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Chapter 64: Bloody hands- Part 1

Seeing Warren aim at the animal that was standing at a far distance from where they stood, Heidi scrunched her face readying herself to the oncoming gun shot from the shotgun. As the sound of gunshot echoed through the quiet forest.

“Your shot was way off the mark,” Timothy said to Warren, looking at the black buck escape from their sight. Timothy Rufus was a friend of Lord Nicholas whom she had met at the theater.

“You have fallen behind on your skills, Warren. At this rate you will only become a victim,” his mother, Venetia chastised him, who was as strict as ever.

Today, the lord and the others had decided to go hunting in the forest and Heidi had joined them, sitting alone on the horse like the rest of the party. She wasn’t thrilled to watch an animal die right in front of her but remembering the lord’s words on hypocrisy she closed her mouth not adding any comments of her own, especially when she had her future mother-in-law who was watching her actions closely.

She had important things to do. She had to complete the truce so that Howard’s life could be spared. Duke Scathlok had promised that he would release the man once she was married to Warren. The last time she had gone there she couldn’t meet him and she didn’t know how the man was doing. She wondered what to do. Warren turned out to be a good man and the lord even though had his strange moods, he didn’t seem to be a bad person. There had been nights where she thought to go and confess, to reveal the truth but it always stayed in her thoughts. At one point she had also tried to tell it to Warren until they were interrupted by the butler.

“I will catch it with the next shot. It’s fast,” Warren filled the gun with another bullet.

“It is. Being one of the fastest animal it makes it only exciting to catch it, doesn’t it,” Lord Nicholas commented from where he sat on his white horse, “Are you sure this is the place?” he asked Warren.

“I heard from a local man that this is where most of the bucks reside during this time of the season. We should be able to catch a lot of them,” replied Warren as they began moving forward in the direction the buck had disappeared.

“They must be really shy to come out. Is this your first time hunting, Lady Heidi?” Timothy suddenly asked her, who had slowed down his horse so that he could walk along with her.

“Yes,” Heidi answered to see him give a nod.

“Are you enjoying it? You should try aiming the next time we see one,” he suggested, “I will give you the shotgun if you want.”

“That’s alright. I am happy to be the viewer.”

“Heidi has never held a gun before. She would need practice before she actually starts hunting,” Warren came to her rescue and she couldn’t be more thankful to the man but his mother thought otherwise.

“Human or not, the girl is going to be part of the Lawson’s family. A vampire’s family, I thought she would have already started with such lessons,” Venetia’s narrowed gaze and thin lips which was set in a firm line looked at Heidi disapprovingly and then at the lord.

“The council didn’t ask me to be her governor but only her host until she gets married. It isn’t my business but Warren’s,” the lord replied absolutely unaffected by his aunt’s gaze. Heidi couldn’t deny that hearing the words coming out of Nicholas’ mouth pricked her heart.

He was right though. She wasn’t his business. If she weren’t going o marry Warren he wouldn’t have bothered humoring her in the mansion. There was no saying that the lord would talk the way he does now with her, informally. She was aware with the fact that the truce wasn’t only going to benefit with council’s reasons but also Lady Venetia and the lord himself.

“I didn’t mean it that way,” Venetia tried to correct herself.

“Of course you didn’t,” the lord said but his smile sent the message that he knew what she had intended. The Lord and his friend continued to move ahead with their horses, leaving the Lawson’s with Heidi.

“There’s no rush for Heidi to learn how to use the shotgun-” Warren started.

“I won’t be taking any classes on it,” Heidi voiced her opinion, “To be truthful, I am not interested in partaking in the hunting grounds. I would prefer to be a viewer here and nothing else,” she said looking at everyone.

“That is utterly absurd! Do you understand what it means to be-” Venetia was cut short by her son.

“Mother please,” he pleaded softly not wanting to create a scene in midst of the forest.

“Do you even know what you are saying?” the woman rolled her eyes with a scoff. She then turned to look at Heidi while still talking to Warren, “So you are saying that she is going to continue being a delicate human who is going to sit inside the mansion and do nothing at all? If she is marrying into the family she needs to know what we do, what we are. The society we live in.”

“That’s enough mother. If Heidi doesn’t want to do it, I believe we should all respect her decision,” Warren spoke firmly. Both, the mother and son stared at each other for a long time until Venetia turned away to send a glare at Heidi before kicking the side of her horse so it could start. Venetia soon disappeared behind the thick trees.

“I am sorry,” Heidi apologized after Venetia had left to see Warren give her a confused look, “I...I will learn to use the gunshot if it is necessary,” she didn’t want Warren to have a bad relationship with his mother because of her.

“Like I said previously, you don’t have to. I have noticed how you cringe your face every time any one of us raise our shotgun at the buck. My aim isn’t that,” he added the last line while scratching the back of his neck with a sigh, “You don’t have to force yourself to come hunting. Next time, all you have to do is refuse. I wouldn’t mind,” he gave her an assured smile.

“Thank you for being considerate about it,” she thanked him, a little shocked with his revelation that he had been missing the target purposefully.

“Heidi,” he then began with a serious face, “I know this is a marriage of truce which is based on political reasons but I also heard that every girl has her dreams on getting wed to someone she can rely on. Like you, I will try to make this relationship work so you don’t have to worry about my mother,” his promise only made her guilty heart guiltier. She had fallen at loss of words. Her thoughts in a complete mess.

“Come on now. The others must be waiting,” he said. Seeing her nod her head, he kicked his boots to charge his horse forward, leaving her behind.