Hadrian was trying to make order out of chaos. Most of the paired witches had been found—mostly the usual suspects. But there seemed to be some confusion as to just where those records had been kept. With soldiers rushing to and fro, Hadrian was feeling the clock tick in his chest. He had to find her; whoever she was. She had to pay for what she’d done. Witches had always been the backbone of Nevermere’s military. But a drop of poison had just been introduced into the well of trust.

He could only hope there was an antidote.

Hadrian was barking orders, fire-eyed and imposing. The typically approachable commander looked formidable—almost frighteningly so. Anger simmered in him like a cauldron over a flame. When Alys arrived, Hadrian was giving orders to a pair of lieutenants in a sharp barrage of expectations. They looked at him with fear, fear that he did nothing to assuage. They should be afraid. He hoped they were.

Alys would pass them on their way out. One of them, a witch, would pause for a moment in wide-eyed wonder. A werewolf witch. Realizing she was staring, she hurried off after her comrade, whispering about the woman who was now a thing of conversation and mystery.

Hadrian didn’t see them.

“I’m holding everyone,” He said, still gruff in his tone and manner, “Nobody leaves until every paired witch in this castle is collected. I’ll tear this castle apart if I have to.”

Alys didn’t miss the lingering eyes, or the way they were wide and she was almost unsure if fearful or just curious. With her still feeling a bit wired, she had to swallow the noise that wanted to leave her and instead just pulled the lapels of the jacket further around her. She turned to fall into step with Hadrian immediately, not wanting to stop him.

Glancing at him, she realized that she would be one of the ones held and questioned. “Are we using a truth potion or just assuming positive intent that this witch will confess?” She asked, her eyes occasionally scanning shelving they passed for a shirt that she didn’t have to hold closed, her bare feet were the least of her concerns.

“You know I will be one of them,” she figured it was better to say it now. Her pairing was long before Hadrian was Captain Commander. “I want to help, but… I was paired for a short time.”

“We will do whatever is necessary to get answers,” Hadrian said with a rumble of ominous thunder. For he would. Any witch with a clear conscience would understand why it was necessary, and the guilty one would no doubt break under the strain.

It was the second part that surprised him. It was true, he had forgotten. Alys had been paired for so brief a time that it had almost escaped his notice. Hadrian immediately wondered if there were others he might have forgotten, ones who might have reason to use the knowledge they’d been entrusted with for their own ends.

But no. Alys was, as in so many cases, the exception. Which made Hadrian momentarily soften.

“Then I suppose they’ll have a werewolf among them still.” There was a strange pride in his voice as if they were sharing in a victory together.

The intensity from Hadrian was a breath of fresh air. It had been so long since she had seen this level pointed towards anyone else beside herself. She hadn’t thought he lost that intensity, not by any means, but for her to have her own anger pushed towards the same person for once? She could almost smile. Almost.

The second bit of information was where she let her eyes linger up on him. Watching as something seemed to ease a bit of the lines before he gave his reply. A flash of smile hit her face, one just for him to see, because he was right. “And imagine her surprise if she tried to test if she could use me as a man,” she had cast her eyes around to ensure they were alone as they moved. Only speaking when she found no one. “And find themselves only muttering something that doesn’t work.” A small chuckle under her breath as she spotted a shirt, seemingly clean and long forgotten.

Snatching it, she tucked it under her arm, she’d need it for later. “And once we find her?”

Before Logan’s death, he’d had to advert his eyes. He’d had to be careful how he looked at her as a woman, so he’d learned to loathe her instead. But now Hadrian let his eyes linger as hers did, though perhaps for very different reasons. Hadrian’s heart was already racing with anger and his blood boiling. It wasn’t too big of a leap to have that same fire spread elsewhere.

But there was no time for such things. He smirked at her reply.

“I doubt any would assume you could be used as a man. We are the weaker sex after all, and you…” Hadrian let the sentences trail off, allowing himself a moment of half-grumbled levity before he was sharply brought back to the matter at hand. Once again, his gaze darkened and his jaw tightened.

“She will suffer.” The nature of her suffering would be for Cassian to decide. But she would; Hadrian would make sure of that. After a moment, the darkness of his features softened with exhaustion, the burden of the task ahead dropping its weight on his shoulders. So, he turned to other things.

“I suppose all the witches will want to know how they can acquire your power. Can’t say I’d blame them…” Hadrian paused, mulling something over before saying:

“Imagine it. A legion of werewolf witches like you. Under your command.” Hadrian was, of course, ignorant of how the curse was spread. For him, it was a code to crack. A dream that shone now in his eyes.

Her smile curled up, pinching her cheeks as they walked. Men being weaker was always amusing to her, not because it wasn’t true in a sense, but because for so long, witches hadn’t been viewed as the powerful ones. Somewhere, the ghost of a witch was beaming with pride to hear such things. Especially from a man like Hadrian. “And that’s what keeps you all on your toes now.”

The seriousness in his next statement had her shoulders straighten. All of them now had a bone to pick with this witch. Plenty had seen the chaos that got to break out in the room, part of her was even disappointed that so many well trained soldiers ran like they were defenseless. But she kept that to herself.

Her eyes turned up to him as he planted the idea of an army of witches like her. She still hadn’t explained how she had become the way she had. That it would require Cassian turning so many more of them… that Regan was now a form of them. Could Alys even turn someone as Cassian can? “Who knows. Maybe one day… we will have almost as many witch werewolves as we will cursed men.” She shrugged lightly. “For now, you have me though. So use me wisely.” And she’d have to be enough.

“Don’t worry, I will make sure of it,” Hadrian said, smiling at Alys with mischief in his eyes, “But I think we’d be remiss if we didn’t explore the possibility sooner rather than later. If we can discover the nature of your curse, perhaps we can transfer it to others…perhaps even before Dresmond.”

Hadrian was a commander now frightened that his troops were not prepared for battle. He was prepared to grasp at anything that might give them the upper edge. Including this.

“We don’t have to talk about it tonight. Both of us have more than enough to keep us busy,” Hadrian said with a sigh, rubbing his forehead in exhaustion, “But I’d like to. Sometime soon.”

She sent back the same look, mischievous and almost a little taunting. It was there for just a moment before it faded into a more muted look. The topic made her shift internally, because it now settled on her that Hadrian was going to have more questions. How did the curse happen to her? When? Did she remember the curse or witch who did it? All the while no one knowing it actually had to do with the man they all looked to to guide this kingdom. The one who wore the crown.

Alys might no longer be a secret amongst her people anymore, not that she felt she needed to be one completely. But Cassian… she wouldn’t risk him. Perhaps there would be another way. Maybe she could make a curse or potion or something that could duplicate the curse… even if temporarily until it was out of their system. It was something to ponder on.

“Another time. Once this is all sorted and settled.” She didn’t confirm a date or time, not yet. They had a whole witch to find and trial (or so she believed in that moment) to conduct. “Do you think everyone is more stunned about me being werewolf or the fact I was naked in front of a good amount of the military after?” She tried to make light of it, but couldn’t deny that small color that hit her face.

Hadrian leaned into the lighthearted moment. Perhaps it wasn’t appropriate given the circumstances, but Hadrian felt as though he’d been holding his breath for hours. It felt good to come up for air. He grinned, chuckling just a little.

“I’d so both were enough to turn heads,” Hadrian looked her up and down as if she were still standing naked before him, “And I dare say both enough to start a scandal.”

”A scandal?” It left her on a laugh, one she had to press her lips together to keep from echoing down the hall. Nevermind the goosebumps that rose to her skin as he seemed to trace his eyes up and down her. That… would be something to linger on now for a few moments. Studying him with a sudden sharpness and almost like she hadn’t considered him in this light.

She hadn’t… not that intensely in years. Something was fueling her tonight… and she didn’t know what yet. But Alys had to clear her throat and continue forward. “Well, let’s hope not that large of a scandal. I was not trained well for such things.” She joked.

Hadrian smirked.

“We will make do,” Hadrian responded, feeling a familiar warmth rising in him. Werewolf form aside, Alys was a singular creature. A thing of beauty; a work of art. And oh, was he happy to appreciate her. After a moment of study, Hadrian sighed and rubbed his temple.

“You should go with the others. Wouldn’t want your absence to draw unnecessary suspicion.”