Timeless

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter 17

"Wake up, Laddie," Shaw shook Austin's shoulder. The lad groaned, rolled over, and kept snoring. Shaw blew out a breath. He'd heard from his officers that the lad was a hassle to rouse. Shaw threw back the covers, hauled the lad over his shoulder, then set him on his feet at the foot of the bed.

"What the hell!" Austin screeched, his voice cracking severely. Shaw plucked his clothes from his trunk and thrust them into the boy's chest.

"Get dressed," Shaw ordered, kicking his boots towards him as well.

"Why should I? And what are you doing in here, pervert?" Austin used the clothing Shaw had handed him to cover his nudeness. "What, my sister's not enough for you? Maybe you should go find the other one, I'm sure she'd be happy to give it up–" Shaw slapped the boy across the face, not very hard, just enough to sting, to get his attention, and to get him to shut up. Austin looked shocked.

"Ne'er," Shaw put his finger in the lad's face. "ne'er talk about yer sisters like that. Fiona is a good woman; and Ri . . ." Shaw sighed. "Yer sister's done more for ye than ye'll e'er ken. She deserves yer respect. Beyond that, she's verra dear tae me, so don't ye dare speak of her like that in front of me." Shaw threw a heavy cloak over Austin's shoulder, repeated his order of get dressed, and left his chamber. Barely five minutes passed before Austin emerged, fully dressed and fidgeting with the cloak around his neck. "Come," Shaw placed a hand on the lads' shoulder and steered him down the stairs, through the Great Hall, out into the courtyard, and towards the stables.

It was early morning. The sun had barely begun to rise behind the mountains, not even visible yet. The only sign of its approach was the bluish-grey light that tinged the sky, making the stars fade behind it. The stable master had done as Shaw asked, saddling Conall and equipping him with Shaw's bow, as well as a smaller one he'd retrieved from the armory. Shaw mounted Conall, then pulled Austin up behind him. The castle gate was opened, and Shaw spurred the stallion on across the pure white, snow covered countryside.

An hour later, Austin regained his courage to speak.

"Where are we going?"

"Hunting," Shaw replied plainly. "Guy time,"

"Why?"

"Because ye're alone. Ye've isolated yerself from yer family, ye refuse tae speak tae them beyond insults and childish barbs. The only friends ye may hae had, ye've alienated by talking them into running away from home in a juvenile attempt tae prove yer maturity, which only succeeded in achieving the opposite.

"Yet as much as ye've hurt them, yer sisters still care for ye, they worry about ye. Ri made me promise tae protect ye, so I'm keeping that promise. I canna stop ye from making bad decisions, but I can give ye the skills tae survive the consequences. Ye want tae be a man? Fine. I'll teach ye tae be a man." Shaw pulled Conall to a stop beside a stream that hadn't frozen just yet, dismounted, then offered his hand to Austin in assistance.

"What are you going to do?" The lad was frightened.

"I'll nay hurt ye," Shaw promised. Austin still didn't take his hand. Shaw shrugged, pulled a rolled parchment from his saddlebag, then measured out thirty paces, trudging through the knee-deep snow. He unrolled and stuck the parchment to the nearest tree. When he turned and started back, Austin was struggling to lower himself to the ground.

The massive horse paid him no mind, stepping forwards and lowering his great head to nibble at some grass exposed next to the stream. Austin wobbled in the saddle, then slipped and fell, landing on his arse in the heavy snow with a gasped.