HER BLOOD (unedited)

Chapter Eight - The Hunt👑

"Aryan" Aryan raised a brow and looked back to the person who called him.
"Bilal" he grunted.
"Fine day isn't it". Bilal asked clapping his hands together at the men who were sparring in front of them. "There's going to be a hunt in two days, will you be attending." "I have no reason to" Bilal groaned as his friend was knocked to the ground by his opponent. "The king will definitely give you an invitation, I'm sure, he would want to impress the king of Grampia and besides you're his guest" Jason hummed "And considering the fact that you're a very good swords man I know you'll be invited"
"Why would he want to impress the king of Grampia, Nymeria is bigger. I guess Grampia's gold mine is what he wants" Jason said while looking at the knights who were still sparring and cheering for one another. "He wants to marry the princess off to him"
Those words caught Jason's attention as he turned to look at Bilal. "But I doubt she wants to get married to him" Bilal added with a whisper.
Jason smirked "I'm not surprised, she is very rebellious, I'm surprised the king didn't marry her off when she came of age and waited this long"
"Well she scared off most of her suitors" Jason chuckled at Bilals words. "She truly is intriguing."
Bilal nodded with his eyes fixated on the fighting men.
"Spar with me" Jason gave Bilal an amused look.
"Are you sure" Bilal moved towards the ring, dragging out his sword and yelled at Jason.
"Are you scared Aryan" Jason chuckled and moved to grab a weapon from a table where swords, arrows and knifes were kept.
The other men and knights behind them all cheered for Bilal knowing he was a good swords man and they felt Jason would not be able to fight him.
Jason stood waiting on Bilal to strike but Bilal didn't as he was also waiting for Jason to strike him first.
Jason made the first move, he hit Bilal's sword with his, Bilal blocked it with his sword and pushed him hard but Jason didn't move, Bilal pushed him again and he still didn't move so he moved backwards.
"You're hard as a rock" Bilal yelled as Jason shrugged with a smirk. That instant Bilal saw that as an opportunity and hit Jason's sword. Jason blocked every single hit and the he bent down, hitting bilal's legs making him fall hard on the floor. Jason casually put the tip of his sword on Bilal neck, he put out his arm and helped bilal up. "Jason where in the hells of satan did you train" Bilal took his arm standing up dusting the dirt off his clothes. "Let's just say in the depths of a very black blood" Bilal chuckled although he didn't understand what Jason meant.
Mira walked into her fathers chambers and sat on the chair. "You asked for me father." he turned to look at her and smiled. "My sunshine." he walked towards her, Kissed her head, pressed her hands softly and sat down on the chair in front of her. "You glow more whenever you wear dresses." she held the urge to roll her eyes. King Meriah sighed "Mi..Mira I know you're scared of being with a man you do not love, but I know Derrick is a good match, I only have your best interests at heart that is why I am pushing you hard to get married to him" Mira opened her mouth to protest but hard father continued before she could speak. "These are dangerous times Mira, war is coming I don't know where or from whom but I feel it in my gut. I need you to be safe, to be protected by a capable man, he hates the supernaturals just as much as we do, he will be arriving this evening, I have prepared a hunt and then there will be a ball. You will have to accompany him through out his stay here, you mustn't be rude, he isn't like one of the princes you scared off from marrying you" Mira's heart dropped, was this how her story would end, the wife of the Grampian king, a loveless marriage? She asked her self.
"Father I understand everything you are trying to do for me but I can't, you and mother always told me to marry for love, to be with a man who makes me happy, is it bad for me to crave..to want the type of love you and mother had, I might have faint memories about her but I clearly remember how in love you both were, that is the type of marriage I want." The king was taken aback, he wanted his daughter to be happy but what he knows now was not what he knew then, he was older, wiser, he knew his daughter would be in danger upon his death, if he doesn't keep her safe now, he knew how the generals could and might poison the minds of his sons to either use his daughter as a wife to be closer to the throne or as an alliance with any other kingdom, he needed to see her be safe and protected before it is time for him to go meet his wife, Liya. He smiled softly and sighed. "What I know now wasn't what I knew then dearest daughter, having royal blood already threatens your life so it is best you have a strong alliance to protect you from harms way. I cannot continue trying to make you see reason for you are only a child but Know this, all I do I do for my family and my kingdom's safety, I am doing this for you, yo..your mother will understand." Mira sighed in exhaustion.
Richard had left her, and it was high time she became a wife, many girls her age already had children almost five, she decided to marry the king of Grampia. " I will do as you wish father" king meriah almost jumped in excitement as he heard her say those words, he rose from his chair, hugged her and kissed her hair, a tear dropped from his eyes as the color of her hair reminded him of his dead wife, his queen, witch or human, he loved her for who she was with him.
The King of Grampia arrived to Nymeria the following day. Mira dreaded every moment she was forced to spend with King derrick, he was a scary and arrogant man who had absolutely no respect for women. The way he looked at the maids with lust made her cringe, the day of the hunt came and Mira was so excited to catch the biggest animal so she could prove to Derrick that he wasn't marrying just any woman but a strong warrior.
They all galloped into the kings forest, Derrick was annoyed that a woman was with them to hunt for wild animals, he believed women were only meant for cooking, cleaning, giving birth and looking good for parties. Although he could not voice out his opinions due to the fact that Mira was not yet his, he had plans to shape her into the perfect woman. He felt that King meriah tolerated to many bullshit from his daughter.
" Halt." Gwen said raising his hand, everyone stopped abruptly, he stretched out his right hand and his squire dropped a bow and an arrow into his palms, Gwen readied the arrow and dragged the string, he closed his right eye and released the string making the arrow fly, diving into the abdomen of the rather large deer, the deer bawled in pain and ran deeper into the forest. Gwen kicked his horse and galloped after the deer. " That really is a fine Stag." Derrick complimented. We have one of the finest Stags in the whole realm." King meriah bragged. "I must catch one for my self then." Derrick kicked his horse and galloped into the direction Gwen had gone towards. Mira rolled her eyes, king meriah followed but not before scolding Mira " don't do anything and stay right behind us, be a proper lady." "yes father." she grumbled. King meriah turned towards Cain and He bowed his head understanding the king's wordless order. Bilal and the king's other soldiers followed the king closely behind. "There's no need to be upset your highness" Mira groaned and ignored Jason, she touched her lips absent minded as she thought of how Jason had kissed her, her fingers slowly traced all the way to her neck and remembered her reoccurring dream about Jason and her mother which felt so real the previous night, she rode her horse toward the north side of the forest and galloped away. "Your highness the king didn't go that way please." Cain groaned, frustrated by her stubborn tantrums. Jason Chuckled as he watch them leave, he followed the direction the princess had gone towards, time was running out and he needed to act fast, he had been in this kingdom for almost two months, he needed to take Mira to black blood as soon as he could.
      Mira made sure she got Cain off her trail, she hated him following her all around, she felt she could protect herself, she had trained so hard over the years so she could be a great fighter, to never feel vulnerable like she did years ago when her mother died. She believed she could take on anyone who dared to bring her harm. It had been an hour since she lost Cain and she was looking for an animal to kill so she could prove to her father and Derrick especially Derrick that she was no damsel in distress but a woman who could take care of her self. She had agreed to marry Derrick but she was not going to be the queen who's only job was to provide heirs and look beautiful. She heard strange sounds like an animal tearing flesh and growling in delight, she jumped out her horse and grabbed her sword from the scabbard which she had hung on her horse. "Stay here." she whispered as she patted her horse. She walked stealthy towards the noise and hid behind a tree, she peeped to see what was making the noise and what she saw made her gasped in fear, she clamped her hand on her mouth to stop her self from making any noise. She walked backwards towards her horse, slowly and carefully but she tripped fell over a stone she failed to see. She looked up as the Gaur roared, she picked herself up and ran towards her horse but unfortunately her horse had spotted the Gaur and neighed in fear as it galloped away. "Damn it." she screamed and ran towards a tree so she could climb it but she couldn't due to the heavy dress she was wearing. "How did a fucking Gaur get into their forest." she wondered. She stopped in front of the tree and faced the Gaur charging towards her, she waited for it to get closer to her and she jumped out of the way, the Gaur bumped into the tree, it roared, instantly turned and jumped on her. She positioned her sword, holding it tightly, as the Gaur jumped on her the sword pierced straight into the chest of the animal, making it shriek in pain, with the animal still shrieking on her and her right hand holding the handle of the sword tightly, she dragged a small knife with her left hand from her dress pocket and stabbed the Gaur's neck and head repeatedly that she lost count. "Die, die,die, you son of a bitch." Now sure that the Gaur was dead, she sighed in relief and tried to push the Gaur off her body but it was to heavy. The handle of the sword was poking her belly harshly, tears flowed down her eyes as she laid there waiting and hoping someone finds her before some other animal comes to bite of her head. She was consumed with fear, she hated to be afraid, it reminded her of the night her mother died, although she knew she had only being a child then and could almost do nothing, she felt if she was strong enough to use a sword or the knife her father had gifted her maybe, just maybe her mother might have lived. The blood of the Gaur soaked her dress and she closed her eyes wanting to forget memories of the night her mother died. She heard another loud shriek, it sounded similar to the Gaur she had just killed, her eyes fluttered open, she raised her head and saw the legs of another one as it ambled towards her filled with rage, it was much bigger than the dead one lying on top of her, it's mother perhaps she thought, she tried to push the dead Gaur off her body but she couldn't, she screamed in frustration and fear. "Someone! anyone!" she felt dizzy. "n..no..no No, I'm not going to die here, father.. fa..th." She screamed trying so hard to push of the dead Gaur but all her attempts failed. More streams of tears flowed down her cheeks.

Yours Faithfully theglory
First written - 12/08/2019
Rewritten- 21/01/2023