Page 90 of If The Crown Fits
We travelled for half a day to Baruk clan territory.Webeing my uncle, his masters, me, Ray and Cai. This part of the forestscared me as much as the members of the clan itself. It was dark and gloomy and smelled like a swamp.
Even my horse stirred as we reached the centre of their camp. Eyes stared at us from the tree branches above. We were greeted by Olwin and his most trusted men. My eyes quickly landed on Nora, who wasn’t standing too far behind her father.
She stared at me in the same way she always did, with an evil glint in her eyes. Cai immediately placed himself next to me, in a somewhat protective manner. For the first time, I was half thankful.
“Don’t you think the black paint around their eyes is a bit much?” he whispered.
“I’ve learnt it’s better not to ask questions,” I replied hastily.
“Arthur,” Olwin huffed out.
“Olwin.” My uncle greeted him with the same hostile tone.
“Let’s talk business, shall we?” The two of them then walked off and left the rest of us glaring at each other.
Nora was the first to walk over to me. Her black hair hung over her shoulders in small braids and I imagined, for a moment, pulling that hair out of her head. The thought gave me a little bit of satisfaction. “So Arthur finally got his men and his weapons.” The only reason this meeting was taking place was in the hope of an alliance between our two clans. They would not take kindly to my uncle gaining power and thus there would be a discussion of support, and what they would want.
Nora’s eyes landed on Cai. “I don’t know your face. And not a bad-looking one at that.” She smirked, but Cai kept his face neutral. I stiffened, curling my hands into fists.
“This is Cai,” Ray said, as if somebody asked.
“Mmmhhh.” Nora looked Cai up and down like he was a piece of meat.
I clenched my teeth. “Don’t worry about us. We’ll stay out of your way.”
But Nora wouldn’t take my offer. “Let’s go for a walk.”
We all half unwillingly followed as Nora started making her way through the camp. I caught the face of the man who had pulled me onto the horse that night when Cordelia, the guards and I were attacked. He didn’t recognise me, couldn’t have, as I looked like a completely different person.
There was a big difference between Clan Baruk and Clan Fairfrith. We stole from the rich in an attempt to tilt the scales. We did it to feed ourselves and to gather weapons for a cause that a lot of us deemed noble. But they pillaged and murdered as they pleased. From the rich or the poor, it didn’t matter. I wasn’t convinced when Uncle had suggested we meet with them, but as he made clear, we had little choice.
Nora and I had been enemies since our first meeting when we were thirteen years old. Two groups of us ran into each other one day while hunting in the forest and I did not take kindly to Nora shooting an arrow through my leg. We had met various times since then, and none of these meetings ended without at least a drop of blood being shed between us.
Nora kept asking Cai questions regarding who he was, and where he was from. The way he lied through his teeth with so little effort caused me some discomfort. The better I got to know Cai, the more I realised how much there was to him and how different he was from what I’d originally thought.
“What about you, Ray, haven’t put a ring on anyone’s finger yet?”
Nora talked to us as if we were all old friends and not like someone who had stabbed me with a dagger once... or twice.
“You know me, Nora, I’m not one for settling down.”
“Well, if you ever get bored, you know where to find me. I’ve always wanted to marry. We’d make a good team you and I.” She gave him a wink and I rolled my eyes, not caring about Nora and her killer-couple fantasies.
“I’m surprised you haven’t found anyone to settle with, yet. You’re not getting any younger, you know?” I said sarcastically, before I could stop myself. This was how I got myself stabbed. Truth be told, the bandit life wasn’t guaranteed to be a long one, which is why many people got married at a younger age, if they did get married at all.
“You’re one to talk. I don’t see any stolen rings on your finger.”
“I have no intention of getting married.”
“Hey, if you want to die alone, that’s on you. Let’s be honest though — who would want to marry you anyways?”
The men remained quiet as if sensing that, if they interrupted, they might just lose their heads.
“I’d sleep with one eye open at night if I were you.”
She laughed. “Like you would ever try to kill me.”
“Not me. But someone is bound to get tired of your ugly face pretty soon.”
