Ephon bent down and drew the spear out from the dead Warden’s side, leaving the wound to spill out on to the earth. She tried to keep her face calm as she slung the spear behind her back, but her face split into a sob, and the hunter fell to her knees.
Hejla dismounted, and ran towards her. She stopped when she saw Ephon’s face.
The howling wind cut across their backs, and made the rest of the Hunt forward from it with fear in their eyes. Ephon stared at the ground, and regained a steady breathing pattern.
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“Ephon,” Hejla said. “Ephon, listen.”
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They turned towards each other. They both had fear in their eyes, and they stared at one another for a while.
“I swear that you will come to no harm for this.”
Ephon nodded, and Hejla helped her shaking body back on to her horse. She adjusted her saddle, and Hejla turned back towards her mount. Ephon rubbed her horse’s mane.
Hejla and her steed approached Ephon.
“We’ll ride to the capital. Come, Ephon.” Hejla looked at her and smiled sadly.
Ephon kept silent as they rode out from the border, and deep into Koiryk Kingdom.
–
The two Land Guardians watched as the Hunt walked up towards the hall. The lord’s steward was behind them, and he was struggling to keep up with their pace. Up ahead, another Guardian emerged from the hall, and he shoved past Ephon. Something else seemed to be on his mind, and he angrily stormed past the hunters and joined with the rest of the Guardians. The door shut, and Ephon grappled it open for the steward as he rushed past them and into the hall. A chime echoed as the Hunt strode into Dant’s court single-file.
The room was oppressively cold, and Dant looked down upon the Hunt darkly, as his steward glanced their way and hurried ahead of them towards him. Ephon didn’t bother to hide from him, and his irises glowed when he saw her.
“I present the Hunt,” the steward declared to Dant. “A–”
“I know who they are,” Dant growled. “Who let them in?”
The steward opened his mouth, but Hejla cut across him.
“I am responsible for the death of your brother,” she said, glaring into the angry sparkle of his eyes.
Dant blinked. He felt his eyes and ears shatter behind his eyelids as he leant forward and gripped his seat’s armrests. He felt like tiny clumps of sand were being boiled in his skin.
“What did you say?” he asked. The steward was flustered, but both Hejla and Dant remained calm.
“I killed your brother at the border of your kingdom, Dant,” Hejla answered. Her head was raised high, and her cropped brown hair was dim in the lamplight. Dant stared at her, then at the Hunt, as Hejla stood before him without fear.
Ephon, however, shuddered at the fury of his gaze, and Dant’s attention twisted towards her. She felt herself split apart under the pressure. Hejla muttered, and tore her stare away from Dant. She quietly consoled Ephon and came back to Dant with a righteous look.
“I deserve to choose my own punishment,” she said defiantly. From her back, she unslung her spear. The other hunters took a step back, as she brought it out. The weapon was well-crafted. Hejla took a thrower’s stance.
Dant let out a breath, and closed his eyes. “You haven’t the authority to do so–”
With one hand, she pointed the spear directly at Dant.
“I challenge you to a duel, Dant Koiryk,” she declared.
Dant felt his mind solidify. He was taken aback. He had never heard of a situation like this before, it was incredible. He couldn’t seem to process the idea of this girl and her brazen challenge; she had given him a mental block. The only thing he could express was sheer anger.
“Only the two of us, right here, with weapons of our choosing.”
Hejla was dead serious, her face was tight, and no scrap of a smile suggested that she was jesting. She would fight for her life, and could kill him just as easily as she had claimed to have killed his brother. The Hunt was a danger to his court and crown.
Dant’s eyes flicked back over to Ephon, who returned his stare with newfound courage.
Hejla’s eyes flared. “You cannot duel Ephon! I forbid it, and everyone will think you a coward to go after someone so young. Dant, do you accept my challenge?”
Dant’s glassy eyes looked back at Hejla. She stood with defiance that he wished he could see in his guardians. Her spear was raised barely a weak stone’s throw away from his face. She clearly wanted him to unsheathe his own weapon.
Dant and Hejla held their death-stare, while the steward, light with fury, denied the importance of the challenge.
“I agree with my steward, girl,” Dant concurred. “Your challenge is null and void.”
Her eyes stayed blank. She didn’t budge, but she scowled. “We could have rode far away from this kingdom, but we didn’t. We came to you today, and I took responsibility for a hideous action. We have saved you hours and worries. All you have left to do is prove your mercy by fighting me.”
Hejla bent down, and gently laid her spear on the ground at Dant’s feet. He heard a faint twang as the shaft made contact with the ground. Hejla held out her hand again.
“I request it.”
Ephon stepped forward from the quiet. “The Hunt will not let its leader die defenceless,” she said. “But neither will we let a death go unresolved. We are a noble force, sir.”
Hejla smiled as she held her hand out. “So, do you accept my challenge, Dant Koiryk?”
Sweat was slick on Ephon’s forehead from that outburst. She straightened her tunic. Dant turned his full attention towards her. She kept straight but her eyes were glistening. The chandelier above shook slightly.
The steward spoke up again. “You haven’t asked about what slew the Koiryk Warden, Dant.”
“I know fully well that it was that spear that killed my brother,” Dant interrupted. The steward shook his head disapprovingly. Dant was cooling down, but he still felt out of the situation’s control. “And I know he refused you entry into Koiryk too, so you killed him.”
“That’s right.”
“You don’t seem to regret your actions.”
“I’ll regret them when you bring me to my knees.”
Dant didn’t answer, and Hejla smiled. They kept their eyes locked for more than a minute. Her amber eyes were cracked and glowing. They reminded him of the gems in the chandelier above, and as Dant looked up at them, an idea struck him. He felt the shining light of Koiryk tradition radiate through him and burn away his mental block, leaving one punishment left in his mind.
Banishment.
“I declare the Hunt to be banished outright from Koiryk Kingdom,” Dant said calmly.
Hejla blinked, and she let her hand fall to her side. “What?”
“The banishment takes effect immediately.”
She felt the rage rise in her. “Your brother would’ve wanted more,” she hissed.
“The Hunt is dismissed.”
The guards started towards the Hunt. Ephon stared at Dant but he ignored her, as he focused on the triumphant steward. Dant watched as they turned and walked away from him. Hejla held open the door, and they left the court.
–
Dant approached his brother’s grave in the evening. A moth was perched on the shifted dirt, and it jumped up, disappearing into the darkening sky. The three Land Guardians turned to regard the lord and his four guards.
“You failed to protect my brother from the Hunt. If you cannot protect your own Warden from a band of outlaws, then I fear for my kingdom’s safety,” Dant told the Guardians, who stared back at him bitterly. “The Land Guard has always prevented the lord from expanding Koiryk’s territory because of irrational fears of resistance and civil war that risk the dissolution of the entire kingdom. But those beliefs have never benefited the kingdom; they only slow its economic progress.” Dant pointed at one Guardian. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?”
The Land Guardian’s nostrils flared. “Everyone knows you ordered that hunter to kill your brother. They all do, even the peasants. Is that how you want to be remembered, Dant? As the king who tore down a century of tradition and his own family just to get more rotten land?”
Dant shook his head. “Guards, kill them now.”
The two guards approached the Guardians and cut them down. Dant turned away from the bodies to pick up a stone from the ground. He measured the weight, and when he was satisfied, he twisted and threw it over the border and into the wilderness beyond.
