The King's Executioner (5 page)

“Your feet?”

She took a tentative step and then another and while there was some discomfit, there was no harsh pain. “Much better.”

Paine nodded and ordered. “Do not go far.” He then turned to Bog. “Go and protect.”

Though she would have preferred to keep his warm cloak for the night, it would not be fair. He would need it to keep the chill away. She dropped it beside him as she passed by and said, “You will need this.”

Bog followed beside Anin as she walked into the dark woods. She did as Paine had said and did not go far, but then she had not planned on going more than a few steps. The forest could be unpredictable at night, though she did feel safe with Bog by her side.

When she returned, she went to the stream and scrubbed her hands in the cold water before taking a drink. Bog also took the time to take a drink. After she used the edge of her cloak to dry her hands and mouth, she returned to the fire and held her chilled hands out to it when she sat.

Paine was just stepping out of the woods as she stretched out on the ground, staying close to the fire’s heat. He walked past her to the stream and when he returned, he stretched out on the opposite side of the fire.

Bog walked off, disappearing into the woods.

“Where does he go?” Anin asked.

“To hunt and explore.”

“You do not share your food with him?”

“If necessary, though I do not want him to depend on me for food. He must be able to survive on his own if something should happen to me. He will return well before the sun rises or he will alert me if we are in danger.”

“Then I shall sleep well,” she said, curling her legs up and crossing her arms tight to her chest to keep warm.

Paine lay on his side and watched through the flames as her eyes drifted closed. She was nothing like he expected her to be, but then he had not given much thought to her until he met her. When King Talon had told him that the future Queen was the daughter of a Lammok warrior, he had expected to see a young woman who resembled Anin’s mum or her aunts. He had been surprised to see that she was smaller in size, slim, and soft to the touch.

He grew aroused, recalling how she had felt when he had so innocently touched her and wondered how it would feel to touch her intimately. He hastily rolled on his other side, away from her, his thoughts having grown him harder. He had no right to think of her in such a way. He was being disloyal to the King and that would not do. He would keep his mind on the mission and deliver her as quickly as possible to the King and be done with it.

He heard her stir and instinctively turned to see if anything was wrong. She had curled up tighter and was shivering. Though the fire provided warmth, the ground was cold as was the night air and being she was so slim, the cold would seep into her and chill her much faster than him.

Another of her shivers brought him to his feet and he walked around the fire and placed his warm wool cloak over her, taking extra care not to touch her. She smiled gently, but it was the soft moan that had him returning quickly to where he lay on the other side of the fire... away from her.

Once again, he turned his back to her and hoped that sleep would claim him quickly, for thoughts of her continued to plague him and kept him aroused.

If he was not careful it would be him on the executioner’s block, for the King would have his head if he ever dared touch the future Queen.

“Let me see your feet,” Paine ordered as Anin dried her clean feet with the ends of her cloak.

“Have a look along with me,” she offered, crossing her legs to see the bottoms clearly. She smiled. “They look much improved.”

“For now, but once you start walking...” Paine had his doubts even though her feet did look better. “I do not want this journey to take any longer than it has to. Not knowing if that was a rogue group of Drust warriors or that more may be on the way, makes it important to keep a good pace.” Besides, he wanted to be rid of her, for his own peace of mind.

“I will do fine,” she said with an encouraging smile.

He wanted to believe her, so he let it be, though he warned, “You will tell me if your feet begin to pain you.”

“I do not think I will be able to keep that from you.”

Her soft tinkle of laughter drifted over him, settling around him like a friendly embrace and he found it comforting.
Comforting?
He was in no need of comforting and he certainly did not bring comfort to others. Far from it, he brought suffering and death.

Annoyed at his growing attraction to the future Queen, he turned away from her and with a sharp tone, ordered, “Keep up!”

“Are you always so pleasant in the morn?” she asked, slipping on her shoes.

“More questions again?” he grumbled.

She stood and dusted herself off. “It is not a difficult one to answer and you should think how it would be for your poor wife, when you wed, to wake to such a grumpy husband.”

He swung the ties that secured his rolled up dark cloak over his head and chest and grabbed his double-sided battle axe off the ground. “I will not wed.”

“Why?” she asked and not wanting to miss hearing his answer, she hurried to stay close behind him as he walked off. Bog trailed behind her without being told.

“I would advise that you do not annoy the King with your endless questions.”

“Again you find a way not to answer me.”

“A clear answer in itself,” he said.

“We have many days of travel ahead of us. I would like to think that not all of it will be spent in silence. Or perhaps you spend so much time alone that talking with someone is uncomfortable to you?”

He shook his head. “Another question.”

“One that will get an answer?” she asked hopeful.

“I am not alone, I have Bog.”

“And does Bog have much to say?”

“Is that another question I hear?” he asked glad that she could not see the unexpected smile it brought to his face.

“Perhaps Bog would answer me,” she suggested her own smile growing.

“At least, he does not pester me with questions.”

“By chance can I get one question answered?” She once again sounded hopeful.

“It would depend on the question.”

Anin thought on it. It would not do to repeat a question he had already refused to answer and it would seem he did not care to answer questions about himself. So, she asked one that he would possibly find acceptable to respond to. “Do you think the King will find me to his liking?”

He would be a fool not to.
He kept the sudden thought to himself and answered more curtly than intended. “It matters not. A marriage bargain has been agreed upon and duty must be done.”

“It might help if you tell me about his two previous wives.”

“That is not for me to say.”

“Can you tell me if he at least favored them?”

“The King treated them well.”

“Did anyone ever hear him say to either of them ‘
tuahna
’?”

Tuahna
was not a word spoken without great care. It evoked the deepest strongest feelings in another for someone. Many were fearful of using it, for it was said that it bound people together for all time and beyond. Paine had heard his da say it to his mum once and it had filled him with joy. He had hoped one day to care deeply enough for a woman to say it to her. But fate had other plans for him.

“I do not think the King would say that to any wife. He weds so that his wife will give him many sons and through them he will always live, always rule, always be King.”

Anin kept silent. Paine made it clear how it would be wed to the King. It would be no more than a duty and the thought troubled her. How would it feel when she touched him? Would there be nothing there? Would she feel that he thought it no more than a chore to be with her? She could tell herself over and over again that there was nothing she could do that fate had decided this for her. But she wished—oh how she wished—that she could have decided for herself.

“No more questions?” he asked when he grew annoyed at the stretch of silence that followed his remark and grew even more annoyed at himself for letting it disturb him.

“There is no more to ask,” she said suddenly feeling the burden of her future heavily upon her.

Paine felt compelled to ask, “Had you hoped that one day someone would feel so strongly for you that you would hear that word spoken to you?”

“Is that a question?” she asked a spat of soft laughter following.

He smiled again, though this time he chased it away, feeling foolish. So, his response was more surly than intended. “It is. Answer it or not, it is up to you.”

She was growing used to him, his gruff manner not disturbing her. Besides, he was talking with her and that she enjoyed. “A foolish thought I know. And what of you? Did you ever hope to hear it?”

“How are your feet faring?” he asked, having no intentions of answering.

She was not surprised he did not answer and she knew enough not to pursue it. “My feet are well.”

“You do not need to rest?”

“Not yet,” she said, thinking it thoughtful of him to ask. Something one would not expect from the executioner, but then he was not out to do her harm.

“A storm brews in the distant sky,” he said, stopping as they entered another area of open land.

Anin looked across the wide expanse of land and in the distance, just above the hills, the sky was darkening and gray clouds hurried across it. “We should seek shelter before the sky drowns us.”

“There is a dwelling in the next forest we come upon, but we will have to set a faster pace if we are to make it there before the rain.”

“Then we best hurry,” she said.

Paine nodded and without hesitation set a strong pace. He was aware that her feet would suffer for it, but she would suffer worse if caught in a powerful storm. Once at the dwelling, she would be able to rest and from the look of the sky it might be more than a day’s rest she gets.

Anin kept her focus on staying close behind Paine and also trying to avoid rocks that would worsen the injury she had already suffered to her feet. With a faster pace, it was not long before her feet began to pain her, but that could not be helped. They needed to make it to the dwelling before the rain fell.

The sky was almost as dark as night when they reached the small dwelling. The only thing inside was the round fire pit that sat in the middle of the one room.

“I need to get a fire going and hunt for food to sustain us through this storm,” Paine said.

“I will gather wood while you hunt and there should be wild berries about that I can collect.”

He issued a warning before leaving her. “Bog will remain with you, but stay close to the dwelling.”

Anin wasted no time in doing her part to secure them against the approaching storm. She hurried and gathered broken branches and twigs and set them in the dwelling. She then gathered brush, enough for two, to serve as sleeping pallets and prevent the chill of the ground from creeping into them. It was not until she finished those two chores did she begin her hunt for wild berries.

Bog followed her every move, keeping close. She was quick at picking berries since she did it often and with great enjoyment, though today she did so out of necessity. A sky darkening as quickly as this one could bring a heavy rain that could trap them here for more than a day. The land would not be easy to travel afterwards, mud would slow them down. It would take even longer to reach Pictland, not that she would mind the delay in meeting her fate. She would rather spend the time with Paine.

Her hand hovered over the berries she was just about to pick, the thought surprising her. She could well understand why Paine was feared, just looking at the massive size of him and his unique body drawings, not to mention the double-sided battle axe he carried and the wolf that was his constant companion. He was not a man one approached without caution or at all. Yet in the two days they had spent together she had discovered that he was not all he appeared to be. And she quite enjoyed discovering the man behind the executioner.

Anin looked down at Bog after picking a handful of berries. “I will get to know you both better and I hope we can be friends.” She dropped the berries to the ground for him and he did not hesitate to enjoy them.

Once finished, she and Bog returned to the dwelling, arriving at the same time as Paine.

“Hunt fast!” he snapped at Bog and the wolf took off.

“He will return before the storm?” she asked worried for the animal.

“His instincts are better than ours.” Paine pointed to the door.

Anin opened it and entered, leaving it open a bit after Paine entered so that Bog could enter when he returned.

Paine was surprised to see how much Anin had done. He had not expected her to prepare sleeping pallets for them or gather as much wood as she did. He turned to her. “Sit, you have done enough.”

“Your cloak,” she said, stretching her hand out to him. “You would not want the fire to catch hold of it.”

Paine slipped it off and handed it to her. Anger stirred in him when she snatched the cloak from him, her hand purposely avoiding his. He turned away from her and got busy snapping the larger branches against his bent leg and tossing them into the fire pit. He should be angrier at himself for wanting to feel the touch of her hand upon him. She was right in avoiding his touch. It was not right for her to do so. She belonged to the King, not to him. Only out of necessity in keeping her safe was it right for him to touch her, and he best remember it.

Anin spread his cloak over the brush that would be his sleeping pallet. She was glad her back was turned to him, her brow having wrinkled with concern. His face had turned angry when she had taken his cloak from him and she wondered why. She was sorry that she had not rested her hand on his when she had taken the cloak, for then she would have felt what troubled him. But she had purposely avoided touching him for that reason.

“Get off your feet,” he snapped.

Anin turned and sat on the pallet, not far from his, that she had made for herself. He did not look at her. He was too busy setting the meat to cook over the flames that had already begun to fill the small room with warmth.

Bog suddenly hurried into the dwelling and rushed behind the fire pit as if hiding from something.

“He hears the thunder that will be upon us soon,” Paine said and went and closed the door and shoved a sturdy twig through the broken latch to keep it shut.

It was barely a few moments later when a clap of thunder shattered the silence and Anin could have sworn it trembled the dwelling. She drew her cloak more tightly around her.

“Are you afraid of storms?”

“Some more than others,” she said and shuddered when another clap of thunder sounded as if it was right outside the door.

“You have nothing to fear from the storm. The sky is just reminding us of its power. Sometimes it boasts more loudly than other times.”

She smiled. “You are much kinder when it comes to my fear than my brothers. They would tease me and even once they locked me away in a dark room when the thunder began. I was so very frightened. I cried the whole time.”

“How many years were you?”

“I just passed my fifth year. My mum found me curled up tight and shivering in a corner. I remember wrapping my arms around her neck and refusing to let go.”

“Were your brothers punished for what they did?”

“My da yelled at them and warned them never to do it again. Then he yelled at me for being afraid of something that could not hurt me. My mum agreed with him and I was left to sleep alone that night with the thunder still strong.” Anin paused as if lost in the painful memory. “I did not sleep that night even when the thunder stopped, I was much too frightened. I felt so alone, as if I had been deserted by the ones who cared for me.” She shook her head. “It was such a strange sensation. After that I hid when a thunderstorm approached so that my mum or da would not be angry with me and my brothers could not find me.”

He wished her brothers were standing in front of him right now, for he would thrash each one of them for failing to protect their little sister.

“I also did not want to listen to my mother repeatedly tell me that Lammok women were warriors and they feared nothing.” Anin shook her head again. “I tried so hard to be as strong as my mum, but I fear I never will be.”

A tremendous clap of thunder shook the small dwelling and fear had Anin jumping up and instinctively running to Paine.

He was already hurrying to her, his arms going around her, hugging her tightly against him, keeping her safe from her fear.

Anin tightened her arms around his waist and pressed her face against his chest and was ever so grateful for his strong arms wrapped so snugly around her. She never felt as safe as she did at this moment and she wanted to stay in his arms as long as possible. She did not give thought that her hands were pressed against his back until she began to feel his overwhelming need to protect her. She let the feelings soak into her, wrap around her, comfort her, and then she felt something else. It was tucked away almost as if it was kept hidden where no one could find it or perhaps was afraid to look.

He cared for her.

She wanted to reach deeper and feel it more clearly, but another clap of thunder startled her and she shivered in his arms.

Paine felt a chill of fear race through her and he lifted her just enough so that her feet did not touch the ground and brought her to rest in front of the fire pit. He turned her around in his arms, bracing her back against his chest and ran his hands down along her arms to take her chilled hands in his and hold them out to the flames to warm them.