“Okay,” he said. “My brothers are Bowen and Yuka. My sister’s Amka. Kallik’s my dad, and Meriwa is my mom. Bowen’s closest in age to me, then Amka, then Yuka’s the youngest.”
“Bowen, Amka, Yuka,” Florian repeated. “And Kallik and Meriwa.”
“See, you got it,” Kade said, and he reached over to squeeze Florian’s leg. “They’re going to love you.”
Florian flushed. He didn’t exactly feel convinced, but the words were nice to hear all the same. Kade’s hand remained on his thigh, so he reached down with one hand to lace his fingers through.
They drove to the end of the row of buildings, turning to follow the dirt path that narrowed and led away from the town. The buildings around them became more sparse and scattered, until finally there were no more. Eventually the road led up to a chain link fence with a forested area on the other side of it, and what looked like a small cottage set alongside the fence. Kade pulled their car up in front of the cottage.
“This is it,” he said, giving Florian’s hand one last squeeze before finally pulling away. “Ready?”
“Yeah,” Florian agreed, and they got out of the car.
As they were pulling their bags from the trunk of the car, a rattling sound came from the door of the cottage—an old lock being unlatched. The door swung open with a heavy creak, and a woman stepped through, peering at them curiously. She looked older than Florian would have expected from someone from the Veil—everyone that he’d met so far had a particularly youthful look to their face. But this woman’s face was lined, her hair that was mostly gray pulled into a loose bun at the nape of her neck. Her eyes narrowed with suspicion as she caught sight of Florian; her blue eyes struck him, a deep cobalt just a shade brighter than was natural—the telltale sign of a Veilian native. But then her glance flickered to Kade, and warm recognition flooded her face, the crow’s feet around her eyes deepening as she smiled.
“Kade!” she exclaimed, stepping toward him. Her breath came out as a puff of steam as she spoke, making Florian even more aware of the cold. “Goodness, you startled me. I wasn’t expecting anyone Earthside. What are you doing here? And who’s this?”
“Nan,” Kade greeted, smiling at her. “It’s good to see you. I’m going home. And this is...” He glanced at Florian, and the way his eyes flickered from Florian’s face to the ground, he could tell he was trying to consider something quickly. “Forgive my rudeness. This is the newly-crowned King Florian of the Winter Court. I’m escorting him back to the Veil. King Florian, this is Nanurjuk, the wolf kingdom’s designated protector of our curtain.”
The woman, Nan, stared at Florian for a long moment with wide eyes and her mouth still half-open, then she seemed to shake herself into action and bowed her head.
“King! By the Wolf-God, I had no idea!” she exclaimed, shooting Kade a bewildered look. “But what happened to... Is Jerah...?”
“This is Jerah’s son,” Kade said, wincing as he said it. “Jerah... There was an accident. Just a few weeks ago now.”
“I had no idea he even had a son,” Nan sighed, making a soft clicking sound with her tongue as she shook her head. After a moment, though, she looked to Florian with a slightly brighter expression. “Well, new King Florian, I’m honored to meet you, truly, and you can just call me Nan. And my sincerest condolences, of course. Jerah was a good man, and I’m sorry to hear of his passing.”
“Oh, thank you,” Florian stammered. He still had no inkling of how to act around people who knew he was a king—but this woman was a wolf shifter, so it wasn’t like he washerking. All he could do was be polite. “I, um, I appreciate it.”
“Oh, he’s just a child! They made this poor boy the king?” she said, looking between Florian and Kade. Florian could feel his face burning red, and hoped the windchill disguised his embarrassed flush.
“He is definitely not a child,” Kade said stiffly, the color rising in his face as he said it, and Florian had to stifle a laugh.
“I’m twenty-three,” he offered, but the woman only seemed more perturbed, shaking her head.
“Twenty-three! You’rebothjust little boys. Tell me about it when you’re in your second century.”
Kade and Florian shared a look; he could tell Kade was also trying not to laugh. With a sigh, Nan dug her hands into the pockets of her parka and pulled out a keyring with only a few keys jangling on it.
“Well, I suppose you’ll just be wanting to get to the curtain, then,” she said. “Goodness knows I don’t want to be out in the cold much longer. Have someone coming for the car, or should I call it in?”
“Will you take care of it?” Kade asked, handing Florian his bag while he shouldered his own, finally closing the trunk of the car. “I don’t think we’ll be coming back this way for a while.”
Nan frowned, her confusion obvious, but luckily she didn’t press. “Not a problem. Just do me a favor. Tell your father the Wolf-God still smiles on us even Earthside, and I pray for his improved health.”
“I’ll tell him. Thank you.”
They followed her along the length of the fence until finally they arrived at the gate, bound closed with a heavy lock and chain. Nan fumbled with the lock for a moment, hissing at the cold metal, then unwrapped the length of the chain as the lock finally came free.
“There you are,” she said, gesturing for them to go through. “Safe travels to the both of you.”
“Thank you, Nan,” Kade said.
“Yes, thank you,” Florian added. She smiled, bowing her head a bit toward him, and they walked through. Behind them the chain rattled as she locked back up.
“See you next time,” she called out.
It only took a minute before the forest filled their vision, all sight of the gate and town lost behind them. When they were alone, Kade chuckled under his breath, and Florian looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.
