The Dark Secret

The forest they were going to was the one not far from the manor, right before reaching the town. It was very big and connected to the mountains that were visible from the balcony at the back of the manor that she had seen last night. The trees were much thicker than the one near the castle, giving off an eerie feeling the moment she stepped into the wilderness. It was also very quiet, as though all the animals had gone into hiding and held their breaths once they detected an outsider walking into their territory.

While the one near the castle had given her the feeling of being alive, this forest had welcomed her with terror and thrill. It was as though the animals were challenging her to find them if she could. Her instinct to hunt was triggered as she gradually lowered her body to obscure herself from view and began to search for prey, silently willing them to come out from their hiding.

"Why don't we find a place to sit down and talk before we go hunting?"

Melva tensed at the sudden voice and realised belatedly that Corbett was here with her, finally coming out from behind a tree where he had been changing clothes after shifting back into human. It reminded her of his words he had said to her the second he had turned and regained his capability to talk. He offered to tell her a dark secret about Vance. However, something as important as that must cost something in return.

She relaxed herself from her hunting stance and followed him to sit under a tree that was near the entrance of the forest. "What do you want to know from me, Lord Corbett?"

Corbett hummed in interest as he leaned back against the tree trunk. He looked so natural in the woods as if this had been his habitat his whole life. "Why are you asking?"

"You must want something in return for telling me about Duke Vance." Melva pointed out her suspicion. For someone as cunning as Corbett, he would not give out information for free. There must be another deal in store.

"Earlier this morning, I discovered your distaste for my brother. I cannot be more delighted," uttered Corbett gladly. "I want to offer you another deal."

'Of course,' thought Melva flatly. 'It is always a bargain with this man.'

"And what is it?" asked Melva impatiently.

"I am going to tell you his secret and you are going to find his weakness for me. How does that sound? It must be easy for you because you are with him all the time." Corbett gave her his sly smile that was getting annoying over time.

Melva rolled her eyes. "Not all the time, obviously. If you are unable to tell, I am with you at the moment. But alright, I will try. What is his secret?"

All Melva could think right now was the dark secret that Corbett promised he would tell her in exchange for helping him find Vance's weakness. She already knew what his weakness was, however, there was no way she would tell him. 

How could she tell Corbett that she was his weakness? He would kill her in an instant if he found out about it. Fortunately, Corbett seemed to have no idea about Vance's condition, thus he wouldn't know the other reason why she had to marry him. She could rest assured as long as she kept that from him and searched for another weakness that was less important than that.

"You have seen his wolf form, right?" asked Corbett to make sure.

"Yes, I have," answered Melva restlessly.

"Do you see the differences in our wolf forms?"

That was the first thing she had realised when she had seen his wolf form and instantly compared it to the other wolf she knew. "I notice. Yours is much smaller than him. Does that have anything to do with his secret?"

"It has everything to do with it. There is something a werewolf can do to make them much stronger than the others." Corbett was being vague on this, like he was hesitant to give the secret away. But it was highly unlikely if it was because he cared about his step brother. He was hesitating, for he was not sure if he could trust her.

"I suppose Vance did this. Is it something bad?" prompted Melva.

Corbett finally gave in. "He eats human flesh on every blood moon. You are the human between us. You can tell me if it is something bad."

And then the realisation struck her hard. She was immediately reminded of the blood moon's contract between Ichorhold and Nightwind to send a young woman in exchange for the town's safety. Where were all those women? Were they eaten by Vance to make himself stronger than the others?

'What a horrible thing to do!' thought Melva in horror.

Gasping and covering her mouth with her hand, Melva was terrified with what Vance was capable of doing in order to gain more power. It was shocking to hear this from Corbett. She had expected a lot of other nasty things Vance could be hiding, but never this. 

This was beyond nasty. This was inhumane. Even if he was a werewolf, didn't he have an ounce of humanity before killing those innocent women?

And thinking that she might end up dead like those women if she had not been able to give him warmth made her dizzy. She had thought that even if he was a demon, he had not done anything bad, so she had been thinking that demons were not as bad as the rumours made them appear. However, if this was true, she would lose the hopes she had ever had in him.

"What? All the young women before me are dead?" said Melva in disbelief, her voice barely a whisper.

Corbett shrugged. "To be honest, I am not sure where they are. I have not seen them around again after the first time I saw them stepping into the manor. Who knows what happened to them."

This was difficult to believe. She had spent a few days with Vance and never once she had thought he was someone who was capable of doing something as gruesome as that. All of that for more power. How could someone be so evil?

No matter how hard she was trying to deny it, there was still a small part of her that was hoping that this was not true, that maybe Corbett was lying to sway her towards his side. The possibility was not ruled out entirely. Corbett was a cunning person. Lying was something he must be very good at.

"How can you be so sure that he does that on every blood moon?" asked Melva, trying to gain as much information as possible for her to assess whether he was saying the truth or not.

"I saw him eating human flesh once before. I have a keen sense of smell. I can tell the difference from the scent," answered Corbett calmly.

"Why don't you do the same thing if you want to win over him in strength, sir?"

"Eating human flesh does not sit well with me. That is why I need your help. I will use his weakness against him. That is a much better way, is it not?"

Melva nodded slowly before she threw another question at him. "Where do you find out that werewolves can be more powerful after eating human flesh on a blood moon?"

This was strangely familiar to the folklore that was spread around in Ichorhold. The townspeople would tell their children about werewolves who devoured humans to scare them off, so they wouldn't go outside on a blood moon. If it was true, how did the townspeople in Ichorhold know about it?

"It is a forbidden ritual amongst us werewolves," explained Corbett. "It was the first thing we learned after we shifted for the first time. Our ancestors have warned us about this that there will be consequences for anyone who upsets the Moon Goddess. I don't believe in the Moon Goddess, though. As you can see, Vance has not faced any consequences. He is still alive and well. He has all the power he wants and he also has a woman to marry. That does not seem like consequences to me."

Well, it was safe to say that Corbett was very wrong on that. Vance was getting his consequences and he depended on Melva to stay alive because of the curse. He had never told her who had cursed her or where he had got the curse. What if the curse was caused by this Moon Goddess Corbett was talking about? 

Their conversation was cut short when Melva saw Elisha on a horse, riding towards them at a very fast pace. She stopped the horse only after she was right in front of them. How did she know they were here?

"Elisha? What are you doing here?" asked Melva, surprised to see her riding a horse instead of a carriage.

"It is the Duke, milady," said Elisha urgently. She also seemed out of breath. "His Grace requires your presence. Please, get on the horse. Father Seymour asked me to hurry. I'm afraid it is a pressing matter, milady."