“What?” she coaxed.
Nate looked at her very seriously. “I want to humiliate him like he humiliated my family.”
Kiara scrunched up her eyebrows in puzzlement. “What did he do?”
“That’s none of your business. The Deceiver has been out to get me for a long time. He wants me to join him or something, but I always refuse.” Nate settled down to let his eyes fixate on the cave’s opening and the rain that was still dumping outside.
Kiara sat back on her heels and stared at him compassionately. He was trying to be so strong, when his heart must have been breaking.
“Do you want to tell me about your family?” she asked.
“Not particularly, but I might as well since you won’t leave the subject alone… I’m an only child… My mom died in childbirth. My dad was a blacksmith and armor maker for knights.”
“Where is your father now?”
“I have no clue, but I don’t care either.”
“Why don’t you care?”
“Because, like I said before, he might as well be dead to me.”
Silence fell once again as Kiara tried to think of more questions.
“Where were you born?” she asked.
Nate sighed and pursed his lips, as if he didn’t like the answer he was about to give - and with good reason. “In Aleph.”
“Really?” Kiara perked up excitedly, “Why didn’t you tell me? Did we know each other when we were kids?”
“No, we didn’t and I wish you would stop asking that. I didn’t stay there long.”
“Oh…” Her buzz was killed, “So, where did you move after you left Aleph?”
“We had to relocate to Deceiver’s territory.”
“Why? Did your dad start working for Deceiver or something?”
“You ask too many questions,” he said with irritation, trying to sit up, but crumbling under the pain that shot through his body.
Kiara watched him quietly and hugged her knees tightly to her chest and watched his face wrinkle in discomfort. “You should probably get some sleep and rest. Remember our agreement?”
“Oh, you and your stupid female ideas. I’ll be fine. I don’t need to sleep for another few hours.”
Kiara glared at him. He caught sight of that and rolled his eyes again. “Fine, I’ll sleep… After we’ve eaten something. That meat out there is probably soiled by now. You need to fix more. There should be some scraps left in the bag,” he said, gesturing to the sack. Kiara nodded and began collecting all of the dry firewood that she could find in the cave, which didn’t amount to much.
By the time she had the stones in place, the meat out and prepared and the fire burning, she had a feeling it was going to take a while. The little pathetic flame that flickered under the meat was so small and kept threatening to go out from the cold wind that would occasionally blow into the cave. Kiara positioned herself between the fire and the cave opening, so as to protect their makeshift stove.
As she elevated the meat over the fire, Nate gazed lazily at her, his eyes drooping under the heaviness of sleep.
“You’ll make a good cook for that knight one day,” he said tiredly.
Kiara looked over in shock at the oddness of that statement. “Yeah… I guess,” she replied miserably.
“Tell me something,” he began, “If Malcolm wants you to get married to this guy, why don’t you want to?”
The question had a simple answer. “Because I don’t love him. I want to marry for love, not obligation.”
“Do you have someone besides him that you love, that you’re wanting to marry?”
That question was not so easy. Kiara’s lips parted a little in thought, but Nate’s gaze didn’t waiver away from her confused eyes.
“I uh…” Kiara really didn’t have anyone she loved or wanted to marry. As far as she considered it, she never thought of marrying anyone. She was content with staying with her father, brother and Eshean. She didn’t want to marry, but she had to. It was her duty and responsibility. Her heart told her to turn Sir Claude down, but her mind said she needed to go through with it. Her heart was saying something else as she looked at Nate’s shirtless body, but her mind made her refuse. She couldn’t listen to just one or the other. She felt like she was torn two ways and that she just might rip apart.
“I… No, I don’t love anyone else. I really don’t want to marry anyone. I just want to be out here in the open space… Kind of like you. I want to live free, do what I want, when I want and answer to no one but my heart… But, my heart doesn’t know what’s good for it,” she turned away and stared into her lap. “I have to do what my father wishes. I love him too much to disobey him.”
Nate was speechless. He was probably hoping she would have had a different answer, but what she gave was hope enough. “Living out here in the wild isn’t what’s good for you, though. You need to stay in Aleph… I’m not going to say marry the knight, but I think you should follow your heart and marry someone you’d actually have a good life with.”
Kiara was surprised at how philosophical that sounded coming from Nate. She sighed and looked up to the meat, noticing it was done. She had nothing else to say on the matter as she let the meat cool down away from the fire.
Once it was eatable, she handed the meat - still on the stick - to Nate. He reached out to take it, but it seemed the effort to lift his arm was too hard and painful. Kiara could see the look on his face as he tried to grip the stick, so she immediately took it back and crawled over to sit next to him. She held the meat up to his mouth and he ate it that way until it was all gone. Kiara felt like a nurse or a maid.
“Could you get me some water?” he requested. Kiara wordlessly picked up their water bag and let a little liquid seep into his mouth. While she let him drink, she began to wonder if he was faking it so she would pamper him like this.
When he was done, she put the canteen away and scooted a few feet away to watch the rain fall outside as the fire died down.
“So, why don’t you marry if you’ve had so many girlfriends?” she asked, not looking to him.
“Because I never found the right one. Same as you, I’m not in love with anyone,” he replied.
For some reason, Kiara felt offended by that statement. Or, maybe not offended, but she sure felt something when she heard those words. It was as if her heart was silently hoping that he would be in love with her and possibly want to marry her… But, then wouldn’t that mean that she would want to marry him?
Maybe deep down, she felt something for him. She knew she felt something when he said her name. It was hard to explain, but she got a rush out of him saying her name. She loved the sound of it coming past his lips. No one could say her name like he could.
And what was with the attraction she had to all of those muscles? Was that love? Or was it something darker and more seductive than that? But, didn’t love always start out as physical attraction?
No, no, no, no! Kiara shook the idea out of her head. She was just homesick and Nate is the only man around her, so it’s obvious she would think she’s attracted to him. It was just a trick. She couldn’t possibly be falling for a rogue. She was a princess. Princesses don’t fall in love with peasants. She had to love a knight or baron or prince or someone of noble birth. There was no way she could love a rogue… right?
Kiara took a deep breath and tried to clear her mind. “Nate?” she said softly, not turning around. No answer. “Nate?”
She glanced over her shoulder and saw he was fast asleep and snoring. She giggled. He looked nice when he was sleeping. She stared at him warm-heartedly and shook her head with pity. Poor guy must have been exhausted. She didn’t plan to wake him up in the morning. He probably needed to sleep a good twelve hours if they could afford to waste that much time.
Kiara turned back to face the twilight and she watched the rain, listening to the roaring thunder, hoping her family was all right at home. She didn’t know what she was feeling for Nate, but she had to let it pass befor
e her and Sir Claude would be wed. It wouldn’t be good for her to be still captivated by some rogue when she had to be married to a knight. She knew the feeling would pass. She just needed to give it time. And Nate needed to stop taking his shirt off.
Chapter 8
“I can’t believe you let me sleep in until past noon!” Nate ranted as they made their way back onto the trail, being careful to avoid the hungry bears that were ravaging the bandits in the clearing.
“You were tired! What was I supposed to do?” Kiara cried in reply, waving her arms as dramatically as he was.
“You should have woken me up at dawn!” Nate stopped and turned around to point an accusing finger in her face with just as much fire in his eyes as were in hers, “Because of you and your stupid woman ideas about health and rest, we’re way behind schedule!”
“Well, excuse me!” Kiara retorted, putting her hands on her hips and glaring back at him, “At least I’m not the one with the busted open side. You needed the rest since you lost so much blood! And you said so yourself that you hadn’t slept in a long time. And thanks to me and my stupid woman ideas, you can walk without stumbling. And now, your eyes don’t have huge dark circles around them. You should be thanking me instead of scolding me!”
“I was just fine yesterday and I could walk straight.”
“Yeah, before you had to fight off all those bandits and almost got yourself killed. I had to carry you to that stinking cave before you collapsed!”
“I don’t remember you carrying me, but I did kill most of those men back there. And if it wasn’t for me killing them and using up all my energy to fight them, you’d probably be dead by now! So, you should be thanking me!”
“Ha!” Kiara busted out. “If it wasn’t for me, you’d be dead too! With all the blood you lost, you could have died last night from that wound.”
“I’ve bled a lot more than that without bandaging anything up at all and I’m still alive. So, I would have been fine!” Nate crossed his arms angrily and stared down at the stubborn girl.
“No, you wouldn’t have! I covered your back yesterday with all the shooting I did. You were nothing without me! You could never have taken on that many bandits at once.”
Nathan’s pride was hurt - because he knew she was right - but he wasn’t about to take that with silence. “All the shooting you did? You probably only picked off five of those guys! I was the one that killed most of them!”
“You want to go back there and count all the arrows that are sticking out of them? I won’t doubt if there are at least twenty!” Kiara suggested, pointing back at the clearing, where the growling and grunting of the wild animals could be heard devouring the flesh.
Nate wrinkled his nose at the idea and looked from Kiara’s hateful stare and the clearing in the distance. Finally, he just let out a growl, and turned around to keep walking, mumbling about stupid women, arrows, blood and bears.
Kiara felt she won the fight and followed behind, but grudgingly.
“We’re still behind half a day of traveling and it’s all your fault!” he called out from the front.
“It’s half your fault, then!” she hollered in return.
“Nope. It’s all your fault.”
“Half yours.”
“All yours.”
“Half yours.”
“Shut up!” Nate screamed, just about ready to slug the girl across the country.
Kiara pouted and crossed her arms, trailing behind him in silence. She wanted to hate him so badly. More than anything, she wanted to rip all those bandages off that she had applied the night before and let him bleed out so the bears could find him. What happened to the man who admitted that he was wrong? She liked him better.
Nate was in no better disposition. He envied the men who were being eaten back there in the clearing. At least they wouldn’t have to put up with a loud-mouthed, stubborn, irritating woman like Kiara.
“I bet you’re glad about this delay,” Kiara mumbled spitefully, talking about Nate, but not wishing for him to actually respond.
But, he did hear her and he turned back around to face her. “What did you say?” he asked, thinking it was something offensive or insulting.
“I said ‘I bet you’re glad about this delay’,” she repeated rudely, sticking her nose out like a child fighting her sibling.
“I am far from happy about this! I thought my yelling was a sign enough that I’m mad!” Nate stepped forward, towering over Kiara. She stood her ground and stared defiantly up at her guide.
“I can tell your mad, but I know you’re still glad that we got delayed half a day.”
“And why would you say that?”
Kiara softened and smiled coyly at him. “Because, if you hadn’t gotten hurt and needed me to bandage you up, you wouldn’t have had the pleasure of me taking your shirt off and hand feeding you that meat and water last night.”
Nate was suddenly caught off guard by the sensual tone in her voice. He stuck his fingers in his pant pockets and looked down at her, puzzled. “Really? You thought I enjoyed that?”
“I could see the pathetic, puppy-dog look on your face. You loved every minute of it. And I knew you were faking being too hurt to pick up the food. Just because your side is injured doesn’t mean you can’t use your arms,” she said, holding up her fingers and waving them in the space between them.
“Well, the joke’s on you because I was faking that, too.” Nate abruptly turned back around and continued down the trail.
Kiara, thinking she was about to lose this argument, ran up to his side and tried to act mad that he was lying. “You weren’t faking it!” she accused.
“Yes, I was, actually. You think I’d be even remotely interested in a little homely girl like you?”
Kiara’s jaw dropped. “Oh, no he didn’t!” she thought.
“You’re lying! I see the way you look at me sometimes!”
“You mistake that look of disgust for attraction? Wow, aren’t you the sheltered one?” he taunted, sending a sly smile her way and stopping once more to face her, “But, look who’s talking! You give me those looks all the time. How naughty of you, princess. Looking at me with goo-goo eyes while you’re engaged.”
“I do not look at you like that! Take it back!” Kiara said, hitting his shoulder as hard as she could. He only gave her a sideways glance and cocked an eyebrow at her.
“Are you serious? Is that as hard as you can hit?”
Kiara, growing more angry by the second, finally coiled her right arm and swung an exaggerate punch towards his face.
Without even flinching, Nate grabbed her wrist with his left hand and held it there, trying to prove a point. His grip wouldn’t loosen. She let her left fist come flying at him, but he grabbed that one too. Now, she was trapped, her arms immovable and at the mercy of a killer.
Nate only looked down at her with a smirk, as if he had won already. Kiara had enough. She swiftly brought up her foot straight into a particular soft spot between Nate’s legs. She may have been sheltered, but she did have seven brothers.
Kiara grinned wickedly as Nate coiled backward, releasing both her hands and reaching down to where she had kicked. She didn’t kick hard, because she still needed him to lead the way to the mountain pass, but she did hit hard enough to cause him some pain.
He grunted and groaned, staggering backwards, hunching over with his eyes squeezed shut and face wrinkled. Kiara crossed her arms over her chest and watched him slowly recover.
“Why did you do that?” Nate moaned, putting his hands on his knees, still bending over. He refused to look up to her.
“Because you had me cornered. Take back what you said about me and my looks!” she demanded.
Nate took a few deep, long breaths, then stood up straight very awkwardly like his back was too stiff.
“Will you wake me up at dawn each morning so we can make it back to Aleph before we’re fifty years old?” Finally, he lifted his eyes, which were still squinting in pain. Kiara fo
und it hard to argue with such pretty blue eyes, even if there was an arrogant brain behind them. She never could stand anyone looking hurt.
She sighed and stepped closer, feeling somewhat compassionate. “Fine.”
“Then, I take back what I said about you being homely.”
“You need some help?” Kiara offered as he began to try and walk back on the path.
“Nope!” he replied sharply, his knees shaking a little. Kiara glanced down to the spot where she had hit and smirked childishly. She could tell he was just putting on a brave face, but it was a little funny. She regretted nothing.
“But, admit it, you were faking being too hurt to feed yourself last night, weren’t you?” she said, coming up alongside him.
“You know, the more you talk, the more time we lose getting away from those bears. Once they’re done with the bandits, they’ll be wanting fresher meat to play with.”
“You’re avoiding the question, so you were faking it!” Kiara shrieked with delight. Nathan only let his mouth curl into a resentful frown and rolled his eyes as he limped more noticeably along the path. She saw that look and felt like skipping for joy, knowing she was right all along.
The next hour, Kiara relented the fighting and trotted safely behind him, watching him limp a little under the pain of the gash in his side. She knew it must have been from his wound because he had to have recovered from the early blow between his legs.
Kiara felt sympathy for him, though she couldn’t help but feel responsible somehow. She did cause a lot of trouble for him.
After some time, they were climbing an extremely steep hill and Kiara could smell something peculiar. It was an odor similar to what she had smelt back before the bog, but stronger and more distinct now. She wondered why that could be and above all, she hoped they weren’t about to enter into lands that looked like the Grey they had just left behind. Kiara enjoyed the fresh air and green grass.
The Princess and Her Rogue Page 13