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He was dressed in hunting clothes which must have been borrowed from a servant. They were made of rough-spun wool and leather and were dyed a deep brown, perfect to blend in with the forest. But they had clearly been meant for someone much older, for they hung loosely on Kaye’s slender form.
Swearing under my breath, I marched over to him.
“You followed me?” I hissed. I wasn’t angry. Not exactly. But the prey we hunted wouldn’t be an easy catch.
Kaye nodded and eagerly displayed the knife he carried in a leather sheath on his belt.
“Don’t send me back,” he pleaded. His light brown hair was still tousled, sticking up in places. His bangs fell over his forehead, partly obscuring his soft brown eyes. He needed a haircut. He needed care, period, I thought with a lump in my throat.
I swallowed. “Fine. Follow me and stay close. Don’t leave the group. Don’t get in the way. And above all, don’t try to be a hero. Just watch and learn.”
I felt like such a fraud, telling him what to do. I was a novice at this myself. But I couldn’t admit that. I was his older sister. He was my burden. Mine to protect.
Surprising myself, I threw an arm around his shoulders and watched his face break into a sweet smile. Strange how Kaye was the only one with whom I’d never had trouble showing affection.
“Thank you, Morgan,” he said earnestly. “I won’t be any trouble, I swear.”
“I hope to the Three you’re right,” I grumbled. I watched his eyebrows raise in surprise. Invoking the goddesses was something I usually avoided doing. Had the prayer meant more to me than I cared to admit?
We began to move through the forest, following Baudwin’s lead as we made our way deeper into the woods.
The trees loomed above us like giant sentinels, their branches creaking in the wind. The forest floor was covered in a thick layer of leaves, and the underbrush was dense, making it hard to see more than a few feet ahead.
The air grew colder, and I could see my breath in the moonlight. I began to wonder how much farther we would have to go before encountering our prey. Hunting by night was not ideal.
But neither was stealing our bounty from the king’s lands.
I hardened my heart, telling myself Arthur would never know. These people deserved anything they took from the land. Its bounty was theirs by a right more ancient than even those of kings.
Then I thought of the boy and the apple.
I glanced swiftly over at Kaye. In the moonlight, his face was so smooth. It lacked the rough edges that would soon come with adulthood. At eleven, he was hardly more than a child. Despite his small size, there was a determination in the way he carried himself.
He reminded me of myself.
Suddenly, there was a snort from up ahead, and the sound of something crashing through the brush.
Kaye met my eyes as we froze. I reached for my bow, notching an arrow, as a giant boar charged out of the undergrowth, its eyes glinting in the moonlight.
The boar was massive, all bristling hair and razor-sharp tusks. It could feed ten families for a week. But I’d heard the stories of boar hunts turned dangerous and deadly. I gestured for Kaye to step back and to my relief he did so, moving into the shelter of some trees.
All around me the others were leaping into action, as Baudwin shouted for us to form a circle around the creature.
The boar pawed the ground, snorting like a horse, and looking around the circle for a way of escape.
It didn’t seem like a trapped animal on the verge of surrender to me. Anything but.
The boar lifted its head, meeting the eyes of the devout man who had promised Devina a share of the spoils, and charged.
I watched as the man’s eyes widened in surprise. He tried to step back but few could move that fast. It was too late. The boar’s tusk slashed swiftly across his middle and he fell to the ground with a sharp cry of pain.
I clenched my jaw, hoping the boar did not just deliver a death sentence.
“Go to him, Kaye,” I called to my brother, already moving to close the gap in the circle of hunters. “This is how you can help. Go!”
The other hunters were trying not to become distracted by what had just befallen their comrade. As Kaye ran behind the trees towards the fallen man, they dodged and weaved expertly as the boar let out a frustrated grunt, looking for another way out.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Kaye huffing as he dragged the injured man into the shadows. Good. Now he was out of the worst danger. And what was more he could truly feel that he had helped.
