THE ISLAND WOLF - EPISODE 63

Prince Dakar’s breathing turned ragged as he clutched the chair for support.
“My prince,” Ñiraka called to him as she noticed he wasn’t okay. She tried to hold his hand but he pulled it away.
“Son, are you okay?” his father asked. He breathed in deeply and opened his eyes.
“Yes, father. I am okay,” he answered and sat upright. The pain had gone so he was back to normal.

“What is her name?” the king asked aloud. Everyone settled their eyes on the man in the middle of the field again. He reached into his pocket and picked out a paper. He took it towards the light of a fire on a pole and pronounced the first name his eyes fell on among the list of names.
“Fiorella,” he said and drummers beat noisily on their drums.
“From today henceforth, the human girl will be called Fiorella which is translated as Flower. She shall be treated as one of us because she was chosen by the Prince,” the king announced.
“Long live Fiorella!” a masculine voice shouted from the crowd.
“LONG LIVE FIORELLA!” the whole people echoed.

***
Avril woke up with the worst pain she had ever received in her whole body. Her arms, chest, tummy, back and legs were so heavy and painful. She groaned and opened her eyes fully to look around the room. There were two windows in the room now and both were fully open without curtains. She remembered how Dakar made windows in the wall of the mountain-house and smiled. She stared at one of the windows and breathed in the fresh air coming in. Then she tried to sit up in bed. It wasn’t an easy task, because her arms felt so weak. Thankfully, her door opened and Aida ran in.
“My lady,” she called and ran to her on the bed. She helped her sit up and Avril smiled weakly.
“Thank you,” she muttered.
“Your throat must be dry. Wait, I’ll get you water,” Aida said and dashed off. She returned a minute later with a bottle of cold water and a glass cup. Avril drank it down and sighed satisfactorily.
“That was refreshing. Thank you, Aida,” she appreciated.
“You are welcome, my lady,” Aida replied.
“Can you please stop calling me that. I told you, my name is Avril.”
“Uhm… No, your name is not Avril.”
“Huh?”
“You are now Fiorella. The pack has named you Fiorella and as long as you’re here, that is what you’ll be called.”
“What? Why change my name?”
“They were also going to change your memories, remember?”
“Urg! This is rubbish!”

“Calm down, you’re still weak. Don’t bruise your back,” Aida said and held Avril’s hand.
“What did they do to me last night? Why did they place hot metal on me?”
“Branding you as the property of Remus. Remus is the name of our pack and kingdom.”
“May I see it? I mean, the brand.”
“Sure.”

Aida helped her to her feet and walked her gently to the mirror. Avril turned her back at it and looked in at her body. She bit her lower lip as her eyes caught sight of the image at her back. A wolf head was burnt into her skin, giving her a tattoo.
“Painful,” she muttered. The skin around that place was pure red, but the wolf head itself was black. The metal had been painted with black ink before being placed on her back.
“Do the others have this too?” she asked.
“Yes. They all went through what you went through. But theirs was not much of an important ceremony. And they took it easy on them. You on the other hand is the concubine of the prince, that’s a really important position. The Prince doesn’t have much concubines since most women have mates. So, each concubine is treated like an egg.”

Avril walked back to the bed on her own and sat down.
“Does he have a wife yet?” she asked.
“No. I don’t think he’s planning on having one soon. Seems he truly hates women. Before he disappeared, we all thought he would end up with Ñiraka. But right now, he doesn’t even care about her.”
“I’m hungry. I need food,” Avril stated
“Oops, my bad. Food is coming right up!” Aida cooed and ran off.

After her breakfast, she was taken to the large living room to relax while they (her maidens) massaged her. They rubbed a special ointment over her burn so she would feel less pain. And also on her arms and legs.
“When can my friends come and see me, Gia?” Avril asked. She was seated on the long couch, and was wearing a long dress which was quite light and flimsy that the air tossed it about. It was brought in alongside bags of other things from the king’s castle, specially for her.

“Depends on when they are free. Nana asked me to tell you that she would check on you tonight. They are so worried about you,” Gia answered.
“They should worry about themselves too. I’m not the only one that is a victim here,” Avril said with a pout that made Aida chuckle. Aida was sitting at her feet and playing with a red flower.
“We haven’t told you all about our kingdom yet. You fainted yesterday, so you didn’t get to hear the briefing. Only your friends did,” Gia stated.

“You are werewolves. Shifters to be precise and you live in a hidden kingdom. What else should I know?”
“Wait… How did you know that?” Aida asked.
“I told her while you went to the bakery,” Gia answered. Avril chuckled inwardly because she had known about them since two years ago.

The door opened abruptly and they all got startled. They looked through it outside but did not see anyone who could have opened it. Then, two ladies walked in. They were dressed like Aida and Gia. Two other maidens walked in again and two behind then also walked in. These two behind were spraying flower petals on the floor.
“What the heck?” Avril mumbled. Finally, the person behind the dramatic entrance walked in. Avril muffled a laugh as she saw the way Ñiraka walked. She was walking slowly like a leopard monitoring its prey.

“Anything funny, my dear?” Ñiraka drawled as she settled her eyes on Avril.
“Nothing. Who are you and how may I help you?” Avril asked even though she knew that was Ñiraka.

Ñiraka swayed her long satin dress of peach color and swung her long dark hair to the other side of her head.
“My name is Ñiraka. I am the Royal Concubine to the Prince,” she said and walked further into the room.
“O…kaayyy,” Avril drawled and waited for her to say why she was there.
“Why is this place dusty?” Ñiraka asked and swiped a finger over the arm of the couch Avril was sitting on.
“Are you here to inspect the cleanliness of the room?” Avril asked and she frowned.
“Of course not! I am not a janitor!”
“Okay. So why are you here?”
“To welcome you to the pack and to Prince Dakar’s Chambers. I hope you have a good time. But just a little advice? Be contented with what you have been given and don’t aspire for more. Humans don’t usually last long with us if they get nosy.”

“Wow. Okay, thank you. Anything else?” Avril asked.
“Why do I get the impression you want me to leave?”
“As a matter of fact, I do. I’m tired and you’re blocking the passage of fresh air.”
Ñiraka eyed her and scoffed. She walked back and beckoned on her maidens to start leaving. As they walked out, they sprinkled flower petals on the floor so Ñiraka would step over.

“Wait… Who’s going to sweep that?” Avril asked after them.
“Fiorella, you’re acting weird towards her,” Aida whispered.
“I don’t like her,” Avril said with a frown.
“But you hardly know her.”
“I still don’t like her,” Avril repeated and got on her feet.
“She is trouble. She doesn’t like it when someone doesn’t respect her. You’ll have to respect her because she might be the queen someday,” Gia spoke. Avril frowned at the thought of Dakar marrying Ñiraka. She was his cousin, he would never do that. But why was she still his concubine?
Avril thought he had truly lost his memory which was why she was still his concubine. But she then vowed never to let that happen. She was Dakar’s concubine too, and would strive hard to make him fall in love with her again.

“Ñiraka’s in for a rival,” she thought to herself.

“I want to go for a walk. Sitting down would make my legs weaker,” she spoke out loud. Aida stood up and held Avril’s hand.
“Do you like gossip? I can tell you all about anyone we come across.”
“Aida!” Gia yelled her name.
“What? Allow me gossip in peace! What do you say Fiorella?”
“Let’s gossip in peace,” Avril whispered and they laughed and began to walk away.

Gia crossed her arms and shook her head as she watched them go.
“Wait for me!” she said and hurried after them.

They stepped out unto the stone floor outside and began to walk away from the house. As they did, Avril looked around to see if she can find Dakar. She had determined to always be around him until he notices her again.
“I’m going on a new operation. It’s Operation Disturb Dakar,” she said and smirked evilly.