Chapter 40: Chapter 40
Triton sat at his desk. The contents of Maria’s letter was still heavy in his heart. He leaned back, dragging a hand over his hair. He should write to her, or ride to see her himself. He couldn’t keep sitting at one spot, paralyzed by indecision.
She had never appeared to him as one to lie. Still doubt lingered. "Was this the truth or her way of pinning another man’s child on me?"
A knock at the door cut through his thoughts.
"Enter."
A man entered, bowing first before facing Triton. "Alpha, news just came from the borders. Two bodies were found washed ashore. They’ve been recognized as men of Veilwood."
Triton sat forward and his brows knitted into a frown. "From Veilwood?"
"Yes Alpha. Their ship is nowhere to be found. There’s no sign of wreckage, only the dead men."
Triton rose to his feet and exhaled deeply.
"Prepare the bodies. We’ll return them to Veilwood for a proper burial."
The man bowed and left to carry out Triton’s instruction. He picked up the letter and skimmed through it, then folded it and tucked into his pocket. If he returned these bodies to Veilwood, he could use that moment to meet Maria.
By the time the sun set, Lycanthia horses were already on the road. The bodies were wrapped in a shroud and mounted on one of the horses. They navigated their way through the dark forest, pausing to rest and continued at the break of dawn.
When the Veilwood gates finally came into sight, Triton heaved a sigh of relief. His body ached from the two day journey, but these were his alpha duties, and he couldn’t neglect them.
The doors of the packhouse opened. Lycanthian men entered, carrying two wrapped bodies. Triton walked behind them.
"What is this?" Reynolds demanded.
Triton stepped forward and bowed slightly. "They were found on Lycanthian shores."
Reynolds’ heart sank as he peeled the shroud off the face of one body. It revealed the captain of the boat that Maria boarded. The other man was one of the guards, both laying dead.
Laura trembled and a scream broke from her lips. "No! It can’t be!" She stumbled backwards, almost losing her step, then clutched the table, sobbing hard.
Reynolds stiffened his face, trying hard to mask the grief. "And my daughter? What of Maria?"
Triton froze, confusion written all over his face. "Maria?"
Laura lifted her tear streaked face. "You mean you didn’t know? She was with them. She boarded the ship. Where is she?"
Triton’s breath hitched in his throat as she struggled to process the news. There was a violent pounding in his chest. Maria had been on that vessel, with his unborn child. His throat went dry. The only thought echoing in his mind was whether she had drowned.
He forced his lips to part, his voice came out strained and brittle. "I...I wasn’t aware she traveled with them." The words slipped out of his mouth before he realized that wasn’t the answer to Luna’s question.
One of Triton’s men spoke. "No woman’s body was found. There’s no sign of her among the dead."
Laura’s cry filled the hall. "My daughter cannot be dead." She screamed at the top of her voice, her voice breaking down with tears.
Reynolds managed to compose himself. He hid the tremor in his voice as he spoke. "Then search! Search the riverbanks, the woods, forests, even the waters. She must be alive somewhere. Search for the missing guard as well."
The hall erupted into movement, with Veilwood men and the Lycanthian men hoping on Reynolds’ command.
Triton’s pulse raced. He had faced many problems, but this was different. If Maria had been lost to the river, then so too had their child. He couldn’t jump into conclusions yet, until she was found and he hoped to find her alive.
They searched until night. Torches reflected over the surface as men climbed into boats. Laura also came, she clutched her prayer beads so tightly that her hands bled. She attempted jumping into the water until the men pulled her back.
Reynolds remained near the bank, giving orders to his men. They searched around the Veilwood banks, while Triton and his men searched around the Lycanthia river bank. There was still no sign of her.
On the second day, they searched again, and they found a ribbon. Laura held the blue ribbon in her hand. She remembered tying Maria’s hair with it, but now the ribbon was here, and her daughter wasn’t.
Days passed and the search proved futile. Triton returned back to Veilwood, his heart heavy as he revealed that nothing had been found on their side of the river bank, not the guard, not Maria.
The news of the missing Maria spread across packs. People muttered that the river had swallowed her and the guard. Transportation through the rivers had also been banned. Anyone who needed to travel between packs had to use only the lands.
The news got to Sasha and she returned to Veilwood, not because she wanted to mourn with her family, but because she wanted to confirm the rumours.
Her parents’ hollow faces confirmed it. Maria was gone. Sasha had a rush of mixed emotions. Maria was always the shining one, the one people always looked at first. Beautiful, clever and luck always falling in her lap. Their age gap was just one year apart. Sasha hated how her own efforts were always subject to her sister’s mere presence. Maria was too soft, too kind, trusted too much and was gullible. Sasha had learned to take advantage of that.
But as she stared at her mother’s tears, she felt no victory, only a hollow ache. She whispered to herself— "I wanted to take everything from her, just like the way she took from me, but not her life."
For the first time since her antics towards her half sister, she felt guilty. Maria was gone, but she couldn’t rejoice like the way she rejoiced at other of her sister’s failures.