The Huntress

Chapter 22

I'm sitting on a couch...reading. I haven't read since I was eleven years old! And that was eight years ago. Wow, I'm bored and exhausted and tired and...pain. I wince when I move my foot the wrong way. I seriously need to stop doing that.

Archer refuses to let me go anywhere until my ankle heals properly. Which he said can take weeks...WEEKS! I take a deep calming breath to relieve the building stress in my veins.

I can't just sit here while Snow is out there somewhere running for her life! I just...can't. Of course, I have attempted to run away. That was three days ago. I made it about a mile away before he came riding up to me - on Beauty no less - picked me up, slung me across his lap, and rode back to this place. When I asked him how he got the horse, he said she just showed up in his barn the day after he'd found me.

I roll my eyes and try to concentrate on the words on the page. The door creaks open and I pretend I'm engrossed in the book - so much so that I won't have to answer him if he asks me a question.

"Hello." he says in an overly cheerful voice.

I decide to 'ignore' him and continue staring at the blurring words in front of me. Honestly, whoever wrote this should feel ashamed. It doesn't make sense, will not capture my attention, and has a funny font type! Wow, that's a stupid thing to be angry about...

"Hello, earth to Skye." he says, chuckling at his little joke.

He's been making those for days now. Sure, they can be cleaver at times - like when he said 'The Skye has fallen' when I tripped over the couch - but right now it just makes me even sulkier about the fact that I can't leave. Stupid foot.

"Hm?" I ask, looking away from the pages.

"You okay? You seem a bit out of it." he comments.

"I'm fine...a little cooped up, but fine." I hiss out the word fine - like it's bad word all of a sudden.

For all I know, it could be. I've said that one word about ten million times...the same number, in fact, of times he's asked that same stupid question. He walks over to the couch, lifts my legs, sits down, and gently places them back over his lap. To be honest, I'm kind of used to it by now. He's been doing this almost every day for about a week now. Plus, I can tell he doesn't have any expectations about us going any farther than this sort of thing...so no pressure there.

Sadly, a small part of me wants there to be.

Fine! A rather large part...mostly meaning my heart. I learned on my first day - which had happened to be three days after passing out in the snow, by the way - that this man is a great cook, very kind, occasionally funny, and very handsome.

I mentally slap myself for the last one.

"I'm sorry...but I have to ask. Why were you in the woods - especially during this time of year?" he asks, taking me off guard.

"Um, well...I was heading through the forest to find my friend. She's in a lot of trouble." I say, closing the book and setting it aside - wasn't helping me anyway.

"Why would your friend come out here? This is a horrible place." he says, sounding shocked.

"You live here." I point out.

"I have no other choice." he says with a shrug.

I look him over for a moment. What does that even mean? He doesn't have a choice? It doesn't make sense.

"Then, why? Why live here if it's so horrible? You can't give some dumb answer about how it's too dangerous for a girl or something like that." I say.

"It's nothing really...I just couldn't take living in the kingdom anymore. Things just got too messed up there, you know?" he says, looking at the ground.

I get the feeling there's more to this than he's telling me. I want to demand he tell me what's really going on...but I'll let him tell me in his own time. I'll just have to gain his trust and wait for him to realize he can confide in me. Honestly, who am I gonna tell? A squirrel? No one's going to listen to me while I look this way...

"Actually, I don't. I'm not exactly from here. I live a few kingdoms over and, when I heard about some things, I immediately high-tailed it this way." I chuckle a little at the unintended pun.

"Why are you....oh, that's a good one Ears." he says and I give him a funny look. "What? It's the only thing I could come up with at the moment. I'm sorry I'm not as quick-whited as you are, Skye."

We both start laughing and I shove his shoulder with my finger. He leans dramatically away from me - as though I'd shoved him or something. A strange gleam enters his eyes and he starts to lean over to me.

"You're going to pay for that one." he says in warning before tickling me.

I squirm and try to get away. Of course, I only make it about three inches before loosing my balance and toppling to the floor, bringing Archer down with me. He continues tickling me and I squish my eyes closed for a second, trying to stop my laughing.

When I open my eyes, Archer's are right there only a couple inches away. My breath catches as I stare into the gray-green depths. I notice how there are tiny specks of gold and brown in there too.

He slowly leans forward and closes the two inches between us. At first, the kiss is slow and soothing. Of course, it only takes a couple seconds before an urgency reaches his lips. I return the kiss happily and wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me.

He shifts a little so he has one arm holding him securely above me and the other hand in my hair. I smile into the kiss and try to pull him even closer.

Suddenly, I feel a cold rush of air and I open my eyes to see Archer on the other side of the room. I slowly stand up, confusion written all over my face. I start to walk over to him but he just holds up a hand, indicating I need to stop. I freeze with one foot in the air.

"I'm sorry...I shouldn't have - I'll see you at dinner." With that, he disappears to his room.

Confused, I pick up my book and sink down onto the couch. I reach up with one hand and touch my lips - my mouth's still tinkling from the kiss.

What just happened?_____________________________________________________________________________

So..what do you think the reason behind Archer's sudden departure was? What do you think of them together - if they even get together?

Enjoy and comment.

Always yours,

Kera