Checkmate

Time Delay

It was as if time had stopped and everything had gone still in the forest.

Because I knew who it was, even before he stepped out from the shadows of the branches opposite me. 

Even if he hadn't spoken, I should have known.

Only one person could have found me, despite my scent suppressor. Only one person could have tracked me regardless of how well I covered my tracks. There was only one person I could never be invisible to.  

The one person, above all, that I did not want to see. 

My matemark had been burning for some time, only I'd been so focused on Jax and on staying hidden that I'd barely noticed. Now, I could feel its heat throbbing through me, overriding everything else. 

I was dimly aware that I'd been still too long, I had to react. But I had to force myself to move. To rise to my feet - excruciatingly slowly, it felt as if my muscles had become leaden and heavy - and raise my head enough to glimpse that it was indeed him, before glancing around, as if to scan the surroundings. Because I couldn't look at him. 

How was I going to look at him?

I dropped down into the branch below, and then the one below that, moving quietly and swiftly, till my feet touched the forest floor. The soft rustle from nearby indicating he was following suit. I turned away, partly to have an excuse to not look in his direction and partly to genuinely check for any others. I was on automatic, reacting as I would normally do, but inside was a different matter. 

This was the moment I'd dreaded. The moment I'd known was inevitable. 

I'd expected it to be overwhelming, intense, emotional and I'd expected those emotions to stick in my throat, make it difficult for me to speak, making it obvious that something was terribly, horribly, irretrievably wrong. 

"Your personal Guard?" My voice was calm, steady, normal even. I had to marvel at my own control.

But I still could not look his way. 

"Just outside the tribe's outpost." He said briefly, and I could feel those eyes, those ocean eyes that always got under my skin, on me, watching.

"That's an hour away." I commented, scanning one side of the small glade, even though my hearing and nose told me we were alone. Not even a wildling within striking distance. "They're not going to be happy with you."

"They're used to it." 

I nodded, my eyes moving slowly over the bushes, inhaling the familiar scents of the forest plants I knew so well, registering each one automatically, as if it was of the utmost importance, aware - so aware - that his eyes were watching me as intently. I continued my slow perusal of the area. I didn't have to look his way - I could feel him watching my every movement as I circled the glade. I took my time, delaying what I knew was coming, scanning with exaggerated care. I knew he hadn't moved, I could see him out of the corner of my eye, but he didn't speak, and neither did I. 

I didn't know what to say. 

The silence stretched between us, the sound of the wind in the trees seeming louder than usual in the glade. 

I had almost finished my slow circle now, back to the starting point, when he finally spoke.

"Are you done?" His voice was quiet, but I knew he knew exactly what I'd been doing.

"Doing my job." I replied, now looking down and making a show of returning my dagger to its wristguard.

"You're very thorough." And now there was a definite note of irony in his voice.