“Kiara!” Nate suddenly stopped and grabbed her by the shoulders, looking her sternly in the eyes. He looked mad for some strange reason. Kiara just stared and waited for him to say something else.
“Kiara, can you please be quiet? If you keep talking, it will scare away the deer and we will be out here all day looking for food and we’ll be behind another day. Do you understand me?” he said, sounding like he was holding back the urge to scream or scold her more severely. Kiara nodded quickly and clapped her hand over her mouth to show that she’ll be silent.
Nate sighed, let go of her shoulders and continued to follow the deer tracks. Kiara trailed behind, stepping as quietly as she could to help him in his search. She knew she must have been annoying him by talking so much, but she really didn’t mean to. She just wanted to talk and hear him talk back. She loved making conversation and she couldn’t see why Nate didn’t. It might have something to do with the fact that he’s a man, but that couldn’t be it. Back home, she would talk like that around her father, Justin and Eshean and they wouldn’t mind one bit. Or, if they did, they didn’t care to tell her. That would be one thing she would ask them when she returned to Aleph. In the meantime, Kiara tried to resist any outbursts of chattering and ignore the racing thoughts and questions that seemed to plague her mind while they were hunting.
They jogged like this for a few more minutes, weaving and turning in random directions, then Nate stopped once more and held out his hand to make Kiara stop. She did, and when she did, she looked ahead past a shallow clump of trees to see a very sunny clearing with rich green grass.
Nate tiptoed without a sound towards the clearing, drawing an arrow from the quiver that was slung around his shoulders. He stood just behind a tall, dark elm tree and carefully loaded the bow with the arrow, never taking his eyes off of the clearing.
Kiara followed suit, moving as gracefully and as stealthily as she could towards the tree. At first, she couldn’t see what was the big deal about the clearing. She had a feeling that the deer must have been in there somewhere, but upon scanning the entire area where the sun was shinning down she saw nothing.
Nate drew back the arrow and took aim towards the other side of the clearing to the tree line. Then, she saw it. Kiara spotted the most beautiful little doe she’d ever seen, grazing on a bit of grass from underneath a tree, pushing her nose under leaves and over turning them to chow down on the nutrients beneath.
Kiara just couldn’t help herself.
“Oh! She’s so beautiful!” Kiara whispered. Before she had even realized what she had done, the deer perked its head up and darted deeper into the forest at lightning speed. A tiny sliver of an arrow followed the animal, but it missed.
She was about to try and run after it through the clearing, but when she had become conscious of her actions, she halted just a few feet away from Nate. Kiara looked over her shoulder and cringed under the nasty look that he was giving her. His eyebrows were scrunched together at the center, his lips were tight and eyes glared angrily.
“I told you to keep your mouth shut!” he yelled, aggressively pointing his finger at her. She buckled under its weight. “I told you to be quiet! I even said ‘please’! What’s wrong with you?! You can never just be quiet for one minute, can you?! All you ever do is talk and irritate the living daylights out of me! Does your tongue ever get tired of jabbering on about your stupid home, family, friends, horse or whatever?! Can’t you just shut up for two minutes without exploding?! Is it too much to ask for a little cooperation from you?! Don’t you want to eat? Do you like being hungry? This is why you’re of no use to me out here! All you ever do is get in my way!”
Nate was obviously furious. He waved his arms around, threw the bow to the ground and screamed in Kiara’s face mercilessly. When he had finished, Kiara was trembling on her knees, arms encasing her stomach and face wrinkled like she was in pain. She’d never been yelled at so harshly in her life.
Then, the tears came. They were silent and subtle, but even Nate could see them glisten on her cheeks in the sparse sunlight. His face softened and he stood up straighter, looking down at her as she stared up at him shakily.
Kiara knew he was right. She really didn’t belong in these woods and she was of no help to him. She should have stayed back at the camp. It probably wouldn’t have been that long of a wait, but now they were without food again and it was all her fault. She let the quiet tears keep rolling down to her chin, but she finally had to bow her head in shame and sniffled back the urge to sob.
Nate didn’t mean to make her so upset. He inwardly cursed himself for exploding like that on her. She didn’t deserve it, even if she did ruin a perfectly good shot. He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, closing his eyes in an effort to calm down. He took a more relaxed pose and tightened his jaw, wishing he could rewind time and not have said those words so meanly. He was suddenly more mad at himself than at her. She whimpered and that just made it more painful for him. Such lovely eyes should never look so sad.
“I’m sorry... I shouldn’t have yelled.”
“No, you’re right. All I ever do is get in your way,” Kiara whined through her crying.
“No, you don’t get in my way all the time. I got myself in this mess, so if you’re ever in my way, it’s my own fault… I’m sorry for yelling. Will you forgive me?” Nate asked, looking back on her with guilt. He never liked to see anyone cry, especially if it was on account of him. He just had an awful temper and when he was at his wits end, there wasn’t much more he could do. His short fuse had gotten him into a lot of trouble before, but this is the first time he really regretted letting his anger show.
She nodded sheepishly, but didn’t utter a word. Nate pursed his lips together and offered his hand down to help her up. She accepted it, but she never looked up into his eyes. Nate gazed at her a little longer, seeing only a few more tears trickle down, even though he apologized. He took a deep breath, picked up his bow and stepped away before he had the chance to be overcome with sorrow as well.
Nate walked through the clearing and took a turn to go north, which he thought was the way the escaping doe went. Kiara followed timidly behind him, not daring to look up and she tried to be as quiet as possible for him. She refused to speak another word for the rest of the day if she could help it, or at least until they found food.
As they returned to the path and traveled north, Kiara took the sleeve of her shirt and wiped away the remains of the tears she had cried, leaving unsightly dirty streak marks on her cheeks and that curved under her jaw. They walked in silence for another half hour or so. The whole time, she never lifted up her head and Nate never looked back to see if she was following.
Nate finally came upon the animal again. He stopped Kiara as he had before and soundlessly prepared his bow. Kiara looked up to see the deer just about a quarter of a mile from their position, propping her two front legs up onto a tree trunk so that she could reach some green leaves on a low lying branch.
Nate pulled back the bow and took careful aim. It was then, that Kiara turned her eyes to him and found herself staring, examining and memorizing every little detail of his posture and features. His stance was completely wrong. His elbow was positioned too high and the arrow was settled too far from his line of sight for accurate aim.
But, besides all these little imperfections, his eyes were stunning. In the shaded woods, his eyes seemed to glow a magnificent light blue. He was so focused. She had never known anyone who concentrates so much on such small details as he did. He seemed born and bred to be a hunter. His facial features were strong and well defined, with a strong jaw and chin. His skin was tanned from years of traveling in the hot sun. Nate’s hair always seemed to stay clean and well kept. It looked messy, but perfect for her fingers to run through. In that moment, even when all things were supposed to be serious, she wanted to reach out and caress his hair curiously. But, prudence kept her hands by her sides.
What caught Kiara’s attention, which seemed of sec
ond significance to his eyes, was his body. Despite his relatively baggy clothes, Nate certainly was handsome. His brown vest showed the trim but muscular body underneath. And even though his arms were in the wrong places for shooting, they were bold and even stronger than Justin’s. His legs were tough and stable, capable of running and jumping for long distances. With such excellent characteristics, he would be the perfect warrior.
Nate released the arrow, but just as he did, the doe let her feet down off the tree. The arrow that would have penetrated her neck, soared right over her head. The deer looked at the two of them, then bolted off into the thicket once more. Nate let out a held breath and stood, staring after their once potential dinner.
Kiara kept her eyes fixed on Nate, her stomach churning beneath her skin nervously. He glanced down to her, then began walking off back east towards the river, without word. Kiara caught herself, then followed after him, not asking any questions about where they would go next, even though that thought was heavy on her mind. He obviously wasn’t following after the deer again.
They spent more time walking through the woods before they came back to the river. Nate was disappointed in himself for not getting that deer when he could have. And he, in fact, did notice Kiara’s staring while he was aiming. That, perhaps is what messed him up in the first place. He didn’t mind being stared at every once and while, but it was the fact that Kiara was staring at him that made him a little uneasy.
As they approached the shore of the river, Nate took a handful of the water and splashed it over his head and neck to cool off. Even though spring was approaching, the sun was very unforgiving. The air was growing hotter each day and the Field of Fire might have been the one to blame. Either way, Nate felt himself dripping with sweat.
Kiara knelt down beside him and stared off towards the edge of the woods, which wasn’t more than a few feet from the shore. Although her heart was yearning to stare at Nate longer, she kept herself under control and chose to watch the woods for any sign of movement. Kiara could tell that Nate was upset with himself, both about the yelling from earlier and missing the doe. She wanted to make up for it anyway she could.
While Nate was refilling their canteen, Kiara spotted something stirring under the bushes. She perked up straight and she watched the movement. When she realized what it was, she cautiously crawled forward, away from the river and towards the little critter.
Nate sat up and watched her with puzzlement. “What are you doing?” he asked suspiciously. Kiara only looked over her shoulder and put a finger to her lips. That must have been the first time that she had told him to be quiet. Nate was taken aback by the gesture, but he didn’t speak. He only stood up and crossed his arms over his chest to watch.
Kiara crawled closer to the bush and when she finally thought she was within range, she leapt for the rabbit under the berry bush. She missed and it scurried off deeper into the woods. But, Kiara wasn’t about to let it go. Nate laughed as Kiara climbed to her feet and pursued the rabbit. He followed after her at a jogging pace, knowing that her method of catching it would never work. He just thought it was amusing.
She chased the rabbit around trees, over logs, through bushes, across a clearing, back through that clearing and in vicious circles. Nate didn’t even have to move much to keep up with this cat and mouse game. It was dreadfully humorous and Nate found it hard to hold in his laughter. Whenever Kiara got close, she would swing her arms out to catch the animal, but it would elude her every time.
When the little rascal jumped into its burrow, Nate stopped and just shook his head at Kiara’s antics. She leapt for the burrow and dug her arm deep inside, her fingers wiggling and groping for some furry part of the rodent to grab.
Kiara was painfully determined to get something to eat. She wasn’t hungry, but she didn’t want Nate to leave this hunting trip empty handed. And, even thought she was making a fool of herself, she wanted to somehow prove to Nate that she was worthy enough to be taken on these hunting trips. She had to be useful at some point in her life. She might as well start trying now.
Nate only thought her a silly girl. She may have been good with a bow, but hunting was obviously not her strongest skill. He smiled at her as she reached further and further into the rabbit hole on her hands and knees, her shoulder now disappeared under the earth and grass.
Suddenly, Kiara let out a shriek and recoiled her arm quickly, only to fall on her bottom down a small slope, sliding on dead leaves to the very bottom. Nate came to her side and squatted down to see her childishly holding a bleeding finger.
“The stupid varmint bit me!” she cried, glancing between Nate and her injured finger.
“Oh, poor thing,” Nate teased, looking at the little cut on her finger. It was nothing compared to the huge gash in his side that was slowly healing. He pulled out a rag from his pants pocket and gingerly wiped and patted away the blood that was gradually dripping from her finger.
“Don’t make fun of me! It hurts!” she said rather angrily, looking up to him with a sneer.
“Oh, I’m sure it does. Should I escort you back to the camp? Do you feel dizzy? All that loss of blood must have you feeling weak.” Nate smiled and gently squeezed his hand around her finger to put pressure on the cut so it would stop bleeding.
Kiara hissed at the stinging sensation and wrinkled her nose in irritation. “No, I’m fine,” she said, stubbornly resting her head in her other hand as he held her finger.
“Are you sure? This is pretty serious, I mean, look at all that blood!”
“Ok! You can stop now!” Kiara rolled her eyes and pouted.
“Oh, I’m serious, though. A nice little princess like you should never be getting hurt like this,” Nate said in a deep, mocking voice. Kiara only looked off into the distance as Nate carefully poured some cold water from the canteen over the cut and cleaned it off again.
“Need me to kiss it and make it all better?” he asked in a very babyish voice.
“No, you don’t! And I wish you would stop…”
Before Kiara realized it, Nate’s lips were pressed against her fingertip. She looked down with wide eyes. For one, he gave no heed to her answer for him not to do such a thing. And for another, this was an extremely intimate gesture. Kiara’s stomach lurched and chills ran up her spine. She wanted to slap the insolent man, but her arms wouldn’t respond to that command.
His eyes were closed and the kiss took much longer than Kiara anticipated. Once his lips separated from her skin, Nate looked up to her with a sort of sparkle in his eyes. They gazed at each other for a long, hard moment. Nate didn’t seem to understand the severity of his gesture. Well, maybe it wasn’t that serious, but it was certainly unexpected and unwarranted. Why would he do such a thing? Did it mean something deeper?
Nate cleared his throat, then tore off a piece of the rag to use as a bandage for Kiara’s finger. He tied it off as best he could, then stood, lifting her up by her hand so she could stand as well. Still in shock, Kiara just stared at Nate as he walked off back towards the river, a little in shock himself.
He didn’t expect himself to do that, and just like Kiara, he was asking himself why he had done it at all. He was just teasing her, but he never meant to take it that far. As soon as he had even thought of the idea of kissing her finger, it seemed like a good idea. But such an impulsive act was done out-of-character. Nate would have never done that for any other woman, especially at this time in his life when he had given up those old cavalier ways. He knew it always led to trouble.
Yet, deep down, Nate kind of liked it. Kiara did too. And, though it may sound foolish, Kiara felt that the cut didn’t sting as badly after he had kissed it. But, perhaps it was just her imagination.
Back at the river, Nate had to put the recent past behind him and he still had to make a decision on what to do about food. Once he got to the river’s shore, he peered towards the south. Kiara couldn’t peel her eyes off from him as he was planning which way to go.
Then, he starte
d down the river, hoping to find some tracks from a deer that had come to graze or drink at the shore. Kiara followed.
More time passed and it was nearing lunchtime. Both Kiara and Nate were growing hungrier and hungrier, but there was no sign of food the farther they went down the river. Then, Nate’s head snapped to the west and he stopped cold in his tracks. Kiara did the same, still knowing better than to talk while he was concentrating.
There, not more than a few yards, stood another doe, perhaps the same one they had been chasing all morning. Nate stepped behind a tree and drew an arrow once again. What luck it was that they should find a doe without even having to look for a set of tracks again. Kiara followed suit and stepped next to him as he took aim.
Kiara shook her head as she saw he was doing it incorrectly again. In a risky move, she decided to begin with his legs.
She stooped down quietly and changed his footing position to make his feet parallel with each other. At first, Nate just looked down at her confusedly, but he didn’t protest.
Then, she locked his knees in place. His hips were also pointing forward, so with slight hesitation, she pushed them into the right alignment with his feet and legs. When she stood up completely, Nate was staring at her expectantly, waiting for the next correction. He obviously knew there would be more. Kiara gulped, bit her lip, then worked on his arms.
She straightened out his wrist that was holding back the arrow, then leveled out his elbows to be even with each other. Kiara raised the whole bow itself closer to his eye-level, so that he could aim better. Her last move was to turn Nate’s head to the side, towards the deer that was still grazing and away from her.
The Princess and Her Rogue Page 16