Page 34 of Betrothed

The others were crouched far back, out of sight. They were hidden so far away that they wouldn’t be able to hear their conversation. So Zax couldn’t smell them, Fawn had claimed. It was a sensible reason. No one would suspect her true intentions.

“Zax,” Fawn called again, tightening her grip on her pack straps. It was heavy, so heavy that Errol had offered to carry it no less than three times on the walk here. “I hoped I’d find you before you went into the mountains.”

Zax stared at her. Scarred, fanged, horned. He was truly something out of a nightmare. But Fawn couldn’t help but feel safe the closer she drew to him.

“What are you doing here?” Zax asked, bewildered. “You—you left. You did not want me.”

Fawn forced a smile. Her eyes were shining with tears; she couldn’t find a way to stop them. But now they were tears of hope, not regret.

She pulled her coat tighter around her and positioned herself squarely in front of him. She could imagine Errol’s infuriated muttering from back in the forest: What are you doing, woman? Move out of the way so we can take the shot!

“I thought I didn’t,” Fawn said honestly. “I was— Zax, I was fighting with myself. You have to understand, you’re a monster. You killed my husband, you kidnapped me!”

“I did not kidnap you,” Zax said, stricken. “I… I only…”

“Would you have let me go, if I asked? Or would you have tried to convince me that I was chosen for you, and that you would make me happy?”

Zax said nothing. His scarred shoulders slumped, his tail dragging on the ground.

“That’s what I thought,” Fawn whispered. She stepped closer, watching Zax’s eye widen. “I was so angry at you. Angry in a way I thought I couldn’t be anymore. But the more time I spent with you, the more I realized I was only angry because a wife is supposed to be angry when someone kills her husband. And I was actually angry about the way he treated me. The way they all treat me, that entire damned town!”

Fawn reached up to touch his face. They would have to suspect something, she reminded herself. This was no way for a terrified maiden to act toward her captor. But she couldn’t help it: she had to tell Zax everything she had been holding back.

“If you truly want to give me that life you talked about,” she began. “If you want to make me happy and have my heart in return… Zax, if you want to go on adventures together, and learn how to build an oven for me, and never think of me as a servant, I will go with you. I will go gladly.”

Zax breathed hard, his tail lashing in distress. “Why say this now? What changed your mind?”

Fawn grinned, her eyes still wet. “I did the thing I was meant to do. The thing any woman would be expected to do, given the circumstances: I ran. But then I returned to my life. And I realized how much I hated it, and how much I loved my life with you.”

She took his hand, the one that still had the freckle rock in it, and pressed a kiss to his fingertips. “Do you still want me, Zax? If you do, I’m yours. But I have to tell you something first.”

“What?”

“Bend down.”

Zax did. Fawn pulled him close, so her head was eclipsing his if somebody were to look from behind.

“They’re behind us,” she whispered. “In the forest. You need to get us out of here.”

Zax’s eye glowed brightly. “Is this a trick?”

“No,” she assured him. “No lies and no tricks. Take me and run.”

A malblossom-arrow whizzed through the air above their heads. Someone yelled from the tree line, “Now, boys, now!”

Zax shoved the freckle rock into his pocket and hauled Fawn into his arms. He began to turn toward the mountain, but Fawn stopped him.

“Wait,” she barked. “Keep me facing them! Run to the mountains!”

Zax faltered. The next arrow spun at them, and Fawn jerked her giant pack up to cover them both. The arrow sank into the pack, and Fawn yanked it out and snapped it in two, making sure to throw the blossoms away from Zax.

Errol came running out of the forest, the remaining two hunters at his side. Before Fawn could say anything, one of the hunters pulled an object out of his pack that Fawn had never seen before. It was shaped like a crossbow, but instead of a bolt, it had a malblossom net tied to the end.

He pulled the trigger. Zax ran, but the net was faster. It wrapped around his legs, and Zax bellowed as he hit the ground.

Fawn tumbled out of his arms. She braced herself for a wave of pain from her tender ankle, but nothing happened. She struggled up and positioned herself in front of Zax as the men ran up.

“Fawn,” Errol shouted. “What are you doing?”