I couldn't help smiling a little as I shifted to a crouch, still petting Wolf. This isn't so bad – Bo was like this too, before it happened. "A stray?"
Darren nuzzled his dog's neck, seemingly unconcerned that he was getting white and gray fur all over his dress. "Yes," he said absentmindedly, "when Wolf was just a pup Heath found him wandering the palace grounds… I'm not sure exactly how he got through the gates, but it was raining and he was nothing more than a pile of bones. At the time Father was pressuring me to get a hound of my own for the yearly hunt – I was ten. I was a bit defiant, as you know, so I chose the most pathetic animal I could find and that was Wolf." He grinned. "The look on Father's face was priceless when I showed up to my first hunt with a stray."
"So what happened?"
Darren's hand faltered on Wolf's neck. "Nothing I wasn't expecting." He glanced at his dog and the smile returned. "During the hunt one of the men broke his legs falling down a ravine and his horse didn't survive the drop. We separated in search parties to try and find him – I, well, Wolf found the man attempting to fend off a pack of feral wolves by himself… Usually they don't attack humans but that winter was particularly cold and I don't think they had had much luck with game of their own…
"The soldier and I managed to kill three – but Wolf did two all on his own. He couldn't have been more than six months at that time. It's how he got his name. After that, Wolf was a hero of his own right so my father let the kennel master keep him on."
"Yet the palace cats tease him?" I raised a brow.
Darren chuckled. "Well, those cats are smarter than most humans. You should see how the cook rants whenever one of his prized chickens goes missing. And it must happen at least once a week. They are merciless."
I rubbed Wolf's belly, pleased to note the anxiety I'd been feeling had all but disappeared. Wolf was making excited yips and rubbing his back against the ground so that Darren and I had no choice but to continue patting his stomach. "This one seems pretty smart on his own accord."
Darren grinned. "Wolf has had me wrapped around his finger since the day we met. There hasn't been a day gone by that I've been in the palace and not visited this kennel. Before I joined the Academy he used to roam the training grounds during the day and watch me drill. All of the servants, even my training master, loves him, and Wolf always knew better than to go near the gardens where the courtiers were likely to complain-"
"He better not be with that filthy animal of his!"
Darren and I glanced at each other: both of us recognized Prince Blayne's angry voice coming from the entry to the kennels. He couldn't be more than two minutes away.
"Why he thinks it's appropriate to come here before seeing to his family is-"
"This way." Darren hastily stood and pulled me up, leading me to the back of the enclosure. He gave a nod to Heath and the man strode off in the direction of the heir with a smirk. A moment later I heard him and Blayne exchange words – Blayne demanding to see the inside of the kennels and Heath insisting he hadn't seen Darren all day.
"Let's go."
I turned sharply and saw a doorway I had never seen before, it had come from one of the panels in the wall. "Where did-"
Darren yanked me through the door and slammed it shut just as Blayne's voice reached the hounds' enclosure.
"You see, your highness? Darren never-" I didn't get to hear the rest of their conversation, Darren was already dragging me behind him through a musty corridor that was hard-packed stone and completely dark except for the light Darren had cast in his palm.
I crinkled my nose - the entire passage smelled like mold and cold, dank earth. "Where are we?"
"The servant's use this tunnel to feed the animals. It's the shortest route directly through the kitchens. Cook gives them the leftover scraps – it helps the hounds keep up their stamina. Blayne doesn't know about it because he had never stopped to bother himself with…" Darren cut himself off, and I just knew he had been about to say something very derogatory about the crown prince.
"Blayne would see through your disguise?" I teased.
"Unfortunately, my brother is suspicious of everyone." Darren's tone wasn't particularly enthusiastic. "And with you there in a place you would never have been otherwise, he would have almost certainly guessed it was me… Ah, here's the door." Darren did something to the wall and a door swung open to a very hot room teeming with steam and the tempting aroma of fresh roast and stewed vegetables.
"What's this – why is a beggar woman in my…? Oh, please excuse me, your highness, I haven't seen you in that costume for quite some time." A hefty man in cook's robes flushed, cheeks red as cherries.