June Summerfield

Chapter 11

June slowly opened her eyes, her body feeling heavy and aching from top to bottom. She groaned as she tried to sit up and gather where she was. It wasn’t her room, she knew that much.

She felt a hand gently grab her arm, pushing her back onto the bed.

“You need to rest.” the familiar voice spoke. Looking next to her, she saw King Maslin laying there, looking at her with concern.

“King Maslin-” she started, giving him a side-eye.

“Please. Call me Hunter.”

“Hunter,” she rolled her eyes but got comfortable in the bed, thankful for the rest. “Why are you doing this to me?” she wasn’t hateful with this question. Her tone was quiet and soft, filled with pain. His actions were confusing to her.

“You’ll understand soon, darling.” June ignored his small smile and the nickname he casually threw in.

“I just don’t understand why you killed-” she started, but he interrupted her.

“I didn’t kill anyone.” his voice was final.

“Why did you let your guards kill him?” she snapped at him, turning her head to look at him.

Silence fell over the room as he tried to come up with an answer.

“I didn’t. He went against my orders, and is being punished accordingly.”

“What does that mean?” she pressed.

“I don’t want you to know anything about that side of my work.” June could tell from his voice he wasn’t going to provide any more information.

“I hope he got beheaded,” she whispered under her breath, getting ready to stand up. “I need some fresh air. I’m going for a walk.”

“Where will you be going?”

“I don’t want you to know.” She led herself out of the room and down the halls and out of the castle.

Looking around, she saw the village. June wanted to be alone so the village wasn’t an option. The field was too open and the gardens were too obvious. Turning around, she saw some thick woods and headed straight toward them without a second thought.

Twisting and turning through the woods, she was looking for a small clearing where she could think and clear her head.

Snap.

June froze. That wasn’t the sound of a small animal. Before she could even look around an arrow flew right above her head, knocking the loose bun down and off her head.

She let out a small scream and turned and was immediately surrounded by a group of guards.

She felt a rage rise through her as she realized that Hunter ignored her wishes and sent guards out to follow and “keep her safe.” The anger didn’t last long as she was led back toward the castle with the guards holding up shields to protect her from the arrows that were now flying more freely.

Once they were out of the woods, the guards kept their shields up, but June was able to sneak a peek behind them. There, at the edge of the woods, was a group of half-horse, half-man creatures holding bows and arrows. Her eyes widened as her eyes met the one who was bold enough to take a step out of the woods.

Once they were back at the castle, she was met by Hunter who was standing in the doorway with his hands casually in his pocket.

“The woods. Not your smartest move.” with a wave of his hands the guards all walked away, leaving them alone.

“How was I supposed to know it was filled with half-horse men that wanted to kill me?” She adjusted her dress and tried to act casual, but she couldn’t hide the fact that what just happened rattled her.

“Well, you could always ask,” he sighed and cut his eyes to the side. “Next time, you should just tell me where you’re going.”

“I didn’t come back just to get scolded.” she held his stare, not daring to break eye contact.

“You’re exactly as I imagined you’d be, you know that?” he grinned at her. “If you wanted to go in the woods, I could have taken you safely.” he crossed his arms and leaned against the large door frame, throwing one leg over the other and watching June, who was growing more uncomfortable. “Now that you’re back and safe, would you like to come inside and talk about some things?”

“We have nothing to talk about.” She couldn’t help but notice how nice he looked leaning on the doorway like that. The thought made her want to die. How could she think something like that when Montana just died? The memory came rushing back, making her uneasy.

“I think we do,” he informed her as he pushed off the door frame and walked down the stairs, noticing the tears that were quickly filling her eyes. He gently placed an arm on one of her stiff arms. Hunter could feel her shaking with emotion as he led her back inside and to the bedroom, where he carefully closed the door behind them.

“What do you want to talk about so badly?” she forced the words out while fighting back tears, wanting everything to just end. Walking over to the window, she overlooked the gardens.

“I want you to be happy.” His voice was gentle and comforting, which just made her feel even more emotional. June managed to hold it all together, even if it was just by a frayed string. She held her crossed arms close, looking for any sort of comfort.

“It’s too late for that. You killed the one person who made me happy.” a single tear fell which she aggressively wiped away and hoped he didn’t notice. He did.

“I told you, I didn’t kill anyone.” Hunter insisted, taking a step toward her. “Would you like me to tell you what the guard said when I asked for an explanation?”

After a few moments of silence, she turned to face him. “I guess.” she snapped and cut her glance toward the unmade bed.

“Before I go on to explain all that, I should probably explain something else.” he walked closer to her, taking each step with caution.

“What?” her voice was quiet as she noticed him approaching her. She didn’t like where this was going.

“The guard that killed Montana was my brother.”

A heavy silence fell over the room as June slowly uncrossed her arms and became uncomfortable.

“Wait. If you’re the king, wouldn’t he be a prince? Why was he a guard in the first place?” nothing made sense but she no longer felt as angry as she did before.

“Because he knew he would never be king. Once he realized he wasn’t going to be the one to get the crown, he decided to give up the title of prince and dedicate his life to protecting it.” Hunter began to explain. “When I met him after the accident, I asked what he was thinking going against my orders like that, and if he understood what that meant for me. He said he did, but he had to do it.”

“Why?” tears started falling again, but June kept her head high.

“Because he felt he threatened me. He said he felt off about him the second he arrived, and when he saw him pull out the makeshift knife, he acted without a second thought.”

“Why did he feel threatened? It was one man.” June desperately tried to make sense of everything but it was all just loose facts spinning around in her head like a bowl of alphabet soup.

“Because he knew how badly you wanted to stay with him. And he knew that he had to go, because of me.”

“Because of you?” Suddenly she felt betrayed.

“It’s not what you think.” he started to get frantic, noticing her change in stance. “June this is going to be hard for you to understand right now, so I need you to trust me. One day, soon, it’ll all start making sense.” June just stood with her mouth barely open, staring at him blankly. “I’ve wanted you since you were 9. I saw you one day during my lessons and I’ve been obsessed ever since. Once I heard what happened to your world, I immediately sent out search parties to find you and bring you here, where you’d be safe.

“I lost a lot of good men trying to find you. Once I did, I had to bring you here, no matter the cost. When you came here with Montana, my brother felt you were never going to choose me.”

“That’s because I wasn’t.” her voice was broken and quiet as she listened to the story that sounded like a weird dream she would have after smoking too much.

“Exactly. He knew you weren’t going to choose me, and he also knew I wasn’t going to choose anyone else. So, he did what he felt was necessary. He hadn’t planned on doing it, but when he saw the situation, he did what he thought was best.”

“Why do we have to be together? Why couldn’t you go find some pretty village girl and I stay with Montana and we both live a happy life?”

“Because he knew I’d never settle for anyone else. He just wanted the crown to continue, which is technically his job.” he finished explaining. “Now, if something like this were to happen normally, he would already be dead. But, I’m giving you a choice. What punishment do you think he deserves, my queen?”