Chapter 3 - Kenna
Kenna awoke to an empty bed.
She stretched her arm out toward Sam’s side of the mattress, but it was cold beneath her touch. Had he gone down to the kitchens? Today was supposed to be his day off; he wasn’t supposed to be needed to help light the pre-dawn ovens.
With a yawn, she slid out of bed, the chill of the flagstones seeping through her mother’s thin, handwoven rug. A dark voice shattered the morning stillness.
“Let me help you on your hunt today. Let me go with you.”
She yelped, jumping a foot into the air. Sam’s head was visible over the top of a wing-backed armchair in front of the fireplace. The flickering light of the fire ringed his normally dark curls in strands of orange and gold.
Pulling her robe tighter around herself, Kenna rounded the armchairs, stepping into Sam’s line of sight. He was slouched low in the seat; his legs sprawled out before him. He propped his head on a fist, his eyes unfocused as he gazed at the dancing flames. A half-drunk tumbler dangled from a loose grip.
Kenna eased it from his grasp and set it on the coffee table in front of the fire before perching on the chair’s armrest. His now free hand came up around her hip absentmindedly, holding her to him like it was second nature to do so.
Kenna ran her fingers through the mess of curls on his head. “Why are you up so early on your day off?”
He didn’t look at her, his eyes still captured by the roaring flames. “My body doesn’t know what a day off is. It wakes me up even when my mind tells it not to. It wakes me up and tells me to start a fire. To heat an oven and burn some wood before doing anything else. I’m enslaved to the system.” He nodded at the discarded glass. “Hence the drink so soon after.”
“You’re so very tortured.” She poked his arm lightly, a singsong lilt in her voice as she tried to salvage his mood.
He didn’t react. “Let me go with you, Kenna. I’m in the mood for a hunt.”
Her breath caught. She said, “Today’s your day off. You should relax. A hunt will not be relaxing, I can promise you that.”
“I want to spend my day with you. I want to be with you when—” he clenched his jaw as he cleared his throat. “I want to be with you when your trap is sprung.” He turned his head toward her. His eyes were black in the predawn light. They hardly even reflected the light from the fire. He gripped her chin, firm but not painful. “Take me with you.”
Regret flooded Kenna as she pulled away. “I can’t take you with us, Sam. We have to be quick today. We don’t have much time to find four whole bears. Not to mention that you’ve never hunted before.”
His eyes somehow grew even darker. “What’s that supposed to mean? Are you calling me incompetent?”
“Sam, that’s not fair.” She pulled his hand off her and stood so she could see him better, fully out of his reach now. “I’m sure you would be a skilled hunter with practice, but you haven’t had that practice yet.”
“So teach me.”
“Today is not the day!” Her voice rose despite herself, and she forced it back down before continuing. “We don’t have the liberty of making mistakes today. We need to find these pelts. Ty wouldn’t be able to teach and track at the same time.”
“Because Tiberius is that much better than I am.” His head thudded back against the chair. “That’s why he gets to go with you.”
She didn’t miss the bitter note in his voice. She took his hand in hers and squeezed reassuringly. “Oh, stop that. Just because he knows how to hunt doesn’t mean he’s a better person than you. I’m sure you’re a much better baker than he is.”
Sam’s laugh was devoid of mirth. The cruel sound raised goosebumps along her neck and arms. “Don’t mock me. That boy has never set foot in a kitchen. He has the privilege of choosing to hunt whenever he wants and to hone that skill. I have no say over when and how I bake.”
Kenna dropped his hand. Why would he go there? What had taken hold of him this morning to make that insecurity shine through? She hated it when he beat himself up like this. When he condensed his world to black and white and only saw what he was missing and could only think of what he didn’t have.
She knelt so they’d be eye to eye and picked up his hand again, interlacing their fingers. She studied them for a moment, marveling at the way his hand dwarfed hers. She traced one of the many burn scars on his knuckles from baking mishaps over the years. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I was just trying to help you feel better—”
“You want me to feel better? I want to hunt with you, Kenna!” His anger exploded out of him like a wave. He wrenched his hand away. “I want to go with you! Meet your inner circle and get to know them! Get to know the people who will be my advisors one day.”
“Oh. So that’s what this is about.” Relief hit her hard. His annoyance made sense now. This was a familiar battleground where she knew how to navigate well. “We’ve talked about this before—”
“No, you’ve talked about this.” Sam’s nostrils flared. “I have had absolutely no say in this matter. You say you love me; you say you’ll marry me and make me your king, and yet you’ve taken no action toward either of those goals. I mean, fuck, Kenna, you won’t even tell anyone about me!”
Her jaw dropped, and the relief promptly evaporated from her system. Why was he saying all this? They’d had conversations about this. They’d talked about introducing him to a solstice ball one day. Was he conveniently forgetting that, or did he genuinely not believe her? Her eyes prickled, but she could not let the heat in her eyes turn into anything real. He was just butthurt. This was his male pride and ego talking. The hour was early, and he was tired. He didn’t mean any of this.
“Don’t swear at me.” Her voice was a whisper, barely louder than the crackle in the fireplace. “Everyone who is anyone—everyone who is important to me—knows about you. They know I love you and adore you and am just crazy about you. They know you’re real and serious, and the best part of my life. Just because I keep you and me private doesn’t mean I don’t take us seriously. I shouldn't have to parade you around at social events just to prove that. And I’m trying my hardest, okay? There’s no precedent for something like this, or for a situation like ours. There’s never been a ruler of the Mountains as young as me. Nor has a ruler ever taken a commoner as a lover. Not that I think any less of you for being one.” She held up a hand in his face to stop the retort she could practically taste on his tongue.
Sam took a deep breath and sank lower into the armchair. The rising sun dancing through his hair glittered like he was bejeweled. She ventured to grab his hand again, but she didn’t clutch it as tightly this time. “I’m sorry if any inaction by me has hurt you. That was never my intention. For what it’s worth, I am trying my best to progress our relationship. I want to introduce you to my court and my people. But we are in a tumultuous position as a country. Now is not the time to send political and social shockwaves.”
He tipped his head to the side and studied her face for a minute. Was it his meditative stare or the heat of the fire behind her that made her cheeks flush? She wondered what he saw when he looked at her like this. Like he was contemplating some great big mystery encompassing her face. “I just wish I had some kind of reassurance, that’s all,” he finally said. “It feels like you’re stringing me along like a dog chasing a bone half the time. I’m good enough to warm your bed but not ride out with you on a hunt or sit beside you in session.”
“Holy hell, Sam.” She reared back like she’d been slapped across the face. A headache bloomed behind her eyes, and she began massaging her browbone. She couldn’t keep the annoyance out of her voice this time. “That is not true and you know it. Not only do you have my word as reassurance, but I’ve included you in everything I can and at every chance I have, as a token of trust and love. I mean, you know about today and why it’s happening, don’t you? I’ve even told you where I hide the Mountains’ Sacred Name!”
“Yeah, but you won’t tell me what the Sacred Name is. ‘Here’s where I keep this secret document, but you can’t ever open it or look inside!’”
Her jaw dropped at his mocking high falsetto of her voice and at what he was insinuating. “Should I tell you where I’ve stationed my undercover operatives, too? Throw in the Beyond’s Sacred Name as well to sweeten the deal?”
Sam slammed his hand down on the armrest next to her head. “Fucking give me something, Kenna!”
She flinched at the burst of aggression, but he didn’t notice as he leveraged himself up and started pacing in front of the dying fire.
His voice was getting too loud. People would begin to hear and take notice soon. His conduct was completely inappropriate, both in subject and because of the early hour. It was time for this to end.
She stepped up to him, stopping his pacing. He glared at her, not yielding an inch in his anger. She ignored it. “There is only one other person alive who knows the Mountains’ Sacred Name,” she hissed. “Ty is my safety net. His position as a future duke and his fortress in the Beyond make him infallible. He is someone I trust wholly, should something ever happen to me. Even his parents, the current Duke and Duchess of the Beyond, don’t know the Mountains’ Sacred Name. They are my closest and most steadfast allies, and I have not awarded them that privilege. You are the man I am courting. Use that for perspective.”
She regretted the words as soon as she said them, all but slapping a hand over her mouth in horror. Sam glowered down at her. “I don’t need your perspective. I have my own just fine. And you know I hate it when you say his name in my presence. You hear me? I hate him. I hate that he has a kind of access to you that I do not—”
“You have me, Sam!” Dammit, now she was yelling. She spun and braced herself on the mantle to steady herself. She massaged her temples and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart. After a moment, she said, “You still have me. That is a privilege he does not have. And I’m not going anywhere. We’re in this together, okay? I chose you, and I’m sticking with you until the end.”
“If we’re in this together, then let me hunt. Let me go with you today.”
“No.”
“You bitch.” He pushed past her and picked up his tumbler, draining the remains in one giant swig.
She pivoted to face him as he walked away from her, her cheeks heating more. “I will schedule a time for us to go hunting next week. Just you and I.”
He just laughed. “Another one of your secret little rendezvous, then. Excellent.”
The frustrated sound that came out of her in that moment would have earned her a scolding as a child for being unladylike. She charged after him. “Then invite your friends to join us. Invite whomever you’d like. And I will invite—”
“Who, Kenna?” He hissed, whirling to face her at last. “Who from your world will you invite? Who will you allow me to meet on this hunt?” He stepped into her space, crowding her and forcing her to look up to keep his gaze.
“Whoever you want to meet and who is currently in residence at the palace.” She hated how small and meek her voice sounded. Knew that the answer was weak and pathetic, even to her own ears. “Give me a list, and I will see that it is done.”
“That’s not fucking good enough.” His knuckles on the tumbler were white as he gripped it. “You don’t even—” he cut himself off as he dragged his free hand down his face. “Next week,” he tried again, “will be a completely different conversation. You’ll be singing a different tune to me, I guarantee it.”
“I will not renege on my word,” Kenna challenged. “I never have with you, and you know it.”
“Well, we’ll certainly see what next week brings, won’t we?” He began walking toward the lavatory, and Kenna’s heart sank. He was leaving. “I cannot wait to pick up this conversation again tonight, after your stupid hunt. I know it will be the most enjoyable part of my day.” He slammed the glass tumbler down on the drawing table beside the lavatory door. “I’m going to work. I have a job to do, and it’s clear that it cannot wait a moment more.”
He left without another word, slamming the lavatory door shut behind him. She heard the swish of the tapestry a moment later.
The silence left in his wake was deafening. Even the fire no longer crackled, now reduced to embers glowing in the dark. Kenna’s breath sawed in and out of her as cracks spiderwebbed across her heart. With a resignation anyone else might have mistaken for reverence, Kenna knelt once more and began picking up the shards of glass from her father’s shattered tumbler before someone could discover the mess she’d created.
About the Author
Madeline is a third-year student at the University of Iowa. When not focused on classwork, she can be found catching up on her tv shows and enjoying a mug of coffee. Madeline loves hanging out with her friends, reading anything fantasy-related, and is inspired by TikTok edits and cheesy Pinterest posts.
Instagram: @Madeline_hussey, @madelinehusseywrites
Cover design made using Canva design tools.