Karen had sneaked out of the pack to the river side ,where she heard Carlo went fishing in that evening. If there was anything she loved most in the world, it was his evening tales which he told her whenever she went after him.
Maria had always kicked against her closeness with Carlo,but she was always so adamant to her mother's words about him.
" I find him exciting to be with mother", she always said.
Karen had no idea why Maria avoided Carlo, but she would always say that she had no business with whatever problems they had between themselves. She liked Carlo alot and he also loved her like his own.
" Mother should end up with uncle Carlo , they would make a good match. I can't seem to place it, why does she detest him so much" , she always told Irene who was her closest friend in the pack.
" I think your mother has her reasons dear friend,just be careful with him. Although I like him , but we shouldn't neglect what your mother feels about him", Irene would always reply.
She arrived the river and found Carlo with some group of men fishing. They made a fire a few distance away from the river and Karen could see lots of fishes smoked on the fireplace.
" Hello !", she said from afar , waving and smiling at Carlo in order to gain his attention from the men . He smiled back and immediately knew she had come to see him.
" You are here again Karen", he said, walking towards her while she moved up towards him.
" Yes I am Uncle Carlo, aren't you happy to see me?", she asked standing at akimbo and giving a slight frown on her face.
" Of course I am Karen , come with me, lets sit over there", he holds her hands and leads her to a rock close to the fireplace where they both sat.
Carlo smiles as he hands over to her some smoked fish which he and his men had roasted there.
" Thank you Uncle, you must have been so busy today", Karen said eating the fish he had given her.
" Yes I have my dear, we had to harvest lots of fishes which would be sold out tomorrow morning. This is our major means of survival here and if we do not fish we won't be able to make as much money as we want from other packs close by", He replied.
" That's true Uncle , and I'm so proud of you and the other men. Please ,can you tell me some stories tonight , hope you wouldn't be so tired to tell me. I'm sure mother would be looking for me soon and she might head down here as always", Karen said.
" Yes you are right, your mother would always come to get you and I'm sure she's already on her way here , although I'm quite tired ,but who am I to refuse telling you a story tonight", Carlo said as they both laughed and kept gisting.
" Don't worry Uncle, she wouldn't be here anytime soon, I got Irene to hold her down for me till I return back to the pack, I'm sure she hasn't found out that I wasn't around yet", Karen said smiling.
Carlo knew that smile. He knew whenever Karen I done something very tricky ,she always gave that smile and he Wondered what she had done before sneaking out. He told her an interesting story about a princess and a foreigner and this made Karen so interested in the story. She loved all the stories Carlo had told her since she was little ,but this particular one made her so excited and interested.
Karen , I'm sorry I had to come", Irene said from behind , interrupting them as she headed towards them with Maria and some guards.
" Shit! Mother!", Karen shouted , running to embrace Maria.
" I'm sorry ,I had to tell her", Irene said.
" it fine Irene , mother knows about my visit to this place anyway", Karen replied in a disappointed way.
" Why are you here Karen , haven't I warned you never to leave the pack without letting me know about it. How could you get Irene to act like you while you left without a word. What if something had happened to you?", Maria said calmly but in a concerned manner.
" I'm sorry mother, I felt you wouldn't let me come here that's why I left without telling you. You always kicked against my visit to uncle Carlo and he happens to be my friend too", Karen said.
" I am so sorry my Luna, Karen made me do it, she begged me to lay on her bed and pretend to be her until she returned. please don't tell my mother about this my lady",Irene pleaded.
"Now go back to the pack, the both of you and This should never happen again. I won't tell Lucy about it Irene, only make sure it doesn't happen again", Maria told Karen and Irene, while she signals two of her guards to go with them.
They leave, while Maria and Carlo are left alone.
" Look Carlo , I don't know what my daughter sees in you or what she seems to be discussing with you everytime she visits you. What are your plans with my her and what do you both seem to discuss all the time", Maria asked.
She couldn't figure out why Karen liked Carlo so much and why she always sneaked out to visit him from time to time. She knew Carlo had been there for her kid right from when she was little, but he wasn't the only one who had been there. Lucy herself had always been a god mother to Karen but Karen was not as attached to Lucy the way she was with Carlo.
" My lady, there is nothing to be so fearful about here. She only visits me , so she could hear my stories and you know Karen likes me alot. She is a very private child and doesn't loosen herself to much people in the Pack,so I think if she feels comfortable with me, then you should let her be. At least she would be having some friends to stand by her and have her back in the future", Carlo explained.
" If she needs to make friends , there are lots of kids of her age she could mingle with and not you Carlo", Maria said, while she tried to leave in anger.
" My lady, I don't know why you are this furious whenever you see me. For the past ten years you've been like this and I have been wanting to ask if I did anything bad but you've never given me any audience",Carlo said holding her arms.
Maria gives him a dreadful look as he discovers himself and takes off his hands from her arms .
" I am sorry my Luna, I just got carried away. The truth is that I really love you, I have for a long time now. I don't know if that is why you've been so mad at me this past years or if I did something else , please let me know my lady", Carlo says
" Carlo , I don't want to discuss this with you now and please quit loving me ,it won't work", Maria replied.
" But why? I have always been here for you and I can't seem to place my hands on what exactly your problem with me is".
" Please Carlo, I can't end up doing this with you ,go back to work ", Maria said while she left.
Carlo grabbed her arms quickly ,turned her over and planted a kiss on her lips.
" I'm sorry Maria, but I can't control this", he says as her let's off her arms.
Maria was so surprised that Carlo had kissed her, although she had great feelings for Carlo , but she was still not certain about him. He best friend Kelvin had dumped her right hand maid Lucy ten years ago and this made her so unsure about Carlo.
" He might also have the same attributes as his friend Kelvin", she thought most times.
After loosing Mavin years back ,she wasn't ready to love and loose her love again. Carlo had been close to her while Karen grew and although she felt some sought of conviction that he was going to love her sincerely, she still had this little doubt.
She walked out immediately ,Carlo kissed her, it was so shocking to her how he had summoned the courage to kiss her and this immediately brought back the strong feelings she had for him.
When she got back to the courts ,she locked herself up in her room while she thought about what had happened that evening.
" He kissed me...Does this mean he really loves me, or was he just pretending?",she kept asking herself.
A knock came on her door and when she replied ,it was from Lucy. She quickly got up to go open up for her. She didn't want Lucy to suspect that she wasn't herself.