Doris went to take the steps up to the palace, but something stopped her. It felt as if she hit an invisible wall and her feet didn't want to take her any further.
"What are you doing?" Cordelia mumbled deep inside her. She sounded as if she was taking a nap.
"I-" Doris backed away from the palace. The guards at the top of the steps stared at her curiously, perhaps they thought she had lost her mind. She turned and quickly walked down the path that led to the woods by the palace. Fresh air, she needed fresh air.
"Where are you going? You just sobbed for two hours, why aren't you going to clean up?"
"I need... I don't know." Doris glanced back at the palace and still no one followed her.
It felt as if the last few months were starting to crush her chest. All of the mistakes, all of the changes. It came rushing back to her faster than she could handle. Her lungs couldn't find air, she felt as if she was about to collapse.
The weight of her freedom crushed her, of how much her life has changed faster than she could grasp onto it. She could run and run without the fear that she would be caught and thrown in a cell for it. She could change her name and live free in a small town or large village. She could live at sea or in the forest.
She was free. Wasn't she? Why didn't she feel as if she was free like Beth did?
"Doris." Cordelia said. "Let me take over."
Doris didn't question her wold, she only obeyed. It was easier than fighting all the thoughts that wanted to destroy her sense of happiness that she worked so hard to gain.
Cordelia stepped into control and the shift ripped through her body and tore any of her pervious thoughts away. She fell to the ground as fur coated her arms and her hands shifted into paws. An aching breath later, she was her wolf.
"Don't let your fears consume you. It's time you learned to let them go." Cordelia said. It sounded as if she was all around her as her voice echoed deep inside her.
Cordelia took off through the trees and ran as fast as she could. The cold wind made her eyes water. She ran past a long stream and past small animals that scurried away as they approached. She didn't stop running until they were high on a mountain where she could see the palace for all it's glory. It was so big, so much bigger than she ever thought when she was inside it.
Cordelia sat quietly as they gazed at the palace. It was strange to have two personalities live as one inside the same body.
"I waited so long for you to find yourself." Cordelia said gently. It felt as if she was sitting right next other. "I watched you live for other people and never yourself. I watched you become a servant without a soul. I wanted to break through and tell you that you were so much more."
"Was it dark when I couldn't feel you?" Doris asked.
"It was. I didn't know when you would realize that you had a wolf until the night you were marked. And then all I felt was your sadness. I don't think I had ever felt you feel that weak after he attached you."
Doris swallowed. "I thought I was going to die that night. I swore he would one day finish the job."
"I felt that-how afraid you were of your mate. I felt you change and I worried that I had lost you forever." Cordelia said sadly. "And then... and then one day you started to stand up for yourself. Just a little at first, but you did it. You never stood up for yourself once in your life, but you did with William. You told him no, you stood your ground and did what was right. I think he fell in love with you the moment you first told him no."
"I thought he hated me. I-I just always felt so helpless. Sometimes I still feel that way."
"You knew that your life was always held up by a thin string. I never thought you would break it-but I can't explain how proud I was of you whenever you stood up for yourself. You are anything but helpless now. The Doris you were before is dead, I watched you bury her and become a new version of yourself. Even if it's still hard for you. Some people never grow as much as you have."
Doris watched the palace, she couldn't take her eyes off of it. It was the one place she despised and now started to care for-because of who now owned it.
"William set you free because he wants you to choose to come back to him." Cordelia said gently. It shocked Doris enough to look away from the palace even though she couldn't see Cordelia. "He knows what freedom means to you. And so do I. If you want us to be free far from this palace, I will turn now and carry us as far as I can. You never have to see any of it again."
"Cordelia-"
"I will. I will find somewhere safe for us and we can be free from anyone ever thinking they can own us. I can teach you how to be the most powerful version of yourself. Or... Or I can lead us back down to the palace if that is what you wish. Either way, it is your choice. From now on, you have the choice to live how you want to. No one will ever take that from you again."
Doris glanced behind them. A long stretch of trees and road led far out of the kingdom and down to other villages along the way. The sun was starting to lower a little in the sky.
A spike of pain pierced her chest when she looked that way. She quickly looked back at the palace.
"I don't know if he will ever truly be happy with me. What if he can't quit his old habits? I don't want to walk in on him with another maid and him telling me that it's just who he is. I refuse to be with someone that strays. What if that is all my future is?"
"If he were to ever stray, we would be gone before he could blink." Cordelia said quickly. A spike of rage flowed through her wolf as if she couldn't even stand the thought of it. "He won't, though. My mate knows his thoughts. He hasn't thought of anyone else since he saw you. But... I understand your fears. I'm sorry I can't take them from you."
"I suppose I'm just scared." Doris whispered. "I don't ever want to feel him break my heart. I swore it was a dangerous road to go down and now I can never go back. I know that he is who I will always choose at the end of the day."
Cordelia hummed inside her. She stepped forward and carried them down the road towards the palace. Doris had made her choice and Cordelia knew it. She knew she could never leave him even with freedom dangled in front of her.
"I believe that he will always choose you, Doris." Cordelia said gently. "He will catch you if you fall."
"I already have fallen. I've fallen so deep that I know there is nothing else out there for me. No amount of freedom could ever replace the feeling of him."
Cordelia walked back the same trail they had just run. The stream sounded beautiful to her ears. Doris had never gotten to see it up close before, always from a tall window in the palace.
When they got back to the spot where her cloak was, William was standing there with a dress in his hands-waiting for her.
"How did he-"
"Our wolves are connected. You'll soon learn how to communicate like I do-it takes time."
"Doris." William said.