Wolfsbane

Wolfsbane, Chapter 7, By Ruth Nalio

Trystan…

I watched as Autumn stomped over to the bows and picked one up. This was going to be good. “You’re not going to shoot me are you?” I teased.

“Ha! You wish. We will have a little contest if you don’t mind. The better aim wins and the argument is solved.”

“I guess that could work, but what if we tie?”

“We keep shooting until one of us is the better, like me for instance.”

She was in for a surprise; I would simply have to use my heightened eyesight to win this one. “Deal.” I smiled what I knew to be a rye smile and walked over to where she stood. “Should I have another target set up, or will we both shoot at the same one?”

“We should both shoot at the same one, that way we can be sure who wins.”

“How do we decide who goes first?”

“Ladies always go first.” She said matter-of-factly.

“Here you are, m'lady,” I said as I handed her an arrow and stood back. I crossed my arms and c****d my head with what I hoped was a quizzical look on my face. The more I flustered her the worse her aim was going to be. I might as well make it as easy for me as possible. After all, she was a damned good shot.

She smiled a wicked smile that did things to me that were somewhat unexpected and highly unwelcome. Then she turned and with her long slender fingers pulled back the arrow and lined it up with the target. She glanced once at me, winked, then let it go. The arrow hit dead center. “Your turn, good sir.”

The wicked smile she gave would cause any man to feel the things flooding through my body. I forced myself to ignore the tightening in my gut, drew back my arrow, and lined it up. “You know it is a shame that you hit the center with that one.” I let go of the arrow and watched as it was robin-hooded with hers. “I did tell you that I wasn’t trying to show off earlier in the contest, right?”

She narrowed her eyes at me and snatched the bow. “Have you ever seen a triple?” She threw another arrow into place, lined it up, and let it go. Sure enough, it split right through my arrow and into hers. “What do you have to say to that?”

“It’s a nice trick but I wonder if I can do a better one,” I said as I walked over to her and got close enough to hear her heartbeat as I took the bow. I lined up the arrow once more and let it fly, splitting both of her arrows. “What do you know, I wasn’t sure I could do that but it looks like I did. Are you ready to admit that I’m better at this and that I win?”

“I think I may have underestimated you.” She walked over to me and got so close I could feel her breath on my skin and looked me up and down, “I think I could do what you just did and more. What happens if we are equal?”

“Then we’ll have to find another way to settle this,” I said as I handed her the bow. “Let’s just see if you can do what you say.” She smiled and stepped away and took aim. Again robin-hooding with her first shot. Then with her next shot, she split both arrows.

“Trystan, I think we have a problem. We seem to be out of arrows.”

“It appears so.”

“Well, what are we to use to settle this now?” She said as she looked around and put her hands on her hips.

“You know, I’m not sure unless you just want to agree that it was a stupid argument to begin with.”

“Ah, but then I would be admitting defeat and that is one thing that I never do.”

“Well then, let’s say that it never was an argument but a silly discussion.”

“That still wouldn’t work. Let’s say that I win.” She smiled at me and walked over to a chair to sit down.

“Then I would be admitting defeat and that is something I will not do.”

“Then what are we to do to settle this?”

I looked out across the back lawn at the woods and was hit with an idea. There was no way she would win this one. Of course, it was a bit unfair, but she wasn’t a normal woman and she certainly wouldn’t go for the idea. “Let’s race to the tree line. Whoever makes it there and back first wins.”

Autumn…

I eyed him skeptically for a moment trying to judge if he were serious or not. He was. There was no way I could win such a thing in a silly dress like this. But what could I suggest to get out of this? “It’s unfair, you do not have a dress or silly shoes in your way. We must come up with another way.”

He had a contemplative look on his face for a moment then smiled. “How about we have our father’s race and the winner settles the argument.”

That was the most ridiculous idea I’d ever heard and I had to laugh. The thought of my father running to win an argument for me was simply hilarious. “How about we keep the argument and competition between the two of us.”

“You’re right, somehow I don’t see my father running a race for me, let alone winning.”

“In that case, let's.” I joked.

“Let’s have an eating contest!” His eyes lit up and sparkled when he said this. Damn, the man for having beautiful brown eyes framed in thick black lashes. Stop staring at him! Why is he staring at me? Did he ask something? s**t!

“I don’t think we could do an eating contest either, my father would throw a fit.”

“But you think you could beat me?”

“It’s a good possibility.”

“I highly doubt that. You pick at your food too much.”

“You don’t know what I’m like when I actually want to eat. And just to let you know, I have great determination.”

“Of course you do, but that doesn’t mean anything when you’re eating in a contest with me.”

“Ha! You wanna bet?” I shot back.

“Does that mean you accept the challenge?”

Drat the man! “You did that on purpose!”

“Then you’re afraid that I’ll win.”

“No! I can beat you! Challenge accepted.”

“What challenge?” Father walked up behind me just then with Jude right next to him.

“We are having an eating contest. The winner also wins the shooting contest and the argument that we started earlier.”

“Just what would that argument be?”

“He won’t admit that he holds things over my head and that he thinks he’s better than me. He also called me a child, so we are settling this with a contest.”

“What happened to the shooting contest?” Jude asked curiously.

“We ran out of arrows,” Trystan stated calmly.

“I’m glad to see you two having fun together at least.” My father said with a look of relief.

“Ha! Fun! This is war and I’ll win.” I snapped at my father.

“You know, she does win a lot. It’s extremely hard to deter her.” Father warned Trystan.

“Just how does one deter her?” Trystan asked smoothly as if there was a way that would work for him.

“You have to be her father, and that doesn’t work too often either. I’d say that if you bent her over your knee and gave her a good spanking, she might give in, but then again she might just beat you back.” Father shrugged as if he hadn’t just suggested that a man lay a hand on me.

Trystan smiled and looked at me, “I don’t think I’ll try that unless I have to. I’m not fond of beating women.”

“That’s good, I know that you’ll be kind to her when you get married.” My father was a crafty old man.

“Father, we aren’t getting married. When will you give up on this silly notion?”

“When you give up on the silly notion that you’re not getting married when you are.”

I gritted my teeth and held in the words that would surely cause my father’s anger to come out. He may not have spanked me in years, but it was only because I learned quickly how far I could push him before he took action.

“Come Autumn, let’s have the cook prepare something for the contest.”

“I think it should be the most disgusting thing your cook can think of. That way, it will be a real contest.”

“You know, I think you’re onto something. It would be a shame though if one of us got sick and you and your father had to go home early.” He winked at me.

“You’re not going to get me to back down that easily,” I said as he walked in ahead of me. Rude, but I didn’t care. The ruder he was in front of my father, and the ruder I was in front of his, the better.

Once we were inside he turned to me and smiled, “You know I wasn’t trying to deter you from the contest, I was simply hoping to upset our parents and if one of us does get sick and you have to leave, it’s just a plus.”

“It would be.” I agreed, not wanting to admit that I was insulted that he didn’t want to spend time with me. After all, it was a good thing that he wasn’t getting used to me being around, wasn’t it? I followed him silently to the kitchen. What was wrong with me? I should be thrilled that he’d come up with this! If I didn’t know any better I’d say I was beginning to like him!

I watched as he walked up to the cook and made the request. He was going to be surprised at what I could stomach. Most men just go for something that looks disgusting, because a woman won’t go near it. I’m no ordinary woman and I’m proud of that.

“Shall we?” He inquired as he gestured for me to go first into the dining room.

“Thank you. Um, what shall we do to pass the time?”

“Well, I have cards and a chess set. I don’t know if you know how to play either, but the choice is up to you.”

“I know how to play both. I think I’d like to play a hand of cards first, then maybe if we have the time we can play a game of chess.”

“Sounds like you have a plan.”

I smiled and took my seat. “I may, I may not, it's hard to tell.”

He smiled a wicked smile. “You are a sly woman if I ever met one. Wait here and I’ll fetch the games.”

“Why not just have one of your servants fetch them?”

“I like to depend on myself once in a while. Plus, the servants aren’t allowed in my room.” He winked and left to retrieve the games.

Damn the man! Did he have to be such a flirt? If I didn’t know any better I’d have thought he was flirting with me when we were shooting. That would be simply absurd though. Unless it was a ploy to get me unsettled enough that I’d have trouble! The devil!

I looked down at the table and forced myself to calm down as I had been doing the same thing. That’s when I noticed how truly beautiful the table was. It was a deep mahogany with multi-tones laid throughout its top and a darker shade lining the edges. It was also polished to a high shine. It wasn’t exactly rectangular either, but more oblong, with the corners cut into an odd swishing pattern like a wave.

“Has the table put a spell on you that you must stare at it as if it is your master?”

I jumped at the sound of Trystan’s voice and then glared at him. “Actually, I was just admiring the design.”

“My parents drew up the design together and had it made right here in the village.”

I watched as his long fingers set the deck of cards on the table and the chess set next to it without toppling a single piece. “I would have had those pieces all over the place.”

He laughed a rich full laugh. “Practice makes perfect. Father used to get on me every time I dropped a piece. I finally learned how to not so much as make them move when I walk.”

“You must be very light-footed.”

He looked shocked for a moment then, “Cards first you said?”

“Yes, um, rummy?”

“That’s not exactly a lady’s game.”

“I’m not exactly a lady, as you’ve pointed out already.” He shrugged and began shuffling the deck.

I set my hand on top of his and the warmth was so unexpected that I lost track of my thought for a moment and simply stared into his deep chocolate eyes. It was when he cleared his throat that I came to. “May I shuffle?” I said as I quickly removed my hand from his.

He handed the deck to me without a word and I began to shuffle, then shuffled back and did the bridge a few times. I slid the deck to him so that he could cut it, then I dealt like the little card shark my father had taught me to be.

Trystan…

We played several hands before we even realized the food was ready. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. Autumn was simply stunning behind her fan of cards, the points piling up behind her hand. She ended up winning, much to my regret.

The food that was brought out didn’t exactly smell all that bad but it looked awful. It was a pig snout soup with an ear or two and an eyeball floating in it. The sight alone was going to be enough for me to win. Autumn looked down at it with a frown then looked up at me and smiled. s**t, she wasn’t going to give.

I lifted my spoon and smiled. “What shall we eat first, there are the same things in your soup as in mine.”

“I say we start with the nose then an ear and the eye last, that way it can watch itself be devoured.” She said in a matter-of-fact way that made me laugh. “I thought it was funny too. That is the order I’d like to eat in though.”

“Sounds good to me.” I fished out the snout and began eating and surprisingly it wasn’t all that bad.

It was a bit rubbery where it had been boiled but other than that it was edible. Next was the ear. It was chewy and had a tangy taste that wasn’t much to my liking. The eye was what I was dreading, but a bet was a bet. I fished out the eyeball, toasted it to hers, and quickly stuck it into my mouth. As I bit into it, it squished out like jelly between my teeth with a pop. I wanted to gag but refused to give in even that little bit seeing as how she’d hardly made a face through the entire thing. I decided not to chew the thing anymore but to just swallow it down. That was possibly the hardest thing for me to do.

I had thought that since I eat raw animals in my wolf form this wouldn’t bother me in the least, but in fact, it did. It was the fact that it was cooked. It tasted better raw to me. Autumn had swallowed hers without so much as a bite. She must have seen my mistake and learned from it. Tricky little thing.

“So we have both just eaten slightly disgusting parts of a pig, who wins?”

“I think we should just call it a tie after that one.”

“I never tie. Win or lose?”

I thought for a moment then smiled. “Chess it is then.” I set up the board, “Black,” I called, giving her the chance to go first. She gave me a cunning smile and I watched the way her fingers lightly caressed the pawn and slipped it into a new square. She was enjoying herself. Soon we were taking pieces and trading pawns for queens and knights. Not long into the game, we were at a stalemate, neither of us would win this game. She was better than anyone I’d ever encountered.

She sighed, “What now?”

I thought for a moment but there was nothing I could think of that would finish this competition we had gotten ourselves into. Neither of us was willing to give in and she wasn’t willing to call it a tie. “To be honest, I have no clue what else we could do that is a real competition to both of us.”

She messed up her face in thought and stared at her hands for a moment then smiled. “The person that gets their father to give in first wins.”

“That is a separate competition altogether, my dear.”

“Yes, but that is one we will both be happy with in the end no matter who wins.”

“You make a good point, but I don’t really care which one gives first, as long as they give.”

`“Then we’ll have to find something else.” She sat back in her chair, crossed her arms, and stared at me.

“Just what are the two of you up to in here?” My father asked as he and Mason walked in.

“We are trying to figure out another competition that we could have that one of us might win,” Autumn informed them as she straightened up in her seat.

“Have you played cards? You are very good at that Aut.” Mason asked.

A light lit her eye as she looked up at me. “Yes, and I won. Although that wasn’t counted as a competition, I’d be more than happy to play another hand or two and see who wins.”

“As you wish my dear, but I’ll not make it easy on you this time,” I informed her.

“I don’t wish for you to, I would like somewhat of a challenge.” She purred as she reached for the cards and began shuffling. “500 rummy sound good to you?” She began dealing the cards before I said yes or no. Not that I would have objected to my favorite card game.