“Great,” she grumbled playfully.
Though she didn't like the thought of snaring and strangling a poor innocent rabbit to death, the faerie had to admit Lephas was right. She had led such a sheltered life and she knew nothing about how to survive outside the castle walls.
The demon commander was so knowledgeable and prepared for everything - part and parcel of being a soldier of his ranking, she figured.
Although wary and unsure about what fate awaited her in Banesteppe, she couldn’t deny she was also excited to experience real life for the first time in twenty-six years. Lori hoped Lephas would be as willing to educate her on other things too; like interacting socially with the demon populace, new foods and drinks to try, new music to listen to...
Lori licked her bottom lip. Maybe her demon companion would be game for teaching her a thing or two in bed, as well. He was older than her and, looking the way he did, she could imagine he'd had his fair share of bed partners.
Her own sexual experiences so far hadn't been nearly as thrilling as she had hoped. The first had been awkward and a little painful, and the second had been over before it had really begun. Surely there was more to it than that? Or maybe that romance book had been just another lie all this time.
Lori had to admit, they were off to a good start. The two brief kisses had been really eye-opening. She hoped anything else they may experience together would follow suit.
She desperately wanted to feel those wonderful hands on her again – touching her face, her waist, between her legs–
“Lori?” Lephas interrupted. He had stopped walking and had turned to look at her.
“Hm? Sorry, did you say something?” She blinked, feeling her cheeks flush.
The commander sighed irritably. “Glad you've been paying attention. I was just saying that rabbits tend to come out in the early morning and late evening. If I can get set up early enough, we might be lucky enough to get one in time to eat before it gets too dark. We’ll have to be quiet and wait one out.”
“Okay.” Lori nodded.
“Fortunately, I've seen a few rabbit trails as we've been walking. It seems there are a few burrows around here.” He stopped to crouch, groaning and holding his side as he did so.
The demon looked into the undergrowth, his brow furrowed with concentration. Lori knelt beside him and tried to pretend she could see anything other than the snowy forest floor.
“Here. See those tracks?” Lephas pointed towards aslightly hollowed out section of plant life.
“Yeah.” Lori looked harder, barely making out some small scuff marks through the snow.
“Those are rabbit tracks. The snow makes it easier to see them.” Lephas held one of the snare traps up and wrapped the free end of the wire a few times around a nearby thick bramble so the noose section encircled the gap in the undergrowth.
He stood with a wince. “There, that's one. Now if I put a few more around...” The demon glanced curiously around the wooded area.
“Where will you put the bait?” Lori asked, following behind dumbly.
“In the middle of the snares. The chances of the rabbit choosing any one of the routes to escape is quite high that way.”
Lephas quickly and expertly set up all his snare traps whilst Lori watched on. She shivered, shifting from foot to foot. It got cold so quickly when she was stood still.
“There.” Lephas got to his feet and brushed snow from his gloves. “Now we need to find a spot to lay low for a bit. Not too close, but not so far that we won't notice a rabbit coming in to have a look at the bait. Have you still got the biscuit?”
“Yes.” Lori fished the linen parcel from her coat pocket. She unwrapped it, revealing the remaining blood berry and the biscuit from earlier that morning.
“Okay, great. Break it into four pieces and sprinkle it around in this clearer area here.” Lephas motioned. “That's about central to all the snares.”
Lori crushed a small section of biscuit and dropped it into the snow.
“Keep the rest, just in case. We don't want to waste it all too early – especially if rabbits aren’t keen on biscuits.”
“So where shall we hide?” Lori asked, looking around.
“Just up here.” Lephas pointed through the forest and began hiking forwards once more. The princess followed obediently. Once they reached the top of the small incline, Lephas turned and surveyed their vantage point.
“Perfect. If we lie here, we can see straight through to the bait. If a rabbit shows, we’ll scare it off with a loud noise and hope it startles in the right direction,” he said, kneeling in the snow
“There seems to be a lot of factors that could go wrong here.” Lori mused, getting down in the snow to join the commander.
