Ariel - The Next Generation: Kayla White

Virginia, tears running down her cheeks, buried her face in Wolf’s chest.

“He was such a good man, Wolf…”

“I know, Creampuff, I know,” Wolf soothed, his own heart aching. “Let’s go home, okay? Stay here; I’ll go get Warren, and I’ll see if Tony wants to come too, poor guy.”

“Okay,” Virginia sniffed, and watched Wolf slip into the crowd, looking for his son and father-in-law. She then let her mind drift to Kayla.

She knew that Kayla hadn't done it. No matter how much she had consoled in her, telling her how she wished her parents were more supportive, murder was the last thing Kayla would have resorted to.

But if Kayla hadn't done it, who had?

Wolf came back then, with Warren and Tony at his side. Warren looked a little overwhelmed and scared. Tony had tears in his eyes. Knowing how close he had been with Wendell, Virginia drew him into a hug.

Tony blew his nose with his handkerchief. “I hope you don’t mind me staying the night, Honey.”

“Of course not, Daddy,” Virginia soothed. She put her hand on her son’s shoulder. “Are you all right, sweetie?”

“Yeah,” Warren whispered, and then turned up to look at his mother. “Kayla didn’t do it,” he said fiercely.

“Let’s talk about this when we get home,” Wolf said anxiously.

“Yeah,” Virginia said with a sigh. “Come on, guys. Let’s go.”

A servant at the door got them a carriage, and they sped off to the cozy cottage that Wolf had built before Warren was born. Originally, they were going to live in New York, but after thinking things through, they had decided that the city was no place for a wolf cub.

They reached the house, and the coachman slowed the horses to a stop before helping them out and returning to the palace. Wearily, they trudged inside, and Wolf lit a candle.

“Cripes!”

Everyone turned in the direction that Wolf was looking in.

There, sleeping on the couch, was Kayla.

“Oh, god, Kayla!” Virginia cried, and hurried to over to the exhausted little girl. “Kayla? Honey?” she murmured, gently shaking Kayla’s thin shoulders.

“What…” Kayla groggily opened her eyes. “I didn’t do it…” She rubbed her eyes and saw Virginia leaning over her.

“Oh, Kayla…”

“I’m sorry,” Kayla whispered, tears in her eyes. “I… I didn’t know where to go. Oh, Auntie Virginia, I didn’t do it! I swear! I never killed my father!” She began to sob uncontrollably.

“We believe you, dear,” Virginia said truthfully, and took Kayla into her arms, rocking her and smoothing her matted hair. Wolf, Tony, and Warren came to her side.

“We believe you, Kayla, honest we do,” Wolf said gently. “We’ll find a way to get you out of this mess.”

“It’s going to be okay, Kayla,” Tony said, rubbing her back.

“You can stay with us,” Virginia said, giving her a kiss on top of her head. “They won’t find you here.”

“They’ll search the house,” Kayla moaned. “I’m doomed!”

“It doesn’t matter,” Warren pointed out. “We’ve got a secret room downstairs that Dad goes to when he gets his cycles, right, Dad?”

Wolf nodded. “Yeah! You can go there if they ever come and search. We won’t let them hurt you.” He put his hand over his heart. “I give you my solemn wolf word on that,” he said seriously.

Kayla sniffed and looked up with a small, sad smile. “I love you guys,” she whispered.

“We love you too, Kayla,” Virginia said, smiling when she saw Warren blush. “We love you too.”

There were a series of harsh pounds on the door at midnight as they slept. Wolf and Tony got up and looked in the peephole.

Soldiers bearing the sign of the House of White were standing impatiently at the door. They quickly woke and warned the others, then went to stall them while Virginia and Warren hid Kayla.

“In here,” Virginia whispered, leading Kayla into a walk-in closet. Warren helped her lift the heavy rug aside. Beneath it was a trap door.

Kayla’s heart pounded wildly as Virginia fitted a key into the keyhole and swung the door open, revealing a descending stair case.

“It’s okay, Honey,” she said. “Here; take this candle. Don’t make a sound, now. We’ll come down and get you when it’s safe.”

Kayla gulped and nervously crept down the cobweb-covered stairs. As soon as her entire body had lowered underground, she heard the trapdoor quietly close above her.

She reached the floor and looked around. The room was totally bare and empty, without any wallpaper, carpeting, or decorations. She set the candle down on the floor, sat down beside it, and, drawing her knees up to her chest, waited.

Gregory Sampson lay awake in his bed, his eyes adjusting to the dark. Nothing that night had turned out as he had expected, let alone as anyone else had. Everything had gone wrong.

He had been sitting at King Wendell’s table during the Winter Ball, next to his father, Lord James Sampson, who had been appointed to the House of White’s service by Queen Jasmine.

Queen Jasmine.

He shuddered at the sound of her name ringing in his head. It pained him to know that he could have prevented the death of someone’s life; especially since it was a king’s life. It also pained him to know that he could have spared the hurt and confusion of another. How desperately horrible he had felt when he'd seen the look on Princess Kayla’s face when the queen had accused her of murdering her own father!

He knew he had to do something, but no one would believe him. He had no power at his ranking, son of a Lord or not. But he knew the truth.

He had seen the queen put the poison in the king’s cup.

The trapdoor creaked open upstairs, and Kayla’s heart pounded. They’d found her. All was lost.

“Kayla, sweetheart? It’s Tony. You can come out now.”

Relief washing over her, Kayla found the strength to pick up the candle, stand, and climb upstairs to the house.

“Hey, Kayla.” Tony took the candle and set it on a small table in the closet before giving the frightened girl a hug. “Poor kid; you’re shaking.”

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t have to worry, Sweetheart. We’ll take care of you. The soldiers searched the place, but they didn’t find anything. They won’t be coming back for a while now.”

Kayla nodded. “Thanks, Uncle Tony, for everything. Where is everybody?”

“They’ve gone to bed. Come on; you need your rest.”

He led her back to the living room, where she had been sleeping on the couch. Warren had good-naturedly insisted that she sleep there and that he sleep on the floor when Wolf had suggested that Tony take Warren’s bed.

Tony gave her a kiss. “Good-night, Kayla.”

Kayla smiled up at him. “Good-night, Tony.”

Tony smiled back and returned to Warren’s room.

Kayla went over to the couch and sat down, gazing at Warren. He was sleeping peacefully, and she watched his chest steadily rise and fall. Heart pounding, she leaned down and gently kissed his cheek before she curled up on the couch and fell asleep.

After a little while, when Warren was sure that Kayla was asleep, he opened his eyes and pressed his hand against his cheek where he had felt her lips brush his skin. She had actually kissed him. His own heart pounding, he quietly got up, kissed her cheek, and got comfortable again on the floor.

Gregory roused early that morning, unable to sleep well. He couldn’t stop thinking about the murder that had taken place just hours before; the murder that he could have prevented.

That girl, Kayla. Where could she have gone? Surely she couldn’t be hiding out in the forest somewhere, for she hadn’t taken any supplies with her. Besides, the soldiers had already searched the area a dozen times.

She would have gone to someone she could trust, someone who would hide her and care for her. All he needed to know was who her closest friends were, and then perhaps he could fix what he blamed himself for starting.