Chapter 151 - The Hunting -2

The sound was enough to reverberate in the whole valley. The prey hiding in the grass realised the threat around too and fled from the area. The hounds began to chase it, barking loudly. The atmosphere was filled with excitement. All the knights were betting on who would kill the first prey.

Kirian exclaimed as if he was excited. The prey was none other than a wolf, she had faced many of them on that day.

"There are foxes, wolves and rare boars in this area." told the crown prince looking at my blank face.

I nodded, it was not like I was afraid, I just did not enjoy hunting like others. It was nothing but killing animals for fun. That day, she killed the wolves too, but it was more of a necessity.

I silently watched the chase while following the fast-moving wolf. The wolf was running away from the hounds chasing it ferociously and seemed very desperate. The only thing the wolf could do was to run, since Kangal, the Alabai, and the Irish Wolfhound, were famous for their capacity to kill two or more wolves at a time. But what the wolf did not know was that hounds were just a distraction. The main threat it had was from the most dangerous animal found on the earth, that was riding a horse behind it.

Everyone had already drawn their bow except me and the crown prince, who were looking more like a spectator. I wonder if he enjoyed killing others or was waiting for a bigger prey.

I saw all the three men shooting the arrow at the same time and I was not at all surprised when all the arrows hit the wolf. But it was the bulky man whose arrow hit the wolf first.

With a painful moan, the wolf fell to the ground. The hounds, which were running towards the fox, heard the whistling of the knights and their command so they stopped but howled loudly without approaching it.

Listening to the command of the knights, the servants ran to pick up the wolf too. They checked the wolf and then three servants held it together and took it towards the carriage.

"Well done Lucas." I finally came to know his name when all the knights congratulated him. Though they said that it was just his good luck and next time they would win.

"The fox is in good condition my lord, its fur can be used well." informed the servant who had taken the fox with them.

Red blood was dropped from its body where the arrow pierced. The dead body was analysed well as it kept and once again we started moving.

The bright light of the sun hardly falls through the thick branches of trees. So it was taking time to find the prey and we mostly were dependent on the hounds for finding the prey. This time the animal hunted was a fox with reddish brown fur.

It tried to run away, wagging its thick tail, but was hit by Kirian's arrow.  I have seen the fear of the beast when it screamed its last time. I felt goosebumps all over my body at its last cry. I felt nauseated and closed my eyes at the pain.

An excited hound bit the dead fox's nape, before the servant could come and pick it up which made the fox bleed more. I churned at the sight. I held my stomach when the head almost started to be torn by the hounds and looked at the other side.

I heard them chuckling and I knew they were making fun of me but I did not care. I could not see the barbaric behavior of them. I was here just to make sure that the crown prince stayed fine.

I couldn't look at the bleeding dead fox, so I held my breath quietly. I felt nauseated. The excitement I felt right before going on the hunt was already gone. 

"Are you feeling okay?" asked William looking at my ugly face, and the laughter of the knights died down. 

I did not want to sound weaker and put a damper on their excitement, so I nodded casually but I still did not look towards them.

"Well, we have already rode for hours and hunted two animals too. Let's just take a break for a while." announced William. Surprisingly he had not shot the arrow on the first prey and even if he shot the arrow at the second one. It did not touch the fox at all. 

It passed it from an inch away. 'Was he so bad at shooting arrows!?'

"Yes, your highness" we all decided to stay in the shade for a while. The servants laid a thick blanket under the tree of wisteria. 

"As we have come to this place, why don't we eat here?" said the last one and others nodded. William looked at me as if he wanted to know my view and I nodded, instantly agreed, as I wanted to delay hunting and look around if there was any risk at all or we were just playing around.

When we sat, William passed me the bottle of water. His eyes were filled with worry,  "Drink some water. It will calm you down a bit… Hunting is not a pretty sight for women." i did not know he was genuinely saying that or he was trying to look down on me but other knights laughed the moment words left his mouth.

Soon the servants spread a lot of dishes on the blanket. Finger sandwiches, grilled meat, cakes, cookies. Pies, and fruit were in the basket and everything looked delicious, 

'Nobles sure have luxuries even if they were in the middle of nowhere.'

Although I didn't have an appetite at the moment, after looking at the gruesome death of the fox, I took a sandwich and started eating it.

I ate slowly to delay the return to the hunt. Eventually, after eating a whole sandwich, I wiped my mouth with a napkin after emptying my water bottle halfway.