The Forgotten by Marly Mathews

now, but he knew what was unspoken between all of them—and what Grifon had told him before he’d set out for the County of Cambria.
    No matter how far apart they all might be, if one of them was in need, they would all rush to help that member of the Pack. They’d spent one hundred and fifty years watching out for each other and old habits die extremely hard.
    The Courtyard of his father’s castle continued to amaze him. This structure was incredibly large and it made the building he’d grown up in look like a tiny hovel. No wonder his father had possessed such a high opinion of himself. He could understand it now but he could never condone it. His father should have changed with the times. He should have followed his heart and married his mother.
    Brandyn Whittier should have done a great many things, and he’d failed at every one of them. Dragging in a heavy breath, he wrenched his mind away from the misdeeds of his father’s and focused on the here and now. Shops and other buildings were built inside of the Courtyard. In fact, it was like a mini-village and he could see it was totally equipped for sieges.
    Now, those buildings were barren. In fact, the entire area had a stale and lonesome feeling to it. It was as if the castle was bereft—as if it keenly felt the loss of its true Lord or Lady and stood waiting for that man or woman to return.
    The castle had been built to withstand long sieges. Some said this castle would be able to defend against an invading force for days, if not weeks, or even months, and now seeing all of the buildings and imagining what it was like in its heyday he understood the legends that surrounded Wythley Castle.
    He knew castles like this one bordered Domnonee, and they would need those fortifications in the coming struggle against the barbaric kingdom.
    It was a castle that a warrior like him would love to have. For the first time in his life, he was finally looking forward to claiming his birthright. He loved the Tavern that he’d grown up in and his mother had given him the best possible childhood that he could have had given the circumstances.
    Now after seeing the castle for himself, he felt a pang of remorse for missing out on seeing it through his father’s eyes. If only the man hadn’t spurned his mother—they could have had a great life here. His mother would have been a most dazzling Countess.
    He wondered how different his destiny would have been had his father had the balls to marry his mother, and make her his lady wife. If he had, maybe they would have gone on have to more children together, and maybe the descendants from those children wouldn’t have been so easily taken in by Lord Ulwyn—and ultimately destroyed by the man. Before he knew it, he was inside the castle taking in what should have been his.
    “You look exactly like the old earl, so there is no doubt that you have Whittier blood in you. Many among us will be happy to see a Whittier again. These ancestral lands and the Castle recognize you. When you meet Lord Ulwyn, just remember that you have allies that will support you should you ever need us. Not all of us are happy with the current regime and many of us feel nostalgic when we think about the way our world was under the leadership of the last earl.” As they approached the Great Hall, the man flanking him said one more thing before falling silent. “My name is Frederick Talbot and I am your faithful servant, Your Grace.”
    He was surprised to already have a shifter reaching out to him. It said a lot for how Ulwyn ran things. If Talbot felt this way, there had to be quite a few other shifters who were like minded.
    They walked into the Great Hall. The Great Hall was so large it stole his breath! He’d been to many Castles throughout his time serving as a Knight Mage but none had impressed him as much as Wythley had.
    One long pyxawood table filled the impressive space and each side of the room was adorned with Knight’s armor, and the various