The ride was silent and miserable.

Cold wind slapped my face and blew into the cloak around my body, reminding me how exposed I was. It wasn't humiliating enough that the king hadn't offered proper clothing, but he cradled me between his arms like an infant as his stallion galloped on, and to keep from falling I was forced to cling to the man.

The trees grew thinner before we broke through the edge of the woods, and the world became a row of fields and small hills. Humble cottages dotted the landscape, with smoke pouring from their chimneys to signal life inside. Men and women and children were tending the crops, and as their king rode by they waved and bowed to show respect.

On the other side of the fields, at the end of a long dirt pathway, was a castle that could be seen clearly in the distance, and which took several minutes to reach from the treeline.

Ma's stories hinted at what a castle looked like, but when my eyes fell upon it I realized none of her words had done it justice. It was a stunning sight, so big I thought it must house hundreds of families. Towers of stone brushed against the clouds, set with dozens of arched windows that bore long flags with emblems of swords and shields. A wall encircled the building, rising high enough that climbing it would be a dangerous task, for a slip of the foot would certainly prove fatal.

There was a courtyard between the wall and castle, and it was littered with fountains and statues and miniature trees in painted pots. Ivy covered the inner face of the wall, and from the blanket of vines and leaves sprouted hundreds of pink trumpet blooms. Their fragrance filled the air, as sweet as springtime cakes, and I lifted my nose to inhale deeply, and sighed in contentment at the missed pleasure of having something nice in my nostrils.

Plainly-dressed servants scurried across the yard, their arms heavy with baskets and chests, and they paid little mind to the incoming troop of knights, only pausing to give a slight curtsy or bow as their king passed by.

Without a word of introduction, I was taken from the stallion by several old female servants. They led me silently through a passage on the side of the castle, down several drafty halls, until we reached a room that I understood was to be mine for as long as I remained under the king's care. The lavishness of the place is hard to describe, for there was far too much to take in all at once. My eyes roamed over every corner, finding no spot untouched by objects or furniture that were designed for comfort. There was even a separate attached room that was intended solely for bathing and relieving myself.

Such luxury, Credence!

I was guided into a deep tub filled with warm water, and the servants poured fragrant oils in after me to soothe the aches of riding. This was nothing like the baths of home, where the water was always cold and the tub was too short. Here there were bubbles and flowered soap that smelled like the gardens outside. Even as Champion of the Pit the offerings hadn't been as extravagant, for here there were servants to clean the dirt from my skin and brush my hair.

Their calloused hands were determined but not gentle, and they scrubbed me until I was sore before pulling through the tangles on my head, with such a furious pace that I imagined they were angry with my body. They dotted powder on my nose and cheeks and finished with a drop of perfumed oil behind my ears.

I was dressed in loose velvet and satin, which laid like a cloud against my skin.

A looking glass was brought before me so I could see their fine work.

I didn't look like myself, or at least the way I remembered. Staring back was not a boy, but a young man. He had a weary fatigue under his eyes and his mouth was set in a scowl. I pulled on my mouth and stuck my tongue out to make a funny expression, and heard the servants scoff and cluck their tongues.

The only thing the castle couldn't afford, it seemed, was a moment of humor.

I turned from the glass, unsettled by the serious face that had been presented to me, and looked at the servants.

"I'm Josiah," I greeted them, thinking it was only proper to know the ones who pampered me. "What are your names?"

They shook their heads and pushed me from the room. I struggled to keep up with their pace as we moved through more hallways. Beyond a pair of heavy oak and iron doors was a dining hall filled with long tables. Upon those tables were mountains of food, and seated around them were men and women dressed in finery, talking and laughing and eating without a care or worry, not a single one of them listening to another.

At the end of the room was a short staircase, three steps tall, that led to a platform where the king sat at his own table, from where he could watch over his court.

Sitting to the king's right was a child with sallow skin and a crown of gold settled around his ears, whom I judged to be the prince. His cheeks sunk so deep it made the boy look like he was constantly sucking them inward, and I might have been able to count every bone in his face. The rest of him was just as thin, and I thought a loud belch might be strong enough to blow the poor creature away. His sharp elbows rested on the table, with his pointy chin sat on his knuckles. He wasn't speaking, but staring straight ahead, bored by everything life had to offer.

Farther to the king's right, after the prince, were three bearded men in dark robes, all bickering with each other, seemingly in agreement of only one thing, which was that they were in disagreement.

On the king's left were two pretty women, identical in face and dress. Their heads were cast down to their plates, never lifting to talk or look around. They ate in small, delicate bites, like two infant mice. Their movements were graceful, befitting royalty, but their posture and resistance to interact with anyone gave them an air of unhappiness. Like the prince and the king, they had crowns on their heads, though these were not gold but silver circlets, with a blueish gem sitting in the middle. Not only were they indistinguishable from each other in looks, they also moved in unison, picking at their food in a sort of choreographed dance.

Between the women and the king was an empty chair and table setting.

My chair, I realized with no small worry.

Right beside the king, close enough to be jostled by his elbows.

I didn't want to upset him, but I knew nothing of courtly manners. A day ago I'd been covered in blood and fighting for my life.

What possible use did such violence have to nobility?

I tugged at the frill around my neck, finding it suddenly itchy and distracting. Sweat rose to my forehead and under my arms.

My presence was quickly noticed, and the king rose from his seat and clapped his hands. The hall fell into silence as every head turned to their ruler.

"My little guest has arrived!"

And now all the heads turned to me. I was used to being stared at by hundreds of eyes, but for some reason the examination of the court made me blush. I considered my chance of survival if I turned and ran from the castle.

The servants didn't allow me that chance, as they pushed me toward the king's table. The king leaned over to the boy at his side and whispered something into his ear. The child answered with a disgusted look before turning back to his meal. The twin women, I noticed, had stopped eating, but theirs were the only pairs of eyes that did not look at me. Instead, they remained fixed on their plates.

The distance to the king felt endless under the scrutiny of the court. As I passed them I heard whispers racing through the crowd. It was the wisp of a boy, the prince, that spoke first after the king, and his voice cut through the quiet gossiping with a shrill shriek.

"You promised me a wolf, Dada! You said I could ride its back and mount its head above my bed when I got bored!"

The king smiled at his son's whining.

"I've brought you something much better than a wolf."

"I don't see how," the prince huffed. "It's just a stupid peasant boy."

"Wouldn't you prefer a new friend over a new pelt?"

"No, I wouldn't."

"Enough." The king's tone turned abruptly stern. The prince crossed his arms and gave a defiant pout.

"Wait until you see what he can do," the king added in a gentler voice.

He snapped his fingers and the servants halted their pushing. I was dead center in the dining hall, knights and courtiers all around me, with no escape from any side.

"Tonight, we celebrate my victory over the dark forces in the woods," the king announced, "and the end of the cursed circus those monsters reveled in. Every last one of them is dead." His stare settled on me. "All but one."

Scattered murmurs followed.

"You," the king addressed me, "were their champion, weren't you?"

He waited for me to deny it, and clucked his tongue when I remained silent.

"Thought you could fool me, didn't you?" His eyes grew dark and dangerous. "I saw you fight the serpent. How powerful that giant gray beast was. Don't be shy now, show us your gift."

The servants released my arms and gave me a light shove forward. I looked around, confused and scared. Did the king mean to kill me once I changed?

You must be cleansed, he'd told the audience from the pit.

Had I been brought to the castle, bathed and dressed, only to entertain the court with my execution, like the Feeder Act of the circus?

"Your Highness, please...I don't understand." I gave a bow to show I was not proud.

The king shook his head.

"You will not keep secrets from your king. You can't. I'm the Monster Slayer. It's not a title that comes without years of study and a deep understanding of the fiends I hunt." He tapped his finger against his nose. "I've sniffed you out, and no amount of groveling will sway my mind."

"I'm...afraid."

"Of what?"

"You're going to kill me."

The king grinned and it did nothing to ease my distress.

"Why would I do that?"

"You're the Monster Slayer."

"And you're a champion."

"What use do you have for a champion?"

Someone gasped and I knew I'd misspoke. It was not a thing that happened, I learned, to question the king.

"What use? For one, I'll have you sing for your supper. Entertain us for a moment, and then you can take your place as my guest."

He snapped his fingers again and a knight stepped forward. Something landed with an echoing thud at my feet.

I looked down to find a silver helmet.

Grizzelda's skull.

"Don't keep me waiting, boy."

I was caught and everyone knew it.

"I'm sorry...I don't control it," I admitted. "It does what it wants. Comes and goes when it wants."

"It wants to live, doesn't it? If it will not come forward, I have no need for you, and the prince will get his wolf's head tonight, along with a shiny helmet."

The prince giggled and smirked at me, his eyes full of the same menace as his father. Knights flanked my sides, their hands on the hilt of their swords, ready to move at the king's word.

The king raised his hand to snap his fingers—

"Wait!" I cried. The king paused and I gave another bow. "As my king commands, I will try."

Please, come out, I begged the wolf.

It growled in my mind.

Fight.

No! Do not fight. Only show yourself. Let them look at you.

No.

Stop arguing, damn it! The king will have us cut in two! Do it now or you'll never be free again.

It said nothing, but I felt a flicker of petulant irritation.

The hair on my arms stood up and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank you.

Frightened noise came from the court as fur sprouted from my knuckles. I was sad to see the fine clothes that adorned my body split and tear as the wolf came forward, but thankful that I might live to wear new ones.

Someone screamed and the king hissed, "Silence!"

People rose from their seats to give the wolf room as it grew. When the change was complete there was open-mouthed gawking from all present. The wolf shook its head and huffed, and I sensed an emotion caught between fear and restlessness.

One of the women in the court fainted. The king paid her no mind and left his platform to approach the animal. His guards tensed but he held a hand up to ease them.

"Can you understand me?" he asked the wolf when he was in reaching distance. "Show me a sign if you can."

I know what to do, I told the wolf.

At my direction, it clumsily put one leg forward and leaned into an odd bow. The king erupted into bellowing laughter, and the others in the hall joined him.

The ruler ran back to his table and grabbed a thick leg of mutton.

"Catch this!" he commanded playfully before throwing the meat across the hall.

Never one to turn down food, the wolf jumped and grabbed the mutton from the air.

"Marvelous! Simply fantastic! Do something else!"

The wolf tilted its head back and released a long howl that bounced off the walls of the room.

The prince jumped from his seat, beside himself with glee.

"I want to be a wolf too, Dada! I want to!"

"Behold," the king announced, ignoring his son, "my newest soldier!"

As the crowd burst into applause several servants stepped forward.

"Now show us the last trick and bring back the boy."

The wolf was happy to oblige. I don't know whether it was embarrassed or offended or a bit of both, but it was eager to leave the attention of the demanding king.

Servants brought forth large swaths of cloth tied to poles to surround the wolf as it changed.

"Stop," the king commanded. "I want to see the change again. He can have modesty after."

The servants moved back to allow a full view of the transformation. My hands were quick to cover myself, now used to the timing of things, and when I stood as a boy the king clapped his hands and the cloth walls surrounded me. An older servant entered the makeshift room with a change of clothing and dressed me. The cloth walls fell away and I was ushered to the king's table and seated in the chair between him and the twin women.

The king slapped my back with such force that I fell slightly forward. The din of the hall resumed, and the crowd that had been so enraptured forgot what they had seen and returned to their food and chatter. The king's attention, however, was mine alone, and while we spoke I spied the prince throwing an occasional hateful glance in my direction.

"A grand sight, indeed! You must tell me the secret of how you came to possess this gift. Were you born with it? Did some beldam curse you?"

"I'm afraid I don't know. I wasn't born with it. I was lost in the woods with my sister and—"

"Is she a wolf too, then?"

"N-no, Your Highness. I was hurt and she went to find help. I fell asleep and when I woke up I was changed."

"Mm. A secret curse. You didn't anger a witch or spirit?"

"If I did, I don't remember."

"I suppose you could have been struck for nothing. After all, a monster's only goal is to spread wickedness."

A pang of hunger made my stomach groan. I looked down at my empty plate.

"Please, I've not had a meal in some time, and the change makes—"

"Then go on and eat."

It pleased him greatly that I asked for his permission. I knew my well-being was far from his concern, if there at all, and the only thing that kept me in his good graces was the fact that my life was tied to the creature inside. The wolf was special to him, enough to spare its life while ending the others at the circus, though I didn't know what the king's intended purpose with it was.

As I took my first bite of food, he leaned over and whispered into my ear.

"There's something you're not telling me, boy, but I'll let you keep your secrets for now. I'll have the truth from you one way or another."

For the rest of dinner I proved dull company, and the king let me know it by ignoring me. He had little interest in his new guest, only finding gratification in the obvious discomfort his presence caused me.

If we weren't going to talk about the wolf, we weren't going to talk at all.

I preferred that arrangement as much as he did.

The feasting continued long after I was full. Servants ran in and out of the room with platters piled with steaming meat and bread. The court gorged themselves to the point of pain, and I witnessed with disgust several people leaning from the table to purge their stomachs into buckets held by waiting servants, before wiping the bile from their chins and turning back to eat more.

The king yelled over his son's head, arguing with the men in dark robes, spitting flecks of food onto the prince's hair. The men in dark robes yelled back, though it sounded like a good-natured fight.

There was always something to look at or listen to in the hall, but most of it was of dubious nature:

The men in dark robes pinching the arms and rears of servants passing by.

The prince chewing his food and spitting it back onto his plate before rolling it into wet balls of waste.

Courtiers berating servants and trying to provoke the knights into a brawl.

The king boasting about his triumphs, to the point where his fablelike stories became unbelievable in their grandeur.

Drink and food fell to the floor and turned into sticky messes. Belches and flatulence were released so frequently that their sound lost its humor after a time.

The thick air in the room was difficult to breathe. It was a smaller space than the circus but seemed packed with nearly the same amount of people. It felt like we were all being slowly roasted alive by our own body heat.

The only elegance in the hall came from the twins on my left. Like me, they had long finished their meal and made no move to empty their stomachs with the rest of the court. They simply sat and stared at their plates with their hands crossed in their laps.

Then came the time when cakes were served, which signaled the blessed beginning of the end of dinner. I found the icing on them too sweet, but the sugared flowers that adorned their tops were pleasant enough to nibble on.

My cup was filled with a thick, broth-colored drink. Curious, I took a drink and coughed at the bitter taste.

"Was that your first taste of ale?" asked a feminine voice, so soft I wouldn't have heard it had I not been sitting next to its owner. I turned to the women, unsure which had spoken.

"No," I replied as I wiped my chin with my sleeve, "I've had ale before, but it tasted different. I didn't like it that time, either."

One had addressed me, but neither were looking my way. I watched their delicate fingers, thin and meticulous as spider legs, pull thimble-sized chunks of cake from their plates and lift it to their mouths.

Always in unison.

The one closest to me spoke.

"That's the finest ale in the kingdom, imported from halfway across the world. Each bottle carries a hefty price. And you cough at it."

I blushed. "I guess I don't have the right tongue for it."

In unified rhythm, the twins swiped a finger across the icing and pushed it into their mouths.

"How do you do that?" I asked.

They paused and turned to me, and it was here I discovered their only differing feature:

One had a pair of red eyes. The other, a pair of bright green.

I didn't know eyes could be that color and was startled to the point of coughing again—though it might have been a residual taste of ale that truly caused it.

"How do we do what?" Green Eyes asked.

"Move together. Almost like you planned it."

Red Eyes blushed, a rather charming sight, but Green Eyes scowled as if I'd offended her.

"We don't do it on purpose," Green Eyes said, "it's our nature. We might as well ask you how you manage to breathe on your own."

"Don't be unkind," said the other, "he's only curious."

"I didn't mean to insult you," I said. "It's lovely, honestly. It's like a dance."

Green Eyes' expression softened. She gave a wink before saying, "Dancing is one of the things we do best, young man. Do you really think it's lovely?"

I nodded and the twins giggled.

"I apologize for being rude," Green Eyes began, "but—"

She was cut off by the king, who suddenly remembered I was there and now had a renewed interest in my presence.

"You've noticed my intended," he said as he nudged me with his elbow. "Took you long enough. Pretty pair, aren't they?"

"Your intended? Which one is to be—"

"Both, of course." His smile was lecherous, and his eyes roamed over the women with a hungry obsession. "My twin brides. I conquered their kingdom and took them as spoils. We're to be wed in the coming months."

"Two brides, Your Highness?"

"Which one is more beautiful?"

"They are equally comely."

"Exactly. Too comely to keep one and leave the other for someone else. I can't have another claiming a bride as pretty as mine. I don't share."

"I see."

"The kingdom will have two queens and the prince will have two mothers. And in time we'll have double the princes and princesses. A wise decision, if I say so myself."

"Yes, I understand."

"You understand nothing, boy! You haven't seen what they can do! You think you're the only one here with a special gift?"

He clapped his hands to catch the attention of the room before commanding, "To the floor, my lovelies! Show our new guest what you can do, and let us decide if a wolf holds a candle to the power you wield."