Kae didn’t care about any of that. She wanted to bring her new friend to meet Ma’trii. An armed guard at the gate was hardly an obstacle. The huntress peeked around the guard, and looked out past the gate. The Imperial Highway stretched out past the gate, paved with flat stones that made the journey easy on wagons and carts, and horses’ hooves. Not far from the gate itself was the start of the Kilrough Forest’s tree line. Kae estimated it to be a quick sprint to the thick trees, and the two of them could run that distance easily.
“Sorry, I think she won’t do that.” Kae said, stepping close to the guard and trying to peer into his helmet through the closed slit.
“Excuse me?” the guard replied indignantly.
Kae opened her mouth to reply, but instead kicked the guard swiftly between the legs. The guard stiffened and pitched forward, a high-pitched squeal escaping from his helmet. He fell to his knees, hands between his legs. Before Loren could rush forward and help, Kae grabbed the princess’s hand and ran towards the tree line, laughing the whole way.
Loren was dragged along the first few steps, but caught her footing and ran full sprint beside Kae. “You did not have to do that!” she shouted, a crisp breeze blowing through her hair.
“Yeah!” Kae replied, still laughing. “But it was fun! Come on, through here!” The huntress slipped easily between the trees, and Loren followed.
The Kilrough Forest was dense, where tall trees with thick trunks grew side by side and so tall, Loren couldn’t see the tops no matter how far she craned her neck back. She crashed through the underbrush, making far too much noise compared to Kae. The huntress’ steps were light, and barely crunched the fallen leaves. She hopped from tree root to rock to ground with such ease and speed, Loren could barely keep up.
Soon, Loren lost Kae completely. She came to a stop, leaning on a tree and panting heavily. She glanced at her now aching feet, and regretted not changing from light leather shoes to something sturdier before they left the castle. Perhaps the knee-high riding boots would have offered more protection from the tough, thorny branches of some of the bushes she crashed through. Loren sighed. At least she was wearing trousers.
“Tired already, princess?” Kae’s voice sounded, but Loren couldn’t see her. The princess stayed still, focusing on picking out the patchy gray colors of Kae’s hunting cloak. She heard Kae laugh. “Not there, princess. Over here.”
Kae suddenly dropped down from a branch overhead, and landed softly in front of Loren. With one swift movement, she took the bow from her back, nocked an arrow, and drew. She aimed it at Loren.
“Kae, what are you doing?” Loren said hesitantly, taking a step back.
“Oh, be quiet princess. Don’t spoil my shot.” Kae whispered, staring intently down the arrow and at something over Loren’s shoulder. The princess noticed the look, and was about to turn her head to look behind her, when Kae loosed the arrow. It flew by Loren, close enough to her face that she heard the whistle as it passed. She whipped away from it, twisting away from Kae. She saw the deer go down with the arrow through its eye.
The huntress smirked as she approached the deer and drew a large knife from her belt. “Calm down, princess. I did say I had to get dinner for Ma’trii, right? Help me haul this back to camp.” She said as she stabbed the deer in the throat, making sure it was properly dead.
Loren wondered why she was so shocked. She had gone on hunting trips with her father for years. Her mother was a master marksman, and usually fired hundreds of arrows in the training yard. Loren herself had hunted everything from deer to rabbit. But here she was, staring at the deer with wide eyes, watching in horror as blood spurted out of the neck wound, and its muscles twitched and spasmed.
“Are you scared?” Kae asked, watching Loren as she took a short roll of rope from her pouch. She tied the deer’s legs together. Her tone was simply curious. Not judgmental, but rather concerned.
“No, I’m…” Loren trailed off. She shook her head, trying to snap herself out of it. She crouched down to help Kae tie the ropes. “I’m fine. Sorry. Where do we bring this?”
“If you’re sure about that, princess.” Kae said with a shrug. She stood and hoisted the rope over her shoulder. “Markin’s is a ways down this way. Hope you don’t mind walking, princess.”
Loren said she didn’t mind walking, and that she wasn’t a pampered brat like Kae seemed to believe. She reassured the huntress that she could keep up with the best of them. It was only five minutes of walking through the thick forest and hauling a fully grown dead deer over rocks, overgrown tree roots, and uneven ground, and Loren started to silently take back her words.
Kae walked on, pulling the deer across the ground as she went, and seemed to not tire. The rocks and roots began to tear at the skin of the deer, causing it to snag on every other thing. Loren and Kae had to stop every few minutes to roll their catch over and get its skin unstuck from rocks.
“Please tell me we’re near.” Loren said after a while. Her feet were sore, her ankles felt shattered, and her arms and back were sore from helping pull the deer.
“You tired, princess?” Kae asked without missing a beat.
“Yes. Exhausted.” Loren admitted, but still
