The Hunted

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Kaegan awoke to the cries of a familiar voice. His eyes shot open to find Rhea's horrified face looking back at him. It took mere moments for his brain to realize that they were in his tent, in his bed. His eyes went wide in shock as she scooted back towards the edge of his bed. As the covers separated between them it was apparent that they were both aptly clothed and so nothing had happened, right? "I..." And now she was going off at him and making a commotion. All the while he was trying to put the pieces of the last night in his head. He'd been so weary that he'd thought he imagined another person in his bed. But, as it turned out it was the last person that needed to be in his bed that was opposite him.

Suddenly he felt red hot from both anger and embarrassment. "I thought I was dreaming! I was beyond tired when I fell asleep...even then it wasn't you that I thought it was! Not to mention it was you who wandered into my tent after all!" With a huff he turned and stood from the bed. "If I had known I would't have done that... Just......." He muttered, strutting over to the other end of tent. The scar on his back tingled with all of the blood coursing through his body. He sighed and turned back towards Rhea in his bed. "Just...get out. We won't speak of this. I'll make sure you'll have a proper tent set up today." Kaegan tried not to pay attention to the bustling of the camp around them. Surely someone must have heard their little exchange, a few chuckles could be heard over the sounds of fires crackling and heavy items being moved.

Kaegan turned around again and looked over his table with a map of Calgary spread over it. He leaned onto it and looked over the details of his next move. He could hardly focus though. As much as he knew Rhea hated it, and as much as he regretted having not been more aware of his surroundings, he couldn't deny that it had been the best sleep he'd had in a while. Considering the majority of his partners were gone by the morning if he wasn't already. It wasn't often he had someone....cling to him in a way that made him feel needed. His unconscious mind simply would not object. But he was sure that Rhea had done the same, mistaking him for her slain lover. The thought made him sick.
 
Each word from Kaegan's mouth only served to frustrate Rhea further. He seemed just as appalled as she, but his excuses made her boil with anger. Dreaming? That was all he had to say? And then after his poor excuses, he told her to get out. Rhea's mouth fell open, her cheeks and the tips of her ears red hot. She could think of nothing to say to him, and stormed out of the tent, furiously ignoring any looks or chuckles from any of the men, and into the medical tent to check on her patients.

I'm angry at him, she told herself as she surveyed the injured men who slept in cots. Many of whom already looked much healthier. It's his fault and he could've handled the situation better. But in reality she had blatantly disrespected Jeremiah and all the nights she had confessed her love to him, and he the same. She was still morning him, and here she was, in bed with another. Had she enjoyed it? No. Of course not. She had enjoyed what she dreamt was Jeremiah.

One of the men woke and thanked Rhea sleepily at the sight of her. She smiled and eased him back into bed, as even though he had been magically healed it still took a toll on the body and required rest and care. How she was to act around Kaegan now, she wasn't quite sure, but what had to be done would be done. Surely he would not ask her to leave because of this.. not so soon after she had found refuge. But would wanting to stay here only further tarnish Jeremiah's memory? She could not do that. But she was not ready to die at the hands of Damien either.
 
----- Four Days Later -----

The Bedroom Fiasco was still on Kaegan's mind even as they arrived in the small town of Leventhal at the edge of the Northern Kelmury Range. It would be the clan's last stop before they set off into the mountains towards the battlefield. It was here that they would purchase their winter travel equipment from the local workers. Though it would seem that trouble had preceded them. When they had arrived, a portion of the town was burned and destroyed and a number of wounded wandered the streets. As the mayor had informed them, a group of aggressive bandits had raided the town and had taken a good portion of their money and a good number of young children, mostly young women. While they still had plenty of winter and mountain supplies in stock, they would sell by a quarter of the price if Kaegan's group were to retrieve the children and possibly their wealth as well. While normally he would have opted with simply taking what he needed, it was an unspoken fact that children were Kaegan's soft spot though nobody knew why.

And so, Kaegan squatted at the top of a hill looking down on a small cave system built into the feet of the mountain range. From several hundred yards out her could see the figures of hooded men on watch around a small wooded entrance built into the stone. He counted five total, and it was likely that more would be inside. It would be tough, but if they moved quickly they could likely guarantee the safety of the children. A surprise attack would be needed, and already he had his best archers at the ready to strike. All he needed was for them to be in one predictable spot, and that was where Rhea would come in.

His plan would be for the woman to go out and distract the bandits, acting as a damsel in distress. In theory, they would try to take her away with the rest of the missing children. It would be then that his hidden archers would strike all at once, and the bandits would die without a sound. Without any early warning or sounds of battle, they could enter with the element of surprise. Their first objective would be to capture on to learn the locations of the children, afterwards they were ordered to leave none alive. Of course, nothing could ever be that easy. He just hoped that there would be a minimal number of hiccups in his plan.
 
In the four days that had passed since the Bedroom Fiasco, not much had really changed between Kaegan and Rhea. They both kept their heads down when they passed each other, conversations were kept short and business-like. Rhea tended to the wounded, Kaegan did whatever his leader-ly duties happened to be, and things moved on in what Rhea assumed would be called normal around this camp. People chuckled as she walked passed them, whispers around the camp that she did her best to ignore.

But despite the gossip, Rhea felt safe and well-protected. It was a strange change, which Rhea found herself slowly to be getting used too, sinking into what she thought was a routine. Nothing "unexpected" had happened quite yet, nothing to make Rhea regret her choice, so she felt satisfied for now.

The village of Leventhal was ransacked, in shambles. Despite the tension between them, Rhea clung close to him and Moruk as they walked, flinching at the sight of a wounded villager, fearing to look into their eyes, as if it would finally shatter the sheltered lifestyle she had held so close. However, at Kaegan's nonexistent hesitation to offer to save the children that had been kidnapped, after they learned what had happened, Rhea was surprised. Moruk mentioned that Kaegan had a soft spot for children, and no one knew why. A piece of respect for him showed itself once more.

That was, until she heard of his plan.

It had to be some sort of revenge, she decided as she shed her thick jacket and removed her hair from it's high ponytail. I humiliated him, so now it's my turn. But even though she tried to be angry with him, she couldn't help but understand that the plan was their best shot. They needed to go in undetected to save these children, to stop these.. monsters. Rhea shuddered.

Rhea stepped out from the brush, an entirely different person. Her shoulders were laid back, her shirt pulled down to show more cleavage, hair tussled down at her shoulders and all in all looking looser, fitting the part that she was expected to play.

"So," She said after clearing her throat, presenting herself to Kaegan and Moruk, cheeks red of embarrassment. "How should I be going about this?"
 
Kaegan turned from his perch on the hill as he heard Rhea's voice break the tense silence surrounding his group. When he laid eyes on Rhea, it was like he seen a ghost. A very attractive ghost. At least he knew why nobody was making a sound. He sighed and started down the slope to get a better look at her.

"Should be relatively easy." He said, glancing at his men. He knew if so much as a whistle broke out he'd have their asses. "You should be fine. Just try and be a bit more desperate than when you ran into me, and you should be fine." With a smirk he put a hand on Rhea's shoulder and slid the neck of her shirt little to one side, a bit more skin and to accentuate a form of desperation. "They'll be too busy eating you up with their eyes, they might not even notice the arrows in their throats. Now go get them. We'll have your back, if anything goes wrong just defend yourself till I get out there, alright?"
 
Kaegan was pale, mouth agape. Had she done something wrong? Did she look that bad? He moved down the slope to get a better look at her, and at his approach, Rhea tensed, retreating into herself, trying to hide her body, which was much more on display then she was comfortable with. "Look more desperate?" She echoed, flinching as he slid the neck of her shirt further downwards, his touch on her skin sending a foreign feeling through her. "A-alright," She said shakily, moving away. No stalling any longer.

As she moved towards the group of bandits, Rhea worked to loosen her posture more and more with every step. It was hard, because it wasn't her, but she had to try her best. Once she could hear the crackling of their fire close enough, Rhea let herself burst from the brush, stumbling over herself in an attempt to look weak and helpless.

"Oh, please," She croaked, falling to her knees, the dirt scraping her palms. "Please, you must help me, oh.. please!" She continued to cry, not quite even allowing herself to look any of them in the eye. Perhaps out of fear.
 
Kaegan looked on as Rhea stumbled into the group of bandit guards. She seemed to be selling it well enough, but Kaegan and his archers were at the ready. He had taken it upon himself to target the guard nearest to Rhea. If he so much as flinched at her the wrong way, the tip of his arrow would be lodged in his throat. None would be spared, regardless of what happened, from the wrath of their metal. "C'mon...buy it."

By the time Rhea was within earshot, the guards outside were all eyes on her. Dumbfounded by her beauty and....assets. As soon as she spoke, the moved in to prey on her supposed weakness like wolves upon an injured sheep. And, just as he expected, the subtle catcalls started as the largest of the men stepped forward to address her.

"Aye! Lass! I can help yah, but it'll cost ya more than money with a pretty little face like that."

Even from his distance, Kaegan heard more than what he liked and felt an unusual anger swell up inside of him. Silently he gave the order to nock their arrows then draw and wait on his command. As he drew, he kept an eye on the man and breathed in. The arrow left his bow before his breath escaped his lungs and it whistled a short, sweet, tune through the air until it lodged itself firmly into the skull of the lead man. His companions had little time to properly react as they were also stuck with multiple arrows to the neck, chest and legs.

Kaegan didn't wait for even the last of the bodies to drop before he took off over the hill in a run towards Rhea. His men were not far behind, silent as they went, more than happy to utilize their element of surprise. Kaegan came to a stop by Rhea who remained on her knees and slapped his hands onto her arms and looked into her eyes, half relieved and half concerned. "You did perfect, Rhea...they never saw it coming..are you alright?"
 
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