The Hunter's Princess

Chapter 17

Serah's first steps had been into her father's arms.

Now she ran into them, sobbing hysterically. Jason Medlock stumbled before he held his daughter close to him. He'd grown a beard after his months of exile.

Serah composed herself enough to step back and look over her father, only for tears to spring back to her eyes. He was missing two fingers on his right hand, and all of the remaining were bandaged.

Erik and Flynn sat on one of the couches in the parlor, Axel and Xander hovering near the outskirts of the room. Serah stumbled back, falling onto the second couch. The hunter moved beside her, taking her hand in his.

"Seth?" Jason asked softly.

"Still in the war. A letter from him arrived yesterday," Erik replied. "He's coming home."

Their father lowered himself into his favorite armchair, the one with green velvet that Seth broke his foot on when he was five. He swallowed and struggled for breath.

"Jason, you should rest. We will all be here tomorrow morning," Axel suggested.

"No, no," Jason breathed out. He looked around the room, at his children, at all the memories of Iris. "I just... is she truly dead?"

The room was silent except for the crackling of the fire. Their father placed his face in his hands for a few seconds before he took a deep breath.

"Erik told me about your plans. You want to marry Xavier's son?" The man asked. Serah nodded, wiping her eyes. "And is this what you want, or what your little brother wants?"

"Father," Erik whispered, but was silenced by Axel's warning glance.

"It's what I want," Serah admitted. Jason nodded and turned his tired gaze on Xander.

"And you. I knew your father," he told the hunter. "Are you anything like him?"

"No. He was a murderer," he told Jason. "A horrible man."

Serah's father smiled, but just slightly.

"Xavier was an ambitious man who put his wife above everything else. It was true that he did horrible things, however."

Xander lowered his gaze back to the floor. He'd assumed that his mother had been another one of the girls that Xavier had taken against their will. From what Caos had said, he had guessed that the former king had never taken a wife.

"I give you my blessing to marry my daughter," Jason told him after a time. "But I hope you understand that we do need to wait for funds."

Xander nodded, feeling Serah press into him.

"I'll contact Evelyn in the morning. In the meantime, I do need rest," Serah's father admitted, his shoulders slumping in exhaustion. His family nodded and trickled one by one out of the room. Night had fallen, but no one much felt like sitting at the dining room table to eat that evening. Gloom hung over the house like the shadow of a hawk over an unsuspecting rabbit.

Xander slid his fingers through Serah's and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Their eyes met, and they wordlessly began walking back to his chamber. The hunter wasn't sure why she felt safer in his room, but he didn't care. He knew where she wanted to go.

Serah only paused to ask that her clothes be moved to his rooms, and for the servants to bring them dinner.

They sat in the window, heads rested against the cold glass, listening to the rain that pounded down, fingers intertwined on the cushion beneath them.

"I'm so sorry," Xander whispered. He let his forehead against hers. "I'm sorry about your father."

Serah reached up to wipe her eyes once again. She turned her gaze to him before she fell into his arms. He held her, running his fingers through her hair. She broke down sobbing, and Xander could only hold her in his arms and murmur sweet nothings. He kissed the top of her head and pulled her closer.