Blood stained Adamh's cheek and chest as he walked through Rionna, the king's guard flanking him. General Faust stood at his right, a respectful two paces behind him. At their back, the unmistakable crowd of citizens—now yearlings, aristocrats, and the elderly—began to stiffly disperse. As the dust that their paws kicked up cleared, so was Forthrun's executed body revealed. Limp, cold, and lifeless. Adamh's chosen executioner was still working his way through the other fifteen parliament members found to be direct acccomplices. However, Adamh had less interest in seeing their heads roll. In reality, they had lost them long ago.
So he took in the wary, nervous faces of the people that still lived in Rionna. Gone was the city's vibrance. Gone was its life. It struck him sharply in the heart, spearing him with how Forthrun's plot had left him weak and ineffective. But it hadn't just been the poison to do that to him. It had been years of wanting to lead softly, gently, and being guided by wolves that had long grown sick from plots and manipulation. If he was to fix this land, he would need to do so with his own paws.
Stopping in Eleanor Square, he turned to look at the anxious, hungry wolves that had sheepishly followed after his shadow. They flinched, afraid of what wrath he would exact.
But his wrath was not directed at them.
Adamh's voice boomed out, resounding throughout the square as if a giant, copper bell had just tolled.
He, too, had lost the handsome luster that had first endeared him to his people. He was thin, hardened, jagged. But he did not look weak. The conviction that warped his expression made him far more fierce as if a lion had crawled into a wolf's skin.
Adamh's blue eyes blazed as he stood tall.
The wolves in the crowd stared with numb shock... then one wolf began to cry. "My... my husband can come home," she murmured, wiping at her eyes. Another wolf, a yearling, began to cheer. The feverish energy coursed through each and every wolf standing there.
Most of all Adamh.
Not all was lost. Not yet.
no posting here — vignette IV of IV
