Page 20 of Heart of the Hunter (Band of Bastards #3)

She looked at Hunter as they followed Sumayl to the paddock and dismounted.

He looked stoic, but she knew him well enough to see the subtle ticking of his jaw that belied his calm demeanor.

Her father was not the type of man to assume the worst and he would believe Anora if she said nothing happened between them, but Hunter probably thought he was in for a tongue-lashing, and worse still, that he might be pressured to marry her if her father thought her virtue compromised.

They dismounted when they reached the tiny paddock beyond the forge. Hunter reached for Willow’s reins and said, “You can take her from here, Sumayl. Frode will want to know immediately that she has been found. I will see to the horses.”

Anora did not like being treated like a child, handed off from one guardian to another, but at this moment, she felt she deserved it. She had lied to her father and Sumayl, something she had not done since she was a girl, and it filled her with shame.

Sumayl dropped a meaty hand on Hunter’s shoulder. “You will be joining us as soon as the horses are tended to.” It wasn’t a question, but Hunter nodded anyway, to which the blacksmith responded with a grunt that seemed to be part of the secret language of men.

Anora fell into step at Sumayl’s side for the short walk home to the goldsmith shop. “I am sorry for the duress I caused, Sumayl. And sorry you had to search for me. Were you out all night?”

“It matters not,” he said, his voice gentle, which only made Anora feel worse. “Your father will be relieved you are home.”

It pained her to think of her father up all night, pacing the floor with worry, and feeling helpless to do anything about it. “Is he in a terrible state?”

“I will not lie to you; I have not seen him this upset since your brother’s death.”

“Oh, hell and damnation,” she muttered between clenched teeth, as she clutched at her heart, the pain of hurting her father like a knife to her chest.

“His worry abated somewhat at the discovery that Willow was also missing. Once we knew nothing had happened to you on the way to the widow’s house, but rather that you had fabricated the story of going to see her, he felt more hopeful that you were not harmed.

” A low mirthless chuckle rumbled in his throat.

“Bad fortune for you that the part about the widow needing assistance came to fruition. Had she not sent her eldest to request your presence, we may not have discovered your ruse.”

“It was a poor decision on my part not to tell both of you the truth about where I was going and why,” Anora admitted. She should have thought more about the consequences if her lie was discovered before she returned.

“May I assume you will be telling us the truth now?”

Anora’s shoulders slumped. Even if she had a choice in the matter, they deserved better from her than lies. “Yes, Sumayl, I will be. And I will need the guidance of both you and my father to know what to do next after you hear my story.”

“This sounds to be of grave importance,” Sumayl said, turning to look down at her as they walked. “So grave that you felt it necessary to dress as your brother?”

She nodded as she ran her hand over Baldwin’s tunic.

Her plan had been to return home under cover of the night when no one could get a close look at her face.

She patted at her hair to be sure it was still tucked into the cap Hunter loaned her as she scanned the lane to see how many people had noticed them.

Fortunately, because it was Sunday, there were very few people on this side of the village.

She imagined most were gathering outside the church to attend mass, and for that she was grateful.

Many in Oswestry knew her well and would not be fooled by her disguise.

Added to the fact that Sumayl was just as well known and even more noticeable with his dark skin, towering height, and wide shoulders, there was no chance of them going unnoticed or unrecognized on this lane.

People with skin the same rich brown as his were not entirely uncommon in the streets of London, but there was no one else who looked like him in Oswestry.

“Men are fortunate to get to wear breeches,” she said with a small smile. “Gowns are not always easy to contend with, especially when having an…adventure.”

“An adventure? I am intrigued,” Sumayl said as he opened the back door to the goldsmith shop.

As they entered, Anora looked longingly up the stairwell that led to the upper floors and their private chambers. What she wanted more than anything was to crawl into her bed and sleep.

“Anora?” Her father appeared in the doorway between the back room and the shop front.

“Yes, Papa. I am here.”

“My heart cannot take this,” he said as she walked into his outstretched arms to hug him. “When I discovered you were gone, my mind went immediately to all the terrible thoughts of what might have happened to you.”

“Hunter was with her,” Sumayl said. He was leaning against the hearth, massaging his thick hands, which he complained of aching more often than not these days. “He is seeing to the horses.”

“I did not mean to scare you, Papa,” Anora said, her heart breaking at her father’s worry.

“Are you wearing your brother’s clothing?” He plucked at the fabric of her breeches.

“I am.” She stepped out of her father’s embrace. “Sit down, Papa, and I will tell you about it while I prepare the stew.”

“Why is Hunter with you?” her father asked as he settled heavily onto his bench by the table. “What does he have to do with your story?”

“It is not what you think, Papa,” Anora said as she grabbed a knife off the sideboard and pulled a few turnips toward her.

“It must not be good,” he said in a low voice. “You always find something to do with your hands when you are forced to discuss something difficult.”

It comforted Anora to be reminded of how well her father knew her. “You have always been observant, Papa.”

“Where is Hunter, Sumayl?” her father asked, turning toward the blacksmith. “I sense his presence is important for this conversation.”

“If he doesn’t walk through that door shortly, I will personally find him and drag him through it myself.” Sumayl leaned against the hearth with his eye on the door.

“Papa,” she said slowly, “are you expecting me to tell you that Hunter and I are…” She couldn’t say the word out loud.

“Lovers?” he provided, lifting his eyebrows. “I’ll kill him with my own two hands if he doesn’t do right by you, but aye, I am expecting that. And if Hunter proves as honorable as I expect him to be, I will be happy for it.”

Anora’s mouth dropped open as she groped for what to say.

“As your father, I cannot condone clandestine meetings with your lover,” he tipped his head to the side and smiled wistfully, “but as a man who knows what it is like to be in love, I cannot fault you. Your mother and I—”

“Papa!” Anora held up her hands to stop him from saying more. “I encountered Hunter by coincidence, and he insisted he accompany me home to ensure my safety. His behavior was above reproach and honorable at all times. We are not lovers.”

She heard the snick of the door as it closed and turned to see Hunter. All the color drained from his face as he stared at them wide-eyed.

Anora felt her jaw drop open as she looked from Hunter to her father and back to Hunter. “Did you hear all of that?”

Hunter nodded slowly while Sumayl let out a deep, rumbling chuckle.

She snapped her mouth shut and pressed her lip together. With a nod, she turned back to the sideboard, poured four tankards of ale, and brought them to the table. “Please sit down. You, too, Sumayl.”

Hunter straddled a bench and leaned his arm on the table while Sumayl sat across from him next to her father. Anora took a hefty swig from her tankard of ale, then set it back on the table and returned to the sideboard to continue chopping vegetables for the stew.

“As I was saying,”—the knife thwacked against the wood of the sideboard as she cut the stems from turnips and set them to the side—“I encountered Hunter by coincidence, and it is only part of what I need to tell you.”

“Where is this place that you met Hunter, by coincidence ?” her father asked.

“Castle Whyte.” Anora turned to face the table, knife still in hand. “I just realized I’ve not asked you why you were there, Hunter. Why were you there?”

He waved his hand dismissively. “Tell your story first, and then I’ll decide if I’m going to reveal my reasons for being there.”

She continued to cut the turnips into chunks for the stew as she spoke. “Madam Ruby brought jewels to the shop to sell last week, as she’s done before. You were in the smithy with Sumayl, so I completed the transaction.”

“Aye,” her father said suspiciously. “You told me about the transaction.”

Anora set down the knife and sat across from her father at the table. She reached to take her father’s hands in her own. “What I didn’t tell you, Papa, was that there were two pendants in with the other pieces that I set aside because…they are similar in design to mine.”

She reached into the neckline of the tunic she was wearing and pulled out a leather thong hanging around her neck that was strung through a pendant about the size of a coin.

She rubbed a finger reverently over the design as Hunter leaned closer to get a better look.

It was engraved with vines decorated with tiny gems as blossoms on the oval plate of gold.

The intertwined vines were each in the shape of an S .

“You told me yourself that until mama died, your favorite design to make was of the intertwined S ’s, for Sapphira Smith, because it pleased Mama so very much. ”