Free Orion by Cyndi Goodgame

couldn’t name this fear.
    I smiled decisively needing to seem more Hunter like and keep the appearance like I wanted to be here.  I came off a bit too cheeky yesterday and would soften a tidbit. 
    “And I have to be the best.  I can’t let my father down.  Where to?”  I looked back at Maze.  She’d managed to at least hit the target this time.
    "Who is your father?"
    I ignored his question and my own idiocy by continuing to watch Maze.  Luckily, he moved on for me.
    “How about archery first?  Get you a false sense of smugness before I take you down again.”  His eyes danced when he stretched the last word looking at the chest guard in my hand.  Hmm!  Hunter boys are very different in their non verbal thinking habits.  His face said much.
    “Smug.  I ’m not smug.  I just try my best.”
    “True.  That much I can see now.  But if my dad had mentioned, at least, that you were good at everything , I wouldn’t have tempted fate yesterday.  His list left a lot to the imagination.” 
    That was quite a compliment.
    “Your dad is the school master.  Master Green.  I met him yesterday.  Seems nice.”
    “Nice is not what I would call him, but yes, he is my father.”  He seemed upset by the topic.  I wanted to drop it for now, but something bit at the edge of my mind.
    “What else made the list…on me?  Hit me with your best shot!”  I had to ask.
    He fidgeted with his sleeve, not looking at m e, and then raked his eyes over me.  There really were a pretty blue. “Um, well, you looked different than most Hunters, that much is definitely true.”
    I thought that was a compliment so I smiled.  “And?”
    “You are ill- tempered," he enjoyed saying though he cringed.
    “He said that?”
    “Yes,” still cringing. 
    “How ’s that playing out for you?”
    He wanted to not answer but he bore into me with darker more glittery e yes than before, “More like catlike I see now.”
    “Cat like?”  I was curious now, folding my arms.
    “You know.  You ’re claws come out sometimes.”  Calum looked at my flexing fingers under the folds of my arm.
    “Hmm!”  I really couldn ’t deny that, but “ill-tempered” was just harsh.
    “Anything else?”
    “No formal schooling, only tutors.”
    True.  “That all?”
    “Mostly.  He said to keep an eye on you.”
    Hmm!  So he was my watcher.  Funny.  “And how’s that part working out?”
    “ Exhausting!”
    My eyes rose.
    “And....” he bent down to my ear, “I’ll let you know more when I know her better.”
      I would find out more later, and I would find out more about the one I was sent here to find.  My father had to send me.  I was the only one of age and knowledge and trusted to finish this quest discreetly who wasn't easily identifiable.
    “Archery it is.”  Calum and I walked over to Maze. 
    “I can show you something,” I told her. 
    “Anything would be nice,” she smiled but straightened her stance when she saw Calum with a surmountable amount of fear rising.  Was she nervous around him?
    I walked up behind and stood beside her.   In the same motion she stood and held her arms as she arched her back and lifted the bow. 
    “Arch your back more.”  I touched the small of her back.  I was aware of Calum watching.  Maybe he was takin g notes.  “Pull your arrow back.  Pull your extended hand up to your cheek.”
    She did all this.  Still standing behind her, I placed my hand on her bent elbow and lowered it.  “Steady, close your left eye, aim the tip just barely above the spot you are aiming for, and…release.”  The arrow shot through the air, a whizzing sound I love shot across the room, and landed square in the center of the target. 
    Maze was lurching her Amazon red jump-suited butt into the air.  “That was amazing.  You are the best teacher I’ve ever had.”
    Pride shot through my heart, but I didn ’t show it because he'd just commented on my smugness.
    Maze went over to