Golden Swords

Got to go again

Her mind felt numb from boredom. She quietly planned her escape to meet Fox for her hunting lesson. Dastar looked better. She felt bad to leave him again, but also strangely excited to be meeting her hunter again.  Wait. Her hunter? Where had that come from? When had he been her hunter? The hunter. Yes. That was safe. Plus, the hunter had literally no emotions. There was no way that there could be anything between them. Anyway, her heart belonged to Dastar. This whole discussion was ridiculous.

She slipped out of bed as the moon slid down from the sky. It was 2 in the morning, she had two hours two escape the manor and get to the ruin. She slipped over to the window, only to find it locked. He'd locked the windows? Man was overreacting. She slipped off her shoes, easing open the bedroom door. The guard was standing a twenty paces down the hallway, not alert but unfortunately not asleep either. Every footstep sounded louder than a gunshot, the tiniest scrape of the door opening like a dagger to her heart. But the guard appeared oblivious, never turning away from staring out away from her and Dastar's room.

She hid in a secretive alcove partially hidden by a tapestry, now only 10 metres from the guard. She stood, mostly hidden in the shadows, until her muscles began to cramp and it felt like every breath she took must surely alert him to her presence. She had no idea how much time passed, but eventually he looked around him, not spotting her, and set off down the passageway. She shadowed him on cat-light feet, the noise she made masked by the soft clanking of his armour.

He reached the guard-post, where an older man was strapping his sword on. They exchanged a few words before the younger guard headed off towards the barracks, and the older one came towards Mycena, with the intention of going to the lookout spot she and the young guard had just vacated. She had a sudden panicked moment, as he turned out of the guard room and straight along the corridor towards her, but his sword fell from its scabbard (He'd strapped it on upside down, to be honest it was 2am) and in the confusion she managed to slip behind another tapestry, Thank the gods Dastar favoured them so much. The guard passed with heavy footfalls and she held her breath, biting her lip. It was bleeding lightly and the taste of iron filled her mouth. She shivered softly and slipped out into the hallway as the guard reached his position and stopped. She moved down the corridor, light as a ghost, down the servant's staircase and out into the wide open night.

Stars glowed above her. An owl hooted. She stood for a few minutes, looking up, as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. The heavens were strung with fairy lights and she remembered her past days, remembered how the stars had lit her path as she had run and danced and battled her way across the moon-dark world. She set off, stepping lightly through the grasses, holding her arm across her face to deflect branches. The night clung to her hair and clothes, softer than daylight.

The sky was slightly lighter as she reached the ruin, Fox was already up and strapping on his bow, checking arrows in his quiver. She gave Ebony a quick bucket of oats, pulling her bow and quiver from the shelf nearby. She belted on her knife and slipped the remaining arrows in her quiver, settling it slung onto her back.

She followed Fox through the dark woods, wondering where on earth they were going. It was still too dark to see properly, but the hunter lead her with unerring ease. She tried not to trip over branches. Finally he gave an explanation, "We're going to a lake a few miles from here. The waterfowl will give you good shooting practice. They will all be on the water early in the day, that's why I got you up so early. Then, if there's time, we'll practice some tracking some deer in the woods." She nodded gratefully. 

When they reached the lake the sun was almost peeping over the land. The sky was infused with pomegranate juice and mist coiled over the lake, creating an ethereal scene. Fox stopped her with an outstretched arm, and they knelt to observe the geese. They were straggling out across the lake, some in small bunches, others alone. They were beautiful animals, with strong necks and shining feathers, she felt almost bad to be killing them. But needs must be met, and she'd eaten goose all her life. Eating it was no different from killing it, and if you can't bring yourself to kill an animal, you shouldn't really be eating it.