I am Reborn through Revenge

A suspicious glare

I shut the door behind us and asked Knight Brant to lead the way. I followed him until we got to the field then a few more Knights joined in, about five of them and we began to walk to where Brant said that the Crown Prince would be. The evening was getting meaner and the fading sun’s rays cast long shadows behind our backs. I realized that no matter how fast the hunting game might be, there was absolutely no way we could finish the haunt before darkness falls upon us. It shouldn’t have been this way. Haunting is something that should be done while you can still see very clearly because there are dozens of animals in the forest that sees better in the dark than humans. I clearly do not understand Nightwinder's version of the haunting game. I made sure I slowed my pace while I allowed other knights to move ahead of me. I wasn’t too comfortable walking amid well-trained men I barely knew or have any mutual relationship with. We got to the main gate and I saw four more men on top of their horses. I also saw Prince Night and Prince Young on top of their horses too; they seemed to be waiting for us. All the knights wore the same military uniform.

“Hi Prince, Anon.” Prince Nightwinder waved at me with one arm while holding the rein of his horse with the other arm. His mighty dark mount oozed out a neigh and he quickly returned his two hands to the rein. I looked at his clothes. I must admit, I always admired Night's mode of dressing. He wore crisp blue trousers that matched his blue boots. Then his black long sleeves matched the hand gloves he wore on both hands.

“Your Highness.” I addressed him with his title, even though I didn’t want to.

“I am surprised you are here, Anon. I thought that you wouldn’t be interested in these kinds of things,” Young said and laughed. It was a laugh that reached to the corners of his lips. Young shared the same inverted face with his brother, but Night kept more facial hairs. He was in all shades of black like me.

I smiled at him, without saying a word. I shifted my gaze back to Night. “We are doing this a little bit late. I don’t think this hunting game would make sense in the dark.”

The other knights spoke to themselves by trading glances with each other. Maybe because of what I said. “Anon, there is no better time to do this than now. This is the time to test the true efficiency of your bow skills.”

“My bow skills?”

His horse released a louder neigh again and made some shaky movement. “Not yours per se,” he said. “I mean, generally speaking, this is the best time to know who truly deserves today’s honour. Secondly, the hunt is very important for everyone, especially for us Princes. This is one of those rare moments where we need to prove ourselves to our people. And nd hunting in the dark would exceptionally be an added plus to your status. Unless of course, you are afraid. In that case, that would be understandable.”

Afraid? Night continually had proven to me in words or actions that he was so worried about his image and status more than anything and he didn’t even know it.

“Hunting in the dark would be a lot more amusing than ever,” Young blurted, laughing. “But I guess it will be a lot funnier if women would be included in this game. It’s boring seeing flat-chested humans clustering around my sight in the forest whenever I am hunting.”

All the Knights started laughing, some supported him by mumbling out cheerful words that I couldn't hear. It was funny too so I smiled at him. “I think we should start moving now. This is going to be fun,” Night said, giggling.

Having fun at the moment was the least of my worries but safety? That was what I was more worried about. I’m wholly concerned about my safety regardless of how much fun the hunting may be. Considering the fact that I was a hated Prince really makes me feel more insecure than anyone else in the group. I checked my sword and it was holstered comfortably in my hip. At least I had something that I would use to defend myself, I thought. But on second thought, wouldn’t that be useless against a group of ten knights and two Princes who are relatedly my sworn enemies? To be honest, my master, Uzbek, made sure I mastered all elements of sword fighting when I was still his student but I don’t think that would be able to help me much in this case. I knew I was outnumbered and I won’t be getting any support from anyone if anything happens out of the blue. So what do I do?

“At least three knights would be assigned to each Prince. You are free to choose any three of your choice among these men,” Night said. The wind was blowing against his brown hair.

It was slowly becoming windy—the weather was slowly gathering momentum. I saw Brant holding two horses: black and brown. He was walking towards me holding the horses by the rein.

“Here,” he said. “Here is your horse, take it!” He said with his rather low but rough voice.

He handed the black horse to me and I held out my hand and took the rein from him. There was something about Knight Brant I liked. His expression was rather carefree and he seemed like he was a cool-headed fellow. If I was to choose among the knights who I would love to hunt with, I wouldn’t mind choosing him.

I knew that once a Prince, Princess, Queen, or King is outside the palace, there should be a strong layer of security apparatus that must be set up to protect them. So I perfectly understood why Nightwinder called for the Knights to come along with us. I didn’t like Night's idea. There was absolutely no way I would choose three men randomly from the Knights. I had a feeling that Night had other intentions he was not willing to reveal.

I mounted my horse. “May I ask a question?” I said.

Everyone glanced at me. “Go on,” Night replied. His face was rather expressionless, eager to hear what I wanted to say.

“What would you say about someone who wants to hunt alone?” I asked.

“You want to hunt alone?” Night asked.

“Apparently, yes.”

“Okay.”

Night eyed me. A mischievous smile developed on his face. It was as though he was happy that I wanted to hunt alone. It seemed as if he had been waiting for me to say it all along. He just said "okay" without even arguing or remotely coming close to trying to stop me. That was weird, I thought.

“Let's go then,” I said. We rode out and headed for the woods.