Chapter 31

She turned around so that she had her back to the men. Then she took a deep breath and blew

through the pipe again.

As expected, the sound was too quiet for the men to hear. For the wolves, however, it could be heard loud and clear and so they began to howl. Just as she had hoped. Now it was only to be seen whether King Ulric was not too far away to hear it.

The princess looked at the tree again, hoping to have scared off the hunters. She happened to meet

the gaze of one of the men as he was climbing down. "The girl saw us," he warned the others.

Meanwhile Lyana realized that there were five men in total.

She felt sick easily when she saw one of them raise a hunting rifle and pointed it at her. She was paralyzed with fear. She couldn't feel her legs anymore and sank into the snow. She closed her eyes in fear, then heard a shot. But all she felt was a slight burning sensation on her cheek. Carefully she opened her eyes again and let out a short scream. In frond of her a bleeding Alesh was laying in the snow. He must have stood in front of her.

Her eyes filled with tears she gently touched the wolf. His eyes opened so he was still alive. But for how long? In the meantime the remaining wolves had stood protectively and growling in front of them.

A click told Lyana that the man was reloading his weapon. But she could only continue to look at

the bleeding animal. But when, instead of a shot, she heard the approach of a horse, she managed to

look up. The men, too, had forgotten them for a moment and stared at the king on his horse as he

came to a stop in front of Lyana.

He jumped off the animal and looked first at his injured wolf and then at the princess. His eyes went

dark. Meanwhile the men had come closer and were pointing their guns at them. Those fools had no idea

what they were doing.

Although the princess knew that King Ulric would show no mercy this time, she did not intervene.

All she did was lower her head to gently talk to Alesh and caress him soothingly.

Even if Lyana saw nothing, she heard the screams of the men and there was even a second shot. But

she knew it hadn't hit the king.

When it went quiet again, Lyana looked up. The snow around them was dyed red and there were splatters of blood on the king's face as well. It was strange, but the sight no longer scared her.

Without even a second thought she got up and wiped his face with the sleeve of her dress, slightly trembling. The king let her have her way.

Since all the tension was gone, she finally burst into tears and she pointed to Alesh with a tear-choked voice. "Will he survive?"

For the first time the king looked at her, almost encouragingly. "He is strong. We'll ride back and

have my doctor take care of him. "At that moment they were just two people caring about the

welfare of an animal.

He took off his coat and carefully placed the wolf on it. Then he carried him into the hut and used

some scraps of cloth to treat the wounds for the time being. Then he returned to Lyana and held out

his hand to her. She wanted to take it, but her body was suddenly so exhausted that she could hardly

raise her arm.

King Ulric saw this and withdrew his hand. Instead, he leaned down to pick her up, as he had just done with Alesh. He carried her to the horse and lifted her up on the saddle. Then he swung himself behind her. Without really worrying about it, Lyana leaned against him and put her arms around his broad body. What had been absolutely embarrassing and upsetting for her on the ride to the enclosure, now offered her great consolation. Even if he didn't say anything, she was grateful that he didn't push her away.

The ride to the castle seemed very short to her. It was as if she couldn't really perceive her surroundings anymore. All she could think of was the bleeding wolf in the hut.

Before one of the stable boys could help her dismount, she was again in the arms of the king, who placed her gently on the ground. Finally he informed one of his subjects about the situation in which

Alesh was and then had her maid called over. Only when she appeared did he leave Lyanas side.

Completely shocked, she looked at her mistress. "Your Royal Highness! Where does all the blood

on your hands come from?"

Lyana looked absently at her hands. Alisen was right, they were completely soaked in blood. "I'm fine," she replied weakly, forcing a smile. "Please help me wipe it off."

Her maid nodded eagerly and led her back into the castle. In her room, Alisen fetched a bowl of

warm water and a cloth. Lyana expected further questions, but Alisen was silent and repeatedly

wiped her trembling hands with the wet cloth. Even if she didn't intend to withhold today's events

from Alisen, she was glad that she didn't have to talk about them for now.