Chapter 2

The next day Luna awakened in a very large bedroom and found herself clean and dressed in clothing. She had no idea where she was; all she could remember were the previous events from the day before. She tried to get out of bed but every time she tried, her head felt dizzy and hazy. She sat there looking around the room.

The elegant colors of blues and greens complimented the old-style dark cherry furniture. The canopy bed and the dressers had a distinct royal design on them. There were two doors to the room, one probably led to a bathroom and the other must have been the exit to the room. The walls were grey river-rock. There was a large fireplace trimmed with the same dark cherry; above it hung a portrait of a stag in the woods with two sets of antlers placed on either side of the painting. While Luna was taking in all the surroundings, she head someone knocking on the door very lightly, probably in case she was still asleep. "Come in." she said in a low but graceful voice.

The door opened just enough for a grey cat to enter. She was tall but a little chubby. Her eye's were a soft green and fur had white markings all over. She wore an old-style black dress printed with roses; she looked like  she had been working here for awhile. The grey cat smiled. "Oh, so you are awake. Lord SilverGlade didn't think you'd be up for quite awhile.. at least another day or so.. sense you fell off your ride."

Luna thought about that; she did remember that he had told her to hold on tight. She also remembered that she didn't and she felt embarrassed. Her ears flushed  as the cat turned to her and presented fresh clothing. "My name is ShadowStar; I will be helping you today and don't worry, nobody will be looking for you here. Lord SilverGlade has this place well protected. Oh, it's a rather large place so do try not to get lost." Luna's head finally stopped spinning and she stood up to change clothes. She stretched her wings out a bit so ShadowStar could help her with the dress. It was perfectly fitted for her; the color red suited her fur colors. Shadow went behind her and tied the dress both above and below the wings. Now if Luna needed to fly, she would be able to do so. "There you go ,dear. Are you hungry at all?" Luna smiled and nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

They started down the long hallway filled with portraits on both sides. The subjects all looked like family of some kind, but different species, nothing like any she was use to seeing. Soon they arrived at the dining room. It held a large dark cherry dining table and a fireplace similar to the one in her bedroom. The antler chandelier gave a nice touch to the room, as well as providing light. A red fox had already prepared her breakfast and had placed it on the table. He was small, perhaps 120 pounds at most. She could not determine his eye color. He had black hair which nearly blended in with his red fur.

As soon as Luna sat down she felt like there was someone watching her. Looking up she saw a pair of glowing  gold eyes! Shadow sat down beside her. "Don't worry about them, they are guards and they stay in the shadows so they can't be detected. Most of our guards have black for to conceal them." Shadow picked up a peace of toast and began to nibble. Luna on the other hand had apparently left her manners elsewhere and rapidly cleaned her plate contents plus two additional rolls. Shadow giggled at her devouring her meal this way.

"So Luna, where would you like to begin to explore this place? We could start with the garden. It is very beautiful this time of year." Luna smiled as they got up from the table and started towards the doors which led outside. As she opened them, she felt the fresh clean air blow lightly into her face and through her fur. The sunshine warming her body was so delightful.

Luna's eyes opened wide when she saw the garden. It was huge, the scents of the colorful flowers filled her nose. Birds were singing their melodious songs. She could see a stream on the far end of the field. There was a fountain in the middle of the garden, which gave a nice touch of elegance...a statue of a dragon holding a sphere was the main part of this fountain.

Shadow walked past her and sat down on a swing near the fountain. "Come and sit with me." Luna walked over and also sat down on the swing, thoroughly enjoying the view from there. She started to inquire. "If I may ask, where is lord SilverGlade?" Shadow smiled and pointed down the path. "He went to town to get some supplies, he should be back by mid-day or so." Luna looked down the path where Shadow had pointed; through the trees she could see a little of the small town. It looked rather small, yet very peaceful. She turned and looked at the house; it really wasn;t a house at all, but a castle.

Later Shadow took Luna on a tour of the remainder  of the building. Luna was stunned at how many rooms there were, with so many hallways. Laughing to herself, she imagined how easy it would be for her to get lost in such a place. She also observed that many more guards were concealed in dark places. She had never even noticed the two guards standing on each side of her door. "Oh , um, Lord SilverGlade, we did not see you there." the grey cat spoke, as she turned and saw him towering over both their heads. Luna looked shocked and surprised. He wore the same outfit as the day before, but now he had a long flowing cape behind him. He smiled warmly as he holds out his paw. "Welcome to my home, Luna. I hope you have found it more comfortable than the lab you were in." Luna gladly shook his paw when she herd that. He asked, "Let us take a walk, shall we?" Shadow, go join your sisters, they are in the garden." Shadow bowed and smiled as she turned, and quickly, obediently walked down the hall. Luna walked alongside SilverGlade. She had many questions, "So how, I mean, how is it that you know my name, sir?" SilverGlade smiled at the question she presented to him. "I knew your family. I stayed in the shadows as you were growing up, but when it came time for you to take your lead role as a princess I had to take my leave. Your leader did not fancy me looking after you so much. However, as soon as i go away from the territory, I caught wind of someone breaking up the pack, sending you along to those humans at the lab. This is the second time i got you out of there. The first time i thought i had killed the man. You wouldn't remember much of it.. you were so disoriented that it took you a month to recover. Once you were alright, i ut you back in your home." As Luna walked with him, she tried to take in all this information without losing her composure, but she could not hold back anymore and burst into tears. Her life and her family had been gone, she couldn't remember much of what happened before the tech lab capture. Silver put his arms around her hugging her gently.

He didn't know what else to do, other than that, but he was kind and gentle enough to understand just how hurt she was. "Come, come now. Let's not let the past bring sorrow to the future." he said as he put his paw under her chin, lifting it up so she could look at him.

He smiled as they began to resume their walk. "let me tell you about a few people. We have a very large and extended family, also of many species. The red fox you saw this morning is my brother, Logan, he was adopted into the family by my late mother years ago. He is the cook and also dabbles a little in music. He's very friendly, just don't tease him about his baking he is not very good at it. Um, let's see, Shadow is my maid. She is quite helpful with clothing, sewing, and some housecleaning. Her and her mate live here with  their three kids, and her mate is one of my most respected and honored guards here." He looked over at Luna, still smiling. "Are you getting all of this? or are you tired of hearing who is who for now?"

Luna looked down and giggled, it felt good to do so. "Yes sir I think i've had enough for the day." She smiled at Silver as they walked down the main hall. Then they stopped. "Good choice, young one. It's time for you and Shadow to go to town and get some new clothes for you." He motions to Shadow, she came over for Luna, and the started down the path. Silver stood and watched them disappear into the trees on their way to town. He wondered if he would ever get as close to her as he did all those years ago.