Linked to the King

*Isla*

The village is exactly how I’ve imagined it in my mind, though it is also nothing like my hometown. The main village for Willow pack is called Ernestown. It was changed a few years ago when Alpha Ernest became Alpha. Before that, it was just called Willow Village. I guess our Alpha wants everyone to know who the boss is in our pack lands….

Our village is rundown and full of factories. The sky is always hazy, and it’s hard to see the blue through all of the gray that hangs over the city from the chemicals filling the sky from the various plants that make all kinds of cheap goods to ship to other parts of the kingdom. Most of the people who live in our town are either middle class or poor, like my family, and it’s rare to see a car because most of us can’t afford them, let alone other luxuries.

But here in the heart of the kingdom, the village, called Wolfcrest, is lively and full of color. The buildings are all freshly painted in vibrant hues, and there are plants and flowers everywhere. The sky above us is a bright azure blue, and the road is well maintained. The sidewalks are made of cobblestone, but they are smooth, and as the four of us walk along, I can’t help but smile.

“This is so quaint!” I tell Poppy.

“I know. I thought you’d like it. There are all kinds of shops for us to go into. We can buy some new clothes if you want or some jewelry!”

“I have plenty of that stuff,” I remind her. “But I would like to get a gift for King Maddox.”

Poppy turns to look at me, and her eyes bulge slightly. “A gift? For the king?” she clarifies. “Why?”

I am taken aback. “What do you mean? I care about him, so I’d like to get him a gift. To thank him for his kindness.”

Poppy’s grin widens. “Does someone have a little crush on the king?”

I feel my face flush and look around. The two guards are several steps behind us. Private Parker is pretending not to listen, staring out at the road while Private Wylie is smiling mischievously at me. I know he’s eavesdropping.

“Listen, Poppy,” I say, turning back to my maid—or friend—or whatever she is, “I would just like to get the king a gift, that’s all.”

“All right,” she says with a shrug. “But what in the world do you get a man who has everything he could possibly ever want or need?”

It’s a good question, and I don’t have an answer for her, but I have a feeling that I will recognize the best gift when I see it.

“We need to get that chocolate for Mrs. Dixon, too,” she reminds me.

“Oh, yes, that’s right.” I don’t want to forget to get her a gift so she’ll come down and unlock my armoire. “We should probably get that last, though, in case it’s a warm spring day. I don’t want the chocolate to melt while we are walking around.” It isn’t hot yet, but it is humid, and the sky shows no promise of rain, which is good. Getting soaked again would remind me of the day I’d arrived here, and I don’t want to remember that because it will make me miss my family too much.

“Let’s go in here,” Poppy suggests, and she grabbed my hand, tugging me into a jewelry store.

I’d just told her I didn’t need any jewelry, but I went with her because she was strong and had a good grip on me.

The door chimes as we walk in, and an older gentleman behind the counter greets us. He has only a bit of gray hair left around the edges and peers at us through wire-rimmed spectacles.

“Hello, young ladies… gentlemen…. What can I help you with today?” he asks.

“Oh, we’re just looking, thank you,” I say.

Poppy is more vocal. “Do you have anything fit for a king?” She snickers under her breath with the question.

“Fit for a king?” he repeats, his eyebrows arched behind his glasses. “As in… the king? King Maddox?”

“That’s right,” Poppy says. “My friend here wants to get the king a gift.” She giggles and hides her mouth behind her hand. I glare at her.

The shopkeeper only smiles back, though. He doesn’t laugh. “I actually do have something,” he says, “something very rare and precious that I think the king would like very much.”

“Is it another woman?” Poppy jokes, cracking herself up. “Because I don’t think Isla wants to get him any competition.”

“Poppy!” I stare at her, wide-eyed. She’s becoming obnoxious, which shouldn’t surprise me, because she’s like that a lot back at the castle, but I didn’t expect it from her in public.

“No, it’s not another woman,” he says, scratching his head. “I’ll show you. Give me one moment, please.”

He leaves, ducking through a swinging door behind the counter, and I try to concentrate on looking at the fine jewelry locked in glass cases. I do see some pretty items, but I don’t want to spend money that doesn’t really belong to me on anything I don’t need.

Poppy looks at everything, gasping and pointing out the prettiest pieces, in her opinion, to me. I agree they are lovely. I think about buying her a pair of earrings she really likes, but she needs to be nice or else I won’t do it. She’s settled down a bit now.

The man comes back with a small black velvet box in his hands.

“Do you expect her to ask the king to marry her or something?” Obnoxious Poppy is back, and she is laughing at her own ridiculous joke. I hear a male clear his voice behind me and turn to see Private Wylie is as annoyed with her as I am. He won’t say anything, though. That’s not why he’s here. Still, he is glaring at the back of her head like he wants to thump her.

I am beginning to like this guy.

“No, it’s not a ring,” the shopkeeper says as if he doesn’t understand that Poppy is trying to be funny. “It’s a pair of cufflinks.”

He opens the box to reveal two gold wolf cufflinks, each of them with gems for eyes. One has green emerald eyes, and the other has red rubies. They are gorgeous.

And… for some reason… they seem slightly familiar to me, though I have no idea why.

“They’re stunning,” I tell him. “Do you think he has any like this?” I ask Poppy. Is it possible I’ve seen these before—on Maddox?

“No, I’ve never seen anything like these before, and I always pay attention to what King Maddox is wearing.”

I raise an eyebrow at her.

“What?” Poppy asks, shrugging.

“And you say I’m asking him to marry me.”

That gets a laugh out of the guards behind us.

I turn back to look at the wolves. They are both howling at the moon, and in their 3D shape, they look almost lifelike, the craftmanship is so good. They are about half an inch tall, and the quality of the piece that went on the other end to hold them in place is solid as well, so I know they can’t come unhooked.

“Where did you get them?” I ask the kind, old gentleman.

“They came from a distant land,” he tells me. “A few months ago, a trader came in, said she’d been to the castle in a pack way across the ocean, where there’d been a revolution several years ago. The castle was abandoned and boarded up. She managed to sneak in somehow, and she got these as well as a few other pieces.”

“So they’re stolen goods?” Poppy asks him.

He gave her an incredulous look. “I didn’t steal them,” he replies. “I paid good money for them. Besides, my understanding is that the king of that kingdom and his family were killed a good fifteen or twenty years ago. I don’t suppose he’ll be needing them now.”

I stare at him for a few moments, thinking that’s the saddest story I’ve ever heard. “What pack was it?” I ask him.

“Uh… I can’t remember the name of it. Something weird. They had a big revolution. Lots of people died. Others fled. The king’s ability to ruin came into question because he was fated to a maid or some other worker in the castle. That made the pack elders question how he could be a legitimate heir to the throne. Why would the Moon Goddess match an Alpha with a maid? So… it started a big kerfuffle, and he ended up being killed. Her, too, I guess. And by then they had a few kids. I’m not sure of the details. But if that trader comes back in, I can ask her.”

“That would be interesting to hear about,” I tell him. The idea of children being killed because their mother was a maid caused an ache to develop in my heart.

“Anyway,” he continued, “these are certainly fit for a king.”

“Yes, they are,” I agree. “How much do you want for them?”

“Well…” he began, rubbing his chin with his hand as he thought it over, “considering what I paid for them… I think I could let them go for two thousand.”

“Two thousand?” I repeat. That’s a lot of money. More money than I’ve seen in one place—ever. I would have to work for five or six months back home to make that kind of money.

“That’s pocket change,” Poppy whispers, and I know what she means. King Maddox has shoes in his closet that he’s never worn that cost more than that, I imagine.

“All right,” I tell him. I hand over the card from my wallet, and he smiles as he rings them up. I’ll have to make sure that nothing happens to them before I can give them to him. It’s not as if I can just lock them up, not when people like Mrs. Dixon can get through any lock, apparently.

He hands me the card back and puts the cufflinks in a little bag. I thank him and drop it into my purse. But just before we go, I say, “Give me those earrings, too, please,” pointing out the ones Poppy really likes.

We do the process all over again, and he hands me the earrings. She has a questioning look on her face, and I hand them over.

Poppy squeals. “Really?” she asks.

“Yes, but stop being such a pest,” I tell her. She wraps her arms around me and squeezes me so tightly, I think my head might pop off.

“Let’s go get the candy!” Poppy exclaims as we walk out of the shop, and I smile and go along with her. Why not? I can use some candy. The sky still doesn’t look like rain, but it’s not too hot, so maybe it won’t melt.

We walk along beside each other, and Poppy holds my hand, like we are good friends. And maybe we are.

As long as she stops teasing me about Maddox….

I sure hope he likes his gift, and I hope that he can tell me where they came from. I feel bad for that poor king and his family, but in the back of my mind, I have to wonder….

If that king could be fated to marry a maid, could King Maddox be fated to marry someone of lesser status, too?

Like… a breeder?