The Next Morning

Ana woke. The sunlight was filtering through the trees, but there were no birds singing in them. It was eerie to say the least. Taking a look around, she noticed that Sitri was putting out the last embers of the fire. Also, he had managed to gather a few more deer and skinned them. While Ana slept, he dried the skins and fashioned them into something that would be more suitable to keep Ana warm on the rest of the journey to his lair. Ana watched him while he continued to put out the remains of the fire, feeling some arousal at his form, the power he emited, the confidence. But she wouldn't admit it to herself that she was feeling turned on by his prescense. But he knew. He knew, that in time, Ana would be his unless Aron found her first. That was something he was already planning on. His generals in place in order to stop any one from coming anywhere near his liar until he had acheived his goal, ****. He looked up at Ana and saw her sitting up. "Good morning Ana. I trust you slept well."

Still feeling some contempt for him, she didn't answer. She just nodded once before standing to osbserve her surroundings. 5 dear and 2 wolves had been slain during the night. "Did have to kill so many animals?"

"The wolves came too close while I hunted the deer. Once they got wind of your scent, even my prescence did not deter them. I had to kill them to keep you safe. The rest fled when the second died. But they will be back once they have rested. So we cannot stay here much longer. The remains of the deer will give them something to take their minds off of finding something, or someone to hunt and prey upon. They would make very short work of you. Besides, the deer have allowed me to make this." Sitri presented Ana with a cloak made from the dear hides. "It will keep you warmer then just the clothing that we took from the small cocked man."

"But the horse. Wouldn't he have noticed the wolves too?" Ana asked with suspision.

"The breeze. All hunters will attack with the wind in their faces to prevent their prey from smelling them. Unless the prey gets a hint of their scent first. But last night the breeze was in their favour, until I saw one of them." Sitri took pride in his hunting skills. "They would have left the horse alone, considering you as easier prey."

Ana took another look around. The wolves looked untouched despite their lifeless forms laying there. "He must have snapped the necks." She thought to herself. "I suppose I have to say thank you for keeping me alive, not that I should have been here in the first place. But, you've proved that you wish me to come to no harm." Ana was still hoping that Aron would soon be close enough to rescue her as soon as possible. He would not stop until he had her back with him.

"Thinking of you husband again Ana? He'll be lucky to find us. But if he does, then I will give him some respect for his stubborness. I'm not stupid enough to live in the same place you found me in last time. My new home is better suited to defend against intruders."

"He will find me. And next time, he will make sure that you will never return." Ana's voice now carried a hint of doubt. Sitri noticed, but didn't let on that he did. It would only serve to give her more resolve.

"Well. If you're hungry after your sleep, there is still some of the deer left for you to sustain yourself with. Then some thick bushes over there for you to relief yourself of your bodily waste." Sitri nodded towards the thickets next to a field nearby. "Then we will continue on with our journey."

Ana, despite her sadness and anger, still needed to eat and perform her bodily functions. After she ate, the call of nature for her to shed some waste products beckoned. Ana got up moved behind the thickets to do what needed to be done. Sitri stood by and waited. Then the smell hit him. "Not too much longer now." He thought to himself. "A couple more days and soon she will be ripe. When the time is near, she will be mine." But there was something else. "A spark of power has returned to her. She still prays to Liru. She still wants to have her power despite her marraige. That could work to my advantage."

As he was lost in his own thoughts, Ana reappeared from behind the thickets and headed for the horse. "Well. If we are going then you better lead the way Sitri." The contempt in her voice still evident, but fading. "I take it we still have a long way to go."

"We do. But if we can maintain a fast pace. We should arrive by nightfall tomorrow." In Sitri's mind though. He knew that they would make it there before Ana became ripe enough to conceive. Despite the efforts of her and Aron, she was still without child. "Let us begin then. The horse appears to be rested enough for you to ride for a long time."