She narrowed her eyes at the playful smirk he now bore, letting out a frustrated sigh. “Isawthem. On our way to G’Illach.” She lifted her chin slightly. “Every story, even faerie-tales, have truth tothem. But,” She sighed, “What is important is that we have achieved what I initially set out to do, sonowwe can leave.”
For the life of him, he couldn’t suppress the chuckle that sounded from his throat as he watched Kaya turned back towards the entrance of the camp. He caught her arm, clicking his tongue when she hissed at him. “I don’t think so. These people took us in as weary travelers. We owe them a gift. And revelry.”
Kaya’s brow furrowed, nose scrunching up. “Revelry? Why?”
“It’s still Caddat. These people deserve a feast and we will be the ones to provide it.”
“And how do you expect we do that?” She hummed, quirking her brow as Ilias took a seat on the log. He leaned down to lace up his boot, his damp brown waves falling into his eyes as he looked at her.
He should not have looked as beautiful as he did. The orange glow of the fire complimented his bronze skin, highlight each muscle that was contoured by shadow.
Kaya considered herself to be particularly modest. She never fawned over the other males she came in contact with and while she could recognize a handsome face, she did not drool over them. She certainly never enjoyed staring at them this much, nor did she ever have the strong desire tofeelsomeone. The urge to touch him was overwhelming—a type of lust that was just as uncontrollable as—
Machna ii’loam.
“Did you hear a single word I said?” Ilias was on his feet, snapping his fingers in her face to draw her from her daze. He snatched up spears from a pile nearest them, examining the blades.
Kaya’s cheeks bloomed with a shameful pink heat. “I heard you.” She groaned. “You’re forcing me to go out in the forest with you and all the other males to hunt down animals and forage.”
“Forcing you? You realize that you do sound incredibly—”
“Spoiled?” She Interjected. “Yes, I am aware. But I have been walking all day. Hunting a meal was not on my itinerary for the night. In fact, I don’t think that I will be killinganything. No offense to anyone here, but I just don’t believe I have it in me to take an animal’s life.”
“But you’ll eat them?” He cocked his head to the side, a smirk forming at his lips that entailed he was holding in another laugh.
Kaya let out a moan of frustration and stalked back towards the border of the camp. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand. My father always said that I should only kill something if it meant survival. And I have bread and jam. Therefore, I do not need to kill anything.”
“I have bread and jam, too.”
Kaya narrowed her eyes at him. “No.Youhave nothing. BecauseIwas the only one between the two of us that packed food.”
They stepped into the forest, their surroundings growing so incredibly dark that it was hard for Kaya to see. But Ilias was more than alert. They hissed and snapped at each other quietly as Ilias tried and, to her dismay, succeeded in shoving a spear into her hand.
“I don’t know how to use one of these.” She whispered, earning a hateful glare and a quieted, snarled demand for her to stop talking.
Ilias toed his way through the forest, his steps calculated and precise. They approached a stream, both of them pausing to look back and see that the rest of the hunting party already gathered and was beginning to disperse themselves amongst the glimmering emerald greenery.
“That’s what I’m here for, remember?” Ilias whispered. “To teach you things.”
Those words, the way they sounded in that silken timbre of his voice, and the very few inches of space that separated them was enough to have her cheeks turning red. Kaya moved to take a step back, the fluttering in her chest a driving force, but she gasped at the rolling surface under her heel. Just before she could land in the moonlit rush of the stream, a thick hand wrapped around the front of her shirt and jerked her to a stop. Ilias pulled her upright, plopping her back on solid ground with a grunt, eyes narrowed. Kaya opened her mouth to thank him, but was interrupted by a basket being thrust into her chest.
“Do you know how to put things in a basket, princess?”
A smile spread across her face, her eyes narrowed with mischief. As if it were her plan all along—to cause such commotion that he relented.
“I’m very skilled at that.” She chirped, throwing her damp hair over her shoulder. “I’ll see you back at camp.”
Ilias gave a curt nod and Kaya turned, dashing through the forest as quickly and silently as she could.
She wasn’t lying when she said she didn’t want to kill anything, not with the image of the moorbounders and that Credulan still ingrained in her memory. But she did lie when she said she didn’t know how to use a spear. She used to go hunting with her father quite often. Even then, her father would return home with a bloodied spear and enough game to last them weeks. Her spear was always just as clean as it was when he handed it her.
That was her weakness, she supposed. Not being able to kill anything—even if it meant food in the bellies of people who suffered a loss far greater than she could ever imagine.
You should listen to us more.Kaya rolled her eyes, shushing the shadows as she began plucking dark purple mulberries from their tree.
She sighed, glancing down at her fingers to find them stained dark red and shuddered in way that wasn’t tinged with distaste, but with satisfaction—with desire and want—when she remembered how Ilias looked covered in the blood of her greatest villain. And although she knew it was an attempt at him trying to gain her trust, she felt like it was more. A part of her wanted it to mean more.
So badly, in fact, that the ache she’d felt earlier that day had returned. It was deep in her chest, twisting and carving through layers of her Core she hadn’t even realized existed.
