The sun was high in the sky when Bram returned, casting long shadows through the trees.
Inside the cabin, the atmosphere was frantic but controlled.
Under Kael's supervision, the women had spent the morning scrubbing the bedroom, changing the sheets, and airing out the heavy scent of sex that hung in the air like a thick fog.
Lila was at the table, packing a travel bag. She moved with a sharp, robotic efficiency. Clothes. Dried meat. Waterskins. She checked the items off a mental list, her face devoid of emotion.
The red brand on her hand was covered by a fingerless leather glove she had found in Bram's chest.
Elara was by the hearth, stirring a pot of soup. She was humming that tune again, swaying her hips.
She looked radiant, her skin glowing, her hair braided intricately. She looked like a woman in love.
Thud.
The heavy sound of a carcass hitting the porch made them all freeze.
"I'm home!" Bram's voice boomed. "And I brought a king's feast!"
The door swung open. Bram stood there, grinning, a massive stag slung over one shoulder.
He was covered in dirt and dried blood from the hunt, radiating a raw, masculine energy that felt alien to the cabin now.
"Bram!" Elara turned, wiping her hands on her apron. Her smile was bright, practiced. "You're back early!"
"Missed my girls," Bram laughed, dropping the stag. He walked over and wrapped Elara in a bear hug, lifting her off her feet. He kissed her soundly on the cheek.
Lila watched from the table. She saw her mother flinch. Just a micro-second of hesitation. A tightening of the jaw. Elara didn't lean into the hug; she endured it.
"And how is our guest?" Bram asked, setting Elara down and turning to Kael.
Kael was sitting in the armchair, wrapped in a blanket. He looked pale. He had deliberately lowered his body temperature using the System to appear feverish.
"Bram," Kael rasped, his voice weak. "It's good to see you. A fine kill."
"The best in the valley," Bram boasted. He frowned, stepping closer.
"You don't look good, lad. Paler than when I left."
"It's the toxicity," Kael lied effortlessly.
"Elara... she did her best. She nursed me through the night. But the blockage is returning. It's spreading to my heart."
Bram's face fell. "Damn. Is there anything we can do?"
Kael looked down, acting the part of the tragic victim.
"I can't stay here, Bram. If I stay, I'll die. I need a high-level Healer. I need to go to Oakhaven."
"The city?" Bram scratched his beard.
"That's a two-day ride. You can't make that alone in this state. You'd fall off the wagon before you hit the main road."
"I know," Kael sighed. He looked up, locking eyes with the hunter.
"That's why I have a favor to ask. A massive one."
He activated the System.
[Passive Effect: Cognitive Nudge (Max Output)]
Focus: Altruism / Duty.
Suggestion: Helping him is the only moral choice.
"I need help getting there," Kael said. "I need someone who knows my condition. Someone who knows how to... manage the symptoms until we find a priest."
He looked at Elara.
Bram followed his gaze. "Elara?"
"She saved my life last night," Kael said. "She has a gift for healing, Bram. If she hadn't... intervened... I would be dead. If she comes with me, just to the city, I stand a chance."
Bram hesitated. " sending my wife to the city... alone with a man..."
"Not alone," Kael interjected quickly. "Lila should come too."
"Lila?" Bram looked at his daughter.
Lila stepped forward. She didn't look at her father. She looked at Kael's boots.
"I need to go back to the guild, Papa," Lila said, her voice steady.
"My apprenticeship... if I don't report in soon, I'll lose my spot. Kael has a wagon. He has funds. He can take me. And Mom... Mom can take care of him."
"It makes sense," Kael pressed, his voice silky.
"Lila pursues her future. Elara saves a life. And I... I will be eternally in your debt, Bram. I will make sure they are treated like queens. I will pay for the finest inn. I will send them back with gold and gifts."
Bram looked at the three of them.
Logic battled with instinct. His instinct said keep them close. But Kael's Cognitive Nudge was rewriting his priorities.
The boy is dying. Lila needs a career. Elara deserves a trip to the city; she works so hard.
"You promise to keep them safe?" Bram asked, his voice serious.
"I will guard them with my life," Kael swore. "They will be under my constant protection. No one will touch them but me."
The double meaning flew right over Bram's head.
"Alright," Bram sighed, slapping his knee. "Alright. We can't let a man die on our floor. You take the wagon. I'll hitch up the horses."
…....….
An hour later, the wagon was loaded.
The sun was beginning to dip, painting the sky in bruises of purple and orange. Kael sat in the back of the wagon, nestled among the furs, the same furs he had defiled Elara on the night before.
Lila sat at the front, holding the reins. She wore her traveling cloak, her face hidden in the hood.
Bram stood by the wheel, looking up at his wife. Elara was seated next to Lila, looking down at him.
"You be careful now," Bram said, reaching up to take Elara's hand. "Don't talk to strangers. And don't spend all the gold on silk."
"I won't, husband," Elara said. Her voice was light, airy.
"I'll miss you," Bram said. He leaned up, expecting a kiss.
Elara leaned down. Their lips met.
It was a chaste, dry peck.
Bram pulled back, frowning slightly. He had expected warmth. He had expected the passionate woman who greeted him earlier. But this... this felt like kissing a statue.
"Elara?" he asked.
"The road is long, Bram," Elara said, pulling back and wiping her mouth—a subtle, unconscious gesture, as if wiping him away. "We need to beat the sunset."
"Right," Bram mumbled, confused. He looked at Lila. "Lila? Take care of your mother."
"Goodbye, Papa," Lila said. She didn't look at him. She cracked the reins. "Hyah!"
The horses lurched forward. The wagon wheels creaked and rolled over the gravel.
Bram stood alone in the clearing, the dead stag at his feet. He waved. "Safe travels! Come back soon!"
Kael turned in his seat. He looked out the back of the wagon. He watched the figure of the rugged hunter shrinking in the distance.
He raised a hand and waved back.
"He looks so small from here," Kael commented casually.
Elara didn't turn around to look at her husband. She turned inward, toward the wagon bed. Toward Kael.
"Is the shaking bad, Master?" Elara asked, crawling over the seat to join him in the back. "Do you need treatment?"
Kael smiled, stretching his legs out. "I think the shaking is starting again, Elara. You better come here and keep me warm."
Elara crawled onto the furs. She curled up against his chest, resting her head on his shoulder, sighing with content.
"And Lila?" Kael called out to the driver.
"Yes, Master?" Lila's voice drifted back, competing with the wind.
"Don't stop until we hit the main road. I want to put as much distance between us and that cabin as possible."
"Yes, Master."
As the wagon disappeared into the forest, leaving the hunter behind with his cold hearth and his dead prize, the System chimed one final time for the region.
[Zone: Hunter's Cabin - CLEARED] [Assets Acquired: 2] [Next Zone: Oakhaven City]
Kael ran his fingers through Elara's hair. She purred.
"To the city," Kael whispered. "Let's see what other treasures are hiding behind locked doors."