THE RED HUNTER

Chapter 21. Hellishly cryptic

Unexpected reunions are often a collision of past and present, with nearly unchanged faces masking the ghosts of unspoken changes, silently testifying to the passage of time.

Aevad ran towards Oryan, embracing her in a rib-breaking hug. The girl sobbed profusely, lifting her head every so often just to make sure she was hugging the person she thought to be. Oryan reciprocated the hug but her whole body was tense, her eyes wide and brows knit together. She glanced over Aevad's shoulder and saw Evandyr with a similar expression.

The girls broke free from the hug and looked at each other silently for a few seconds.

Aevad was almost a head shorter than Oryan. Her skin still soft, her lips still red, her hair still golden. Blue round eyes were filled with tears that ran down her flushed face. She wore a pale pink dress with white lacing on the sides, the wide scooped neckline highlighting her collarbones. She looked like a princess. On the other hand, Oryan wore a white linen blouse under a brown leather bodice, and black wool pants around which were strapped daggers. Not so princess-like.

"Is this really you?" Aevad's voice was honey, bloomed roses, a summer breeze.

Oryan beamed and nodded. "It really is me."

"By the gods... How?" She brought her small hands to Oryan's face as if touch would prove she wasn't a ghost.

"I could ask you the same."

"I'm sorry to interrupt this moment, but how do you two know each other?" Evandyr had approached a few steps and still carried a profoundly confused expression.

"Later, Ev," Oryan shushed him without breaking contact with Aevad's eyes. "Come with me, we have so much to catch up on." That was putting it lightly.

On Tyr's back, the girls reached the lake shortly after. They sat on the grass as the afternoon sun covered the meadow with a weak gold light. The pink dress spread in a cloud around Aevad, her hands placed on her lap, her back straight, the wind playing with her hair. Oryan sat next to her, her legs stretched and ankles crossed. She grabbed an apple from the basket she had dropped on the street sooner, unsheathed a dagger and peeled it. Oryan glanced at Aevad, who looked at her in surprise and glanced at the daggers strapped around Oryan's thighs.

"What?"

Aevad lifted her gaze to meet Oryan's eyes and shrugged. "I only now realised you are a Hunter too. I was not expecting to see you wrapped in blades."

"That is a bit dramatic," Oryan laughed and offered her the peeled apple. "So... How long have you been with Ev?" That was definitely not what she wanted to ask, but the words came out more easily than the ones she yearned for.

Aevad smiled. The same innocent smile from eleven years ago. She looked different but, at the same time, didn't.

"We met the last time you were at Tírna Mago, four months ago, I believe."

"We just officially became part of the Order of the Hunters, and it's forbidden for us to..." Oryan began.

"I know. That's okay," Aevad smiled. "And I'm glad you survived those years of training. I've heard it's a rather ruthless course."

"It is, but I managed alright," Oryan smiled back.

Silent fell between the two, and, somehow, it unnerved Oryan. She had so much to ask but her mouth could not bring itself to utter the words. Instead, she took a bite out of the apple to give her mouth something to do since talking was, apparently, not an option.

"How come you became a Hunter?" Aevad's gaze met hers.

Here we go.

She gulped down a bite of the apple to help push down the lump in her throat. It didn't work.