To Bewitch a Devil

He said and their eyes widened in shock. Did he... did he intend to carry her on his horse?

The servants were there to hold their arrows, while they shot at the animals, this woman was clearly weak and did not even know how to ride a horse, she was surely going to slow them down, why was he taking her with him?

The men were stunned but they did not say anything. Neera hesitated for a second and then she walked to where he stood.

Zavian took the bag from her and tied it to his horse, and in the next second, he lifted her over the horse.

The men watched quietly as Zavian climbed onto his horse after her and held the reins;

“Let’s go;” he said to them and they came to themselves and got on their horses.

Neera’s face was beet red as she sat still in front of Zavian, his chest, hugging her back closely. She had thought that he would send her back but it did not seem like he wanted to let her go anytime soon.

Zavian pulled at his reins and they rode out of the castle.

.....

When they arrived at the forest, Neera was almost out of breath. This was the first time she was riding on a horse, and although it seemed like fun in the beginning, she grew tired later on, she was glad they finally came to a stop.

Zavian came down from the horse and stretched his hands towards Neera. She stared at him and then leaned towards him like a baby leaning towards its mother. Zavian’s hands went around her back and he brought her down carefully from the horse.

His men and the servants watched the scene unfold quietly. If they had been guessing if Zavian had feelings for this woman before, they no longer guessed now.

The way he held her, the way he looked at her, their king was gone.

They supported him in everything, and were still going to support whatever he did; but something did not feel exactly right about this...

They watched him undo his bag from the horse and gave them to her,

“Are they heavy?” Zavian asked tenderly Neera shook her head, placing the bag over her arms.

The men watched in frustration, he had all the time in the world to be lovey-dovey with her, did it have to be now? If they were not sure of anything, they were sure Zavian was not going to kill anything that day.

Neera stood by the side as she listened to the men map out their area and quickly went for hunt, each with their servants. They left one after the other until it was just Neera and Zavian.

“Let’s go;” Zavian said to her as he turned to the forest. Neera followed closely behind Zavian, barely an inch of space between them. This was a forest and wild animals roamed about, she didn’t want to be apart from him for a second for fear that something would leap up from behind her and tear her in two.

Suddenly, Neera spotted a deer. “Your majesty!” She whispered in panic her hands hugging his arm. She had not seen a living deer before. She only ate its meat, thankfully from the kings table, but she had never seen it alive.

Zavian stared at the animal and made some noise with its feet. It noticed them and quickly ran away. Neera was surprised, why did he let it leave?

“A hundred tons of gold. If we want to win, we need to get the biggest kill.”

Zavian spoke as he walked stealthily, following the trails on the ground and on the trees.

Neera was scared now. What if the animal tore her apart before Zavian could kill it?

Oh Lord, he should have left her in the castle. This hunt was not for women, and clearly not for a weak one like her.

That morning, when Zavian Zavian woke up, he turned to the woman sleeping quietly beside him.

He had been sad about the events of a few days ago, but after the previous night, he couldn’t keep on being mad at her.

He could have easily hurt Axel, but it would cause a topic in the castle and make her hate him the more, so he greatly restrained himself. He had watched her sleep softly as he thought of the best way to keep her from meeting Axel again, and a thought came to his mind.

As long as she was within his view, she would not have the time to meet with him. He would take her with him wherever he went, and made sure she wouldn’t leave his eyes.

Zavian smiled to himself, before long, she would not even remember him again, and then he would send the prince back to his kingdom.

Neera follows Zavian’s every move, moving at the same pace, not wanting to make a sound.

She was scared to wits as she held onto him for dear life.

Suddenly, Zavian stopped and Neera looked to the direction of his gaze. A far off, was a wild boar, feeding on the carcass of something it had just killed. Neera had not seen an animal that tremendous in size. Just one of its legs, could crush her bones to a thousand peices.

“Shh!” Zavian whispered as he crushed down and hid behind a covering.

Stretching his hand to her, Neera carefully gave him the bow and arrow, making sure not to make a single sound. Unlike the deer, a boar would charge towards you and God save you if you were not prepared.

“Don’t make a sound;” Zavian said to her and stood up stealthily. Neera remained squatted as she watched him, her heart banging against her chest.

“Do you know the easiest way to kill a boar?” He asked as he positioned the arrow and the strings made a stretching sound as he pulled on it;

Neera was scared as she stared at him, why was he talking loudly? Did he want to alert the animal?

“No,” she replied, almost shaking.

“Right in the middle of its eyes.” At his words, he kicked at a shrub and Neera’s eyes widened as the boar raised its head from the carcass it was eating and looked straight at her.