The Hunter's Princess

Chapter 3

"Get out of here, you filthy animal!" Shrieked the old woman.

Xander sighed heavily, feeling Serah cowering behind him.

"Old Agatha, please," he groaned out.

"I told you never to come back in here, you wretched demon!" Agatha continued to scream. Serah gasped and flinched back as a plate was thrown near their heads, shattering against the wall. Xander didn't move. He was used to this. The townspeople all treated him like shit on the bottom of their shoes, especially after Alistair died. They'd had some respect for the hunter who had been his mentor, so they tolerated him. Tolerated, nothing more. The best seamstress in town had adored Alistair, and so the old woman despised Xander after he had died to a pack of wild dogs.

"Agatha, I need a few items of clothing, that's all," Xander pleaded.

"Weave your own clothes, wretch!" Agatha spat at him. The old woman brandished a cane at them, hobbling around a stack of shirts. Her white hair was pulled back into a tight bun.

"They aren't for me," he tried again. She lifted the cane.

Serah stepped in front of Xander, smiling pleasantly.

"They're for me, ma'am," she said, struggling to keep her smile. Agatha narrowed her eyes at Serah, then glared at Xander.

"What are you doing with this girl, rat?" She asked suspiciously.

"I was buying her clothes. We're traveling for a good month at the least, and I'd rather not have to be hiking next to someone who smells like a stable," Xander explained. Serah blushed slightly.

Agatha grumbled and grabbed Serah's arm. The girl looked back as the seamstress stood her on a stool and pulled out a length of string. Xander sat back in a chair beside the door, closing his eyes.

"What are you doing with a wretched boy like that?" Agatha asked Serah. The girl hesitated before answering.

"He's helping me."

"Helping you? Hegh!"

Xander sighed quietly.

"That boy showed up here nineteen years ago, and I've had a headache the entirety of them! That wretch is a curse, I tell you!" Agatha continued.

"Please don't call him that. Xander has been very kind to me," came Serah's soft voice. The hunter raised an eyebrow. He'd have to make her work harder if she thought he was kind.

"Hmph!"

Xander felt the corner of his mouth twitch upwards.

"A lovely, polite girl like you deserves someone better. Find yourself a better man," Agatha ordered.

"N-no, we're not..." Serah stuttered.

"Pish! Men like him only want one thing!"

Xander looked up and rolled his eyes. Good god.

It was then that Xander did actually fall asleep.

"Alistair!"

The dogs were on them, their eyes glowing, burning orange as the elder hunter pulled back the string of his bow.

"Run, boy!"

"I can't!"

The dog lunged at Alistair, teeth bared and dripping with saliva.

"Xander," Serah murmured, shaking his shoulder lightly-- his injured shoulder. He hissed, swatting her hand away. She jerked it back, cradling it. She looked at him with wide, innocent eyes.