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After they were done and Virginia was asleep, Wolf left the room to go out and look at the moon. To his surprise,
Morghan was sitting on a bench outside, staring off into nowhere.
"Your little brother, he was a wolf, but you’re not. How?" Wolf said softly.
She nodded. "Mother had an affair with a wolf when I was ten, When father found out, he accused the wolf of
raping her. The wolf was burned at the stake the very next day. There was no trial, no nothing."
She turned around and looked at Wolf.
"I’ll never forget the look on his face, the pain in his eyes while he burned. I knew that he hadn’t raped
my mother, so I ran away. I don’t remember where I ran to, but I stayed there for months. When I returned, Alex
was gone, and they were dead."
She turned away and shuddered, "So you came here to find your sister, but she was gone?" he pressed.
She shook her head.
"No, she was here for about a year. She taught me the business and then she was gone. Rumor has it that she
took a traveling mirror inside a traveling mirror and became trapped inside the 10th kingdom. But that’s just a
rumor. No one knows what really happened."
She shivered slightly.
"The rain really cooled things off."
Her green eyes glittered in the moonlight with the tears she was holding back. She looked back up at the moon and
sighed. One by one, the tears ran down her face. Wolf looked sadly at her. She was so young, he wished he could
comfort her. He wished he could help her the way he had helped Virginia when her mother died. But he couldn’t.
What would Virginia think if she saw him comforting this girl in the middle of the night? He hoped she trusted
him, but that was enough to make even the most devoted wife wonder. Slowly, Wolf turned around and started walking
towards the tavern. But he stopped. She was singing. He listened closely. Her voice was soft, but it sounded sweet
and clear. Kind of like the whistle of wind in the trees.
"A shepherdess makes quite a mess, but little lambs are lovely..."
Wolf gasped and quickly hurried back to the room. Surely there was more that she was letting on. That night, Wolf
dreamed about Morghan. He dreamed about her long blonde hair and her sparkling green eyes. She had this amazing
ability to take you over and keep you clinging to her. She was more addictive than the troll king’s invisibility
shoes.
***
Wolf was up the next morning before the sun rose. He sat there for a moment, staring at the vision of loveliness
beside him. How he ever lived without her, he didn’t know. Finally, he got up and went downstairs, Once again,
to his surprise, Morghan was wiping down tables and preparing for the breakfast she would serve once her guests
awakened.
"Morning sir, did you sleep well?"
Wolf nodded. "Yes, thank you."
She made her way to a small fireplace in the front of the tavern.
"Bacon?" she asked.
Wolf smiled.
"Yes, please. and lots of it. I’m ravenous in the morning."
He watched as she cooked a pan full of bacon. She did it perfectly, taking them off the heat just before he had
a chance to complain about her overcooking it. She put the bacon on a plate and sat it down in front of him. He
sniffed the air.
"Smells delicious." he growled hungrily.
By the time Virginia woke up, Wolf had finished two plates of bacon. she walked up behind him and kissed his cheek.
"Good morning sunshine, How did you sleep?" he asked.
"Pretty good. I had weird dreams about that mirror though."
Morghan, noticing that Virginia was up, came over to them.
"Can I get breakfast for milady? Milord has already eaten."
"No, thank you," Virginia said, "I’m not a breakfast person."
Morghan nodded. "I suppose you’ll be heading home today, there’s a full moon tonight, and I wouldn’t want
you to be caught out after dark."
Virginia smiled. "We’ll be going home, but not for that reason. We left the baby at home with my father, and
who knows what trouble they’re probably in."
Morghan chuckled softly.
"Well, I’m off to market if anyone wishes to join me. The ride is much shorter with friends."
A few rogues raised their cider glasses to signal themselves in on the trip. She turned to Wolf.
"Would you like to go? I’ll show you all the shops and perhaps you could buy a present for your lovely wife."
She smiled. Wolf looked at Virginia, and she nodded.
"Go, Have fun. I need to catch up on my reading."
She nodded towards the book she had picked up right before they left New York. "
"We’ll be back by noon, and if I’m right, that gives you plenty of time to get home before dark."
Wolf kissed Virginia’s cheek.
"I’ll be back soon." he said.
"I’ll count the seconds." she whispered back.
Wolf went upstairs to get his coat, and when he came back, there was one empty seat in the back. Wolf sat down
quickly and the wagon started moving. Morghan glanced back at Wolf and smiled.
"Having fun? You should have sat up here with me. I’m sure you could have scared Roger here witless and he
would move for you." she nodded over at the man sitting next to her. "That’s what wolves do best, right?"
As soon as she said this, she regretted it.
"Oh dear, whatever in the world made me say that? Dreadfully sorry." she said softly.
The rest of the ride was rather uneventful. Morghan was right. The ride was short if you had people to talk to.
When they arrived in town, the people went their separate ways.
"Meet back here in an hour." Morghan said.
Wolf followed her and she took him to a small jewelry store.
"I’m sure that she would love something from here. They’re famous throughout the nine kingdoms."
Wolf looked around and finally found a silver I.D. bracelet. It had two small stones on either side that perfectly
matched Virginia’s eyes. On the back, Wolf had it engraved with Her name, his name and the baby’s name. Once he
got it, he walked back to Morghan’s cart. She was already there putting baskets of fresh food on the wagon. He
showed her the bracelet and while she was looking at it, he asked her a question.
"There’s more to you, isn’t there? You’re not all you seem to be."
Morghan nodded. "Aye, but you’ve known that all along. I should know by now that I can’t fool wolves. There
is more to my story. Raegan, my sister, was very upset with mother after the affair. She left home at 16 and started
the tavern. When I ran away, I went to live with my grandmother, the gypsy. When mother sent Alex to live with
grandmother, I came home to protest. He was barely three, I couldn’t understand how they could just kick him out.
When I got home, I realized something was wrong. I peeked in the window and watched in horror as the queen killed
my parents and Laynah. It was awful. I ran to Raegan’s tavern and told her what happened, but she didn’t believe
me. She told me that wolves had probably killed them for what they did to Alex’s father. I never got her to believe
me. I lived with her for a while, but Raegan’s hatred towards wolves and Alex was too much for me to take. One
day while she was cleaning the mirror, I pushed her in and locked it up."
After she said this, she shuddered.
"I know that’s awful, but she hated them so much!! She’s better off in the 10th kingdom where they don’t exist.
Aye, there is more to me, just lie yourself, I suppose."
She asked someone from the back of the cart to sit by Roger while he drove it back to the tavern.
"I’m not feeling well. I need to sit in the back." she said.
On the way home, Wolf watched her intently. She had curled up in a corner of the cart, and she just sat there.
It was almost like she had fallen asleep with her eyes open. Wolf knew all she was doing was thinking, but the
rest of the cart couldn’t help but get slightly worried. She was so small, so innocent. How could she handle all
those memories, pent up inside? When they arrived back at the tavern, Virginia was waiting.
"Are you ready to go?"
Wolf glanced worriedly over at Morghan, who was slowly getting off the cart. She looked as if she had aged ten
years. He rushed over to help her.
"I’ll be okay." she said as she waved him away. There were tears running down her cheeks.
"Are you sure?" Virginia asked.
"Yes, I’m sure. It’ll be over soon. Now go. You’ll want to get home before dark."
Wolf and Virginia gathered up their belongings and left. A few weeks later, they received word from one of Wendell’s
servants that Morghan Merripip had died in the arms of a wolf. She had eaten a poisoned apple left behind by the
Evil queen the day her parents died, and Her last words were an old wolf nursery rhyme that she had taught Alex
years before.
"A shepherdess makes quite a mess, but little lambs are lovely."
The wolf was executed the next day for murder. It was over.
The end
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