Authors: Harmony Raines
Tags: #General Fiction
“You wimp,” she said, but he could see in the paleness of her face that she agreed.
“So, you know Shifters Prime better than me, which way do we go to this pride?” He was dressed himself, feeling a little bit better, but his stomach rumbled, he needed a proper meal, they both did. And one thing was for sure, he didn’t mean eating berries, neither could he stomach sweet chestnuts this time in the morning.
“It’s easy, we see where the sun comes up and then we head north.” She grinned at him. “Come on, I thought you grew up in the Mediterranean. You must have had nights when you watched the stars come out, and then watched the sunrise. It’s not hard to work out which way to go when you know those things never change.”
He shook his head, and said, “I’m just going to follow you. You seem to know what you’re doing, and I just want some time to think.”
“Then we head north, and see if we can find a farm or something on the way. Perhaps we can find some work in exchange for a nice hot meal.” Her stomach grumbled and she looked down, placing her hand on it, and he could see the look of longing, as she thought about hot food.
“Not very good at being the provider, am I?”
“This is all new to you, I’ll give you a couple of days to get the hang of it. And if not, I might have to trade you in.”
He came to her, and took her in his arms, holding her close, and his hand went to the nape of her neck and he tilted her head back, his lips claiming hers. And when they parted, he said, “You know I’ll never let you go.”
“That’s what I’m banking on.” And she took his hand and they walked down the mountain together. They weren’t ready to shift yet, for now they were happy to simply be in each other’s company and enjoy the sun on their faces.
Before them, the grasslands spread out, with the sun’s golden rays covering them, making them look radiant, and he breathed in the clear mountain air. His lion remembered the smell of the Prime; coming here had awoken all of those memories, good and bad. But this new one, walking hand-in-hand with his mate, in the early morning sun, this one had to be one of the best ones ever.
And he only hoped, that wherever they were going, they would find happiness. Long years of happiness together, with their children.
They walked for some time on two legs. Her ankle was paining her a bit, but it was bearable, and she liked to hold his hand, to know he was real.
However, there were no farms around, nowhere for them to stop and ask for food, so eventually, they shifted onto four legs and carried on their journey. It was much quicker this way: she trotted, while he ambled along beside her, the miles disappearing behind them. The sun rose higher in the sky. It was a clear bright day, and the warmth on their backs chased away the hunger in their bellies.
Then in the distance, she saw smoke rising from a chimney, and stopped. Changing back into human form, she put her hand over her eyes, shielding them from the glare of the sun. Beside her, he shifted, to stand tall and strong, and she leaned into him, resting her head on his chest. Kieran put his hand around her shoulders and said, “Are we going to try there?”
“Yes, I think we will have to do. If not, I’ll have to spend an hour or two eating grass.”
“It’s all right for you,” he said. “But I’ll just have to starve, I suppose.”
“Well, you’re just going to have to charm whoever is at that farm into giving us some food. Which is why I think it would be better if we made sure that they didn’t see a lion. No offence, but by the hungry look on your face, they are probably going to think you will eat them up.”
“I’m that hungry, they might be right.”
They walked together towards the farm, as fast as they could. Each step made her feel weaker. They needed to eat. She had never gone without food for so long. And her blood sugar was dipping. It wasn’t so much that she thought she might faint, but the worse it got, the more chances she would probably bite his head off. She was never a nice person when she was hungry; however, she didn’t want him to know that yet.
They were now around five hundred feet away from the farm, when they heard the sound of an axe. Somebody was chopping wood. This might turn out all right; after all, Kieran could chop wood, and there was bound to be something she could turn her hand to, some chore that needed doing around the farm.
“Just remember, no arrogant lion. We need help, we need food, so just be polite.”
“I’ll let you do the talking, then.”
As they got closer, they could see an old man working. His axe rose up, and came down slowly and methodically as he tried to split the wood.
“Hello there,” she said in a friendly tone.
“How do,” the old guy said.
“We wondered if we could trade a couple of hours’ work, for some food.”
The old guy looked at her and then his gaze shifted over to Kieran. “He looks like he eats a lot.”
“He does, but he also works hard. And so do I.” Misty was determined to drive a hard bargain.
“I have all this wood here,” the guy said, pointing to heap of logs that would probably take Kieran a couple of hours or more to get through.
“Is it possible we could eat first?” she asked, as her stomach grumbled again. “We’ve had no food for a couple of days. If you feed us first, we’re bound to work faster.”
“Do you think I’m stupid?” the guy asked. “What’s to say I won’t feed you, then you just run, because you know I’m old and I can’t chase you.”
“You have our word.”
“Well, that’s okay, then, isn’t it?” he said sarcastically. “It’s not as if anyone ever breaks their word around here, is it?”
“Just something small, then, I don’t know—some bread,” she suggested.
“I’ll see what I can find,” the guy grunted, putting his axe into the wood and then walking off towards the farmhouse.
Kieran and Misty waited, wondering if he was actually going to come back out. Thankfully, when he did, he had two plates. On them was some bread and cheese, and he also brought them some fruit.
She could almost hear the question that Kieran wanted to ask:
do you have any meat?
He kept it to himself. “Thank you,” he said as they sat down on a bench and ate the meal.
Misty chewed slowly, savouring the fresh bread. It wasn’t long out of the oven and the warmth in it made the butter melt; it was delicious. It didn’t take them long to finish eating, and as good as his word, Kieran picked up the axe, and began working his way through the pile of wood.
“Is there anything I can do for you?” she asked the guy. It was kind of him to feed them. She knew that sometimes life was hard out here on a farm, especially if he managed it on his own.
“Pigs could do with being mucked out.” He pointed towards the barn, and although it wasn’t something she particularly wanted to do, because horses had this thing about pigs—it was the smell and the sound, it always freaked her out—she knew she couldn’t say no.
Heading into the dark barn, the smell hit her first, but she picked up the pitchfork and began to get rid of the dirty bedding. She worked without stopping, letting her mind wander over everything that had happened. It was kind of cathartic, doing a menial job, and by the end of it, she knew that they were doing the right thing. Kieran needed closure; she only hoped when they got to the Satoma Pride Lands, they would get some answers. Because she didn’t want to spend her life traipsing all over the Prime looking for whoever had killed Kieran’s father.
By the time she’d finished, the barn was clean but she stank, and so when the guy, who finally trusted them enough to introduce himself as Dan, offered her the use of his bathroom, she jumped at the chance to have a shower and clean herself up. By the time she came back downstairs, Kieran and Dan were drinking home-made beer, while a stew simmered on the stove top. Her stomach grumbled again, and her mouth watered in anticipation.
“What can I get for you, my dear? You can have some beer, or I have some home-made wine, although I can’t vouch for how strong is.”
“The wine would be great,” she said.
Dan went down into his cellar, and came back up with a dusty bottle. “Elderflower. It’s supposed to be light on the palate.”
Misty smiled to herself. “That would be perfect.”
Dan poured a glass of wine and passed it to her. She took a sip, and it nearly burned her throat out. It wasn’t exactly light, the alcohol content made her head buzz, or maybe it was because she was drinking on an empty stomach. All the same, it relaxed her, and she went and joined Kieran on the bench outside the house.
“I see you’ve made a friend,” she said.
He took a big swig of his beer. “You know, I’ve never considered the simple things in life until now. I spent my life trawling around vineyards with Philippe, working whatever jobs we could, and I resented it, maybe it was because he always reminded me that we were on the run. But sitting here, I could quite see myself as a farmer.”
“When this is all over, we will head back to my herd, and that’s what we’ll do. My dad and my brothers will help us build a house; there’s plenty of land to grow crops.”
“I look forward to it.” A call from the kitchen told them dinner was ready and he added, “But not quite as much as I look forward to this meal. The man seems to be able to do anything, the beer is good and that food smells delicious.”
They both went inside and sat at the table. Dan placed a heaping bowl of stew in front of each of them. And her mouth watered so much, she thought she would drool. And when she tasted it, she thought she would die of ecstasy. “This is amazing, Dan.”
“I’ve lived here on my own for a long time, and even though sometimes it’s hard to summon the energy to cook for yourself, I’d never see a guest walk away hungry.”
“Then here’s to you, Dan.” Kieran raised his bottle of beer in salute and Misty did the same with her glass. Then they all ate in silence; the food was too good for small talk. They all savoured every mouthful, and she wondered when they would ever have such full stomachs and good company again.
“I wish we could just stay there,” Kieran said, as they turned and waved at Dan. The old guy had told them they could stay as long as they wanted; he had plenty of work for them to do. But Misty had insisted that they go on, and Kieran knew she was right, staying on the farm would only be an excuse to put off what they inevitably had to do. And the longer they stayed, the harder it would be to go and find out about his past.
“We can come back this way when we’ve done what we need to do.” She put her hand in his and squeezed it gently; he turned and smiled at her, looking at her happy face, and hoping they could figure his past out and then be happy for the rest of their lives. “You did tell him you are a lion, right?”
“Yes, I did; after the third beer I’d have told him anything.” Kieran laughed, and that made his head ache even more. “When we do return, I’m going to get him to teach me how to make beer.”
“So do you think this is the life we will have?” They walked, heading north along the road that would take them through the next village. Dan had given them some money, even though Kieran had insisted they didn’t need it. He also gave them some supplies, fresh food and water, that would sustain them on their journey. But there were other things they needed and he was grateful for the coins, promising to come back and repay him one day soon.
“Yes, I’d like a simple life. If that suits you.” Kieran was struggling to get used this new way of thinking. He had lived his life for the last five years since Philippe died, doing whatever he wanted. Well, more or less. As long as he fought in the cage, his boss was happy, and the rest of his time was his own. Now, everything, every decision, had to be done with Misty in mind. He was just lucky that she was easy-going; all she wanted was for them both to be happy.
“It suits me, it’s the life I was used to, before I went to the Prime.” She smiled, and they walked on.
At least they seem to be on the same wavelength, even if they were a lion and horse.
They set a good pace, their strength renewed from the good food Dan provided, and a good night’s sleep in a proper bed. They hadn’t made love; that was more to do with the beer than anything else, and the fact that they were completely exhausted. One thing he was happy about, and that was that they had fallen into a kind of easy friendship. Which, seeing as how they didn’t know each other very well, was fortunate.
Now they walked in a companionable silence, side-by-side, hands locked together, while the day dawned full of promise. The village proved to have everything they needed; they purchased some rope, and a tarpaulin, which they could use to build a makeshift shelter, as they headed north.
He had told Dan where they were going, and the old guy estimated it would take them three or four days, may be more, depending on their pace. Unless they could find some other form of transport. Dan had said they might be able to find a truck going their way, if they stuck to the road. That’s what they decided to do, although Kieran quite liked the idea of the open air.
His subconscious reminded him that he was just trying to put off the inevitable. The longer they took to get to the pride lands, the longer it would be until he found out the truth about himself and his family.
And right now, he didn’t mind putting it off: he could just forget it all, he was happy, and he wished that was the way he could stay
“So we have everything we need?” he asked Misty.
“I think so, the main problem is going to be water; there is only so much we can carry.”
“Then let’s go,” he said and he hitched the heavy pack Dan had given them up on his back, and they set out, following the road. This made the going easier, it was a longer route, but Dan had told them that the terrain got rockier and steeper, the further north they went, and going across country would slow them down.
At lunchtime, they walked fifty yards off the road and sat and ate some apples and some ham sandwiches Dan had prepared for them. He got out the rough map the old farmer had drawn, and looked at it. “So we’ve made good time today so far. I was thinking, if we can walk for another three or four hours, we should be able to reach the outskirts of this village here.” He pointed at the map.