“It’s been a bit more than I expected.” Paxton said. He couldn’t even look at his father. “I need time to myself.”
His father let out a huff of exasperated breath. “You can’t just run when you’re faced with difficult challenges, Son. I thought I’d taught you better than that.”
“Leave him alone.” His mother faced his father, bolder than he’d ever seen her. “Only the seas know what he’s been through these weeks! Don’t shame him for leaving this forsaken hunt.”
His father gritted his teeth. “The people will call him a coward, Maryn.”
“I don’t care what they say!”
Tiern took his mother’s hand and she looked down, covering her mouth as tears filled her eyes. “Where will you go?” Tiern asked him.
“I don’t know. I’ll travel.”
“Will you come back?” His mother stepped forward. “Our home will always be your home, Son. You know that.” In a quieter voice, she said, “Papa will move past this.”
He nodded, though he had no plans to return. He would never endanger his family. “Perhaps someday, Mum.”
She hugged him tightly. Over her shoulder he saw his father’s chin quaver, though his eyes were still set in disappointment. When his mother released him, he faced his father, his throat tight. “I’m sorry, Papa. I know it’s not what you want, but I swear this is what’s best right now.”
His father swallowed, shaking his head.
Paxton pushed through the tent flap. He could hear his mother’s muffled cries and knew if he looked back he would see Tiern watching him in stunned dismay. He would not turn back.
It didn’t take long before Tiern jogged up beside him. Paxton kept on. “Let me be, Tiern.”
“This is my fault. If I hadn’t been so weak in the mountains. If I’d been as strong as you, you wouldn’t have needed to—”
“No.” Paxton stopped and grasped the side of Tiern’s neck. “You are strong in every way that counts. This is not your fault.” He turned away from the hurt in Tiern’s eyes, walking on.
“You can still hunt. Nobody has to know.”
He didn’t have time for this. He had to get far away from royal lands before it was too dark. Paxton stopped again and spoke in low tones. “Don’t be a bloody fool, Tiern. I have lines on my nails. I can’t keep them dirtied forever! They’ll see them and kill me.”
“Not if you kill the beast!”
Paxton inched closer, annoyed by his brother’s na?veté. While Paxton had hung on to every word of Lashed news over the years, each of those stories had gone over Tiern’s head. He had no idea what it was like. “They would never let me marry into the royal line, even if I brought them the beast’s head on a platter.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Nothing is fair for us, Brother, and you need to come to terms with it. This is in your blood, too. Your children could be one of us. You must prepare yourself to be on the lookout once your child turns seven, to teach them to hide it.”
“I’ve no clue how to teach someone that!” Tiern appeared petrified.
“If you—” Paxton swallowed down a dry lump with great effort. “If you kill the beast and marry the princess, you can take your child to Mrs. Rathbrook, the royal Lashed woman. She will help you.”
Tiern followed closely as Paxton began walking again. “But . . . that line will go away and you can come back. I feel like there’s more to this—What are you running from?”
Paxton turned on him, his heart pounding with the grave truth of his brother’s question. “I run from nothing,” he gritted out. But it felt like the largest lie he’d ever told. He’d long ago mentally prepared himself for the possibility of leaving his family someday, and he’d kept his heart hardened against the girls in his town. But Aerity . . . he’d never planned for her. She’d made her way under his skin, winding her delicate, strong hands around his heart, and he had to stop it. He had to run from her for both their sakes. He’d been a fool to think he could kill the beast and marry a princess, hiding his true self forever.
“Please, Pax.”
“Don’t,” Paxton warned. “You will do well, with or without me.”
“What will I tell everyone?”
Though Paxton owed the other hunters nothing, it felt wrong to leave without saying good-bye. Paxton shrugged, not stopping. “Tell them I left without a word, or that I’m ill with what the Zandalee had. Tell them I’ve grown tired of the hunt. Whatever you’d like.”
Tiern let out a ragged breath of frustration. “They’ll never believe you’ve quit.”
“Stop making a scene,” Paxton warned him. “Go back to the tent with Mum and Papa, and don’t utter a word of this.”
“But—”
Laughing voices bounded out from the tents up ahead. Three Ascomannians stumbled out, carrying brown bottles. Volgan took one look at Paxton with all his belongings and smirked.
Of all the bloody rotten luck, Paxton thought. He walked past the men without a word.