Ch. 29: SNOW WHITE V

The dragging sound was now accompanied by growling and snarling noises. The mother wolf runs to it.

"Wait---!"

Emerging from the shadows was the father wolf dragging in a large buck. The lifeless animal stares into my soul as its blood drains from it, leaving a trail. The father wolf drags it all the way to where I sat and plops dead animal down before me. It nudges it.

"Is this for me?!" I ask in surprise. The wolf barks in confirmation.

"Awww..." I pet his head, "Thank you, but I can't take it all. Let's all share it."

Just then, cursing and shouting can be heard outside the cave.

"MARIANNE!" Mad's scared and frightened tone makes me laugh. For someone so big and mean looking like him.

"I'm fine! The wolves brought dinner." I shout back. Mad runs in, and his eyes darts everywhere. He sees the dead buck and relaxes.

"I didn't do anything." I comment, and he just frowns at me. His going to have a lot of wrinkles when he gets older.

"I... I definitely forgot that we were not the only ones hungry." He leans down to inspect the buck, "I'll take this outside, clean it, and cook it."

He drags the buck for a short distance when the father wolf growls at him.

"Grrr..."

" . . . " The two have a stare off contest. I sigh and wall over to the wolf.

"It's okay. His a friend. He'll be back with it in a bit, so you don't need to be on guard." I ruffle his ears, snuggling in my hand.

"I don't them. You go ahead." Mad glares at the wolf and drags the buck out.

It took exactly half an hour. Mad comes back with a roasted back on a large stick. How he even cooked it that way... I don't know.

"Eat up." He cuts a section of it and hands me a plate. It was a lot, so I just placed the food in front of the wolves.

"Here, have this for now. I'll have the big grump cut you guys some more in a bit." The wolves dive right in and chomp down the roasted meat. When I walk back to Mad, he gives me his ever-popular frowns.

"That was for you." He grumbles, handing me another plate of roast meat.

"Ita fine. I'm not gonna starve. Thanks for cooking dinner." I rip a chunk of meat off the bone, "Mmmm!"

The night is still young, but after stuffing myself with three servings of meat, I was drifting to sleep.

"Here." Mad pats on the makeshift bed on the ground. It was just a blanket and a backpack as the pillow.

I blink my eyes a couple of times, staring into space.

"Im fine. I'll take the first watch...haa." I cover my mouth to yawn, "I swear I'm fine. I'm not that sleepy... my stomach is trying to digest the food."

By the time I knew it, Mad had picked me up from my spot and carried me to the makeshift bed and covered me with another blanket.

"Sleep. It's non-negotiable." He walks over to the firepit and throws in some more sticks, obviously not wanting to speak anymore than this. Not fighting it, I fell asleep.

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It's was a brand new day. Let's just say Mad had stayed up all night and let my dumbest sleep throughout the entire night. I must have been so comfortable and warm, especially since the wolves had snuggled up against me when I passed out to even notice.

The sun today was scorching. With no trees to shelter us from the sun, we settled our heat exhaustion by covering our bodies and me constantly flapping my handmade fan.

I had two sticks and tied the ends of a triangle cloth to turn into a fan. It looked ridiculous, but as long as it works, it's perfect.

"Are we there yet?" I panted. I look up to the bright sun, "Ugh... my eyes."

"No." He muffled under the cloth. He must be sweating under there.

"Are we there yet?" I ask once again.

"No.

"Are we---" He flicks the back of my head.

"No. Stop asking and just stay quiet. We're almost there." Even with his face covered, I can tell his scowling underneath.

I quietly ride the rest of the way. The sun was just past its highest when we see a carriage up ahead. It was big and sparkling white. It was surrounded by multiple guards with swords. Everything in that group was branded with a faceless white face, black blob hair, and a red bow tie crest.

" . . . " I don't say a word. However, Mad does.

"Don't look and keep quiet." He whispers.

"Is there a particular reason why?" I curiously ask.

"Rumors have it that the person inside the carriage skinned a lady who was more pretty than her." He nudges me to keep still.

"Just. Don't look at the carriage, and we'll be fine." He says.

We get closer to the carriage, and a knight trudges to us. His metal armor clamors as he makes his way. I look down to his hands and find that one hand was on the reigns and the other resting on his sword.

"Hello, good fellow and miss. I am Sir. Kalhiem. May I ask where you might be headed to?" I slightly stiffened, while Mad casually replies for us.

"We are headed to the White Castle, Sir Kalhiem." The knight pauses a second and stares at Mad for a long minute.

"Ohh... is that so... Sir...?"

"Mad. My name is Mad."

"Ahh yes, and Sir Mad. Who were you going to meet? If I may ask?" His was tapping his fingers on the sword's hilt. I had my hand carefully hold on to the hidden knife I took from the backpack. It was on the right side.

"We're not directly going inside the castle. We are looking for a friend who may have arrived outside of the castle." Mad was patting my back, as if telling me not to do anything foolish.

"Is it a boy or girl you're looking for?" The knight inquires.

"Boy." I firmly say, "He's about this high, black hair, slanted eyes, pale skin, and super cute." I rushed.

The knight narrows his eyes for a moment and smiles.

"Well, if you don't mind, why don't you travel with us to the castle. It'll only be at most an hour before we get there." He offers. I, on the other hand, found his offer to be too friendly for someone we had just met.

"We'll ride alongside you guys." Mad says. The knight nods happily and turns back to the front. He speeds up next to the carriage and leans close to the window. I quint my eyes to see if I can read their lips from a far.

"...boy... My Queen... Yes.... as you wish..." I wrinkle my nose, not liking that I could only hear and see bits of the conversation. There was sudden movement in the carriage. A small hand slaps the window, but I could not see who it might be. The movement seemed to have but calmed down. The knight then trudges back to us with.

"Everything okay with her Highness...?" I narrow my eyes at the knight.

"Oh yes, She got a little excited along with her gyest. My fairest Queen wishes to invite you both to her castle. She might be able to help you find your... boy." Something about the way he said that last part made me feel suspicious. I down trust people that easily believe me. I've always been a great judge of character.