“Huh.” Kae muttered. “That was honest. I was expecting you to keep bluffing.”
“Why would I do that? I know when I’m tired.”
“Yeah, but you’re still helping. You haven’t dropped the rope yet.”
“I’m tired, my feet feel like they will fall off any second. But there’s still a job to do, I have to help you get this to your camp.”
Kae fell silent for a while, and hiked the rope higher on her shoulder. Loren began to wonder if she had insulted the huntress.
“You’re a very determined and honorable person.” Kae said.
“Thank you?”
“It’s not a compliment, princess. And we’re here.”
The huntress powered through some thorny bushes that made Loren’s skin sting with their touch, and hauled the deer through the gap. Loren found herself in a small clearing, with a tent made of roughly sewn together leathery hides standing in the middle. There was a fire pit, a tanning rack with a large patch of fur stretched over it, and as Loren looked around Kae’s camp, she found herself falling onto her back with a large gray wolf pinning her to the ground. The wolf had its paws on her shoulders, and growled loudly in her face, teeth bared.
Kae was about to drop the deer’s rope and rush to Loren’s aid and pull the wolf off, but Loren held a hand up to stop her. The princess was very calm for having a large adult wolf threatening to bite her face off. She smiled up at the wolf.
“Hello, Ma’trii. It’s nice to meet you.” Loren said calmly and clearly.
The wolf blinked, and stepped off Loren. He sat on the ground, looking curiously at her. Ma’trii growled softly, and nudged Loren with his nose.
“Kae’s told me all about you.” Loren said, sitting up. She didn’t dare make any sudden movement. “My name is Loren Cyrael, heir to the throne of Aldoran.”
Ma’trii looked between Loren and Kae, eyes wide in surprise. He turned back to Loren and brought his head low, nose brushing the ground in a low bow. Loren recognized the gesture, and bowed slightly back to the wolf, acknowledging him and showing him respect as well. Ma’trii got up and hopped, leaning low and excited, panting happily.
“He’s really happy.” Kae said with a laugh. “No one’s showed him that much respect ever.”
“Really? But he’s such a sweetheart!” Loren replied, roughly petting Ma’trii’s large head, her fingers disappearing into his thick gray fur.
“Well, most people, they look at Ma’trii and see a fear.” Kae said. As she did, Ma’trii’s mood plummeted and he let Loren hold the full weight of his head. “They see either a wild pack wolf, or Beastman born wrong, and so a monster.”
The huntress approached Ma’trii and crouched, and the wolf came into her outstretched arms. “He is a Beastman born wrong, but it’s not his fault.”
“I know.” Loren said simply, seeing the sad look in Ma’trii’s intelligent dark eyes. The wolf looked just like any other gray wolf in the forest or mountains, but he was smart and aware. He understood every word, and knew what the look humans and Beastmen alike gave them meant.
Kae moved on to haul the deer into the center of the camp. Ma’trii bounded up and tugged onto the rope to help. The two moved smoothly, with Kae cutting the ropes and setting out to skin the deer with the knife she used to kill it. Loren watched as Ma’trii held the deer’s legs down with his paws as Kae cut the skin from them. The princess couldn’t help but smile at the teamwork.
“Is there anything else I can help with? You’re almost done with the skinning.” Loren said.
“You can start by draping the pelt over that stick beside the tanning rack, princess.” Kae said without looking up.
Loren raised a brow. She should be used to Kae’s abrasiveness by now, as she had been listening to it all day. Still, the huntress was the only one to ever talk to Loren that way. It was an interesting change of perspective. She picked up the deer’s skin, opened it up and shook it out, and draped it over the stick to dry. The pelt that was still on the tanning rack looked to be a large rabbit’s, and still had tufts of brown hair.
“Hey, princess?” Kae said, still not looking up from her work. She started to cut the deer up into sections, tossing scraps for Ma’trii to catch in his mouth. “You didn’t tell Ma’trii to go sniff out your Beastman friend yet.”
“Well, yes. I just met him, it would be rude to order him to do something right away.” Loren replied.
“Thanks.” Kae patted Ma’trii with one hand. “You showed him respect, and even offered to help with the deer when you didn’t have to.”
“Is that bad?” Loren asked. “I want to help people as much as I can.”
“You’re doing great, princess.” Kae’s tone of voice never changed. Her compliments were delivered in the same flat, matter-of-fact tone as her sarcastic remarks. Loren couldn’t help but crack a smile that Kae couldn’t see. Ma’trii did, and he lied down, hiding his snout between his paws. There was an amused twinkle in his eye.
Chapter Six
Kae worked on the deer in silence, seemingly forgetting that Loren was there. Ma’trii helped when he could, hauling large chunks of deer and placing them on a table made of branches strung together with vine ropes. Smaller cuts of meat were hanging off low branches near the tent, and were probably the remains of the rabbit whose skin was stretched across the tanning rack.
“So, Kae…” Loren started, slowly and awkwardly. “What do you do with the meat?”
“Eat it, obviously.”
Loren sighed. “That’s not what I meant.”
“I know. We still have rabbit from yesterday, so we’ll eat that. The deer will hang and
