Aindreas’ brother Vladimir was the first to arrive, and he mentioned that he wanted to bring something up the pack. Aindreas shrugged with a smile at the request. “I do not mind in the least, Vlad. This will be your pack soon enough, so you may do what is that you like… within reason. But may I ask what it is about?” The king’s optics stared at his younger brother and watched the normally hard façade softened. ‘I want to plan a secretive and surprise wedding for Seraphina. And I will need everyone’s help to pull it off.’ Aindreas’ brows raised – it was quite the lofty goal… especially if Vladimir was hoping to get it all done without Sera finding out about it despite the fact that the two lived together. “Well… um… sure. And I will help you however I can.” The two brothers had never been particularly close, but Vladimir smiled in thanks, before both of them were interrupted by the approach of another – Althea. Aindreas greeted the little pup with a smile. “Hello little one, what is your name.” She had frozen as she had stepped upon a twig. Vladimir trotted over to her, gently pushing his snout into her shoulder. ‘This is Althea, I met her a few weeks ago.’ In a whisper, Vladimir encouraged her. ‘It’s okay Althea, this is my brother. You are still safe here, I promise.’ Aindreas nodded, before he realized that she could not see the motion. “Well, welcome Althea. My name is Aindreas. We will start the pack meeting soon, please get comfortable.”

Qiturah was the next to arrive, and she quickly greeting first her father before greeting Aindreas and then Althea. Right on her heels, Zawyne had arrived… with confusion as to why the other Arcus Irae were missing. Aindreas nodded, he was confused as well. Many, if not all, of the rainbow colored vargs had settled within Dierne Hrof… yet had not showed up. If they were to settle here and be counted as members, they would need to participate and do their part. Aindreas had tried to keep his tempest powers checked and under control – mainly because of his confusion and frustration when it came to Mai. He had never been a particularly social wolf, and was thus awkward when it came to interacting with the majority of other wolves. Everything that his bonded Arcus Irae had thus been feeling had been dulled. But now that Zawyne had brought it up, concern flooded through him. His other niece, Ziva, arrived before he could think too much about it, and he smiled at her, but already his gaze was drifting up to the edge of the meadow where the dense forest took over. As he tapped into his magic, he felt Losa approaching… and something was… not only not right, but terrible wrong. Aindreas’ eyelids narrowed and he took a step forward to the edge of the boulder that served as his throne.

And there she was – she burst through the treeline. Where was her peppiness and cheer? Her protectiveness? All of it was gone, and instead of the bright pink aura that normally surrounded her, there was a dark grey shroud that concerned him. She murmured something he barely heard… that she didn’t belong… before taking off in the opposite direction. Aindreas leapt off his boulder and ran a few strides after her. “Losa!” Behind her, Hurricane had emerged, but he was too far away for AIndreas to hear his words. But it was too late, Losa had disappeared back into the copses and underbrush, but he could see her form fleeing through his glowing orbs… he could feel hatred spinning through her, an emotion he had previously understood to be something they could not feel. The king was confused, but more than that he was torn. His entire existence and purpose was to protect whichever Arcus Irae he magically bonded to. But he also had a responsibility to the pack, a responsibility given to him, entrusted to him by his father, and it predated his transformation into an Oferweder. Slowly, Aindreas turned around and leapt back onto his boulder. He would seek Losa out as soon as the meeting was over, and so despite the fact that many of the others were missing, he spoke.

“Thank you for coming, those of you who have shown. With the recent battle, I wished to update you all sooner, but it took a while to heal. No vampires were killed, but they were injured and beaten back. But perhaps the most important lesson we learned was that in the battles, those not of Tempest blood were almost more of a hindrance in battle. Not that you are not capable of being warriors, but a single bite could change anything. My father was bitten and was lucky enough to survive without turning into a vampire. You all may not be as lucky, so unless you resistant to their venom, I ask that you remain here and safe should another battle occur. We have learned that there are a few that are resistant… but they are few and far between.” Aindreas paused and let all of that sink in before moving on. “As for everything else, I name my brother Vladimir as my Eorl – although he will soon enough take over as Aethele. Mai shall be my Jarl, Khaleesi my Thegn, Hurricane my Genyeat, Adara my Kotsetla, and Seraphina as my Gebur. Then rest of you shall be Theow, Giten, or Git respectively until further notice. If you wish to move up in rank, you are welcome to prove your worth through a challenge of your choosing. For now, I have to go, but there is something Vladimir wishes to discuss with you.” Aindreas leapt off the boulder again and moved to his brother’s side, whispering in his ear. “Keep me updated about the wedding and let me know if you need me for anything.” Vladimir nodded and watched his brother gallop off into the woods before stepping forward. It felt too weird to stand upon the throne as he once had at his father’s side, and so instead he stood before it.

‘You all know me – I am Vladimir. I wish to plan a proper wedding to my mate Seraphina come spring or summer time, but I want to surprise her. Anyone who is willing, I would welcome your help in planning and decorating so we can pull it off without her suspecting anything.’

Word count: 1084


NEW RANKS:
Witan:
Aethele: Aindreas
Cwen: none
Aethling: none
Eorl (Beta): Vladimir
Jarl (Gamma): Mai
Thegn (Delta): Khaleesi

Ceorl:
Genyeat (Epsilon): Hurricane
Kotsetla (Zeta): Adara
Gebur (Iota): Seraphina

Cottar:
Theow (Omega): Rift, Kalgalath
Giten (Teenagers): Scamander, Losa, Zawyne, Archangel
Git (Pups): Maui, Ziva, Liora, Ozul, Althewa, Ikuseghan, Qiturah, Asmund, Roan
Thrall: None

**As a reminder – you can challenge for a higher rank or ask for a higher rank and be given a task**

Description of ranks