Love At First Kingdom

The Fae

My breathing steams infront of me as I pull the bow up to eye level. Focus... Focus.... Focus Alexander. My teeth grind together as my mothers voice nags in my head. my knuckles crack with my fingers as they shift. The doe in my sight looks up and around, her feet move unsteadily and teeth grind the flower she found in her teeth.

My breath hisses out slowly through my nose as i the leather gloves grip tighter on the arrow pulled high behind my head. A smile pulls at the corner of my mouth and i let it go.  It flies silently and deadly through the air.

My smile grows as I stand from my spot and run through the knee high snow. My toes are numb and fingers screaming  to  find warmth. My fingers run through the warm fur as i    start to skin it there and thoroughly. "Perfect...." i muse out loud. I stand and throw it over my shoulder.  The snow crunches like Styrofoam under my feet.

Halfway back home my steady steps stop and ears search around me. Footsteps.  Faint like a baby's breathing, but there. I drop the deer and stop ears training around me as my fingers crawl slowly to my belt." Who are you?..." i muse softly as i look around.  Theres a low growl the vibrates all my senses. Dangerdanger dangerdangerdanger . They scream at me.

The moon light filters through the tress like a soft glow. Ice cold blue eyes glare at me froma bush and the owener stalks forward slowly. Wolf. My eyes widen and i stagger  back.

His teeth pull back to show sharpened yellow teeth. His paws, as big as my face, show claws as big as my pitiful knife. What looks like a smile curls into his lips as he circles around me. Those sharp eyes keep looking at my deer. My food. My money.  I give my own fierce growl and eyes flash warning.

A chuckle comes from him, but its so low it comes from everywhere. I shiver and panic flashes in my eyes. Thats all he needs to launch himself at me. My knife brings itself up and i stab it through his head. His eyesmeet with mine and a howl echos through the air.

Those eyes... they look intelligent.  Like an owl's eyes who's seen too much.  That light quickly fades like the moon behind a cloud.  I back up quickly  and take my kill as i run. I run and run and run.  I dont slow down until i see home.

The small log cabin infront of me smells of  bread and potato soup. I kick the snow off my shoes and let myself in.

"Alexander!" A little ball of curls tackles me. I laugh and drop the deer as i pick her up and spin her around

"Peggy!"i sing  and kiss her cheeks as she giggles. Angelica and eliza glare at me.  Their fine clothing glimers in the light  and peggys dress folds her in layers of warmth ." What?"

"Did you go to town this morning?" Angelica's tone is sharp and eyes like knives. I frown and think back to this morning.  Eggs... bread... coat... deer. I have all those.

"No why?"i cock my head and wrap a blanket around peggy.

"There was a meeting in town. Everyone was supposed to get one of these  to prove theyre not fae." She hokds up her wrist , an iorn bracelet jingles and shines in the light .

"Oh... i was hunting." I shrug and motion to the deer. Eliza sniffs.

" You we're supposed to get us our paints. " She scoffs.  Her eyes looked like emotionless voids.

"Im so sorry. I... got distracted. "I huff and teeth grind like that wolf's. The wolf... i frown and shake my head.

"You take that deer to town in the morning.  We need the money." Angelica sighs. I open my mouth to arguee but look down. They're family. I sigh and nod.

"Alright.." the two girls smile andgo to their rooms.

That night, as i fell asleep, i couldnt shake the words that kept echoing in my head. It made my spine shiver and eyes dart away from whatever i was looking at in  the moment.

The wolf was Fae.