“It’s not okay; you’re bleeding. Let me see how bad it is.” I put more pressure on it. When I pull my shirt away, I notice with relief that it’s already stopped bleeding. “Well, congrats, Kiddo. You got your first of many cuts.”
“Yeah?”
I scoff. “Oh, yeah. I’ve cut myself so many times. Hazards of working with knives.” That seems to pacify her worry. “Now, let’s try that again.” I show her how to flip the blade so she catches it by the pommel easily. “Not bad. Try it again.” She tries it several more times, getting better each time. “You really do have a gift for knives. I can’t wait to see if it translates into any other weapons.”
She faces the tree, serious. Seeing she’s ready to get back to work, I take a step to the side. “All right. Let’s see this next throw.”
Auri takes to weapons like she was born to wield them. After several days working with throwing knives, we try a bow and arrow. It’s a little tricky to do in her chair, but she learns how to leverage her weight in the chair. I can’t believe how far she’s come in the time that Rauk’s been gone and not only in wielding weapons. She’s like a different person. She gives these hesitant smiles now. They’re not full-fledged ones, but they’re smiles and I’ll take them. Today, we’re back to knife throwing. I grab her knife from the tree and walk back to her.
I reach out to Red, who was supposed to be here by now.Did you get lost on the flight here?
It takes her a minute to respond.I’m not coming today.I frown but wipe my face clear when Auri turns to me. “That was a good one. Try it again. Remember to keep it—” The back door flies open, crashing into the wall with a clang.
“Auri!”
My stomach drops.Rauk is back.After three weeks, he’s finally back.
I watch as his wild gaze takes everything in, in an instant. And then he shocks me by jumping over the railing, avoiding the stairs all together. I’m pretty sure my mouth hangs open because that was what? Like six, seven stairs? But I don’t get a chance to be any more shocked because he’s suddenly striding towards us, fury in his gaze. “What is going on?” he thunders. Without thinking, I move in front of Auri and block him. “What are you doing?” he all but roars at me. “Get out of my way.”
“No.”
His eyes narrow, and I swear I can literally feel the heat of his anger. “Get out of my way,” he grinds out.
“No. Not until you’ve calmed down.” I keep my voice level. “So, you don’t scare your sister.”
His eyes flash and then dart over my shoulder a moment. When they meet mine again, I’m surprised I don’t just incinerate on the spot. He takes a step closer, and I hold my ground, putting us nearly chest to chest. “You and I will be talking later.” His voice is so low, it nearly vibrates. I stand there a moment, unsure what to do. I don’t want to be here with him, but I alsodon’t want him to take his anger out on Auri. I glance over my shoulder at her. Her face is calm, and there is no trace of fear on her face.
“It’s okay,” she says quietly, stoic once again. “My brother won’t hurt me.”
“He’d better not.” I turn to face him, so he can see just how serious I am. “Or he’ll answer to me.”
Those dark eyes stare down at me, but he doesn’t say anything. I leave them a moment later and start back inside. When I get to the door at the top of the stairs, I turn back. Rauk stands beside her now. As if he feels my gaze, he lifts his head. I can feel the anger from here. I should just leave them alone, but I’m angry and annoyed. I stare him down. “Harper?” I turn at the sound of Elowen’s voice. “What’s going—Oh.” She turns back to me after a moment. “Come on in, Dear.” She urges me inside. It’s probably a good thing; otherwise, I’d probably still be staring the man down. “Are you okay?” she asks, once the door closes behind us.
“I’m fine.” My voice is sharp, and I don’t mean to take it out on her. “I just can’t stand that man.”
She turns to me, sorrow in her expression. “Don’t be too hard on him. Just...be gentle.”
I snort. “Gentle? With that beast of a man?” She looks at me with an assessing gaze. “What?” I finally ask.
“Sometimes, the bigger they are, the harder they fall.”
Her words make absolutely no sense. “What?”
She puts her hand on my arm. “Why don’t you give them space for a little bit, and maybe give him some time to cooldown?”
“So, he doesn’t murder me?” I ask, not even joking.
Elowen frowns. “Rauk’s not like that.”
“Rauk’s exactly like that!” I say in exasperation. “I thought he was going to strike me down out there just now.”
“He was worried for his little sister,” she argues. “Rauk is very protective of her, but he would never hurt you.”
I stare at her. “I don’t think we’re talking about the same guy.” I breathe out a sigh of frustration. I don’t want to argue with her. ”You’re right. I’ll head to my room for a little bit and give them space.” I take off without another word. I need the space too, or I just might go at it with Rauk.Again.I reach out to Redara.Figured out why you didn’t come.I can’t help but feel a little betrayed that she picked Nox over me...again.
You’ll understand some day.
I’m pretty sure I won’t, but I don’t want to get into it with her either. She doesn’t deserve my ire. No, there’s only one person that deserves it; and I can’t do anything about it right now while he’s with his sister. But when she goes to bed tonight, all bets are off.
