Wicked Hunt

Chapter Ten, Part IV

Halle: Alone

They stood like that for a long time, watching as the sun melted and seeped below the mountain line. The trees of the Shadow Wood cast long twirling shadows on the ground in front of them. Halle stared deliberately at the long rows of endless forest, willing the red eyes to appear once more, but it was to no avail. Neither the eyes nor the stag came to fruition.

"I expect your brother and his dog will be readying to leave within the hour," Bruce stated, and Halle tried to hide the jolt his voice had brought within her. The air had been silent for so long, unencumbered by speech that she had almost forgotten he was there.

"Yes." Her voice was dry from misuse. She cleared her throat.

"Come, Mother, I'll walk you downstairs." He held out his arm. She could have been a baby then. Stomp her foot and march past him, flinging his arm away in disgust. But that had been Halle of Rodantha. There was no room for tantrums here in stoic, harsh Verlic. Halle of Verlic would never behave that way. Proudly, she took hold of his elbow. Bruce smiled slightly, a whisper of the menacing one from before. She was glad to surprise him. Halle couldn't decide if he was handsome or not.

"I didn't mean to overstep," Halle said as they descended the stone stairs.

"Yes, you did," Bruce pointed out. Halle clenched her jaw.

"Just as I don't know you apparently," Halle simmered, "you don't know me."

"So?" Bruce asked bemusedly.

"Therefore, you can stop telling me how I feel," she hissed, letting him go and marching forward as soon as they reached the last step. Clive had just opened a door at the other end of the hall, and Halle did not falter once she saw him. Instead, she darted to him gripped his arm now.

"I want to see my brother," she informed him coldly, focusing on the indentation of his chin. He took her hand, and she remembered the harsh way he had grabbed her earlier. She should have been trembling at his touch, but she pushed the thought away quickly.

This will be your life now, she told herself. Cold. Cruelty. Fear.

"They're out in the courtyard," Clive said into her hair as she led him out toward the entrance hall. If she kept moving, it forced anything else besides the destination to flee from her mind.

"Open the door," Clive barked, and the guards nearly tripped over themselves to do his bidding. Halle released her husband and nearly ran to Adrian, who was checking the saddle on his horse.

For a wild moment, Halle considered abating her bravery. She thought of grabbing hold of him and shaking him; revealing the brutality she had suffered at the hands of her husband. Telling him whatever deal Dominic had made was not worth it. She couldn't do it. She couldn't face the unending cruelty. The small outburst he had seen of Clive that morning was a mere taste of the pain he had and would inflict upon her. She wanted to melt and have his strong arms around her to protect her. She saw Hector come around Adrian's mount, an easy smile on his face. She wanted to laugh with him, have him ease her mind with inside jokes and simple, shared memories.

"Everything all right, Hal?" Hector asked, the smile slipping from his face. She swallowed, looking down at her boots. He knew something was wrong, they both did. They could sense it. All she had to do was give in. All she had to do was tell them.

Become the child they think you are already. Be weak.

The woman she raised her head to meet Hector's eyes with was someone she did not know. A cold, calculating woman who knew what she wanted, was willing to sacrifice unspeakable things to obtain and keep her independence. This was a woman who could survive. She did not seek the pity of these men who thought she was a child.