“How do you walk so quietly?” Hendrik muttered.
“Practice. Now, quiet, darling Hendrik, or you’ll spook our quarry.”
After some stalking, during which Hendrik tried to remain quiet but sounded like a wounded donkey staggering through underbrush anyhow, they came to a spring where several deer, mostly doe and one large-ish buck, eight points on his rack, were grazing.
Dagan gestured for Hendrik not to move, then stood straight and nocked an arrow. Slowly, regulating his breathing and saying a prayer of thanks to the forest gods, he drew back, keeping his left arm steady and strong. He took a long breath in. Then—
“Don’t,” Hendrik said suddenly.
The deer looked up as one. Two of the doe took off, but the buck remained, looking directly into the trees that sheltered them.
Dagan let his bow fall and looked back at Hendrik.
“Don’t kill him,” Hendrik whispered.
Dagan waited for an explanation, watching patiently.
Hendrik watched the buck as if entranced for a moment. Then, finally, he met Dagan’s gaze. “He’s beautiful.”
“Yes, very,” Dagan agreed.
The buck and the rest of the does took off through the forest.
Dagan added with a little smile, “He also looks delicious.”
Hendrik laughed. “Sorry. I just…I didn’t want to see him die. I don’t know why.”
Dagan slid his arrow back into its quiver and shouldered his bow. He didn’t enjoy killing deer, or anything, really; it was just part of life for both human and deer alike.
But perhaps it was a reminder of something else. Something Hendrik wasn’t ready for.
Dagan touched his arm carefully. “I think I saw some rabbit droppings nearer to the settlement. A few rabbits might be just as nice for the master’s pot, really.”
Hendrik’s eyes crinkled in a smile that could only be described as grateful.
“Do you want to go back, and I can get them myself, or…?”
Hendrik shook his head. “No. I’ll come. Can you show me how you do that thing, where you breathe and aim?”
“Of course, my dear Hendrik. I never turn down a captive audience.”
Chapter 5: Mushroom Settlement, Heart Wood, New Grain Moon, Summer
Hendrik hefted the longknife in one hand. The hilt was slightly larger than Dagan’s but far plainer, though the grip was chased with silver and a marbled, green stone. It was beautiful but, above all things, practical, well-made, and balanced. Hendrik smiled a little grimly but nodded.
Dagan said, “We’ll take it.” He held out a sack of ginseng they’d picked up on the path from the Apricot Grove settlement. “What do you say?”
The smith looked into the sack and sniffed it, then nodded. “Hard to find, this stuff.”
“If you don’t know where to look,” Dagan said sweetly.
The smith favored him with a faint smile, which felt like a victory, considering how stern he’d been throughout the shopping experience. Mina’s mother, the smith back in Black Walnut settlement, was a cheerful, matronly sort, as likely to pinch cheeks as stab anyone.
“You scouts are always handy to have around. Come see me next time you come through, too. I’ll have some more pieces.”
Dagan beamed. A little side business in trade never hurt anyone, after all. “I most certainly will. Thank you.”
Hendrik strapped on the leather scabbard and slid the longknife in, then patted it as they wandered back through the market square.
Dagan asked, “How does it feel?”
“I’m used to a sword,” he said, “but this makes more sense, here.”
“You seem more…” Dagan looked for a word that couldn’t be taken as insulting. “At ease, in this settlement.”
Hendrik licked his lips and glanced around, as if mentioning it had made him nervous again. But he said, “I think I am. I’ve stopped expecting something to jump out and stab me from behind every tree, anyhow. Or that if it does, you’ll catch it before it catches me.”
Dagan couldn’t help but feel self-satisfied. “The dark forest isn’t so dark after all, then?”
“Not with the right company.” Hendrik shook his head. “I’m not sure what everyone in the City was even talking about. Which does kind of make me wonder if I’m just being lulled into a false sense of security so you can push me into some kind of magical pool and drown me in a weird forest ritual.”
“Oh, no, we only do those on full moons, not new ones.”
“You laugh.” Hendrik shot him a sideways look. “But that shit was happening right under my nose—all our noses—in the Stone City. Well, not magical pools or whatever but. Yeah.”
“Was it really?” How very interesting.
But Hendrik just shook his head. “I’ll tell you about it. Sometime.”
