Tales of the Five Kingdoms

Gillwyn Forester (Part One)

"That's just the way of it," Pa's voice called out from the foot of the hill. "Not gone for even a full day, and my eldest thinks she's queen of the wood."

Gillwyn closed her eyes and twirled a hand in the air in what she imagined was a dignified and ladylike fashion. The image was spoiled only somewhat by her chewing on a stalk of grass.

"Lah tee dah," Pa mocked. His voice was closer, so he must have been coming up the hill. "What you been up to, Gill?"

"Cotton picking," she said around the grass stalk. "The Sheskal was paying a full mark to anyone what came to help today."

"Gold or silver?"

"Like I'd work a field all day for a silver."

Pa snorted. "The Sheskal," he grumbled. "Generous of the lord. Good that he still knows where he came from, I suppose. I remember when he was plain ol' Sheskal Cotton."

"Maybe you ought claim a title yourself," Gillwyn said.

"Easy as that?"

"Easy as that," Gillwyn said with a firm bob of her stalk of grass. "Set up the manor on this hill, would you? Won't take me so long to get home."

Pa laughed, and it sounded like he was right over her. Gillwyn might have opened her eyes to check, but that would have been entirely too much effort. Instead, she drew a little air into her nostrils and caught his scent.

Warm and comforting, though a tang of dust and blood about him today. Something else was in the air. Animal stink.

"Get a catch?" Gillwyn asked.

Something heavy landed on her stomach, and she let out a startled grunt. Without opening her eyes, she put her hand to the mysterious bundle. Her fingers touched on velvety fur, short and fine, and traced over thick paw pads. Long and sharp claws slid out from sheaths as she worked the toes. "Aww, Pa, it's a paw. You shouldn't have."

"Panther," Pa said while chuckling.

Gillwyn bolted to a sitting position, her eyes widening with delight as she looked down at the hunting trophy in her hands. Shiny black fur glistened in the sunlight, and the stump of the paw was wrapped in supple leather. She'd never seen a panther, let alone been able to touch a piece of one. A desperate and eager need ached inside her.

Pa chuckled again at her reaction. He knew exactly how fine a gift it was. He was a burly man with a kind face. Pa managed to keep himself clean shaven even when roaming the Senwood for days. He had funny, bulging eyes though. Gillwyn had always been pleased that she didn't inherit that trait. Three of her four sisters weren't so lucky.

He carried his powered bow over a shoulder. The artifice could put a broadhead arrow clean through an elm's trunk. That panther hadn't stood a chance once pa caught its scent.

Pa gestured to the paw. "The beast was driving away all the game, so the headman asked me to take care of it." His voice dropped in pitch only slightly but enough so that Gillwyn could catch the subtle warning in his tone. "Before you start messing around with it, you have a visitor."

Gillwyn sniffed the air again before she used her eyes to look; when one sense was so much stronger than the other, it was only natural to rely on it more. She was surprised that she'd missed the scent before. Clean and fresh, heather and amaranth, hints of tallow and alkali, and a good layering of flour surrounding it all despite best efforts to bathe it away.

Startled, Gillwyn spat out her stalk of grass in a vain attempt to hide that she'd been chomping on one.

"Found her on the road while I was coming out of the Senwood," Pa explained while cocking his head in indication behind him. "Thought I'd bring her your way, seeing as I had something to give you anyhow."