Vote ~ Comment ~ Enjoy!
"Where were you?" Hunter is barely through the front door when Logan questions him. Hunter chucks him an apple with a fake smile on his lips. Logan catches it and raises one of his eyebrows. "You expect me to believe you went out to get us apples? We have been eating them for weeks now."
Hunter chews on the inside of his cheek as he walks through into the kitchen. He places the apples down and comes back and leans against the door frame. "Where do you think I was?"
Logan shakes his head and rises to his feet. He turns to his brother and sighs. "I am asking you to be honest with me. Why is that so difficult for you?" Hunter does not answer. "We are family, whether you agree or not. Wolfe, Bear and Bronco would never keep secrets as easily as you seem to do. Why do you feel you are unable to confide in me?"
"I do not have to deal with this." Hunter says sharply before striding over to the doorway. Logan watches him go with a growing frown.
He sinks down into chair and mutters, "What have you done that is so bad you will not tell me?"
○ ○ ○
Sweat drips down Hunter's bare torso but he does not stop. He drives his dagger deep into the dead carcass of the tree he has been slowly destroying for the past two hours. He twists it in, his face screwing up in anger. The delicate healing skin on his hand pulls and sends a sharp pain shooting up his arm. He releases the dagger and takes a step back. He deliberately takes long breaths trying to cool down, trying to calm down. He takes a good look at the tree. Slashes and chunks have been torn into every part of its remaining trunk. The tree had already been dead but there is little chance it will revive now. The dagger is driven in all the way to its hilt. With his uninjured hand Hunter yanks it out and secures it to his belt.
"Should you not be guarding your brother?" Every muscle on Hunter's body tenses. This does not go unnoticed by Zara who sees all of his muscles on his back and torso bunch up. Hunter swings to face her, his eyes flashing with thunder and lightning.
"He does not need my protection, not now he is no longer deprived of food, water, light or those who care about him." Hunter bites out snidely. He retrieves his shirt and cloak from the branch of a tree; he does not put them on. He feels sticky and knows he needs to wash.
"I know I did the wrong thing, I do not need you to remind me." She replies, a little defensive.
"Why are you here?" Hunter ignores her words as he walks away, searching for a stream. She hurries after him, his long strides covering much more distance than her shorter ones.
"Your brother is now proven innocent but that does not mean you are."
Hunter pauses and turns to her, a dangerous growl emitting from his chest. Zara stumbles back a step, her grey eyes widening in alarm. His eyes narrow. "You are afraid of me." He steps towards her, his frame appearing to block out all light. "Yet you could not have expected a calm reaction when you say words such as those."
"You are right. I did not but I thought you would hold yourself back. I am..."
"The new leader of Ricell. I am aware." Hunter chuckles and turns away. He carries on searching for a stream. Zara bites her lip and runs after him.
"This way." She briefly touches his arm before leading him off to the right. Hunter purses his lips but follows her anyway. She stops by a natural pool with a stream running into it and another running from it. Hunter drops his shirt and cloak on a dry rock and kneels down by the pool and scoops up the deliciously cool water and splashes it on his face. "I never realised you were so observant." Zara comments absentmindedly. Hunter momentarily glances up at her, a frown edged on his forehead.
"So tell me, Lady and Leader Zara Ricell..." Hunter drawls, "what is my punishment for helping a criminal escape who is now proven innocent?"
"I will publicly forgive you. We have already made a great mistake with your brother; I hope this will go towards fixing that." She says softly. Hunter scoops up some more water and takes a drink from it. He stands and wipes his hands on his breeches. He studies the young woman waiting patiently for his answer. She stands with dignity but her hands, messing with her skirts, give away her anxiety. Her eyes are a little too large for her face and the grey drains of colour in the natural light of the day. But her hair breathes like fire around her.
"If that is what you need to do." He slowly replies with a little nod of the head. "You will have to do so much more than that if you want my brother back. You do know that do you not?"
"I do. Trust me when I say I will do anything to make it up to him."
"Words do not mean anything. Actions do. Are you going to call off your engagement to Egan or are you too scared that you will end up with neither?" Hunter sits down on the lush green grass and pulls off his boots.
"I do not think I ever actually could have gone through with marrying him. I do not love him like I love Logan. I have tried so hard for so many months to move on and I thought I could do it. I thought I could make it easier for my family, my brothers wished for me to marry as did my parents and Egan, he was an easy choice."
"Stop." Hunter orders loudly. "I do not care why you did any of this. This is between you and Logan and I will refuse to do anything that will assist you. Make your declaration soon and then we can all get back to our lives."
"Hunter..." she speaks softly. He glares at her.
"I would leave now if I was you, unless you wish to have something extra to explain to my brother." Hunter removes his daggers from around his hips and she registers what he means. She hastily turns her back and marches away. Hunter smirks and prepares to dive into the water.
Not ten minutes later he climbs out from the pool of water and redresses. The material clings a little to him but he does not care. For the first time in a while he is calm and thoroughly clean. Spending time with the Ricells makes him feel dirty and disgusting. This feeling will not last long but he enjoys it while he can.
He strides back through the woods. He sighs audibly as he passes a large tree, catching sight of someone out of the corner of his eyes. He carries on walking. Light footsteps follow after him. "Waiting for me while I bathe will not go down well with Logan either." He says tiredly. "You should be going back to your fiancé."
"My fiancé? I was not aware I had one." She speaks; a playful tone to her voice. Hunter frowns. That is not Zara's voice. He would certainly recognise it. He pauses so she catches up. She passes him and faces him, an amused smile laughing on her lips. Hunter studies the young woman before him. She is stunning and she clearly knows it. Rouge highlights her defined cheekbones and black lines her lashes making her honey coloured eyes appear larger. Red gleams on her lips as she continues to grin. Her dress fits her tall, womanly figure perfectly. It looks new. Hunter has an inkling he knows who she most likely is.
"You are not Zara." He comments on the obvious.
"Clearly." A little crinkle appears on her forehead. "I did not think you were going to refer to her so informally or is it because she is no longer within hearing?"
"We have not been introduced, how about you do the honours?" Hunter says with little patience. She smirks, deliberating on how she should answer. Hunter feels his calm dissipating, the dirty feeling returning.
"My name is Ebony." She extends her hand for him to kiss. Hunter raises an eyebrow incredulously. Her eyebrow tweaks up but her satisfied smile does not drop. "And you are Hunter, the boy who could never truly be a Usani."
"If you are trying to cause me pain or rile me, you are failing." Hunter replies, quickly turning stoic. "Will that be all?" He moves to step past her but she quickly moves into his way and places her hand on his chest. She smiles sweetly up at him. Hunter frowns. He has never let anyone he disliked get this close to him before. The urge to chop her hand off at the wrist makes an appearance. He restrains himself with great difficulty.
"I think we could be of use to one another." She traces her hand down his chest. Hunter grabs her wrist, his grip quickly causing the blood to struggle to circulate through her hand. He pulls it away from him.
"I am not interested." He grinds out. Her smile drops and she pulls away. He lets her go, his skin crawling.
"You wish for your brother to return home with you do you not?" She cradles her wrist, rubbing the skin tenderly. Hunter, who was about to leave, remains and looks at her with some curiosity. "I am correct, am I not?"
"What does that have to do with you?"
"I want the same. I want your brother to return to the Usani lands and live whatever happy ever after he can there. I want him gone as soon as possible. We can work together to make that happen." Ebony purrs.
Hunter studies her and beneath the cosmetics he sees features that are similar to those he saw earlier in the day. She is female but the features were present on a male. Hunter chuckles. Her eyes fly to him. "You want my brother out of the way so that Zara remains with your brother."
"Do you really care what my reasons are? We both want Logan gone from here and neither of us wishes him to reconcile with Zara. Do you want to work together?" Her lips tweak upwards.
"You sound like you have a lot to lose." Hunter muses.
"As do you." She replies sharply.
"Perhaps." Hunter grins at her, a knowing grin. "But I do not have as much to lose as you. If she breaks up with your brother I am guessing a lot of hard work has been done all for nothing. I can also guess that you will have to move away, there is no way she would wish for you to be there as a constant reminder of betrayal to Logan. I do not think you want a life away from power and riches. You have much more to lose than I do." Hunter gives her a final evil smile before striding off.
Her words reach him regardless, "Only if he remains innocent. I could have been confused with what I saw regarding Gethin poisoning his brother. My memory is a little patchy in parts. Did I really see Gethin do that or did I see someone else do it? It could have been that guard who was kind to your brother. Maybe Logan left an order to punish them. Perhaps I should tell Zara and Gavriel what I have remembered." She speaks with a manipulative glint in her eyes.
Hunter freezes.
She waltzes past him. "I will get in touch when I need your assistance."