Steel Butterfly

9

Kalia's POV

I walked outside of the Guild to try to get my horse ready. I saw that my oldest half brother Diego is messing with his friends.

"If it isn't the red headed stepchild." Diego said. I ignored him as I was putting supplies on my horse.

"It's quite rude to ignore when people are talking to you, Kalia." Diego spoke.

"Oh, I thought one of the mules opened its mouth for a second." I finally responded as I saw Ronan walking to the door from the corner to my eye. I hear Diego's friends chuckle.

"Very funny. Father is planning to marry you off to Lord Wilshire once he divorces that cheating whore of his." Diego spoke.

"I thought I was disowned?" I asked him.

"Apparently not. He just doesn't want you to inherit his wealth." Diego spoke. "What better way than to marry you off?" He shrugged.

"Why are you telling me this? Aren't you glad that I'll be out of your way?" I raised my brow. This isn't out of the kindness of his heart, I know that much.

"Dansbury humiliated me in last week's tourney so I want him to be just as humiliated. I'll let you figure out what to do." Diego smiled at me.

"Well, then. Thanks, I guess." I told him as he walked away.

"Seems like you have things going on." Ronan's voice boomed behind me. I almost jumped up in fright.

"You chencheki!" I exclaimed. "I almost had a heart attack!"

"Sorry, I thought you heard me. Or maybe I'm just that good." He spoke, grinning at me.

"Don't feel too proud." I smiled at him. We boarded our horses and headed off to Oak Grove. I thought of how he's been acting lately. I wondered what was going on in his head. But sometimes, we don't want to. Not that there's anything wrong with him but still.

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Ronan's POV

Knowing that Lady Verena was going to be there wasn't making this any better. Kalia was humming as she rode next to him. Ronan was drained and feeling achy. He knew he needed to change soon but now that he had an apprentice he only knew on a surface level, it was going to be a lot harder to do.

Ronan looked at the road. He longed to just run out into the woods, free of any issues that he had going on. After a few hours, they finally reached Oakhill Manor, the seat of Oak Grove and the home of House Meryll. He took a deep breath as Lady Verena and another man greeted them.

"Welcome, welcome." The man smiled at them. "You must be the Hunters that Judge Raines sent over to deal with the harpy problem. I am Lord Alton Meryll and this is my beautiful wife, Lady Verena Towerhill."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Kalia told them, smiling.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, my dear." Verena was smiling at her. "It's nice to see you again, Ronan."

"Ah, you know each other?" Lord Meryll asked her. Oh boy, here went nothing, Ronan thought to himself.

"Of course, he was my mentor back when I was a Hunter." Verena smiled.

"You're the one who taught her how to shoot, wonderful! I have you to thank for teaching my wife archery. Now I don't have to worry about who will defend the manor if I go off to war or something." Lord Meryll seemed happy.

"No problem, I guess." Ronan looked at him, trying to keep a neutral expression.

"Come on in, I'll explain what's going on better when they can't hear us." Lord Meryll guided the group past lavish gardens of rose bushes, lilies and ornamental trees. He could tell that Kalia was admiring the gardens.