To the great Elyzhn

       The journey to the palace was more exhausting than Celeste had imagined it would be. She blamed it on the no-blood living days she was having. It's been weeks since she had had the taste of blood. Now it's starting to show through the intensifying paleness of her skin to the undying exhaustion. 

         As the minutes ended their journey in hours and the sun found its leisure in the ocean's lap and as the moon shone its holy beams down on the wolves who stopped their journey to haul and worship her in their hearts, Celeste stayed back inside the carriage, with her legs to her chest, a thick quilt draped over her shoulder. 

        "The night is cold out here, it can affect you more than it does us." Kelen had said when he warped the quilt around her before he took off with the other men, in his enormous wolf form. 

         The hauls kept echoing through the thick woods of giant trees in the depth of the forest, she can almost imagine the giants behind those dark woods, heads tilted up toward the sky as they hauled for her— The moon. 

         It kept echoing through the walls of her mind, she waited for it to trigger something inside her, to make her feel hostile toward the sounds, and not to find solace in it. But it's what's happening, or felt like her lost home she wasn't even aware existed. 

         Her eyelids started to feel heavy. Heart in peace as it took on a slow pace. The hauls a faint lullaby to her ears as the snooze took over her tired mind and body. 

          She doesn't know at what time of hour she had closed her eyes and let the snooze win over her fluttering eyelids. But it did anyway. It was the piercing sun on her face that startled her out of her deep slumber. Instinctively, her hand flew to her face covering it from any possible harm.

         And then it was the wobbly movement of the carriage. She pushed the cloak down almost all the way down to her face. It felt like she found the shade of a tree after walking in the blazing sun for hours. 

      She moved from her side and leaned more into Kelen. It seemed like the sun was cascading down to her side and Celeste heaved a sigh of relief when she was all saved from the unforgiving heat. 

          It was the third morning and the sun was at its peak. The path was a pebble lane, with no shades of trees. The blueness of the river water touched the blueness of the sky at the far end of it. She couldn't take her eyes off of it. 

         From her behind, Kelen moved, a hand circling her shoulder. "We are close." He said, straightening his shoulders. "Only a few miles." 

          Celeste hummed. "Have you been here before?" 

        "Yes, I've been here for the crown prince's twenty-first birthday. And one time when our pack underwent a severe rogue attack." There was a bitter twist to his lips when Celeste looked up to him. 

        Was it when he lost his mate? Her tongue itched to give voice to that one though but she bit down on it threateningly. Gulping down, Celeste turned to look at the side of his face, debating if she could or not ask this. But it was out in the air between them before she could hold it down. "When was it?" 

          Kelen twisted his head, looking into her eyes. "What?"

          "The attack." 

         "Oh… three years ago."

        They didn't talk after that, it was silent, only the rustling of breeze on the leaf and the wobbly movement of wheels on the pebbles. 

When the time the carriage came to a halt. Despite what Kelen had said,— we're close— the dusk had colored the sky a breathtaking golden with flecks of pink and purple. 

      The gasp that reasoned from Celeste's mouth could not have been helped when her eyes fell on the Palace that touched the sky. It felt like a golden hour. The palace was a mix of gold and white. 

       And the gate was unnecessarily large. Larger than what she had back in Atelah. She never thought Elyzhn was bigger and greater and powerful than them. 

        Now here it was before her eyes, with all its glory. Who had thought she would be at the threshold of her rival palace? That too named as a human. 

   "Here we are!" Kelen said with exhilaration, it must be because their exhausting journey has come to an end.   

        Celeste was mesmerized, and couldn't even blink her eyes at the view before her. Couldn't even let the thought nagging at the back of her head at how she was going to die, blur her vision. That was it, she had come across the last day of her living on this planet. 

      But why was she not feeling anything about it? Why was she not sacred? 

        Why does she have the feeling she was not going to die?

Bullshit.