Hale was the first to react. His face turned dark and he let out a snarl. "Is this some kind of sick joke?" he asked Tveit, though his eyes never left Meadow.

Gone was all the previous warmth at seeing her. It had been replaced by a cold hard look that startled Meadow. She blinked a few times, hoping it was the concussion playing tricks on her. But, when she refocused on his cocoa coloured eyes, she saw she was not mistaken. There wasn't even a shadow of his former affection anywhere in them.

Swallowing nervously she turned to Eddie with a quizzical look. He shrugged a shoulder in confusion while he took a step closer to her, standing slightly ahead of her, as if to shield her a little from Hale.

In a voice decidedly less cocky than before, Tveit quickly replied, "No, not at all. We've all seen it. She'd the Blood Bride."

"She's human," Hale returned scathingly.

There was something so biting about his remark that Meadow felt cut to the bone. Did he hate humans? When did that happen? He'd been as sweet as honey to her from the moment she'd met him. Where on earth did that guy go - the laid back, charming Ranger? And who was this icy exiled prince?

Hale came forward, while pulling a chain from under his button-down shirt, and Meadow stepped back a bit. He didn't seem to notice as he produced a large oval moonstone ring from the end of the chain and held it out in front of her. It was a platinum ring with an enormous 40 carat, faceted clear moonstone. The stone had a blue adularescence, which was very rare, especially on a stone that size. If Tveit's pendant had cost a small fortune, Hale's would have required a king's ransom. It was just the sort of stone one would expect a prince to have.

"Take it," he ordered gruffly.

Meadow couldn't tell if he was angry at her, at Tveit, or the situation. But, instead of arguing with him, she just stepped closer to Eddie and put out her hand. Hale dropped the ring there and kept his eyes on the stone. Since it was set in platinum, it didn't make contact with her skin like  Tveit's loose pendant had. So Meadow picked up the ring and touched the gem's sizable surface with her fingertip. The blueish stone turned a brilliant carmine instantly.

In that moment, Meadow heard Hale take in a sudden rush of air, and his expression turned pained as he gazed down at her. Somehow, this expression was a little less insulting than the inhospitable look he'd given her when he'd dropped the ring in her palm. But, it wasn't at all reassuring. She offered the ring back. He took it without saying another word.

"What does this mean?" she asked, still one hundred percent in the dark about this blood bride business and more curious than ever.

"You haven't told her anything?" Hale inquired quietly, all the anger gone from his voice. Though the question was directed at Tveit, his eyes still hadn't left Meadow's face. He looked equal parts bewildered and sorrowful. His expression worried her.

"Nothing yet," Tveit replied in an correspondingly subdued voice.

Hale nodded pensively.

After another moment he said, "Lets head to my place and we'll talk about it there." Then, turning away from Meadow and passing by Tveit, he said, "You did the right thing bringing her to me."

Tveit nodded before turning to Meadow and Eddie saying, "Lets go."  He was grinning ear from  ear. Apparently, he was pleased with the outcome thus far.

Meadow ignored him. Her eyes followed Hale instead. She wanted him to look back at her and smile, letting her know with just a look that everything was alright between them. But, he kept his eyes ahead as he mounted Wanderer and started up the narrow ravine road at a cantor. He never once looked back at her.

The next thing she knew, Eddie was saying, "Come on," as he gently tugged on her arm. Tveit was already in the car and buckled in, while Eddie was currently sliding over the back seat to make room for Meadow. She followed and closed the door softly.

"What was that all about?" Hedda asked uneasily the moment everyone was back inside. She had sensed the tension outside from where she sat.

"That was the exiled Prince," Tveit told her with a sly look in his eye. All his confidence had returned now that they were on their way again, and he wasn't under the direct scrutiny of the exiled Prince.

Hedda turned in the seat to look back at Meadow and Eddie with a puzzled look. "Didn't you think you knew him?" she inquired.

"Yes, we do know him," Eddie answered. "We just didn't know him as the exiled Prince," he answered in a frustrated tone as his eyes glanced at Meadow, who seemed terribly quiet despite this unexpected turn of events (and Hale's frosty attitude). "He's the Ranger stationed at Arrowfield. He's been studying grizzly movements in the area for close to ten years now, I think," Eddie went on to say as he turned his attention back to Hedda, who was looking thoughtfully at Meadow.

"Does he know you are the Blood Bride?" Hedda quizzed Meadow, who was looking out the window and didn't seem all that with it.

"He does now," Tveit replied a bit too proudly.

"How'd he take the news?" she pressed, keeping one eye on Meadow and the other on Tveit. "He's agreed to help, right?"

"Yes," Tveit replied with a smug look on his face.

"This is good news Meadow," Hedda tried to encourage the younger woman. "You're going to need his support."

"Why? What is a Blood Bride, exactly?"" Meadow asked with growing concern. She didn't bother mentioning the fact that the exiled prince wasn't too happy to find out she was the Blood Bride. How much help would he be if he was disgusted that she was human?

"We'll let the exiled Prince tell you all about it," Tveit replied even though the question had been directed to Hedda. "For right now, just sit back and enjoy the ride."

Meadow turned to look back out the window. She was too tired to press the issue.

"You feeling alright?" Hedda asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Just tired," Meadow confessed as she closed her eyes, turned her body toward the door and laid the side of her head back against the seat.

The car fell quiet for the rest of the drive. Everyone was mindful of Meadow's concussion - even Tveit. Meadow was glad her head wasn't pounding. She didn't think she would have been able to stay so calm if she still had to deal with a throbbing head on top of all these surprises and the ensuing confusion that no one was ready to clear up for her just yet.

But, instead of taking this quiet time to rest, she kept seeing Hale's stygian face in her mind and hearing the way he spat out the word 'human' like he was revolted by her kind. Had she seriously thought of going on a date to the ice fields with him? Clearly, the date was off, not that she had intended to go anyway with this concussion. But, when she woke that morning, the thought had crossed her mind to let him down gently. Now, well, she'd been spared having to say anything at all.

He'd made his feelings pretty clear, hadn't he? The exiled prince was willing to slum it with the water nymph but not the human blood bride. Meadow should have known better than to get involved with him. She never should have gone on that dinner date to the Greek place. And she never should have agreed to an outing on the ice fields. She had no business flirting with a lycanthrope and looking for anything personal out of it. Intimate lycanthrope-human relations were like mine fields. Just one wrong step and it was all over.

And, here Meadow was feeling burned and she'd only been on one date with him. Maybe this wake up call was just as well, she told herself. Wasn't it better to know what a jerk he was now, before her heart got too involved? Still, she couldn't help feel it was a waste. The Ranger was the first guy in a long time to catch her attention and keep it even though he was a lycanthrope. She wished she could have talked to the Ranger on the road instead of the hostile prince.

Her gloomy thoughts were happily interrupted by Tveit's suave voice saying, "We're here."

Meadow turned her head to look out the windshield. Up ahead there was an elaborate cast iron gate, which opened onto a paved drive. And beyond that was a luxury three story cabin fit for royalty.  It was just more evidence that Hale Seppanen was not some simple mountain woodsman turned Ranger. Meadow sighed with disappointment.

Tveit pulled up into the drive and parked the car just behind Hale, who had stopped and dismounted from Wandered close to the house. Meadow watched a clean-cut lycanthrope in dress shoes, black trousers and a grey shirt run up to him and take the Wanderer's reins. He immediately led the horse away through a brick-lined old fashioned carriage tunnel that likely lead to a stable at the back side of the house.  The old-school architecture in a modern build like this was just more evidence that Hale was not an ordinary lycanthrope.

As Meadow, and the rest, stepped out of the SUV, Tveit handed his key fob to another lycanthrope in black trousers and a grey shirt. This man jumped in the vehicle and drove it into one of five garage bays right there in front of them. He never returned with the keys. Meadow saw that Tveit was not concerned. He'd likely been to wealthy places like this before and knew the drill.

Meadow followed Tveit as he made his way to the front door, where Hale stood talking to another staff member - a dignified older man. She'd caught on that if they wore black pants and grey shirts they were part of the household staff. There were three staffers waiting for them at the door. The man Hale was talking too, who was about twice his age, and two female lycanthropes, who were close to middle-age perhaps. Their polite smiles reminded her of hotel personnel in swanky establishments. Those smiles were just as fake as Hale's 'Ranger' identity, she thought soberly. 

Meadow sighed feeling more and more discontent with the whole situation she found herself in.

Eddie heard her and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "You feeling alright?"

Meadow only nodded. She wasn't feeling well at all. She felt both sick at heart and physically ill from the concussion. But, what could she do about either. What she wanted, even more than to lie down in a quiet room and just close her eyes, was answers. And, maybe, she was still holding out for a reassuring smile from Hale. Going to sleep wasn't going to get her either. So, she kept the need for a nap to herself. 

Hale disappeared through the door with the older lycanthrope, who was most likely his steward. Meadow watched him till she couldn't see him anymore. She had hoped he'd turn and look back, but he hadn't. It was getting harder and harder to curb her disappointment.

The two remaining staffers stepped forward with their cordial smiles and asked the group to follow them. Tveit led the way followed directly by Hedda. Meadow and Eddie walked in side by side. Meadow was relieved to be heading into the unknown with Eddie, who seemed just as bewildered as her. They could both feel out of their depth together. And somehow, that was comforting to Meadow.

Meadow's breath caught in her throat as they passed over the threshold and into the spectacular interior. No expense was spared in the design, architecture, or decor. Meadow was sure that there were palaces in Europe that would pale in comparison. There was so much to see, so much to gawk at, that Meadow couldn't keep track of all the things she missed as they passed through a vestibule, two ballroom-sized chambers, a vaulted hallway and finally to a state of the art board room. Her head was positively spinning at it all.

Once tucked in the board room, Meadow took a seat right away while the others explored the spacious room. The walk and the bright lights along the way, all made her feel light-headed and a bit queasy. Sitting wasn't enough though. She  needed a few minutes to really rest her head and eyes. So, she crossed her arms on the table and used them for a pillow as she closed her eyes and tried to fight the faint feeling that was washing over her in waves.

One of the staffers approached her instantly, "Is everything alright Ms Rask?" she asked in what sounded like a genuinely concerned tone.

Meadow couldn't respond. She felt too ill.

"Ms Rask?" the woman repeated quietly, but with clear apprehension in her voice this time around.

Hedda noticed and she came straight over to check on her patient. "Please step aside," she politely instructed the staffer. "She has a concussion and may be suffering some side effects," she explained as she pulled a seat over to Meadow's side and sat down in it.

"Yes, of course Doctor Wallin," the staffer said right away.

Meadow noted that the staff seemed to know who everyone was. She didn't know what to think of this. But, in any event, she was glad the woman was sent away. She felt wary of Hale's staff. They couldn't be trusted any more than him, she reasoned.

"What's wrong?" Hedda asked.

"It's too bright and the walk did me in," she confessed. "I feel woozy."

Hedda motioned the staffer back over. "Can we close the blinds and dim the lights in here?"

"Yes, certainly," the woman responded.

The blinds were automated and shut with the flip of a switch. And the lights went off next, but not before the dimmer lights, at the head of the room, were set to about 20% brightness. That left Meadow's end of the room quite dark, but everyone else could still see and get around.

"How's that?" Hedda asked Meadow.

"Much better, thank you," she replied as she continued to rest her eyes.

Hedda and the others left for the other end of the room where they talked quietly. While they talked, Meadow drifted a little in and out of sleep. She realized she was never going to be able to sit through an information session on Blood Brides in this state. She hoped to God that Hale would suddenly be called away on urgent princely business and be too busy to come back for the next hour or so. If she could just stay still and sleep for the next sixty minutes, she was sure she would revive.

Not long after the staffer had closed the blinds, Meadow heard Hale calling her name.

"Mmm?" was all she came back with.

His voice was in her ear. His warm breath fanning her face, as he said, "I'm going to pick you up. So don't panic."

Meadow was tempted to open her eyes and look at him, but was afraid she'd become dizzy and nauseous if she did - two feelings she was desperately trying to avoid just then. Consequently, she did nothing and just let him slip his hands around her back and under her thighs. He lifted her from the chair without even a hint of a grunt and carried her bridal style out of the room and along some darkly lit hallways and stairwells until he stepped into a cool room that made Meadow shiver in his arms. 

He laid her down on a soft bed and pulled a large feather duvet over her. Meadow sank into the comfy bed and tried to relax. She felt the bed dip a little beside her. Hale must have sat down, she thought to herself. Then, she felt him lean in close. She held her breath for the briefest moment. Was he going to kiss her? Should she open her eyes to look or would that break the spell?

But, in the next instant, she felt a light-weight ice pack on her forehead and realized he wasn't leaning in to whisper sweet nothings in her ear or to kiss her in the dark. All the man was trying to do was nurse her back to health. Meadow wanted to laugh at her own foolishness. She blamed the concussion. Clearly, she was not thinking straight. The thought gave her some comfort. 

With a shaky hand, she reached up and touched the ice pack. It was as soothing as the dark room and the warm bed. Letting out a contented sigh, Meadow turned on her side and tried to get cozy.

"I just need an hour," she told him quietly.

He said nothing and simply waited for her to fall sound asleep.