"Is he nice?"
"Nice? Ha! Not so much." He plants a kiss on Anna's knuckles, and then my own. “He’s…different. He can chase the sun from the sky and replace it with the most violent of storms. He's the single greatest warrior on the earth, don’t fight him. And don't fucking hunt in his forest without his permission. He's killed people for less. In fact, don't spend too much time in close quarters with him at all. He's easily antagonised and—“
"And I'm an antagoniser, I know," I interject, sounding like a petulant child. Maybe I am one, but I’m sick and tired of people singing his praises like he created the sky and everything beneath it. I don’t intend to spend any time close to him. If there’s anyone in Yterras who can’t find out who I am, it’s a king. "I have to get up, I have so much to do."
* * *
It's only oncewe've made it through the treeline and are approaching the gates of the Forest Kingdom that we stop to rest, eating whatever we can hunt and cracking open the bottle of wine that Stellan has managed to carry all this way. Those two fall asleep in the trees, but I lie awake, staring at the stars between the gaps in the leaves of the tree canopy.
This forest is beautiful.
Fuck beautiful, it's utterlymind-blowing. It’s just ethereal, like I’ve left Yterras and come to a different world entirely.
It is separated into two distinct sections, the Green Woodland to the north and the Dark Forest to the south, each one encompassing the Forest Kingdom, which is surrounded by huge walls, several metres thick and covered in ivy and vines. Four golden gates shaped like trees form the breaks in the walls, one to each of the north, south, east and west.
The Dark Forest is eerily quiet, the air thick with whatever spells the King casts over it. Everywhere you go, you're on edge, awash with the feeling that every step could be your last. But as I have always been, I'm propelled onwards by the quiet confidence that whatever danger haunts me will never be as dangerous as I am. The soft, damp floor is crawling with spies and wolves, and it is forbidden to come here unless you are a guard, so we stay hidden as we cross through.
The Green Woodland, however, is teeming with life; a rich tapestry of birds, beasts and plants in a thousand shades of green, yellow and orange. Stags roam the trees in quiet peace, foxes watching us with wary eyes. I’ve never seen anything like it, never seen colours so vibrant, and I know I need to explore a little more before we venture through the gates.
I wander through unknown territory under the blanket of nightfall, weaving in and out of trees to create a map of this forest in my mind. My already elevated spirits lift a little higher as I come across a small brook, water running down over rocks in the moonlight. Fireflies dance at the water's edge, painting a purple picture on the glossy surface, and I can't remember a time in recent memory when the world felt as serene as it does at this moment.
But the howl of a wolf piercing the reposeful silence reminds me exactly where I am, and that though beautiful, the Woodland King's forest is no place to be alone at night for too long. I begin the trek through the unearthly woods back to Stellan and Onyx. But I halt in my tracks when an odd feeling triggers my senses, sounding an alarm.
I'm being watched.
Adrenaline spikes in my blood as I veer into the thickets of the oak trees to my left. Loud footsteps follow me, making no attempt to be silent, and I think this might be worse than hearing someone trying to follow me subtly. Whoever this is, they're lethal enough that they don't need stealth.
The beat of my footsteps picks up but so does theirs, our little game of chase intensifying.
"Trespassing is forbidden." One of the deepest voices I've ever heard pierces the humid air, raising goosebumps on my skin. "Come out."
Shit. There's no way I'm walking into the moonlit glade to my right. I'll get murdered. I can't die now. Not while I have biscuits in my bag that I haven't even opened. It's just not right. I deviate further right, but the voice threatens me again. I dart past another tree, thinking I've got away with it until a sudden fire spears into my leg, burning pain radiating outwards.
Through blurring vision, I look down to see an arrow sticking out of my thigh.
"You bastard!" I yell, through gritted teeth. "I was going to come out!"I wasn't going to come out. I stomp through the trees, into a clearing, and I'm faced with…a human? A god? A troll? Trolls can't speak, can they? The calamitous figure opposite me is illuminated in a shard of moonlight, cloaked in black.
For the first time in a while, I'm intimidated.
His hood falls low enough that the top of his face is enveloped in darkness, but I see two glowing orange eyes burning into me, moonlight spilling over a tense jaw and sculpted lips. His incandescent gaze steals the oxygen from the air around me and it takes me a moment to form a solid thought. I hate him already.
One huge hand cracks the knuckles on the other, and I can't fight the haunting feeling that the huntress has just become the hunted.
Chapter3
The Hunter (Rexxan)
The evening air is cool on my face as I share a bottle of wine with Ocealia on the day she arrives in my kingdom.
Ocealia has time for everyone. She has always been like this. After the exhausting six-week journey to get here, she came straight to my balcony to see me. We both became rulers at young ages after the Great Fires that saw the death of many thousands, almost seven hundred years ago. I grit my teeth as pain shoots down my chest at the thought.
She's beautiful tonight. She wears a brilliant blue dress that is at striking variance with her very dark skin. Matching blue shadow decorates her eyelids, her fingers dripping in sapphires and gold. Long braids reach her waist, each tiny one twisted with blue thread. She's the spitting image of her mother, but I don't tell her that.
"Alia's tree looks beautiful this time of year," she whispers, standing and peering over the edge of my balcony, cobalt eyes roaming the endless expanse of my gardens.
Centuries-old guilt threads its way through my conscience. "Hm."
"Rexxan." She says my name like I exhaust her, like she always has since we were young. Perhaps I do exhaust her, but I don't have it in me to care.
