Page 72 of Blood and Fate

Kais handed him two canteens, his own and one he’d grabbed for Satori, and Teague walked off, leaving them alone.

He turned to Satori. “I’m serious about the boar. They’re vicious, steer clear.”

“Noted,” she said as she strapped the knife to the belt at her waist.

When Teague returned, they gathered the last bit of supplies and headed out. There were about eight of them, seven of his men and Satori, who decided to hunt.

When they had made it a significant way into the forest, Kais spoke up, “Split off, two in each group. Start here and fan out. Watch out for each other and stay alert.” He smiled. “I’ll give a bottle of my best whiskey to the man who gets the largest kill. Good luck.”

The men began to pair off, and Kais turned to Satori. He didn’t want to presume, and certainly didn’t want to force her hand, but he had to work to get the words out, anyway. “You’re welcome to stay with me, or you can go with Teague, if you’d like.”

Teague paused at the sound of his name, turning back and waiting for her decision.

Satori appeared to grow shy as she looked between them, her cheeks taking on a pinkish tinge. Kais sucked the inside of his bottom lip between his teeth to keep from smiling at the sight. Did she know how beautiful she was?

“I’ll stay with you,” she said, and Kais’ heart dipped into his stomach.

Teague nodded and raised a hand to wave. “Stay safe! Kill something large.”

And then he was gone with his hunting partner, leaving Kais and Satori alone. She had chosen him, willingly chosen to be alone with him. He could have skipped, but he refrained.

Kais pointed his chin into the woods. “We should head this way. Get out of the path of everyone else.”

Satori followed him deeper into the woods. “How far will you go before you start hunting?”

“Well, technically, we’re hunting now,” Kais answered. “If we see something while we’re walking, we’re not going to ignore it just because we’re still walking. But ideally, we want to get farther away from the others so we don’t mistake one of them for an animal.”

“And shoot them,” Satori finished.

“Correct, Princess.” He smiled at her. “So, you’ve never been hunting, either?”

She gave him a look like he might have something wrong in his head. “Why would I ever have been hunting? We have people who hunt for us.”

“But surely your father’s been hunting. And he has people who hunt for him,” Kais pointed out.

She huffed a breath. “I don’t get out much.”

“Your father doesn’t believe in training women?”

She considered him for a moment. “I don’t think it was so much my father as . . .”

Her voice trailed off, and he felt something odd from her. Disgust? Annoyance?

“His advisor.” It wasn’t a question—he assumed from Satori’s reaction that was who she meant.

That guy must be a real gem. Kais wanted to ask a question but didn’t want to trigger anything. Would she shut down? Or, was it possible, maybe she would open up? There was only one way to find out, though it would be an awkward hunt if shechose the former.

He focused his attention in front of him, not looking at her, not wanting to put her on the spot, any more than he had to. “Was he afraid you might learn to fight back?”

The question implied something that Kais had been suspecting for some time. The very idea of it made his blood run so hot he thought it might boil and burn him up.

Her steps faltered, and her breath caught twice. Kais hated to cause her pain, but he had to know. And there was no turning back now. Please, Princess, talk to me, he pleaded silently as the silence stretched.

When she spoke, her voice was thoughtful, “No doubt.”

He closed his eyes at her words. There was a dull ache inside him, but he pressed on. “Have you ever fought back?”

A wave of sadness washed over her, followed by another wave of shame.

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