Winter's Heart

by J. E. Taylor

  “I beg to differ. It’s time for me to wield a sword or pick up my bow.” She yanked her arm from his grip. “If we are going to war with the white tiger, don’t you think I should be able to defend myself? Or are you hoping that I’ll be the next victim?”

  He skidded to a halt and glared at her, pointing his finger accusingly. “You are destined to kill that thing. And magic is the only thing that can kill that beast.”

  “Bullshit. It’s just a tiger. I can’t even make sparks appear on my fingertips, never mind blast that thing back to where it came. I need to start practicing with either my bow or a sword.”

  “Only magic can defeat him.” He crossed his arms. “Or are you missing that point.”

  Lisa threw her hands into the air. There was no reasoning with Herk. The lore was just as full of crap as his insistence she was that girl. “Then we are all screwed, because I don’t possess magic,” she argued much louder than she intended.

  A throat cleared behind them, and they spun to see the village secretary. He adjusted his glasses and looked off at the thick woods at the edge of town.

  “The council would like to speak with you,” he said to Lisa.

  “Tell my father I will be there in a minute,” Herk said.

  “I wasn’t talking to you,” the man said. “Your father has requested Miss Winters presence before the council.”

  “Oh,” Herk mumbled, and his cheeks reddened. He waved Lisa to follow the village secretary.

  She raked her hand through her hair and nodded, following him down the street with Herk a few steps behind like some morbid protection detail, or an escort walking her to her death.

  Chapter 4

  Lisa walked into the Opal hall of council, and everyone around the table stood as if she were royalty. She shifted under their worried gazes. Silence weighed on her like a heavy blanket as suffocating as their stares.

  “What do you plan to do?” Randolph Canicula, the head of the council, asked. His brazen gaze left Lisa uncomfortable. And not just because he was the head of the council. It was because Randolph was Herk’s father, and he had to have known Lisa turned his son’s proposal down. Why else would he pin this responsibility on her?

  “Excuse me?” Lisa balked and shuffled her feet. She had no answers. She had no magic to protect Opal. She only had her sword and bow, which she hadn’t picked up since she’d turned eighteen and Herk started his insane training sessions. She was not prepared for the weight of the duty being thrust upon her.

  “You are the chosen one. It is your destiny to rid Opal of this white tiger business.” He leaned forward, pointing at her as if accusing her of killing that man herself.

  “I am not the chosen one,” she snapped. “I don’t have any magic, and I have been trying to tell you that for years!”

  A hush fell over the council, and they traded worried glances. That is, everyone except Randolph. His glare was as unnerving as the silence. When his glare moved behind her, she glanced over her shoulder at Herk still standing in the doorway.

  He shrugged in a non-committal way that suddenly made Lisa’s blood boil. Like he didn’t care that she hadn’t shown signs of magic since she was four years old. It was as if her magic had been a premonition of sorts. Days after her fingers sparked flame, her home burned to the ground with her parents inside. Lisa had not been home that day. Otherwise, she would have perished, too.

  She had been at the Caniculas’ house for Herk’s thirteenth birthday party along with the lion share of the town’s children.

  “You are the chosen one,” Randolph snarled. “And you will remove the danger of the white tiger from Opal, even if you have to spill your own blood to do so.”

  He definitely knew. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have sentenced her to a sure death.

  “Father.” Herk’s voice held a dark warning that even she couldn’t ignore.

  “I can fight my own battles,” she said, putting her hand up to silence whatever argument Herk might launch into in front of the high council of Opal. Whatever it was, she was sure he was about to embarrass her in some way, like tell the council she would get mortally wounded if she was the one to hunt the white tiger, or something equally as mortifying.

  His huff of derision jarred her enough for her teeth to ache while she gnashed them together.

  “I will do my best,” she said to the council. “But understand, I am not your magical chosen one. Regardless, it seems you are adamant that I be the one to hunt the monster, so I will go out there with my bow and my quiver and shoot the tiger in the eye.”

  “Lisa,” Herk said softly from behind her. His voice was laced with something she had never heard from him. It sounded a bit like fear.

  She turned and stormed past him, leaving the town hall in a march that had her footfalls echoing. The cold slapped at her cheeks as she stepped outside. She didn’t even know where Herk had put her weapons. At least before she was eighteen, he had trained her with a bow and a sword, but it had been a couple years since she’d wielded a weapon.

  Either way, she was on her own to take care of the beast.

  That thought sobered her, and even though her feet wanted to falter, she forced her steps to continue, even with the crunch of hurried footsteps behind her.

  A hand gripped her arm and spun her around.

  “You aren’t ready,” Herk said. His eyes were a little more frantic now that the gauntlet had been dropped on her.

  Lisa yanked her arm from his grip. “You heard them.” She pointed at the building they had just vacated. “They expect me to take care of this with or without magic.”

  “I’m going with you,” he said.

  That’s all she needed. While Herk was an experienced fighter, he hadn’t trained with a sword or a bow either. Instead, he’d put all his bets on her magic and drilled her relentlessly daily.

  “No.” She didn’t need his death on her hands, too. Besides, she had been the better archer out of the two of them. Although, he could beat her black and blue with a training sword.

  His jaw tightened and his nostrils flared. He glanced at the woods in the distance. “Then at least let me train with you a little. It’s been a while since you held a weapon.”

  She looked down at her feet, debating. The last time she’d sparred with Herk, he’d left her almost as exhausted as the daily practice of unsuccessful magic. She didn’t know if she could go after a tiger with that kind of grueling test.

  “Are you trying to ensure I will not return?” she finally asked. Her voice was filled with every ounce of aggravation burning through her bones.

  He stepped back, and she looked up at his face. Horror stretched his eyes wide, and she immediately regretted her question.

  “No. How can you say that after I asked you to marry me last night? Your death... will devastate me,” he said.

  Will? Like he expects me to die? What the ever-loving hell?

  Lisa’s head nearly exploded with anger, and the red hue covering her vision didn’t help. She spun and marched away, muttering foul words under her breath. Even Herk had crossed her off. Now she was even more determined to drag back the carcass of the dead tiger, just to show this town that she was not to be trifled with in the future.

  Chapter 5

  “You need to go to the funeral and pay your respects,” Herk said from the doorway.

  His voice held a cool warning that Lisa had no intention of obeying. She didn’t need to go to a funeral to be motivated to do her duty. What she needed to do was hone her skills with her bow and arrow, but she didn’t want Herk’s help with that.

  When Mrs. Canicula poked her head in behind Herk, her warm expression hardened. “You’re not ready yet?”

  “No, ma’am. I’m not feeling well.” Lisa didn’t like how easily the lie rolled off her tongue, but she needed to be alone. She had every intention of packing up and heading into the mountains to find the tiger as soon as everyone left for the funeral. While her skills with a bow might be rusty, she had been the be
st shot in Opal when she was younger.

  She just hoped her steady hand wouldn’t fail her. Otherwise, hers would be the next funeral this town would see.

  Besides, she knew deep down that Herk would follow her if she left while he was around. And she didn’t want that. He would drive her as relentlessly as he had in his training sessions, and she did not need that type of pressure.

  “You need to suck it up and come with us,” Mrs. Canicula said. “I’ll make you some tea while you get dressed.” She turned and left the room, leaving Lisa no choice but to obey the unrelenting command in her tone.

  Lisa closed her eyes and tilted her head back. Escaping wasn’t going to happen today, and she would just have to plan to sneak out at another time. Begrudgingly, she waved Herk out of the room and put on proper clothing for a funeral. Her wool leggings matched her dark wool skirt and her black lace-up boots that put her almost at Herk’s height. Her sweater pulled the grey in her eyes to the forefront, muting the blue. She smoothed her skirt and made her way downstairs where the rest of the family waited.

  Mrs. Canicula held out a cup of the black tea.

  Lisa shook her head and held a hand up. “I’ll be fine.”

  “You should have a little before we go,” she said.

  Lisa sighed and took the cup into the kitchen, pretended to take a sip, and then dumped the rest down the drain. This wasn’t the way she wanted to start the day, but she did not want to deal with a sour stomach on top of the nerves already skittering under her skin.

  She turned back to the family waiting in the doorway, pasted a smile on her face, and followed them to the church in the center of town.

  The somber mood even bled out into the sky, pulling the clouds overhead and blocking the sun from shining down on the valley. It made for an even more heart-wrenching display. The closed coffin looked like an ominous premonition, and Lisa slumped in the seat, trying to disappear from the eyes of the congregation as they sought her out for reassurances she could not give.

  Even the widow’s gaze found hers when she stood next to the casket. Her eyes pleaded in a way that moved Lisa’s soul.

  She would not let this happen to another citizen of Opal.

  As soon as the funeral was over, Lisa bowed out before she could get cornered at the reception. She made her way back to the house and closed herself in her bedroom to pack a sack for later that evening. Going out into the deep woods at night was not the smartest thing she thought to do, but it was necessary so she wouldn’t have to worry about Herk or anyone else who decided to take up arms with her against the killing beast.

  The soft knock on her door jerked her around, and she slid the backpack under her bed before she crossed and opened the door. Herk gripped both sides of the doorjamb and stared at the floor. The muscles in his arms bulged under the tight dress shirt covering them.

  When he finally raised his gaze to her, she shivered at the resolve in his eyes.

  He didn’t speak. Instead, he moved into the room and kicked the door closed as he grabbed her arms and pinned her against the wall. Before her brain caught up to his actions, his lips were on hers.

  Her eyes widened and she tried to shove him away but only succeeded in trapping her arms between them when he pressed his weight against her. She jerked her knee up, right into his family jewels. His grip on her dropped as he groaned and fell to his knees, gripping his balls.

  “Don’t you ever do that again,” Lisa seethed and scooted away, putting distance between them before she decided to dropkick him.

  He put his head on his arm and stayed that way for so long that Lisa took a tentative step forward. He put his hand out to stop her.

  “I’m fine, just...” he said with a voice tight with pain. “I thought...” He wiped his face and looked up at her.

  “You thought if you kissed me, it would change my mind?”

  His old half smile that made him more than endearing appeared, and he shrugged.

  She took a seat on the edge of her bed. “Herk, I’ve never seen you as anything other than an overprotective big brother.” She finally voiced the silent narrative ranting in her head. “You’re my oldest friend. You and Molly down the way were the only ones in this town who seemed to accept me when I arrived.” She looked down at her hands. She hadn’t seen Molly since Herk started his insane magic training sessions. “I think the last couple of years has clouded that enough to sour me even on a friendship with you. What we have is not healthy the way it once may have been. It’s more of a rivalry to you. You proposing just seemed... wrong.”

  “And you could never see beyond friendship?” Hurt flared in his eyes and bled into his voice.

  She shook her head. She did not want to give him false hope. Better to squash it now than to lead him on and have to do it later. “No.” She refrained from expanding on the age differences or pointing out his unflattering obsessions.

  His gaze hardened, and he gave her a nod like he was somehow coming to terms with her words. “You’re going to be twenty-one next week,” he said as if that was the end of the world.

  In Opal it might have been. By twenty-one, most maidens were married. But Lisa wasn’t most maidens. In the years when she should have been dating, Herk had her trying to start a fire where there wasn’t any. It had been like asking her to get blood from a stone, and if that was his idea of courting a woman, god help the girl he finally settled down with.

  “And?” she asked, even though she knew it was a loaded question that he would happily shoot at.

  “You have no other prospects,” he said and stood tall, crossing his arms. His face still held some of the redness from when she had kneed him, but the blotchy spots were probably more from anger than physical pain.

  “So what? I’m supposed to get all aflutter at your magnanimous pity proposal? Just get out.” She pointed at the door.

  He took a step towards her, and she stood, shifting into a fighting stance. He smiled at her and an utterly inappropriate, mischievous light flared in his eyes. They narrowed as if she had become his prey.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “I like it when you get all feisty,” he purred in a way that shot fear through her. “Besides, if you’re going to go after the tiger on your own, don’t you want to know what it feels like to be with a man before you die?”

  She clenched her fists tighter as he took another step closer. “Get out.”

  “That is something I can successfully teach you,” he said and reached for his belt buckle.

  “I swear if you come any closer, the next shot I get in will break something down there permanently.” She looked at his crotch and then back at his face pointedly. “And if that doesn’t work, I’ll claw your eyes out,” she added when he continued to pull his belt from the loops.

  The sound of the front door closing downstairs paused Herk’s progress. It also seemed to clear the darkness from his features. He glanced over his shoulder and then back at Lisa. He pointed at her and then turned, storming out of the room before his mother or father came upstairs.

  Lisa sagged back onto her bed on shaking legs. If they hadn’t come home when they did, she wasn’t sure what Herk would have done. Something had snapped in his mind, because her oldest friend would have never gone on attack mode like that. He would have protected her to the death.

  She had to leave as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Otherwise, she was leaving herself vulnerable.

  Chapter 6

  “Lisa?” Mrs. Canicula’s worried voice came through the wooden door. “You didn’t come for dinner when I called,” she added, and then the door swung open. Mrs. Canicula smiled as she carried a tray into the room with a steaming bowl of stew and sliced bread.

  “I wasn’t hungry,” Lisa said and straightened, but her stomach betrayed her, rumbling at the delicious scent coming from the dinner.

  “Sounds like you are now.” She smiled and set the tray at the foot of the bed. “Are you and Herk fighting?”

>   Lisa didn’t quite know what to say to Herk’s mother. If she said yes, the woman was sure to pry into why they were fighting, and she didn’t want to tell her that her son was becoming a monster.

  “He’s been harder on me the last few weeks,” she said, leaving it at that.

  “Well, he’s just trying to protect you.” She turned to leave and pointed at the tray. “I’ll be back in a little while to grab that when you are done.”

  She dug into the food and finished it faster than she had eaten in a while. She wished she had been downstairs for dinner and could’ve had seconds, but she could not face Herk after his earlier near assault.

  She picked up the teacup and walked to the bathroom, dumped the tea down the drain, and then replaced it on the tray. That was the only benefit of eating in her room. There was no oversight, and she did not have to choke down the tea. Maybe she would do this more often when she got back from her mission. It sure beat hurting Mrs. Canicula’s feelings.

  Lisa brought the tray downstairs and put it in the sink while Mrs. Canicula was preoccupied with the laundry in the backyard. On the return trip to her room, she grabbed her winter coat and boots and stowed them under her bed along with her backpack and duffel with a warm waterproof sleeping bag.

  As soon as both Mr. and Mrs. Canicula went to bed, she was leaving this house. She would brave the bitter winter wind over waking up with Herk climbing on top of her in her sleep. If he was out drinking, that was apt to be the end result when he got home. She had more of a chance surviving the white tiger.

  She remained awake until the whispered good nights came through her door. When the hall lights extinguished, Lisa went into action. She pulled on her warmest pants and laced up her boots. She tucked in her thermal nightshirt and pulled on a thick sweater before slipping on her jacket and gloves. The heavy scarf easily wrapped around her head and neck before she pulled up her hood.

  Lisa bound the duffel bag to her backpack and then put it on, clipping it and securing it tight. She moved as silently as possible to the door and gripped the knob.