Escape from the Witch Hunters

“I’m going hunting.” Gillian slung his bow and quiver over his shoulder. “I should be back before sundown.”

“Alright.” Ryia nodded glumly.

He opened the flimsy cottage door and walked out, latching it behind himself.

Ryia let an exasperated sighed. Then she tried stamping her foot, which only resulted in a painful zing going up her leg. She was so frustrated at herself She grabbed her head and was tempted to pull her hairs out. Here she was in a stranger’s house, leeching off of his food, and his things. And she couldn’t do a thing about it. She was stuck. She was bedridden. She wanted to scream, but that wouldn’t help her situation.

Think sensibly, Ryia. Sensibly. Ryia sat up and looked at her surroundings. She didn’t see anything she could do to help, not with her leg broken

“Where did my dress go?” Ryia frowned. He hadn’t thrown it away had he? “Didn’t I have anything else with me?”

She flopped back down on the bed. Then she turned her head upside down and looked under the bed, finding some dirty shirts that had been shoved down there, a pair of trousers, and a few blankets folded up.

He probably doesn’t ever wash his clothes. Ryia frowned. I shouldn’t be complaining. He’s been very kind. If only I could walk! She looked around again, hoping something she could work on would appear. Maybe something she could mend, or maybe a sock she could darn, or something.

But there was nothing. Nothing that she could do. She gave up in defeat. But as soon as her leg was feeling the slightest bit better she was going to stop being a bother to Gillian and help him until she was well enough to work and live on her own.

Gillian aimed at the deer and then let the arrow go flying across the glen and right into the deer’s throat. Not bad. If I do say so myself.

He had been shooting his bow and arrow since his father gave him one when Gillian was just a young child. He started off by shooting a tree until he could he the little mark he had etched with charcoal every single time. Then he started shooting moving things, like rabbits and squirrels. And now he could shoot a small targets from far distances.

The deer collapsed and Gillian made his way over to where it lay. He pulled his arrow out and swung the deer across his shoulders.

As he made his way home, he found himself thinking about Ryia. His mother would roll over in her grave if she knew he was housing a woman who wasn’t related to him and wasn’t his wife. His mother had given him strict instructions that he was never to ever live with a woman unless they were related by blood, or married. And Ryia was most definitely not married to him.

He liked to think that she was a girl. And therefore “housing a woman” would not apply. Only she wasn’t really a girl. She was old enough by village standards to be married and have a family.

Yes, his mother would definitely not approve.

But he knew that sending her out to fend for herself would have been worse and more heartless. Even by his mother’s standards.

He couldn’t complain that her company was horrid. In fact, it was refreshing to have another human being in his house that just a week ago had been so dreary. He had dreaded going home.

Now he found that he was spending more time at his house and less time outdoors. He frowned. It’s because she requires attention. That’s all. He mentally slapped himself for thinking she was special.

She was different, he was sure of that. She wasn’t like most village girls. Those girls wouldn’t be caught dead in trousers and a shirt. The ones who would never get their hands dirtied with food preparation. Ryia had so willingly offered to help him skin the animals, peel the potatoes, dice the onions, and chop the meat. Although he never let her because of her busted leg.

And he liked that. Gillian’s frown deepened. No. I don’t like anything. She’s just another girl. He shook his head, willing the mushy thoughts to leave him. He knew he was being entranced by the girl and he couldn’t stop it even though he tried.

His house came into view and he erased the frown that clouded his face. Frowning at Ryia would most likely make her wonder what she had done wrong that put him in such a mood. It wasn’t her fault. She couldn’t help that she couldn’t remember where she lived, or who she was, where her family was, or that she had broken her leg, or that she happened to have the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen.

He walked past the rows of seedlings he had planted and carefully opened the door to his house by banging it open with his foot.

“How are you fairing?” he looked over at the bed and saw it was empty. He had a moment of panic.“Ryia?”

He frantically scanned the house until his eyes landed on her. She was sitting on a chair near the table, cutting up some potatoes.

She glanced up and smiled shyly. “Hello Gillian. I’m doing quite well, thank you.”

Gillian responded with frown.

“Did I do something wrong?” her face fell.

She would think that. Gillian sighed. “You should not be out of bed. You aren’t well enough.”

“Oh.” she looked down. “I’m feeling much better. And this doesn’t take much energy.” She held up a half peeled potato.

Her usually pale cheeks had a faint pink color to them, her eyes were brighter, and a few stray waves of hair fell from her braid. Pretty, as usual. GIllian almost groaned aloud at his thoughts.

He set the deer down on the floor by the door and walked over to her. “But your leg, it should be propped up. It won’t set properly otherwise.”

“I-” she paused and looked at her leg again. “Oh.”

“Exactly. You need to go back to bed.” he picked her up. She weighs half of what the deer weighed. He raised an eyebrow. Did she even eat? He had been feeding her right?

She frowned considerably when he took her away from the table. “But Gillian, can’t I help you? I hate being such a bother to you.”

“You may be a bother, but if your leg doesn’t set right, you’ll just be here longer, and be more of a bother.” Stupid stupid stupid. If he could have, he would have bashed his head against a wall. He had just told her that she was a bother. Twice in one sentence.

He set her down on the bed. His bed.

Curses. Gillian thought as he frowned once again. How do I always manage to insult her?

“Oh.” Ryia nodded in acceptance. She hadn’t realized that she would just be more of a bother if she didn’t let her leg heal. “I’m sorry.”

Gillian stood up and stormed back outside in his big clunky boots.

“You’re such a fool, Gillian.” he cursed himself when he was back outside. She hadn’t done a thing, and yet he had acted like a pig-headed fool. Only he was capable of such stupidity.

He kept walking until he made his way to his favorite place. It was his place and his only. There the forest trees spread out into a clearing where a crystal-like brook met with the mossy bank and the sound of trickling water calmed his distraught nerves.

What did I do? Ryia frowned. I didn’t mean to be such a bother. I was only trying to help. A single tear fell from her eye. Don’t cry! This isn’t anything to weep over. Just stop being so brainless and do what he says.

Despite what she told herself, the tears kept falling until she lost count of them all.

Never had she felt so alone. She didn’t know her mother, she didn’t know her father, she didn’t know if she had siblings or not, and she didn’t know if she had a beau or not. She didn’t know anything! She could remember bits and pieces from her village, but she could never make out any significant details.

Gillian was her lifeline and she couldn’t ruin it. She didn’t want to be a bother because she needed Gillian.

But still the tears kept falling.

Gillian stayed at his special place until the sun had fled and the crickets had come out. “I should go back.”

He had calmed down a great deal and resolved to make sure he never called her a bother again. He knew the God would be angry at his insults. Even he was angry at the way he was so quick to put her down. It frustrated him. He couldn’t manage to say the right thing.

He stood right outside the doorway. Please, Father, keep my tongue from speaking lies. he pushed the door open and saw the Ryia was still in bed sleeping, the potatoes still in the pot, and the deer still on the ground. He had totally forgotten about the dear. Nothing was going right today.

He made his way over to the bed and looked at her face. Her eyes were puffy, and there were tear stains on her face.

You made her do this. his conscious told him.

“I know! Don’t think I meant to make her cry!” he muttered and ran a hand through his hair. He hadn’t meant to be so rude, it just...happened. He kicked his toe across the wooden floor. He was so stupid!

He turned around and grabbed the deer by the legs, yanking it up harder than he should have. He took the deer outside under the small overhang and started to clean the animal.

He never had a problem with insulting girls before. In fact, he used to insult them on a regular basis. But something about the way she would look down and be genuinely sorry that she was a bother - even though she wasn’t, got to him. It was as if it hurt him to see her hurt.

And he had never felt so bad when he had made another girl cry. But seeing her tears was almost enough to make him tell her that she wasn’t a bother, and to tell her what he really thought about her.

What do I think about her? he closed his eyes. He didn’t know. He didn’t want to know. He just wanted her to leave his life so he didn’t have to deal with the way she would look at him with her innocent mismatched eyes, making him feel dizzy and lightheaded, although he wasn’t quite sure why.

“She’s just a girl!” he slapped himself on the head. “Don’t let her get to you.”

Although even he knew that she wasn’t just an ordinary girl. She was much much more.