Wake up

Adella wakes up with a start, horrified at the terrible dream. She sits up in her bed, looking at the light streaming in from her windows, and struggles to banish the horrifying images from her mind.

As the sleep fades from her mind, she becomes aware of the voices in her room. “What on earth are people doing in my chambers?” she wonders, and reaches for her blanket to pull it up to her chest for added covering. As she does, she sees the bandage around her wrist, and a horrifying thought descends on her: it wasn’t a dream.

“Oh, darling! You are awake!”

Adella’s mother, Queen Caroline, rushes to her bedside.

“Mother?” asks Adella, still struggling to make sense of it all. “What is going on? How did I get here?”

“You can thank me for that, dear sister,” says her brother, Prince Duncan, stepping into view. “Although, I must confess I was in unfamiliar territory, putting a lovely lady in bed and then actually letting her sleep!”

Duncan chuckles at his own words, but Adella knows her baby brother well enough to see the lines of worry around his eyes. She looks about the room and sees the rest of her family, looking at her with concern. King Malcolm and Crown Prince Stewart are standing together, and Dr. Cyrus, the king’s personal physician is likewise nearby.

“Courtney!” Adella exclaims suddenly, remembering the last time she saw her friend. “Is she—?”

She sees her mother avert her eyes. For a moment, no one speaks until Stewart breaks the silence. “I’m afraid we were too late, Adella. By the time Duncan and I arrived, it was all we could do to save you. I’m afraid it was already too late for Courtney.”

Adella dissolves into tears as her brothers explain how she was rescued. When she did not return as expected, Stewart expressed his concern to the king. Malcolm wasted no time in sending the royal brothers off with a search party. They were nearby when they heard the commotion of the girls’ confrontation with Tegan. They arrived moments after Adella blacked out, and between the two of them, they were able to overpower the werewolf and rescue their sister, returning her to the palace.

“And the werewolf?” asked Adella. “Surely you put an end to the creature?”

The princes exchange looks.