4. Luna Carolina

four

Luna Carolina

*FLORA*

“ G randma,” I yell, while dashing into our cottage. Grandma peeks her head out of the kitchen, smiling when she sees me.

“Look who is all happy,” she chuckles.

“I had the best day!” I exclaim. “I made a new friend. Jace. He is nice, not as nice as Elden, but he is a solid second. And-” I wrestle out of my jacket and toss my bag into a corner. “He invited Elden and me to his pack. We will play princess and prince… and second prince,” I beam. “Can I go?”

Grandma picks up my jacket and shakes her head in amusement. “Jace, as in Jace Hearst from Emerald Moon?”

“His dad is an alpha,” I say.

“Ah, he is friends with Alpha Caelum,” Grandma says. “I know who you are talking about. His son, Jace, sometimes comes to visit.”

I look at her expectantly, and she nods. “Of course you can go on this playdate. See? I told you, you will make friends.”

“No one made fun of me today,” I tell her.

She smiles. “That’s good to hear, sweetheart.”

“Say, Grandma,” I follow her into the kitchen, where she has already prepared a sandwich for me, “you said I’m not supposed to use bad words,” I say. “But,” I lower my voice to a whisper, “what about when I talk about Alpha Caelum?”

“Flora,” she says quietly. “You always need to be loyal to the alpha.”

“I am loyal,” I say. “To the future alpha.” My own words surprise me. Where did that come from? But now that I said it, it feels right. I will be loyal to Elden once he is alpha, but I don’t feel the same towards his father.

He is not a good man, Grandma once said. I think I know now what she means.

Grandma looks at me, surprised. Something seems to flicker in her eyes. “That’s an interesting take,” she mutters, but she sounds content with me.

“He is not nice to Elden, and Elden is my friend,” I tell her, remembering the weird conversation Elden and Jace had. “I don’t know much about Alpha Caelum, but I know that Elden looks sad whenever he talks about him. Whoever makes my friends sad, isn’t my friend!”

Grandma stays silent but doesn’t tell me I’m wrong either.

“The luna was outside when we arrived,” I tell her.

“What?” She looks at me in surprise, now. “Are you certain, honey?”

“Yes, Elden was happy to see her,” I say. “I said hello to her, too.”

“Maybe she is feeling better,” Grandma says, sounding hopeful.

“Is she ill?”

“Yes,” Grandma sounds serious. “She is very ill, Flora. You must promise me not to tell anyone.” I nod at her. I am good at keeping secrets. “Luna Carolina suffers from depression.”

“What’s a depression?” I want to know.

“Sometimes she feels really sad, so sad she has difficulties breathing. It’s like the sadness wraps itself around her, and then it’s almost like her mind isn’t with her. And because she feels sad, she feels tired too. You know, things she enjoyed doing, she doesn’t enjoy them anymore.”

I tilt my head, remembering how tired the luna looked and how skinny, and how Elden was surprised to see her. “Can we do anything for her?” I ask.

“Ah, sweetheart,” Grandma sighs. “I’m trying. The alpha fortunately approves of me being close to Carolina. And you-” she pauses. “I think the best you could do is to be there for her son.”

“That’s easy to do,” I assure her. “Grandma?”

“Yes?”

“The story you keep telling me; that’s a prophecy, isn’t it?” I want to know.

Grandma doesn’t look surprised that I know. “I figured with you befriending Prince Elden, you would find out.”

“So, it’s true? The things told in the story about the prince with the strong wolf spirit and the beautiful, mysterious princess saving the prince… is this going to be me saving Elden one day?”

“Probably,” Grandma smiles. “But sweetheart, the prophecy is not… it’s not an actual prophecy. Prophecies normally come in a spelled-out version, in words. This here, concerning you and Prince Elden, is more like a vision. One of the special wolves from the council saw it. The words to describe it have just been hers and our attempt to make sense out of it.”

I am not sure if I understand it, but apparently, someone saw an awesome movie in their mind, and Elden and I are the main characters. “So, what do you think it says?”

“In the vision they saw two children: the girl surrounded by light and the boy accompanied by a strong wolf. When they touch, they can feel that they are-” she pauses. “They can feel tingles.”

“Like Elden and me,” I say.

“We further know the date these two children were born, and it led them to Elden and you,” she tells me. “It says that the prince will be faced with true hardships, and the princess of the light will save him from the darkness.”

“That’s me!” I beam, although I don’t like that talk about the darkness.

“It also says that the young prince’s powers might either destroy him or help him rise above everyone.”

I frown. “And the princess?”

“The princess is said to carry many secrets.”

“I don’t have any secrets,” I say. “If I had any, I would tell you.”

Grandma smiles and hugs me close to her suddenly. “You are the light,” she whispers into my hair. “I hope it will lead you well.”

Elden and I visit Jace on Saturday. Elden is in a good mood, and all smiles. “Mom had breakfast with me today,” he explains while we drive to Emerald Moon. “She hasn't joined me for breakfast in so long. But today, she did! She also asked me about school and about you. She wanted to know everything.”

I haven’t seen him smile yet, so this is a first. He has a beautiful smile, so genuine. “That’s good,” I say. “Grandma says that the luna is such a kind and beautiful person.”

“Really?” he asks, looking happy. “They are friends, aren’t they?”

“Yes,” I beam. “I bet they are best friends! Grandma told me so much about her, but I bet you have the best stories.”

Elden nods and keeps telling me more about his mom, how she was always quiet but not always as sad as she is now, and how he tries to make her happy, and be good so that she will smile again. He asks me about my mom, too, but I don’t know her, so I can’t tell him anything, but I can talk about my grandma.

We spend the time chatting, before I start asking our driver questions about Jace’s pack. The driver is a kind man, who answers all of my questions and even laughs sometimes.

When we arrive at Emerald Moon pack, Jace is already waiting for us at the huge porch that surrounds the packhouse. Emerald Moon’s pack house looks older than ours, but it’s cool. I bet it holds many secrets. There is a tall woman standing next to Jace. She looks beautiful, but not as beautiful as Luna Carolina, and not as nice. She smiles at us, though. “I am happy to meet you, Flora,” she says. “And Elden, you already know you are a welcome guest anytime,” she pauses. “I am Dorothy, Jace’s mother.”

I step forward, reaching out my hand to shake hers. She looks surprised but accepts it and shakes it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Luna,” I exclaim. “Thank you for inviting me to your pack, and thank you to the alpha too, who I haven’t seen yet, but I am sure he is nice, because Jace is nice, too.” Grandma told me what to say. I don’t remember all of it, but think I did quite well, because Luna Dorothy nods her head and smiles at me.

“Alpha Caelum told me you are a special young woman,” she says.

“I am not a woman,” I tell her, twirling around. “I am a princess.”

“Well,” she says, and I could swear she chuckles. “You are a peculiar princess. I always wanted a little princess too, but-” her voice trails off and she doesn’t finish her sentence. Instead, she turns to Jace. “There is cake and tea for you, whenever you want it. Be a good host.”

Jace nods. He looks so serious all of a sudden. “Of course, Mother.”

With that she bids us goodbye. Well, she certainly isn’t the warmest, but maybe she just has a bad day. Jace looks relieved when we are alone, only the beta of the pack stays behind to accompany us. But he looks fun and is all smiles. Jace seems to like him, too.

Now that we are alone, I can finally look around and check on everything, especially the interesting pack house. While I follow Jace and Elden, I keep telling them about the many secrets I think we will find here.

The beta turns around slightly, smiling at us.

“See, he agrees!” I say.

“Of course I do,” he winks at us. “I think you three should go on an adventure today.”

“Yes!” I exclaim. “I bet there is an evil dragon down in the basement. He will try to catch me, because I am the beautiful princess, and then you, Elden, have to come to save me.”

“And what am I going to do?” Jace asks.

“You can help Elden save me,” I say. “And then-”

“We kill the dragon?” Elden asks.

“No,” I shake my head. “We will become friends with the dragon, and it will become our pet. And we will become the magic warriors of the dragon.”

“Okay…” Jace says. “And then?”

“Then, we will save everyone and make them happy.”

“I want to fight something,” Elden says.

“You can fight the shadow,” I suggest. “It’s dangerous and going to wrap itself around everyone and steal them away.”

“How does one fight a shadow?” Jace wants to know.

“With magic, of course! And then-” I pause, “then, Elden and I will marry!”

“What?” Elden blinks at me. “Why do we marry?”

“Because I am the beautiful princess,” I say, remembering what Luna Dorothy said. “The peculiar princess. I hope that’s a good word.”

“It is,” Elden reassures me.

“So?” I look at them expectantly.

Jace and Elden exchange a gaze, before they both pick up a stick off the ground. “Let’s go and fight the dragon,” Jace exclaims.

“And save the princess,” Elden adds.

We play the whole day. In between, we have cake and tea, and someone from the kitchen brings us snacks too. They are all so kind to us, especially to Jace. Luna Dorothy comes to look for us once, a tall and serious looking man with her. Jace introduces him as his father, but he doesn’t stay long, and soon he and the luna leave us on our own again.

Once it’s afternoon, Elden and I have to go back to our pack, not without promising Jace to return and continue our adventure. When the driver picks us up again, I am so tired I almost fall asleep instantly. My head rests against Elden’s shoulder. “I am sorry,” I yawn.

“It’s okay,” he says. “You are the princess, and I am the prince. I am going to protect you.”

I nod contentedly, dozing off while we drive back to our pack. Elden doesn’t talk, but I can feel the rhythm of his breath. The tingles are not scaring me anymore, instead they make me feel comfortable and relaxed. I don’t know how much time passes, but eventually, we drive through the gate to the pack and then towards the pack house.

Everything seems to be normal, as usual, until I hear the whispers again.

Flora, Flora, Flora!

I force my tired eyes open while the driver parks the car. What’s going on?

We don’t know. Flora! Flora!

The beings seem to be nervous, fluttering around me like they are crazy. The beta greets us and helps Elden and me out of the car. I still feel confused when I raise my head a bit. There is a shadow looming over the packhouse, as if something is blocking the light. And right in the middle of the shadow, there is-

“What?” I mutter, raising my hand to point at it. “What is happening?”

It’s the beta who follows the direction I point at first. He walks forward a bit, stretching his neck to look further upwards. “No!” he yells all of a sudden. “The luna!”

I don’t know what’s happening, but all around me people start yelling and screaming, and running around. And then, like a leaf, Luna Carolina seems to glide downwards. Some pack members shift to run towards her, and amongst it all, I can suddenly see Elden yelling.

An excruciating pain fills me, making my knees buckle and taking my breath away. The pain doesn’t feel like it’s mine, yet it’s so strong it almost makes my body give in.