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Packs were readied and provisions procured for a week. Rifles and pistols were checked and rechecked, loaded and slung across our backs or in holsters. Mother fussed over me and kept adjusting and readjusting my jacket, even when the others started to arrive.
All in all, there were eight of us on this little hunt. Most of them were around my age, products of the nobles hoping for a daughter to eventually marry off when we were old enough.
We all shared unimpressed looks when we gathered that morning. None of us were excited. None of us had a choice, either.
I shouldered my own pack, and I refused help in mounting my horse. Ginger was a gentle brown mare, but that didn’t stop my anxiety around her. She could shatter my hand in her teeth if she really wanted to. Or kick me to death.
Basically, she could cause all sorts of bodily harm, and I rightfully respected her power.
Lucas hovered. He didn’t offer to help, but he stayed closer than any of the other guards did to their charges.
None of the other kids were the heir to a kingdom. One of the reasons I hated these hunts so much was because I was never allowed to forget that fact. Everything I did reflected on me and my parents. I couldn’t do anything embarrassing or anything that might show weakness, like accepting help to mount Ginger.
Once I mounted, everyone else followed suit. We left on my command, trotting through the eastern gate out into the woods.
Thus began what I thought would be the worst days of my life.
The ride was uncomfortable. All of us shifted and squirmed after only an hour, and the complaints started an hour after that.
“I can’t believe they’re making us do this again,” Jacob muttered. He was two years older than I was, dark skinned with lean muscles.
“I vote we bag something today and spend the rest of the week in the lodge,” Stephen said. He was only a few months younger than me, but several inches taller, and that was before taking his curly blonde hair into account.
The lodge he mentioned was a rustic cabin in the middle of the woods, about half a day’s ride from the castle. It was where we stayed during these hunts, and as old fashioned as the place was, it beat tramping through the forest all day.
“Who says we even have to catch anything?” Jacob asked. “Maybe if we don’t our fathers will take the hint.”
Tempting. It was very, very tempting.
If we hadn’t heard the unholy screech echo through the forest, we probably would have all agreed not to hunt anything.
But we did hear it. A loud, blood curdling shriek. The horses whined and bucked. Leon, a scrappy twelve-year old, fell off his horse. Birds cawed and took off in a flurry of feathers. Startled deer raced past us. Leon scrambled back into the saddle, and our guards herded us into a tighter circle and drew their rifles.
“What was that?” Adam demanded. He was fourteen, the son of the Army General, and probably the best fighter here, besides the guards. He also knew he was the best fighter.
“We’re not sticking around to find out,” Lucas decided. “Back to the castle.”
“Are you kidding?” Adam asked. He tightened the band holding his wavy brown hair out of his face. “This hunt is finally getting interesting.”
“We should find whatever that was and kill it,” Stephen said. “Imagine the looks on our parents’ faces.”
Oh, I could imagine, alright. Disbelief. Worry. Fear. Followed by anger. My mother would ground me for years if I hunted some weird thing in the forest. Who knew how dangerous it was?
“We should hunt it down before it attacks any people,” Kurtis said. Easily the quietest of the group, Kurtis had the biggest heart of anyone here. He used to find wounded animals as a kid and nurse them back to health.
And he made a good point. If this thing was dangerous, we needed to stop it before it reached any towns.
I sighed and shared a look with Lucas.
He shook his head. “Absolutely not. If the others want to go, that’s their choice. You’re going the opposite direction as fast as we can.”
“Is our future king a coward?” Adam asked.
I glared at him. I’d already committed to going, but now I had no choice. To leave after being called out like that would make everyone think I was scared and weak, and that would haunt me on the throne forever.
“Try to keep up,” I retorted.
“Don’t do this,” Lucas said.
I steered Ginger in the direction all the deer had come from. Whatever they’d been running from would be this way.
“Let’s go.” Adam pulled his horse up next to mine with a cocky grin. Then he and his horse bolted forward, charging through the underbrush.
The rest of us dutifully followed.
We went as far as the horses were willing to carry us, but after twenty minutes, all of them pulled up short and refused to go any farther. Leon was almost thrown from his horse again, and I nearly had a panic attack when Ginger reared up on her back legs.
Horses. Give me a predictable steamcar any day.
“What’s wrong with them?” Jacob asked.
“They sense something we can’t,” Adam said. He stroked his horse’s neck.
“That’s never good,” I muttered. We hadn’t heard anymore shrieking, or passed anymore fleeing animals.
“So, what now?” Leon asked.
Adam tried to urge his horse forward, but the steed was having none of it. “We’ll have to continue on foot.”
“Am I the only one who thinks this is a bad idea?” Stephen asked.
“No,” Lucas muttered, low enough that no one else heard.
“We have to find out what it is, at least,” I said. “And we have to make sure it’s not near any towns.”
“I suggest some of you stay here with the horses,” Lucas said. “A small scouting team would be best. Preferably comprised of your guards and not you.”
The handful of guards still with us nodded, urging their mounts ahead of us.
“You know I’m going, too,” I said.
“As am I,” Adam said, glaring at his own guard and daring the man to object. Most of the guards disagreed with our idea, but we wouldn’t be swayed.
“Your Highness,” Lucas started.
“I’m going, Lucas. That’s final.”
He sighed, resigned to my reckless stubbornness. Maybe after this he wouldn’t complain about my shenanigans in town.
Not likely, but I could dream.
In the end, Leon, Jacob, and two others stayed behind. Only Adam, Stephen, me, and our guards went forward. We checked our rifles and pistols, I ran a finger over my watch chain, and then we started hiking through the forest. Lucas made me walk in the middle of the group, the most defensible position. It didn’t feel very leader-like, but he wouldn’t hear any arguments.
It was eerily quiet. Even our footsteps seemed to be muffled by the dirt and leaves. It felt like anything could jump out from behind any tree.
The trees grew thicker the farther we went, and consequently everything was also darker. The temperature dropped, too. Or maybe that was my imagination.
“Hey, take a look at this,” Adam said, picking his way over to a tree. He ran his hand over a deep gash in the bark.
“I don’t think a wild animal made that,” Stephen said.
“Not a natural one, at any rate,” I said.
Both of them turned to look at me.
“Oh, come on. Did that shriek sound like any natural wild animal to you?”
Adam shrugged. “He’s got a point. But what do you think we’re dealing with, then?”
“I don’t think I want to know,” Stephen stated.
“Perhaps this is a job better suited to the Guard,” Adam’s guard offered, trying once again to convince us to turn around.
“We can handle it,” Adam said. “We just have to shoot first.”
Was he insane? Anything with sharp enough talons to leave that big of a gash in a tree had to be ten times faster than any of us. I doubted even Adam would be able to keep up with it.
Lucas made eye contact with me. “Your Highness, we need to call this off.”
He wasn’t asking anymore. He demanded. As my guard, his judgment on my safety outranked my authority as the Crown Prince. Lucas was nice enough to pretend I was still in control, but his hands twitched. Any second, he’d grab me and run, reputation be damned.
“I agree,” Adam’s guard said, sharing a look with Stephen’s guard. “It’s not wise to continue on.”
“We can handle it,” Adam insisted. He cocked his pistol to prove he was ready.
Adam and Stephen looked to me to make the final decision.
Leaving was the smart thing to do, but it was also cowardly. And if Adam eventually inherited his father’s post as the General, we would have to work together for the rest of our lives. He would never forget this moment.
My mother was going to lock me in the tower for this.
“We’ll advance carefully.” I mouthed an apology to Lucas.
He glared and shook his head.
I rushed forward, out of his reach.
Adam grinned, taking the lead. We found more gashes in the trees as we went, and mounds of bloody fur and broken bones. Whatever this thing was, it was a messy eater. It reeked, too. The stench of rotten meat and mildew made our eyes water.
“Did that used to be a bear?” Stephen asked. He wouldn’t look away from a bloody mess at the base of a tree. Half a skull grinned at us, one round ear on top of its head.
“Yep.” I swallowed bile.
“I wanted to be wrong.” Stephen double-checked his pistols. He’d only come along with me and Adam because he was the best shot out of all of us. If he shot it quickly enough, it wouldn’t even be a threat.
That was the plan: shoot it before it found us.
It was a solid plan. A good strategy.
It was just a shame it found us first.