Underestimate Me

Rowen heard the gurgled scream of defeat before the thud of the body echoed through his mind. Laila reassured him that it was just some large animal they saw. Aldith promised that no one would get harmed by an animal; all the women were skilled hunters, so everyone would be fine, everyone except the animal. Evelyn gave a sharp whistle to announce Meredith, which made Aldith leave Rowen to Laila’s watch.

The body collapsed through the trees, landing on its knees first. A male, a soldier, a dead man. Rowen focused on his face, a line of blood spilling over his lips, wide round eyes the color of the leaves in the trees. His black hair, as dark as the night in the forest, fell over his eyes as he tipped forward falling in the dirt. An arrow protruded from his back, just beneath his left shoulder blade. Rowen gasped as realization dawned on his fragile mind. That man was Kolby, the older boy that he learned swordplay with. Kolby, Sir Uwen’s favorite. His friend choked and writhed on his own blood.

Rowen’s back pressed into his pole; his eyes focused on the boot stepping over his friend’s writhing body. Josselyn looked down at the body, her eyes glistening, before she leaned down on the arrow causing the gasping to cease quickly. Her lips moved but no sound made it to Rowen’s ears; women surrounded her, asking questions, but he could hear none of it. Fear overwhelmed him. Her arrow, only hours before, missed the very spot where it hit Kolby on his own body by inches hitting the ground three inches from his left leg instead. She meant to kill him earlier. She meant to kill him now.

As Kolby’s body became too still, anger filled Rowen. Kolby did nothing wrong. He was never betrothed, and only talked to the women in the village who acknowledged him, which was far and few between considering he avoided most people. The man appreciated his privacy, and that made him a good spy, a good man.

“You heartless wretch,” Rowen screamed before he knew what he was doing. Laila gasped beside him, but he didn’t pause to feel guilty over his words. “How could you?”

Josselyn glared daggers at him. Her fingers tensed around the bow she clutched as her quiver fell to the ground. “You,” she growled, “have no right talking to me that way!”

Rowen braced himself for another kick to the stomach. He didn’t care if they broke all of the ribs in his torso. She was not going to get away with murdering innocents. “Who did he ever hurt? Name one soul!” His glare met hers, and he was much better at it that she was. He took note of the way she stepped back before she continued towards him. Rowen knew Meredith was coming too; somewhere that woman was near and poised to strike.

“He would have!” Meredith hissed, as if on cue. Her cold features never came into view, but he could see them mirrored on Josselyn’s face. “All men do harm in the end! Josselyn doesn’t have to justify her actions to the likes of you; he was stalking our family, and she protected us.”

“Should I have killed more of you then? Should I have tried harder to destroy each of you to protect mine?” Rowen thought instantly of Josselyn’s arrow piercing Merek’s heart the way it made its way into Kolby. An image of Meredith taking his little brother’s head with her icy sword knocked the air from his lungs. The way Josselyn’s face fell told Rowen she knew exactly what he was seeing.

“That’s the only think I still respect about you,” Josselyn stated. Her eyes hardened into sapphire stones. “Your regard for Merek is admirable, but that’s the only thing good about you.”

Her words felt like daggers in Rowen’s heart. He wanted to fight back, but how could he when she rushed away from him. She spent her life running away. If she wanted to run fine…this time he would chase her to the ends of the Earth.

“There is nothing good about you anymore!” Rowen growled as she passed him. “I doubt you feel anything. You use these women as shields to protect yourself from feeling anything.” She paused for a half step. “You were not there when Rebecca cried herself to sleep every night after the guards barged into her home and announced the death of her sister.”

Josselyn’s face fell again, eyes glistening. Rowen hated himself the moment he saw true sadness take over her features. He wanted to take his words back, to make them better. Her face turned to stone within moments, and he found himself resenting her more and more. Rowen never saw Meredith, but she punched him in the same cheek she had already broken. He gritted his teeth while enjoying the sense of pain; feeling something other than numb gave him knowledge that this wasn’t a horrible nightmare.

“Run!” He spat. “Run away like you always do, and let your so called ‘sister’ fight your battle.” He glared at Meredith. “You are nothing like her real family, and she knows it.”

“If you speak again, Prisoner,” Josselyn spoke low. Her tone dangerous, wanting to be challenged so she could follow through with her threat. “I will have you gagged.”

Rowen opened his mouth prepared to tell her where she could put her gag before Laila kicked his thigh and covered his lips. Josselyn turned her glare on her ‘sister’ at that moment. “Take care of the side you choose, Sister Laila.”

She walked away, somewhere behind him. The scent of her sweat filled Rowen’s being. He spit more blood on the ground. She didn’t want him to sleep so he wouldn’t. Not after getting so angry.

“When did she become such a monster,” he growled under his breath.

“The day we came upon you,” Laila whispered her answer. Rowen almost missed it. He thought about the times with Kolby. When Merek wanted him to skip training and he didn’t, Rowen was often having fun with swordplay. He learned all his tricks from Kolby who seemed more like an older brother than a friend. How could she disregard Kolby’s life with stony countenances? Rowen remembered their dances, their strange whispered relationship. Rowen remembered his hatred for Kolby when his friend chose Josselyn. The spy deserved more than Rowen’s friendship and Josselyn’s love. He deserved to live; instead he laid lifeless in front of Rowen, still in a pool of blood.

“What am I supposed to do,” Rowen asked, his eyes focused on Kolby’s dark blood, “when she starts butchering my family?”

Laila took a deep breath before she let out a long sigh. “You pray. Pray for his soul, Rowen.

“Balor save him,” Rowen whispered before he stated, “May your Maa take pity on a good man.”