Eight Intertwined

68 - Natalia

The path to Natalia's home was a simple one, and H'aanit found herself at the front of the party. Linde and Hägen remained close to her, but H'aanit could sense another presence drawing near. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Primrose, and H'aanit's gaze told the dancer to come closer. The huntress could tell that there was something more on Primrose's mind, and she wanted to do what she could to hear the other girl out on everything that plagued her. 

Primrose understood that H'aanit was listening as she fell into pace with her companion. Her hand was dancing around the hilt of her dagger, and her eyes were darker than H'aanit had seen them since Stillsnow. "The sheer nerve of that man!" Primrose muttered, her voice overwhelmed with rage. 

"Thou canst sayen that again," H'aanit agreed with a nod. She didn't know much about what happened with Helgenish and Primrose before she joined the party, but H'aanit could put the pieces together well enough to understand that it was nothing good. She wasn't about to push it any more than she absolutely had to. Primrose had shared as much as she was willing to, and H'aanit didn't want to make her uncomfortable in asking for more. 

Primrose's gaze was still filled with rage, something that only continued to feed H'aanit's suspicions that the Helgenish issue ran much deeper than Primrose was willing to say openly. "Consider yourself warned, H'aanit. Stay well clear of self-centered men," she said, her voice as dark as it was sage. 

H'aanit nodded as she adjusted Natalia's bags over her shoulder. "I have little experiences with menfolk. Aside from my master, of course," H'aanit explained. "But thou hast experience in abundance. Praye tellen me of their ways."

Primrose scoffed, her anger still clear as could be. "I suppose I know a thing or two," she remarked under her breath. She thought for a moment before adjusting herself, her fingers still dancing dangerously close to her dagger's hilt. "Alright. There are two kinds of men in this world. Those who devote time to their trade or calling, sparing little time for women..." Primrose glanced over to Cyrus and Olberic at that. Cyrus was examining Hägen from afar, murmuring something to himself about the curiosities of the direwolf. Olberic's hand rested on the handle of the sword he had received from Brand as he stared firmly ahead. 

Primrose glanced away from them a moment later, her eyes following the path that Nathan had taken when he fled from Hägen and Linde. "And those that have little time for work, but plenty for pleasure," she finished, her voice cruel and twisted with all the rage in the world. 

H'aanit started by looking over to Cyrus and Olberic, a small frown on her face. Neither one of them was particularly focused on the conversation she was sharing with Primrose, not that she was surprised by that. She cared greatly for them the same way she did for Therion and Alfyn--both of whom seemed to fall into the same category as Cyrus and Olberic--but she couldn't ever imagine herself with them romantically. H'aanit didn't care much for romance herself. She hadn't thought about it much before, but she didn't think that she would ever find herself at their sides in terms of romance. 

As for men like Nathan, H'aanit knew already that she was never going to have any interest in people like that. She could already say that conclusively even without needing to ask Primrose for more details. Judging by the way the dancer's expression had contorted into an enraged snarl, H'aanit could tell that she had more than enough experience with the second group and was easily able to conclude that they weren't people to be trifled with. 

H'aanit shook her head as she looked up to meet Primrose's gaze. "If that is my choice, I shall taken neither," she remarked simply. She adjusted the bags in her grasp effortlessly, seeing Cyrus speaking to Olberic out of the corner of her eye. 

Primrose let out a small laugh at that. "Why, H'aanit, it would seem you don't need my counsel after all," she smiled. She was quiet for a long time before her fingers found a home on her dagger once again. "If anything ever happens... You know where to find me."