The Hawk Warriors

XIII

Waking up, I look to my side to see Hazel asleep while still holding my hand. Her arm acts as a pillow for her head. She must be uncomfortable in that position. Placing my hand on her shoulder, I gently shake her. Hazel slowly opens her eyes and groans as she finally stirs awake. "How are you feeling?" She groggily asks me.

"I could ask you the same," I reply.

She stretches her arms and rubs the back of her neck. "Kinda in pain," she replies with a sheepish smile. I scoot over and pat the now empty spot for her. Hazel happily obliges and lays down. I can see her sink into the comfort of the soft mattress. She lays her head on my shoulder and gives out a blissful sigh.

"Better?" I ask her.

She slowly nods "definitely." We sit there in silence to the point where I honestly believed Hazel fell asleep. Looking at her through the corner of my eyes, I see her eyes looking off into the distance. Her hand is absentmindedly holding mine as she thinks.

"What are you thinking of?" I ask her.

"Nothing," she slowly says as she brings herself back to reality.

"Are you sure?" I ask carefully not to anger her.

"I'm pretty sure," she replies with determination. Hazel let's go of my hand and sits down so that she can face me. "It's safe to say you can't train today." She says as her eyes roam over my face.

"Is it bad?" I ask her. She slowly nods her head as inspects my bruises.

"It's both your faults." She says once more.

"Nothing was going to stop that day from happening," I tell her.

"No, but the consequences will be severe." She grabs hold of my hand as she looks deeply into my eyes. "The council will get involved, and once they are involved, I'm afraid of what they are going to do to you."

"Don't worry about me," I reassure her. She smiles weakly before getting off the bed. Never once does she let my hand go. "Will you be coming back?" I ask her already knowing where she's heading. It hurts that she has to go back there with him.

"I don't know..." she softly says before letting my hand go and waking away. I can tell there is something bigger that she doesn't want to reveal to me. A big secret that no one should know. The only person she trusts is herself and her hawk. I wonder when she will entrust me with that secret.

"How are you feeling?" I hear Tyler ask me. Snapping out of my small daze, I look up to see him leaning against my door frame.

"Much better," I reply as he walks closer. "Is something wrong?" I ask as I scan his grim face.
He simply nods and hands me an envelope. Puzzled, I take it from his hand and scan it. The crisp white envelope with my name written on it, and the seal gives away who sent this to me. Chills trickled down my spine. "They know?" I ask myself.

"Everyone knows," Tyler comments. "Someone spoke to someone who, in turn, told another. Did you really think the Council wouldn't find out?"

"I thought they would respond later rather than sooner," I say as I gently open the envelope.

"Not when it concerns them," Tyler says as he sits on the feet of my bed. I scan the letter for anything that will hurt me, but there is nothing but a date and time. All they are asking for is my appearance. "What does the letter say?" Tyler ponders.

"It's not a letter," I inform him. "More like a court date," I hand him the paper.

"Hades Ha, your presence is wanted on the twenty-fifth at two in the afternoon. Please do not be late." Tyler reads it out loud. "The last part sounds a bit menacing," He comments.