Chapter 663
“What?” I said, “Unable to believe a word of what he said.”
“That’s why we had to sneak you out.” He told me. “If we didn’t, then you would probably never have had the chance to leave.”
My heart was beating so rapidly as I touched my chest and looked around, trying to think.
Looking for my family had been a sort of dream.
A dream that I had only prayed about, but never really assumed I was going to see come to pass.
I looked up at the sky and watched the full moon.
Somewhere, I knew a wolf was howling, but we had gone so far away from the pack that I couldn’t hear any noise.
I turned to look back at Otto.
“And Hildegard?” I asked him
He turned and looked away. “She chose her fate, Jasmine. The same way I have.”
What if she died?
Wasn’t my leaving cowardice?
Letting someone take the fall for something I had done.
“Don’t think of going back.” He told me. “There is nothing for you back there. If you do, Hildegard’s sacrifice would be in vain, and I would be killed.”
My knees wobbled weakly despite my sitting down, and my leg stretched out.
“Perhaps it’s time, Jasmine.” He told me. “That you start afresh elsewhere. Have a new life. You deserve it. After everything you’ve been through.”
I sighed heavily and leaned against the rock.
The cool night breeze blew against my face, and I wondered what was going on in the pack.
Are you sure they won’t come here?” I asked.
“I doubt it.” He told me as he rubbed his arm. “No one has been here in years, and they won’t suspect we would follow here. No one would reasonably come here.”
I looked at him with a funny look.
He chuckled. “Except for you.”
And then I gave a light chuckle.
I sighed heavily again and looked at Pearl.
She was backing us and looking towards the sea.
“It’s still amazing.” He mumbled more to himself than anyone. “Seeing a siren in real life. Amazing.”
Pearl ignored him and kept on staring at the sea.
I remembered what she said about the death song.
About how I must have died because I knew the tune of the song.
None of it still made sense
And it made me wonder.
If a siren could have unanswered questions about her own kind, then what hope did I, an unshifted half?
“It’s fifteen minutes now.” She told me as she slowly turned to face us.
“Is it?” I asked, worried for Otto. “I don’t know
If he can stand.”
“Stand up,” Pearl commanded.
Otto sighed and tried to get up with my assistance.
There was no sign of discomfort.
He stretched and gently let go of my arm that he had been holding on to.
“I feel fine.” He remarked as he juggled his arm. “I feel better than before.”
He seemed extremely giddy and excited.
Which was so unlike Otto.
I wondered if it was one of the side effects of the magic Pearl had used.
“We should be going.” He remarked. “They might be forced to follow this path if they can’t trace my scent.”
“Can they do that?” I asked him, worried.
He nodded. “Yes, but I used some magic to camouflage it. So it will take a while before they do. I wiped Hildegard’s memories, too. Just the ones about our whereabouts. So they won’t be able to get it out of her.”
I went silent, unsure of how to respond to that.
“I’m going to get the horses.” He said, a smile sprang across his face.
He skipped, literally SKIPPED to where the horses were.
I raised a brow and turned to Pearl.
“The treatment can cause some type of euphoria in wolves.” She said dryly. “It would wear off eventually.”
I nodded. “Pearl, I know you’ve done more than enough for me, and I appreciate it. Probably gotten into your trouble. But I want to ask you one more thing.”
She paused, waiting to hear what I said.
“Pearl.” I began. “I never died. I assure you. I have never been to this place either. So I don’t understand how I know your song.”
She gave a tight smile and gently touched my red hair.
“My mother.” She said. “Used to be the guard of the northern sea region. I’ve taken her place. She always spoke about a girl with vibrant red hair just like yours. Perhaps it’s someone in your ancestry. Who knows the answers, really? But Jasmine, something tells me that you will find out. When you do, I hope you can tell me. I’d like to know.”
A girl with red hair like mine?
It puzzled me.
She was speaking in riddles.
She gently touched the tips of my curly red hair. “If you’re on the run.” She began slowly. “Then you should do something about your hair. Anyone can pick you out in a crowd.”
I frowned as I touched my hair. “I tried to change it once. But then the other night of Princess Auburn’s shifting ceremony, it turned back to red.”
“Then your destiny doesn’t want to change.”
She told me.
Before I could say a word, she picked up one of the corals by her waist and waved her hands over it.
The Coral, as tiny as a pebble, suddenly has a string attached to it in a small circle.
Her blue hands took mine, and she put them around my left wrists.
I felt something like a wave wash over me, and yet there was no water.
She moved towards the water and directed me. “Take a look.”
I followed her and looked down.
To my disbelief, my hair wasn’t red anymore. It was vibrant blonde.
I gasped, and my fingers hurriedly raced through it.
It was real.
“Wh… how… wha
She gave a smile. “You were doing it wrong. You can’t just dye your hair any color. The best you can do is turn it into one of your parents’ hairs. And from this blonde? One of yours was a blonde.”
I frowned.
But my father Bale wasn’t Blonde.
Otto appeared, holding the two horses. “Whoa. A new look. That’s surprising.”
“It will remain as long as you keep the bracelet on.” She told me.
“Thank you so much,” I said, my eyes teary.
She nodded, and then as we held hands, she frowned.
“You should be careful, Jasmine. In your condition.”
I was lost.
“What condition?”
Before she could reply, there was a loud sound from a horn.
Her blue skin, eyes, and scales seemed to reflect.
“I need to go. And you need to LEAVE NOW! I’ll hold them off for a while. But GO!”
And with that, she jumped into the river