Chapter 7

The rich smell of roasting pork and root vegetables floated through the camp as Cedric pulled his armor off piece by piece next to a roaring fire. Some of the buckles were stuck to the leather and he realized he hadn't had a chance to remove and oil it in over a week. His body felt light and free without the added weight, but his cloth underclothes were stained with sweat and musky, even stiff in places. As he looked around the thriving camp, he wondered if he could find someplace to wash his dirty garb.

People of all races and colors were busy with chores and activities every way he looked. Some bronze-skinned women wove baskets from the long grass, laughing and gossiping in a tongue that sounded rough and broken to his ears. Men without shirts made pikes and dug trenches around the camp to place them in, making Cedric wonder what lived in the woods that required those kinds of defences. Still others carried wood to piles near the many burning fires, and the sound of metal hitting metal rang clear as someone, somewhere worked a forge. There wasn't a lot of people, but enough that the camp was busy with movement, even in the cover of night.

The Witch was helping a young, light-haired girl turn a pig spit over one of the smaller cooking fires when the Hunter grabbed her arm and pulled her into a tent across the path.

Hand woven blankets and rugs covered every surface in the small, dark space. One dimly lit lantern sat on a small wooden table, casting everything in a faint golden glow. A well used loom sat against the far wall, a project half started in blues and reds waiting for it's maker to return.

"Why have you not told him yet? There is nothing to be running from. The king cares not of his whereabouts, but he will for certain be killed if he reaches his end, and that is only if Petal has any feelings for that boy at all." His emerald eyes burned into hers.

"Hunter, I..." She looked away.

"You are twisting fates again, aren't you? Bending the power of Da'nu and the Mother Tree for your own bidding, as if you do not remember what happens when you push it too far."

"I am NOT abusing the Mother Tree's power!" Now it was her turn to glare at the Hunter. "Cea'em Two'um needed a Guardian, I simply joined them. I am helping the fates, not twisting them into my own image as the one you so cruelly attempt to compare me to!"

"And who exactly is this knight you have bonded to Snow Bringer? It can't be just anyone."

"That, Brave Hunter, is the Knight of Darkness, firstborn son of the late Winter King and the Summer Queen." His forehead wrinkled as surprise swept over the Hunter's face.

"That thin boy is the Heir of Winter? I believed him to be dead the night his father was murdered and his mother died."

"Everyone believes he is dead. I stole him away that dreadful night and hid him among the farmers. I lost track of him for a time but none of that matters now. He is here, he is alive, and the strings of fate can weave together again as they always should have."

The Hunter shook his head in disbelief.

"Every time I see you, Enchantress, you shock me. But you must tell him of his past. He knows nothing of his place in this world, and you can't keep leading him on like a stray dog after a bone." She absentmindedly picked some dirt out from under one of her fingernails as she mulled over the idea.

"I suppose I can tell him... I was going to wait and have the Mother do it, but he probably won't be able to contain his questions that long." With the Gypsy Witch's words hanging in the air, the Hunter pulled her into his embrace, inhaling deeply as she melted into his strong arms. Her sweet maple and fruit scent overwhelmed him every time he could hold her this close.

He loved this trickster of a woman, almost as much as she loved taking lost strands of fate and twisting them back together. She was the wandering wind and would never settle, while he was the forest trees, strong and rooted in place. No matter how much he would wish it, their strands would never intertwine, but he savored every second they brushed together.

"You, Guardian of Autumn Fall, are a stunning woman," he whispered into her ear.