my loyalty to Sebeenhime and her. Drevic proved to be the guiding hand I needed so I helped him to escape." Fenic started rummaging through one of his three bags. "He is now a sword for hire in Drovenia and he gives me lodging when I have to go there. He remarried for love and has three spoiled little girls of his own." Then he grinned as he emerged from his bag with a large bottle of black liquid. "Their main export." He said Proudly and Fenral smiled back at him as if he had just commanded the sun to rise and then set and it obeyed.
"A bottle of poisoned dark ale?" Cathous asked. "The man is a drunk no doubt but how are you going to get him to drink it?"
"That is not what it is though it can be used for that purpose." Fenral said as he took the bottle as if it were a small Child.
"No I'm with Cathous he would never drink poison." Alura said as she emerged from the bath wearing one of Fenral's tunics.
"Cathous you need to pay more attention to our trade roosters with other countries. The number one export of Drovenia is black dye. It's main use is for wool but it can also be used to dye hair. You fucking sneak. If I knew you had this we'd have dyed Alura's hair when we stopped the first night."
"Just like you didn't know you could trust me, I wasn't sure if I could trust you. Besides her hair and eyes. The two things everyone knows she would rather die than change. Take that shirt off Alura we are going to dye your hair black."
"It won't be permanent, will it?" She asked uncertainly. Fenral loved her crimson hair. He had made no secret of that.
"No my love it's not permanent. But it also won't wash out so you don't have to cover your hair while we travel. But if you don't want to we can always cut your hair instead." Fenral knew if given the choice she would choose dying over cutting in a heart beat. "It's up to you." Just as he knew she would she chose to dye her hair. Fenic made short work of the job and soon she was washing the dye out. fenral had already chopped her hair alot shorter than it had been. She had got it caught in a thorn bush and because it was horribly mated from time on the road they had not been able to untangle her from her barbed captor. She had cried and begged but they had had no choice. They all tried to reason with her to no avail. Finally, frustrated and entirely irritated by the loss of time, Fenral took his dagger, snapped that it was only hair, and cut it as close to the offending plant as he possibly could to free her. She had refused to talk to him for three days after that.
"What do you think, Fenral?" She asked as she spun around. She was wearing a dark green riding dress that he realized was the one he bought her along with a brush and comb set as an apology for cutting her hair. She hadn't worn it yet. The skirt fell to halfway down her shins and she was wearing black riding boots. Her hair was no longer crimson but still had red strands that caught the light and flashed like fire as she spun. The brass combs held her hair out of her face.
"Wow!" He said and suddenly remembered that he was naked when his cock hardened.
"That looks like approval to me!" Cathous barked enthusiastically and he had the pleasure of watching Alura turn the same shade of red as her natural hair color. He glared at Cathous.
"It will do!" He growled ominously and not for the first time he wondered exactly how important to Lythania the beta actually was.
"Oh man! If looks could kill I'd have been dead a long time ago!" Cathous laughed. A knock sound and the wolves shifted as Fenic opened the door.
"Is everything alright sir? I heard male voices." The maid from earlier asked as she pushed her way into the room. "Oh I was giving something a try. That's all. I haven't got it down yet so we won't be doing it tonight."
"Can I see it any way?" She asked enthusiastically as she set a large dress on one of the beds and turned to Alura.
"No I'm afraid not. Like I said it's not ready to be preformed yet."
"What's the dress for?" Alura asked as she pointed to it.
"You silly! His lordship wanted to be sure you don't embarrass him before the king. Now take off that one and I will help you into this one." Fenral gave a warning growl and stepped up suddenly to put himself between them. If Alura took off her dress the maid would see where the dye had stained her skin. He would not allow that.
"Moon stealer! Down boy! Get back! Brother I don't think it's safe for him to be Preforming tonight! He's not listening! He needs to be put in the stable with the horses!" She said desperately as the maid darted to the door and bolted from the room. Fenic went to the door and closed it.
"Perfect, Alura. That brat won't be able to persuade her father to force us to bring him out to preform if he believes that would endanger her." He picked up the dress and held it up. It was gold silk with dark purple velvet trim and large bright orange bows and ribbon around a putrid green high ruffled collar that reminded Alura of a festering wound.
"I am not wearing that hideous thing so don't even think about it." Alura said as she sneered in disgust at the gown.
"I wasn't going to put it on you." He said with a wicked smile in the direction of Senora. She tucked her tail and whimpered as she tried to hide behind Fenral. "Lord Fenis wants the dress worn. I doubt he specified which girl had to wear it."
"Alright! But you have to get it on her." Alura laughed. It took almost an hour but Fenic finally got the monstrous nightmare inducing gown onto Senora. It took several pins that servants had to pass through the door as Fenic refused to let them in to see. When questioned he told them that the dress was far too big for his sister and she was embarrassed to be seen in it.
"Alright this isn't working. You can wear the green dress I suppose." Fenic said as he stepped through the door with Cathous who was wearing a bright orange vest with dark purple velvet trim and a medium green ruffled collar. "Tell his lordship that I must insist on lowering our price." He said to a pretty girl with light brown hair. "Moon stealer is being aggressive and sir Reginald Wagington the third refuses to be dressed. And this business with my sister and the gown... I will take forty gold off our original deal." The girl scurried away quickly to inform her lord of the change in price. Maybe she thought that she would be rewarded for the good news that she had just secured a lower price on the entertainment for that evening. He didn't really care. he had only given one number. And it wasn't the amount he had agreed to with the young man outside the inn.
Fenic cleared the corridor and made his way to the banquet hall. He wore a dark purple velvet vest with bright orange embroidery and yellow satin trim over a white shirt and a putrid green ruffled collar to match Senora's. He also wore gold silk puff pants that he had agreed to wear over bright orange tights. The poorly dyed leather gloves had been a nessitity to cover his stained hands. He had to dye his riding boots as well when he spilled the dye he had under estimated on one of them.
As he entered the banquet hall he saw his father sitting next to lord Fenis. The two were chatting and he wondered if he should have dyed his hair as well. it was going to be a long night of close calls. No as he watched from a dark corner he wished that they had taken the cheap rooms of the inn.