Below the Peak (Sola)(74)
“Why isn’t it dying?” Nara yelled over the fierce grunts of the beast. They had shot it multiple times, arrows protruding forth from various places of its body, its blood pouring from wounds her arrows and Calemir’s had inflicted yet the beast was still standing, looking much alive and very angry.
“It has two hearts,” Calemir shouted as he dodged the beast’s attack. “Aim for its neck middle of his chest, it is where the hearts lie.”
What?? Nara licked her drying lips. She reigned her horse to a sharp halt. As the beast focused on Calemir, Nara aimed steadily at the soft spot between its chest. She waited for the creature to turn then shot two arrows together. The creature grunted and whined as the sharp points sank into its flesh and pierced its hearts. The ireklus collapsed to the ground.
Her eyes locked unto his for a short, intense moment. Everything else faded as they shared a look. Calemir’s lips curved into a proud smile, “Good aim.” Nara smiled back.
One beast dead, it was easy for the team to bring down the other one. It was Leena who snuffed the life out of the last beast.
“Lucky bastards aren’t we” Finn grinned as he stared at the two creatures they had dragged back to the clearing, “How are we going to eat all this meat?” Finn helped Leena wrap a rope around their kill and onto one of the coarse pallets they just assembled from using the thick branches.
Nara looked at the dead ireklus. One kill was more than enough for the four them, it could feed them for several weeks.
“We will share one with some people in the town” Calemir suggested.
Whilst they discussed, Nara worked quietly in securing the rope from the pallet to her horse.
“Now this is the most delicious meat” Calemir muttered quietly beside her as he knotted the end of his rope to the horse harness.
“My mouth will be the judge of that once I eat it” Nara replied in a little sassy kind of way.
“I guarantee it,” Calemir said confidently.
“Yeah, and what if I distaste it?” she asked, turning to him.
“You won’t” his look was smug. “, and you won’t lie that you hate when you love it later.”
“We’ll see” Nara quipped and mounted her horse.
Chapter Thirty-four
“So?” Calemir watched her intently across over the other side of the table. Nara lifted her head from the tender roasted meat on the plate placed in front of her to his face.
“I didn’t know you were that eager for me to eat this” she teased lightly. It had been two days since they had hunted the ireklus and it was her first time eating it. Izza had taken almost all day to cook it. Nara silently mused if he had instructed her to cook it to perfection. He wouldn’t go out of his way for just her impression, would he? Her husband didn’t appear to be the kind of guy to seek approval. The way he carried himself was a strong fortress of his own…impenetrable nothing could slip in that he didn’t want to.
Calemir smiled. “I’ll let you eat in peace,” he leaned back in the chair, his gaze still glued to her and not his plate. Somehow with the lamps burning lowly giving a dim glow to the room and just the two of them sitting alone in the dining room made the ambience of the room feel cozy and warm.
Nara picked up her fork and knife and proceeded to cut into her food. She was glad it wasn’t pink inside. Nara pierced a slice and chewed all the while feeling self-conscious from his gaze. To pay him back from making her feel uncomfortable she took her time eating. Nara picked up a glass of light wine and drank, watching him over the rim of the cup, gauging his reaction. Her lips twitched when he teased his lower lip, sighed before cutting his own food when she said nothing.
“It has proceeded my expectation” she finally commented. “Delicious tastes like nothing I have ever had.”
Calemir nodded. “I’m glad you enjoy it” his words honest.
“Was hunting something you did a lot back in Murisa?” his voice pierced the peaceful silence they were eating in.
“Not really” she replied and took a sip of the wine.
“How come you are very good at it?” he asked.
She eyed him warily, feeling oddly light for the first time in many days she decided to jest. “Why, Can I not be good without any experience?”
He set his knife and fork on his plate and lifted his head. “No, you can’t. Even when one is born with an ability, the person must practice nurturing and perfecting that ability. By itself, It’s not enough.”
Calemir held the glass below its bowl between his index and middle finger, swirling the pink liquid inside it. “So, tell me, are you a hunter?”
Nara watched his hand on the glass for a second. His fingers were strong and slender. He had pretty hands. She wanted to snort. Was any part of him ugly?
“I am—was in the army,” she said after a moment of thought, face falling.
“Mmmh” he muttered, savoring this little information she had given him. “Do you miss it?”
Something flashed in Nara’s eyes. “One could say that” she replied cryptically.
Calemir studied her, feeling the changing of her mood. He feigned a yawn.
“I guess we should call it a night,” Nara said, no longer interested in the food.
“I’ll escort you back to your room” He stood, waiting for her to rise. Nara dabbed her mouth with a piece of cloth and stood on her feet. “It’s not necessary to escort me, our rooms are on the same floor.”