Huntress | BOOK 01

Chapter 1

Rose's POV

The wind howled and slapped the roof of the makeshift shack with frightened thuds. I watched as Tristan trained the soldiers in the storm; training them with the belief that they would grow stronger if they strolled through snow, holding swords and hacking bags of wheat that they considered as target practice. I rolled my sleeves up and crossed my arms in frustration. Will these efforts ever have the chance to be fruitful?

"Pull your sleeves done", Vivian ordered,"You're going to freeze"

I simply stared at her. She let out a string of harsh words as she pulls at my wrist and stretches my arms so as to pull the bastard sleeves down herself,"In this world, only a whore will show her hands. A woman, especially a lady of our stature should not. There is reason as to why our dresses have long sleeves. Even in the summer"

"What if I don't want to be a lady? What if I want to go beyond the border and fight with Tristan?", I question her.

"Do you even know a single thing about wielding a sword?" She asks me.

"Stick them with the pointy end?", I answer; a grin ghosting on my lips.

"Well that's about right", Tristan walks towards us from behind Vivian and rests his arm around her waist and presses his nose against her blonde locks,"I saw my two favorite girls watching from here and decided to come over"

"Hello my love", Vivian smiles. He pulled her closer and rested his lips on hers and I looked away on impulses Vivian with her golden locks and even teeth. She entranced Tristan the moment he laid his eyes on her; and every man before and after that. She could have any weasel she desired but she just had to choose the one man I consider honorable with the exception of our brother. The one man whose green eyes made my heart shiver. The one man whose long curly black hair made me wish it was my hands running through them, tugging them and combing them instead of hers. The one man whose smile I considered to light up the whole North.

"I'm going back inside", I mutter, knowing once they're in each other's arms, they would not hear anything even if I screamed. I turned away from the thatched shelter and headed towards the Northern castle from which I was born in.

To my every surprise, I heard Tristan calling my name when I almost reached my destination. I turned my head and saw him running towards me, using his sword as a third leg on the snow,"Rose, wait. There's something I want to talk to you about"

"I'm not a knight yet Tristan", I turn away,"The cold still bothers me. If you want to talk, let's take it indoors where there is a fireplace and no Vivian to interrupt us"

"Your sister is what I wish to talk about"

"Then there is nothing to talk about. Take your needle and go back to her", I try walking faster but the snow grew deeper, swallowing my foot with each stride. Tristan easily matched my pace now.

Almost there.

"I want to ask her hand in marriage"

I stop and take a deep breath before turning to face him,"correct me if I'm wrong, but did my best friend tell me he wanted to marry the witch I share blood with?"

"She's not that bad", he defends,"She's just harsh on you so you would be a better lady and find a lad who'd whisk your feet off the ground. She doesn't want you to live a life of carnage with blood on your hands. Anyway, it's completely unheard of for a girl of royal blood to be a knight. Let alone any girl"

"The Tristan I knew a few years ago would beg to differ. Knighthood has changed you. She has changed you", I began walking again.

I felt him grab my arm and then me around to face him,"That is not true. I'm still the boy who played with sticks with a girl who believed she was a warrior long before she knew to speak"

"Do you even hear yourself? You're telling the girl not to be the same person the boy played with while claiming the boy himself hasn't and won't change a bit", I answer,"I sense hypocrisy somewhere in that."

"I'm a man", he states,"It's different for us. Wars calls to us"

"What nonsense. There hasn't been a war in ages. The closest thing to a war these days is when two men fight themselves over a whore with a big bossom from the pleasure house"

We finally reached the gates that were already being opened upon my return. I let out a sigh and turn back to him in defeat. He was looking at me and I felt my mouth twitch before I spoke,"Fine. The offer still stands. Where there is a fireplace, you'll find me and we shall talk. Just not now Tristan"

He smiles,"Tomorrow then Lady Rosaline?"

"Keep calling me that if you want your pretty head to be skewered in a spike", I call out, passing through the gates and signaling the guards to close it behind me.

"Sleep well Rose", I hear him shout against the wind before I entered the castle doors and felt the wind shift as they shut behind me.