Hunted in the Valley (Old Sequoia Valley Book 1)

by C. R. Pugh

  He merely shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. We’ll handle whatever comes.”

  “Have you always been so arrogant?”

  “Confident,” he corrected me. “It is only arrogance when you lack the skill to back up your words. Has running away always been your answer?”

  “I’ve had no other choice. I’ve been alone for a long time.”

  “You are not alone now,” he said gently, squeezing my shoulder. The gesture was an unspoken offer of protection. “You have a different choice you can make. And, regardless, you will not be going anywhere for a few days. The other Warriors do not know of your gift. If we are to keep them unaware, then you must pretend that you are still injured. You’ll stay here for now.”

  I ground my teeth together at his command.

  “Why do you now look ready to throttle me?” he asked.

  When I growled, he merely chuckled. It made me clench my jaw even more. “I’m annoyed.”

  “Why?”

  He seemed genuinely at a loss for why I was so irritated. I rolled my eyes and said, “Because you’re probably right about me staying here.”

  “And that made you angry?”

  “You’re bossy, too,” I mumbled. “What do you propose I do in this tent for so many days?”

  Thorne shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever we want.”

  His tone did not suggest anything inappropriate, but I still voiced my concerns. “You’re not thinking that we’re going to -” I waved my finger back and forth between us to signify what I meant. It was a good thing it was so dark because my face was surely turning ten shades of red.

  Thorne bellowed with laughter. “That is not what I meant, woman. I meant sleep, eat, or talk.”

  “Talk?” I said skeptically.

  “Yes, little warrior. Are you now uncomfortable with talking?”

  I should not be so trusting of Thorne but, for some strange reason, I felt an instant rush of relief. He was still an overbearing brute, but at least he was treating me with respect.

  “Talking is fine,” I said finally. “You said I could trust you?”

  “You are about to insult me again,” he said gruffly. “I gave you my word that no harm would come to you while you are under my protection and the protection of my Warriors.”

  My throat thickened with emotion and I felt my eyes pooling up. No one had ever offered to protect me before, nor had I ever felt in need of protection. Kieron was the only boy I’d ever been close to and the General took him from me. It suddenly terrified me that the same could happen to Thorne. I could not ask for his help or depend on him to hide me. This was not his fight.

  “You will stop battling with this for now, Ravyn. You will remain in this tent for three days and then you can decide. Now, stay here while I get us something to eat.”

  16

  Thorne

  The other Warriors were settled around the fire pit, talking and eating, as I left my tent. The fire was small, only burning to heat the stew Max had thrown together in a pot. Pierce murmured quietly with Archer on one side while Gunter, Max, and Brock chortled over some secret joke.

  Their conversations abruptly ceased as I strode over to join them. Standing rigidly, I suddenly felt as if I were on trial.

  “What?” I demanded.

  Of course, Gunter could be counted on to speak up first. “You seem like you’re in good humor, that’s all.”

  Brock and Max nodded in agreement. Curling my fingers into fists, I felt the overwhelming urge to pound the smirks off their faces.

  “Humph.” I plopped down beside Max and leaned my elbows on my knees.

  “You were laughing, Commander,” said Brock, peering around Max, still grinning like an idiot. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you laugh.” The other men mumbled their agreement.

  My jaw clenched at their scrutiny. I had always taken my job as commander seriously. There was no time for foolishness. Warriors had a job to do and I did mine well. I did not earn my place by laughing and joking about with the men. Showing any weakness might lead to a challenge for my position.

  The only sound for several minutes was the scraping of spoons inside bowls. The silence was uncomfortable, and I knew they were waiting for me to tell them something. Anything.

  “Is the woman alright, Commander?” Brock finally inquired, showing genuine concern.

  “Ravyn will be fine,” I assured him.

  Chewing his food at the same time, Gunter added, “She didn’t even need stitches.”

  “When you brought her into camp, you acted like she was going to die in your arms.”

  I glanced over at Pierce, who had spoken. His blue eyes, just a shade darker than my own, were full of cool hatred. He had challenged me for the position of commander after Hawke stepped down a little over a year ago, but I had defeated him. The bitterness he had always shown made me think he had not accepted his rank beneath me. Elevating Gunter to second-in-command above him did nothing to win him over either. Hawke had raised Pierce as his own son since he was a young boy. Perhaps Pierce assumed he’d be the next commander, or at least the second-in-command.

  In response to Pierce, I merely shrugged my shoulders. “Her wound was not as bad as I had initially thought. Just a lot of bleeding. Kemena sees this all the time.” I sent Gunter a knowing look to keep him from mentioning anything further.

  “You two talked quite a bit,” Pierce said, almost as an accusation. “If she is well enough, we ought to send her away or take her captive. We do not need trouble.”

  “She is not well enough to be sent away yet. She will not be one of our captives, either.”

  Pierce was not convinced. “I was just wondering what our purpose for staying was since we have the captives we need.”

  I rubbed the two-day-old scruff on my chin. “I have questions about this village where I met the woman. It is an established clan.”

  Gunter remarked, “I’m surprised we didn’t run into it on the last hunt.”

  “Perhaps it hadn’t been built yet,” Archer pointed out. “Three months is plenty of time to construct primitive shelters if they worked all day, every day.”

  Max shrugged and added, “Or maybe we just missed it.”

  It surprised me that Max had even spoken. As one of the youngest in our group, he typically kept his mouth shut, deferring to the others’ wisdom. But his logic was sound.

  “This is true,” I agreed with them both. “It could be a coincidence. Their location is well-hidden and primitive, as Archer suggested. I would not have found it by chance.”

  “Does the woman belong to them?” Archer asked.

  I shook my head. “Ravyn ran into them by chance as well. She was the one who brought down those two exiles.”

  “You’re serious?” Brock’s brown eyes widened. “That’s impressive.”

  “She was rescuing a woman; a member of the village. Ravyn made friends with her and her brothers, though it was one of those brothers that injured her.”

  Archer raised his eyebrows. “That’s a strange way to repay her.”

  “And what of the exile?” asked Pierce. “Did she free him?”

  “No.” But I had a strange sense of satisfaction knowing that Ravyn had stayed close by.

  “He’s smiling again,” Gunter murmured to Brock with a grin on his cocky face.

  I cleared my throat and glowered at them. “There are also soldiers stalking her. I fought a few of them at the village. They take orders from a man she calls General Wolfe.”

  “What does she say about him?” asked Gunter.

  “He was responsible for her training and is desperate to have her back.”

  “It is unreasonable for them to waste resources to take back one woman, no matter how good a fighter she is,” argued Pierce.

  “Unless she uncovered something important,” Archer deduced. “He wants her silenced.”

  Archer’s reasoning was on target, as always. I had a terrible feeling that her healing gift, something that this
General coveted, was at the center of it all.

  “And you are willing to protect her?” Pierce asked resentfully. “Even if it means putting us in danger?”

  I snorted. “Is anyone here afraid of a fight?”

  Brock laughed and clapped his hands eagerly. “I was hoping for some excitement on this hunt!”

  “Let’s not be careless,” I said quickly, holding up my hands. “We will stay three days; enough time to allow her to heal and decide her next move. In the meantime, Archer, set more traps around the camp.”

  “You got it,” he said with an excited grin on his face.

  “Gunter, you and Max divvy out the heavier weapons,” I ordered. “I want everyone prepared.”

  Archer nodded to Max. “Come find me when you’re done. I’ll teach you my latest tricks.”

  Young Max lit up at the opportunity. I was glad to see Archer passing on his wisdom to others.

  I fixed a stare at Pierce. “I want you and Brock to go back to the village and spy on those brothers. Go back to that clearing. You will be able to track them from there. The five men you will watch all carry crossbows. Be back before sunset.”

  “Let’s get moving!” Gunter ordered.

  Brock hopped up immediately, excited for his mission. The rest of the Warriors followed suit. All except for Gunter. He drew closer to me so no one could overhear our conversation.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing,” he whispered.

  “Would you have us leave, knowing there are threats in the forest?”

  “There are always threats in the Valley. We have no fight with these soldiers and, I hate to agree with him, but Pierce is right. What if she leads them here?”

  “Then we will do what needs to be done,” I said firmly. “I will not leave her to that fate.”

  “She should be perfectly fine by now at the rate she was healing.”

  I shook my head. “It is for appearances only, to give us a chance to sort out these new obstacles.”

  “You didn’t tell the other Warriors about how fast she heals. Do you not trust them?”

  “I trust them.”

  “Even Pierce?” Gunter raised an eyebrow at me.

  “Whatever Pierce has against me, it’s personal. He would never let another Warrior die because of that.” I waved my hand, dismissing the subject. “Ravyn is very private about her gift. That is why I said nothing. She feels frightened of people knowing, and for good reason. From the information she shared, it seems that the General has a certain affinity for causing pain. These soldiers are brainwashed and broken. Tortured.”

  “You believe he did the same with her?”

  “All the signs tell me that he did,” I confirmed. “Ravyn is not broken as those soldiers are, but she flinches at my touch. There is fear in her eyes when the General is mentioned, and I doubt this woman is afraid of much in this world. Can you imagine what it must have been like to be hurt over and over, only to heal and go through it all again?”

  Gunter muttered a curse. “This General sounds like a Saber that needs to be put down.”

  I knelt down to ladle stew into two bowls, thinking that Gunter would get to work overseeing the distribution of our firearms, but I could feel him hovering over me.

  “Go ahead and spit it out,” I said, without even looking at him.

  “Will you claim her then, knowing all this?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know.”

  “I know you have feelings for her, whether you’ll admit to them or not.”

  “She will only be here three days.”

  “That’s three days to get to know her, court her, and get her agreement.”

  Gunter stalked away to distribute the weapons before I could make another argument. He made it sound so simple. But I might just drive her away in three days.

  17

  Ravyn

  “You are quite the piglet,” Thorne said, chuckling.

  He watched me out of the corner of his eye as I finished up my third helping of stew. I could see him clearly now since he’d brought a lamp inside the tent. Unfortunately, he was a master at keeping his scars hidden. I didn’t know why it bothered me. I supposed it was only fair since all my scars were hidden from sight as well.

  Pushing the thought aside, I gave him a sly grin and licked my fingers unashamedly. “I’d say I was sorry, but I’m not. I have to eat a lot, and often, to keep up with the healing. It saps my energy.”

  “I am glad you are not picky.”

  Thorne moved my empty plate toward the tent-flap and then stretched out on his side, his elbow supporting him. The tent was just long enough to accommodate his impressive height.

  “Why? What did I just eat?” I asked curiously. “It was delicious.”

  “The meat was mutton. We raise Mountain Prongs for their meat and milk. They do well in our mountains,” he explained.

  “Mountain Prongs?” I asked curiously.

  “They are very gentle animals. The males grow to half the size of a horse. The females a bit smaller. They have shaggy brown coats that we sheer to make clothing. They’re named for their long, straight horns.”

  These animals sounded like large goats. There had been a herd of goats in Terran, at least while I’d lived there.

  “And the vegetables?”

  “The green, slimy leaves were sea-kale and some type of seaweed I do not know the name of.”

  My jaw dropped in astonishment. “Sea-kale? Seaweed?”

  Thorne grinned at my bewildered expression. “I understand. There are times I have to choke down the seaweed.”

  “No, that’s not it.” Leaning toward him, I asked, “You can really eat those things from the sea?”

  “Well, the sea-kale only grows near the sea, not in it. The seaweed -” he scrunched up his face in disgust. “Most of us hate it, but my sister, Kemena, says it is good for us. She packs many of our food supplies for these hunts.”

  “You have a sister?” My smile widened at the thought.

  “I have three sisters.”

  I raised my eyebrows and my jaw dropped. “Three? So your people are allowed to have large families then?”

  With a puzzled expression on his face, Thorne said, “Large families are common.”

  “They’re common?” I whispered in awe. His clan probably had plenty of room to grow in population. “Will you tell me about them? Your sisters, I mean?”

  He swung around into a cross-legged position before answering. “Kemena is the oldest sibling. She is a healer, and so is her husband, Aaron. Tallon is fifteen, just four years younger than me.”

  “Is she also a healer?”

  Thorne roared with laughter.

  My mouth dropped open again. “What did I say? What’s so funny?”

  “If you knew Tallon, you would know.” Thorne scratched his scruffy chin. “Kemena is strong-willed, but she’s gentle. Tallon decided to become a Warrior, if that answers your question.”

  “Women are allowed to be Warriors too?” I choked. Peton was vastly different from Terran.

  “There are not many, but if they so desire and train properly, then we do not deny anyone.”

  “So Tallon is more like you then?” I smirked at him.

  Ignoring my taunt, he said, “Then there is Lenna. She is nearing ten. She is training to be a healer under Kemena.”

  For a long minute I sat in silence, wondering what it might have been like for me if I’d been born and raised in Peton. Of course, I didn’t take my healing ability into account. As far as I knew, no one from Terran knew about it. I wondered, based on Thorne’s reaction to me, whether people from Peton would be more accepting of my gift.

  “Your parents must be very proud,” I said, smiling at him.

  A shadow passed over Thorne’s face, but it was gone just seconds after.

  “It is my turn again, little warrior. Where is your family? Do they know what has become of you?”

  I lowered my eyes, for Thorne would surely spot the pain
that still lingered there. “I had a family. I’m sure they’re still there, in Terran.”

  Thorne raised his eyebrows. “Ah, the isolated ones. Did they banish you?”

  “Yes and no. I ran away before they had a chance.”

  I proceeded to explain the laws governing the clan, how I’d been a twin to Camellia, and the plan to take me away the evening before our ninth birthday. By the time I finished my tale, Thorne was frowning fiercely.

  “It should not be this way with families.”

  “I wasn’t meant to stay there anyway, Thorne.” I shrugged away his anger. “Mother really did try to accept me, but Father clearly favored my sister. The healing ability didn’t help, either. They never said anything about it, so I don’t think they knew. If they had known I might have been banished even sooner.”

  “What about your sister?”

  My stomach clenched at the memory of my twin. “I think Camellia didn’t know what to make of me. I was always breaking rules, sometimes on purpose. We fought a lot over my rebellious nature. She wasn’t mean to me, but Father liked for her to keep her distance from me.”

  “It hardly seems possible that your parents could keep the two of you separated all the time.”

  “It was,” I agreed. “We were forced to share a bedroom because our home was so small. We talked some when father wasn’t around. Mostly about school.” In that moment I missed my sister. I missed the scent of flowers throughout the house. I sighed and shook my head. “She was the complete opposite of me, that’s for sure; everything that the Terran people appreciated in a girl. Meek, submissive, ordinary.”

  “Ordinary is boring,” said Thorne. “So she did nothing to defend you?”

  “We were just girls. What could she have done, or said, to the Elders or my Father to stop them?” I shrugged my shoulders. “It wasn’t her fault. Everything is as it should be now. She’s safe with her family and probably married by now.”

  “So young?”

  “We are nearly seventeen. Sixteen is a marriageable age there.”

  “And you were only nine years when you left Terran? I am surprised you survived in the Valley alone.”