When we got back Alpha Varyn told us about a celebration feast that would take place the next day and urged us to stay a bit longer. Julius agreed readily and dismissed me..
The next day…
The great hall shimmered with gold and firelight, the marble floors polished to a mirror sheen beneath the heels of dancing werewolves. Laughter echoed between the high-arched ceilings, accompanied by the lilting sound of lutes and flutes. This was no small feast. It was a celebration of peace of the treaty Julius had secured. And I was a guard seated among royals.
I stood still near one of the many carved pillars, dressed in the clean uniform they'd pressed into my hands for the evening. My armor was gone for tonight replaced with a deep navy tunic, fitted just enough to remind me I wasn't entirely one of them.
