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The hunter dodged to the side, sliding under the boar's massive body, showing more agility than I ever would have thought possible for such a large man.
With a quick thrust, we watched as he delivered the killing blow, plunging his spear into the boar's side.
He made it look almost easy. Effortless.
There was silence as the boar squealed in pain, thrashing about wildly. But it was too late. With a final, shuddering breath, the beast fell to the ground, dead.
Everyone around me erupted into a triumphant cheer and crowded around the mysterious hunter, patting him on the back and congratulating him on the kill.
Everyone but me. I’d recognized him now.
The giant from the training courtyard. The man with the outraged expression.
I felt unexpectedly furious that he had dared to appear here, out of the blue, and joined the hunt. As if he had encroached somehow on my private territory, which I knew was ridiculous.
I stepped back, nibbling my lip, watching as two of the hunters, a man and a woman, crouched beside the boar and began to skin it.
I knew I should find Kaye and make sure the two men are all right. On previous occasions, I’d managed to slip coins into the pockets of those who’d been injured during one of these hunts. I wasn’t a healer, but I could do that much at least.
I was thinking too hard about what to do next and didn't notice that the raven-haired man had approached until he was right in front of me.
I gasped, took a step back, then let out another curse.
His eyebrows raised and I felt a small rush of satisfaction. Had I offended him somehow? Good.
“Such a foul tongue for a woman,” he remarked, narrowing his eyes.
“I’m sorry, did I ask your opinion?” I narrowed my eyes right back at him.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he declared.
My heart skipped a beat. For a moment I thought he knew who I was and where I’d come from. I looked around wildly for Kaye.
I gritted my teeth and prepared to beg the man not to tell Arthur what he’d seen here tonight.
Then I hesitated. “What do you mean?”
He frowned, his chiseled jaw clenching. “The boy? He’s your brother?”
I felt my body sag with relief just before annoyance flooded in. For the second time in a day, this man had no idea who he was talking to.
Maybe he wasn’t the sharpest of swords. All brawn, no brains.
“Yes, he’s mine. And that concerns you how precisely?”
I watched as an angry glow came into the dark-haired man’s eyes and felt a tad smug. What right did he have to question me? Had I not wounded the boar for him? What had he done?
Broken the circle and ended the hunt single-handedly, I reminded myself. Possibly saved my life. Not that I was keen to admit it.
Yes, well, it wasn’t exactly the most sportsmanlike style of hunting I’d seen. This was meant to be a community effort, not a one-man giant show.
“You should have stayed at home. This is no place for you,” the man said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I suppose you say that because I’m a woman?” I challenged, my eyes flashing.
“Because you’re a woman?” He seemed surprised. “No,” he said, his scowl deepening. “Because you are weak.” His gaze shifted to where Kaye stood further off in the trees. “Both of you.”
My hands curled around my bow. The pain in my head had rapidly gone from a throbbing to a sharp stabbing behind my eyes. I was suddenly too tired to argue with a man about whether or not I was weak.
