The tents were coming down around me.

I thought of returning to my room to grab Grizzelda's helmet, but time was short. It pained me to leave it behind, but I had enough sense to put my life before an object, no matter how precious it was. 

I moved through an endless corridor of red and orange until my head poked through a flap and the fresh breeze hit my face. I didn't know how long it had been since I breathed the outside world, and it was glorious. Free from the metallic tang of blood that was constant in the circus air.

There was smoke in the wind and I knew it was coming from the circus. The flames of its destruction, I was sure, would last through the night.

I ran and did not look back, not even when I heard a great crash. I was lucky to have gotten away, and did not want to risk losing freedom for a moment of gloating. I wasn't alone, for I saw several audience members running past and beside me, just as desperate to distance themselves from the massacre behind. One of them yelped and fell to the ground, and it became clear that the knights were pursuing and taking down their prey with arrows.

I urged the wolf for speed and was met with slight resistance from the animal, who wanted to fight our chasers. I demanded sharply that it learn the difference between a battle it could win and one it would surely lose.

The wolf was quiet after that. 

It wasn't until dawn that it slowed to a walk, then to a tired limping. A morning drizzle cooled the heat trapped in its fur, but the fire that dried its throat needed dousing. It collapsed just shy of a small pond, and with the last bit of energy left it dragged its exhausted body across the mud and plunged its snout into the water.

"You're awfully loud," a voice hissed, "and now you've woken me from my nap." The wolf opened its heavy eyelids and found a black and white cat staring at it. I didn't believe the feline had spoken until it continued:

"Out for a walk, are we?"

It began to clean its paws.

"Go, pest," the wolf grumbled.

"Pest? If you knew the power you were speaking to, you'd be tripping over your tail to bow."

The wolf snorted and the cat plopped onto its side. Its nose nearly touched the wolf's snout, and it stared into the beast's eyes without a hint of fear.

"What would your mother say if she could see now?"

"No mother."

The cat tsk'd.

"Your sister, then. After all she's been through—going through—do you think she'd be proud?"

"Sister?"

"She's as rude as you are."

"Lie."

"Why, yes. Yes, I am. I'm laying right next to you. What a dull creature you are." The wolf groaned, but the cat went on. "I had come to help, but if it's unwanted I shan't bother."

"You no help."

"Not if you're too dim-brained to accept good advice. Some people would give their teeth for it, you know." The cat scrunched its nose. "If we're going to continue, you'll need to get out of that disgusting body. The smell of it is simply appalling! I came for a boy, not a hound."

"Me no change. No learn how."

"Now who's lying?" 

It rolled around for a few seconds, pawing at the air. The wolf was not amused, and dipped its snout back into the pond to resume drinking. 

"Your sister is traveling down a dangerous path," the cat said nonchalantly, "while you sit here and wait to die."

"Me not die," the wolf argued through a mouthful of water.

The cat grinned and showed tiny white fangs. It opened its mouth to say what I assumed would be something scathing, but a rustling in the distance gave it pause.

Both our ears perked up to listen.

"Heed my advice," the cat said, its tone becoming serious, "you've wasted too much time. They're coming. Run, now! Or that brave escape will have been pointless." It yawned and rose to its feet. "Of course, what you do doesn't matter to me. I won't give you another thought once I leave."

And with that, the cat scampered into the trees.

I heard men's voices and the sound of hooves trampling through the woods.

"Wolf tracks! Still fresh!"

We had been followed all night and our enemies were drawing close. The wolf did not have the strength to flee from them—

But what could I do as a boy to save us? I didn't have time to think about it, for the wolf retreated inside, and when a band of knights appeared on horseback, they found a naked child curled into himself.

"I knew you were lying," I heard the cat's faint taunt.

"Over here, Your Highness," called one of the knights. 

A white stallion, bigger by far than the others, broke through the line of knights and approached. It was the king from the circus pit, but he had removed his helm and replaced it with a crown of golden leaves.

"That's not a wolf," he spat.

His knights exchanged confused glances before one of them dared to speak.

"The animal's tracks, my king...they lead right to him."

"What are you proposing? That because the tracks end here—what? The boy ate the animal?"

"No, Your Highness! But something—"

"Is not exactly as it appears," the king finished. He looked at me with disdain. "You there, boy. We're hunting a wolf. A monstrous, gray thing. Its tracks led us to you, so you must have seen it. I command you to tell me in which direction it went."

I thought of bargaining for clothes, or at least a blanket to wrap around myself, in exchange for information. It'd be a lie, though the king would never know. But his demeanor did not suggest him to be a man who negotiated, and I doubted he would spare any charity, even for a child.

"Look at the state of him," said one of the knights. "Should we give the boy a cloak?"

The king shook his head. "We'll offer him comfort after he follows his king's command. Speak now, boy."

"Please," I rasped, but the king held his hand up to silence me. He left his horse, though his knights protested against it, and knelt in front of me.

"Are you cold?" I nodded. "Hungry? Thirsty?" I nodded. "Do you wish for my help?"

I hesitated, and in that second the king grabbed the back of my head. With a painful twist of my hair, he forced me to look at him.

"I have everything you need, clothes and food. It's waiting for you. But you'll only get it if you help me. Swear you will or die in the cold." He brought his free hand to my mouth and pressed a ring encrusted with a sharp ruby against my lips. "Kiss it, and I'll know I have your fealty and your word."

Trapped in his grasp, the choice was obvious.

"Smart boy," he said as my lips left the jewelry. "But do not mistake my kindness for weakness. Betray my generosity and I'll cut your throat myself."

He procured a waterskin tied to the saddle of his horse and held it to my mouth. I drank greedily, barely pausing to breathe, until he pulled it away. He took the cloak from his shoulders and wrapped it around me. It was soft as lambskin and warm from the heat of his body.

"Stand up," he commanded, and chuckled when I scrambled to obey.

"Tell me what you know of the wolf."

In his eyes, I saw ice and cruelty.

"I'm—I'm lost," I whispered. "I've been lost for a long time, but I haven't seen a wolf."

I should have sent him away, should have pushed his party into any direction to distance myself, but I was hungry and cold and without a place to go.

" 'I haven't seen a wolf, Your Highness'," he corrected.

"Your Highness," I echoed.

He hummed in approval and looked at the ground. I could see the wheels turning in his mind as he examined the pawprints in the mud.

"How did you miss it, when the tracks lead right to your feet? Close enough that the wolf could lick your face."

My heart was thundering and I feared that somehow the man would read my thoughts and learn my secret.

"I fell asleep—Your Highness. Fainted from hunger. I don't know how long I was...the wolf might have come by. I guess it left me alone."

"Why would it do that? Are you diseased?"

"No! I was—"

"Were you there?"

His eyes bore into mine, and I knew he was referring to the circus. He was eager to catch a lie.

"I've been in the woods," I said.

He studied my face for a long moment. He may not have read my mind, but he knew I wasn't telling the whole truth. His gaze dropped to the ground and his body fell with it. He bent and sifted through the mud, then lifted several strands of gray fur in front of my face. His focus flickered between me and the damning evidence in his fingers. An unsettling amusement danced in his eyes.

"A curious thing," he said with an ounce of wonder, "for a wolf to turn down easy food." He brought the fur to his nose and sniffed it. "Even more curious for a boy to lie so boldly to his king."

"I'm not lying! I swear!"

"The punishment for that can be quite gruesome. Do you know what that word means, 'gruesome'?"

"Yes."

"Maybe a wolf came and left. Maybe something else happened here. A miracle, perhaps? Or a perplexing riddle?" He dropped the strands of fur. "If you're lost, it's time someone found you. And if you cannot recall seeing a wolf, I'll have to keep you until your memory returns."

Before I could protest he pulled me into his arms and slung me over his shoulder.

"The child will come with us," he announced to his knights. "We'll take him to the castle, and he'll remain my guest until we solve the mystery of the disappearing wolf."

I did not want to go to his castle, but to argue might mean my death. 

The king put me on his horse before taking his seat behind me. As we rode through the woods, he whispered in my ear:

"You'll now have the honor of entering the court of King Devlynn, ruler of all I see in the woods and beyond. Commander of the golden knights. Betrothed to the twin princesses. Many call me 'Monster Slayer'. And now you, boy, belong to me."