Chapter 67 - Preparation

Nigel was working in the study room of his own quarter when the court guard's presence was announced by his maid. Nigel gave a quick glance to his maid and approved, "Send him in."

The court guard entered Prince Nigel's room and then bowed to him. "Good afternoon Prince Nigel. I have an order from His Majesty."

"Order from His Majesty? What is it?" Nigel inquired quite curiously because apart from his daily works, King Dragomir rarely gave any orders to him.

As ordered by King Dragomir, the court guard passed the message to the Prince. "Your Highness, King Conall of Aberdeen had requested His Majesty to send you to Aberdeen for personal trainings for the test. And His Majesty has approved his request. He has ordered you to make the necessary preparations and leave for Aberdeen as soon as you can."

"Pardon me?" This came as a huge shock to Prince Nigel because he had never even thought in his dream that his maternal uncle would be this interested in his test. "Did you just say that I have to go to Aberdeen for training?"

"Yes Your Highness", the court guard replied calmly.

"And the King approved the request?" Nigel asked a little disheartened. He and the King did not exactly have a very close father-son relationship but he never thought that he would be sent away to another Kingdom so easily.

The court guard nodded his head and reassured the astounded Prince, "Yes Your Highness."

Prince Nigel let out a long sigh of sadness and waved his hand to dismiss the guard, "I understand. Say to His Majesty that I will start making the preparations. You may take your leave."

The guard bowed to the Prince and left him alone in the room.

It was not that Prince Nigel did not like his maternal uncle's Palace. He loved visiting Aberdeen from time to time and meeting his relatives, especially Fenris. But this time it was different. He was not just going to visit Aberdeen for a few days. He was invited there for personal training. And that meant he would be staying there for almost a month.

And there was also another thing that he was uncomfortable of. He was now a werewolf and he had no idea how he was supposed to behave when he got to Aberdeen. Was he supposed to say to King Conall that he was a werewolf? Or was he supposed to stay quiet and let them find out?

Of course, he had no idea that his mother and his cousin had gone behind his back and had already announced to the Siccaldi clan that he was now a werewolf. And that was the whole reason why he was being called.

He just thought that King Conall was genuinely calling him to prepare him for the test; and little did he know that the clan did not want him to be the King of Wyverndale at all.

Nigel scratched his head and looked around his room and mumbled, "What preparations do I have to make? Am I supposed to pack all of my belongings?" He slapped his head and scolded himself, "Why are you so stupid? Why do I have to take everything? It's not like I am never going to return."

"I just need to pack some essentials." He nodded his head and then called a maid, "Lena, are you there?"

A young maid came in rushing and bowed to Nigel, "Yes Your Highness, what can I do for you?"

Nigel immediately ordered his maid, "I am going to Aberdeen for a month. So pack some of my clothes, few swords, and some other necessary items. You can start packing right away. I think I will leave tomorrow morning."

"I will immediately get into it Your Highness." The maid bowed to the Prince and then left the study room.

Nigel was alone in his room again. He started to look around his study room and puckered his lips. "I am sure going to miss this room."

He looked at the paper works that he was currently working on and then murmured, "I guess I am not completing this work then. I am not in the mood now." And then he flicked the papers away as if he was angry because of those papers.

He got up from his seat and then walked out of his study and went to his private chamber. He jumped on his comfortable bed and lay down for a while. "Ahhhh! I am going to miss my bed."

After rolling around on his bed for some time, he decided to meet his mother and tell her that he was invited by King Conall to come to Aberdeen; and that he has decided to leave first thing in the morning.

Soon he reached to his mother's quarter and went inside to find his mother.

Queen Claricia was sitting in her private chamber. She was staring out of the window and looked a little sad.

"Mother"

Claricia was so lost in her thoughts that she was almost startled by her son's voice. She gave a gentle smile to her son and patted on the seat beside her, "Come, take a sit."

Prince Nigel did what she asked. And he kept on staring at his mother.

Before he went to Aberdeen, he wanted to tell his mother that he had inherited the werewolf curse. But he could not bring himself to tell her that he was a werewolf, and he did not know whether he should break the news or not.

Queen Claricia, however, already knew what he was and already knew why he was here. The fact that her son would soon be invited to Aberdeen, and that the clan would try to keep him there was bothering her too much.

After sending the letter to her brother, she was unable to sleep properly and she was also not eating well. She was too worried about her son leaving her.

"What is it Nigel?" Claricia gently asked even though she knew everything.

Nigel took a deep breath in and then blurted out, "Mother, I am a werewolf." Nigel was expecting to see some kind of reaction from his mother, probably a shocked one. But he did not get any.

Queen Claricia smiled softly and then ruffled her son's long black hair and said, "I know."

"You know? But how? Can you tell it by just looking at me?" Nigel had never seen another werewolf so he had no idea if one could tell the difference when they looked at a werewolf.

Claricia smiled at her naïve son and then said, "It is hard to tell that a person is a werewolf just by looking at him. However, one can tell the difference if they study the behavior. But I knew it because Fenris came to me and said that you had turned."

Nigel raised his brows because Fenris had not told him that he had already informed Claricia about him. "Fenris told you? What else did he tell you?"

"Nothing much just that he found out that you went through your first transformation." And before Nigel found out that she had sent a letter to Conall behind his back, she revealed it to him, "And I wrote a letter to King Conall, who is also your alpha from now on. I told him that you turned recently."

Nigel was wondering about how he would break the news to his maternal side but it seemed like he did not have to. "Y-You told him that I turned? Does everybody know that I turned?"

Queen Claricia nodded her head and then explained further, "It is the duty of the members of Siccaldi clan to inform the alpha of the pack about the new addition to his pack. Normally, the alpha can sense all of his members and can tell if there are any newly turned werewolves. But since you are very far away from Aberdeen, it is impossible to sense you."

Prince Nigel was getting back to back surprises. Everyone seemed to know about him and yet he did not know anything about the Siccaldi clan, or the alpha and the pack.

"I didn't know anything about alpha or the pack. And what do you mean by he is my alpha?" Naturally, Nigel wanted to learn more about his new-found identity and everything related to it.

Queen Claricia wanted to explain few things about the ways of werewolves. She at least wanted to send her son into the hands of werewolves after making sure to give him some basic information about them.

"Werewolves are the creatures who live together in a pack. They depend on each other for survival. And an alpha is the leader of the werewolf pack. The alpha is the strongest one among all of the werewolves. And currently, the King is the alpha of the Siccaldi werewolves."

Claricia held her son's hand and gave him some advice, "Always follow the order of the alpha because his words are absolute. When you go there, they will teach you about werewolves, they will train you and make you stronger than you already are, and above all they will be your greatest support."

Claricia, however, omitted the part that the clan wanted to keep him in Aberdeen forever. She did not want him to get scared about this sudden change in his identity. And she did not want him to deny from going to Aberdeen in the first place.

Although she did not want to send her son away, she knew that it was for his own good. And she wanted Nigel to give the pack a chance. Maybe he would get closer to them and he himself would want to stay there.

Prince Nigel nodded his head and tried to smile.

"When are you leaving for Aberdeen?" Claricia asked to her son.

Nigel cleared his throat and answered in a soft voice, "I'm thinking about leaving tomorrow in the morning."

Claricia leaned forward and planted a kiss on her son's forehead.. "Be good and get stronger."