The Winter Born [COMPLETED]

Chapter 27 - Bloody Truth

Summer had come sooner than I expected. Not very long after my distasteful encounter with Ashter, the warm season came-- replacing the sight of bright, beautiful flowers with rich, green trees, their branches full of thick leaves.

It's steaming hot when I arrived at the forest today. The sun is merciless, shining through the tree with a filtered coloring of light. Sweaty silver hair sticks on my forehead while I dunk my face into the cool water of the lake as my neck and everything below stays on the bank.

I hold my breath while I'm underwater, feeling the water hit the scalp of my hair and the coldness that so contrasts from the heat of summer. After a few moments, I bring my head back up to the surface, gasping for air as I fall back onto the grass.

Ethan chuckles at my side, clearly amused at the extent I will go to cool myself but he himself isn't doing so good. His normally neat raven black hair is now in a bushy mess though it still looks somewhat attractive.

"Why in the name of the gods is this day so steaming?" I hiss to no one in particular, the water already cooling on my skin while I tie my hair back into a wet bun, hoping the cold would stay longer.

When he doesn't say anything, I bring my eyes to him to find Ethan doing the same thing I did, drenching his face and hair into the lake. I contemplate on pushing him into the water but he already brought his head up, wet, raven black hair framing his face. Unlike me, he dosesn't gasp for air frantically. He brings his face slowly from the water, the only sign of him reaching for air is the slightly ragged breathing of his.

The lake seems to reflect the sun's shine, making it almost impossible to see the other side of the lake without getting blinded by the strong summer light. Ethan sweeps his hair back with a slick so he can see better and reaches into my sack of fresh game and herbs. He brings out a couple of peppermint leaves in between his slender fingers and dipped those herbs into the cool, clear water.

He hands to me some of them after he pulled them back into the air and I bite into the leaves forcefully, sighing at the taste of peppermint combining with cool liquid. The sweetness of it coats my tongue.

I chew. "You said Ashter is coming today. Where is he?" I ask to Ethan who's replacing his bowstring.

"He will come soon enough. Ashter is not famous for his accuracy of time," Ethan answers, not looking at me and focusing on his bow.

"It looks like you and him have something in common then."

Ethan breaks a smile at me but said nothing. We sit there for a while in silence, him with his weapon and me staring beyond the lake, occasionally rubbing my eyes from the constant exposure to light.

"How did you meet Ashter?" I ask out of the blue. In the past weeks, I've seen Ashter a fair amount of time. He would scare off the animals I wanted to hunt to irritate me, which he succeeded immensely. Teases would also come from him about me and Ethan which, for whatever reason made me blush deeper until Ethan told him to scram off.

Ethan continues his work, not fazed by my question. "He's an old friend of mine and Caspien. We were close when we were children."

"You were close?" I repeat him.

He tests the new string on the bow by flicking his index finger on it. "Not many years ago, he was sent across the sea with his uncle. He was gone for a long time and he just came home a few weeks back. I thought he changed but he's exactly the same." Ethan's features soften.

"Why was he sent away?" I ask, looking at him with interest.

His brows crease together, finally changing his gaze from the bow to me. "Why are you so interested?" There is an edge in his voice.