The warrior halted his horse twenty steps away from the crowd that was cheering and hooting for him. Moving his leg around the horse's back in a swift motion, he jumped off it with a loud thud. Followed by the sound of his heavy armor screeching with the belt, he removed his helmet proudly to look around the people of his village.

The dirt on his face made him look as raw as a warrior should be. The blood droplets sliding down his jaw from his head made him look as tough as he was. While the heaving of armored chest made him look as victorious as he was feeling after successfully passing through a deadly war of Kingdoms.

His eyes roamed on each face and settled on the one face that he was looking for. A sly smile curved on his face and with his finger, he mentioned the lady to reach him. That was the moment, when his wife rushed to him excitedly along with their five-year old twins running after her.

Samara giggled with tears in her eyes as his wife hugged him tightly, letting all her happy tears fall. The crowd roared in cheers while the warrior pulled away from his wife but not before stealing a passionate kiss of longing. He bent down and lifted both of his sons, letting them wrap their tiny arms around his thick neck and snuggling their heads to him.

More interesting was the way that the Warrior started looking at his wife. There was an unbound intensity in them in which someone could drown deep.Samara observed how his wife was affected by his heated gaze as she blushed instantly making her cheeks look crimson. 

She herself let out a sigh in admiration.

"After a war, a man loses his fatigue only by a mind blowing fuck and the tailor's husband look like he will eat her anytime now," whispered Violet in her ear making her gasp.

"Violet! My mother is standing beside me," she whisper-yelled at her friend who was giggling at her troubled expressions.

"Don't be a nun, Samara. You too must be imagining your Nathaniel looking at you like that," teased Violet while wiggling her eyebrows making her flushed.

But the another group of horses approaching the area caught their attention. Samara's eyes widened in excitement as she saw the familiar dark-blue uniform of the riders. She immediately looked at her mother in left.

"Mother, it must be Samuel and father?" She questioned while guessing her father must be accompanying her newly-trained brother in their group despite being a warrior himself.

Samara saw the sweet smile on her mother's face. "Of course, it is. They must be with this group. I can already see Maguire's son approaching."

At the mention of the one of her brother colleague, her eyes flew to the riders and she saw Logan Maguire wrapping his tired arms around his mother. Ignoring the memory of their last meet about how he had manhandled her along with Davis so she could give kiss to their almighty leader, she nonetheless smiled in relief seeing that he was alive and less injured.

One by one the familiar faces came in sight while Samara kept looking for her father and brother. Suddenly, the image of Nathaniel flashed in her mind. She wished for him to be safe too. She couldn't even imagine her future without him. In his absence, her heart had grew more and more fonder.

"Father," screeched Violet while running towards a well-built man and hugged him tightly. Samara heard her mother's sniffles as she saw him controlling her tears.

"Don't worry, mother. Father would be arriving too," she muttered softly.

Her mother laughed and wiped her tears while still looking at Swanson's family, noticing how Violet's mother was clinging to Lord Swanson in love. "It must be sixth war of our lives and I still fear so much. Every time, he had scared me with his horrific and deep wounds. Don't you recall, it was that abandoned village, the war took place. It was rumored to be haunted. Last night, the messenger had beaten the drum saying there had been less deaths this time but they are from our village only," said her mother while looking around for her husband desperately.

Samara frowned at her mother. "Oh mother! You speak so wrong. It's not father's first war. He'll be alright and my brother is most trusted Archer. Don't you worry about them," she muttered annoyingly while herself feeling fearful for not seeing them even yet.

Suddenly, the warm environment of the evening turned cold as instead of horses, the carts started arriving. The crowd silenced from the villagers to their alive and tired soldiers. Samara's stomach dropped in the pit of her stomach as she finally realized.

Her father and brother hadn't arrived with alive warriors. Now that the carts full of dead warriors were arriving, she was feeling her heart squeezing in terror. She could already hear her mother's sobs as she pushed through the crowd like other worried ladies and observed the every group of eight corpses on each horse cart arriving.

"Please, my god. Please." Samara joined her hands and clutched them to her heart while trying to control her tears.

"Not even Nathaniel has come yet," Violet reminded her making her more terrified.

The crowd silently watched as their Lord Commandant came in sight with a grim face. He gulped and breathed heavily. He moved his horse near the first cart and started calling the names of the families to whom the corpses belonged.

Samara noticed how there was a long cut on Lord Commandant's cheek. His hands were bloody and face was full of dirt. Yet he sat proudly on his horse, trying to be as strong as for the women and children who lost there husbands and fathers.

"Nelson," he announced and immediately, Lord Nelson ran towards the cart and burst out in tears at seeing the corpse of his dead brother being removed from the cart.

"Maguire, hand them the horses," shouted Lord Commandant making Logan alert.

Samara saw him straightening and immediately running to the free horses from which the riders had gotten off. She sobbed at the heart-wrenching scene as Logan and other soldiers started putting corpses one by one on horses. So that their families could take and bury them after bathing the dead bodies. Moreover, she observed the absence of his friend, Davis. What if he had died? Their leader of a friend was absent too. She hated Rodwin but never really wished for him to die like she had told him to.

Her heart thumped loudly in her chest. None of the people she knew had been seen yet. This was horrible. Scary.

Samara wrapped an arm around her mother's shoulder who was already breaking because of the uncertainty. Violet too seemed worried for not seeing her best friend's father and brother yet.

"Lord Bryton. Lord Brent," shouted the Commandant.

Samara felt desperate to see Nathaniel. How the hell his father was so easily announcing the names? Where was his own son? Was he too on the carts? Her heart shattered at the thought and she gulped hard.

She noticed Logan's hands shaking as he lifted Davis' body to hang it on the horse.

"Lord Brent, he is not dead but close to. He needs immediate treatment. Go to the seer fast and get his wounds treated," ordered Lord Commandant to Davis' father.

Samara stomped her foot in desperation and rubbed her mother's shoulder who looked as if she had lost all the blood. She looked extremely blank and pale.

"Lady Hampton," shouted the Commandant.

Samara's eyes widened as she looked at Violet and her mother in fear. Not wasting anymore time, they ran towards the fourth cart.

"Father," she screamed in happiness and burst out in sobs at seeing him sitting on the cart alive. Why wasn't he on horse, she wondered immediately.

Her mother cried in relief as he slowly got off the cart and enveloped them in arms. Samara felt her heart settling at seeing him as healthy as he was.

"Father, you are alright," she sobbed while pulling away from the hug. His father smiled sadly and kissed her forehead while leaning down as he was taller.

"I had to be. For you and your mother," he said while hugging her mother tightly who couldn't stop crying. She breathed heavily and wiped her tears when she suddenly thought of her brother.

"Father, where is Samuel?"

Her father stiffened and she saw her mother raising her head to look at him too. "Yes, where's my son?" she asked in her hoarse voice making her father gulp.

Samara could hear the Lord Commandant calling for other names, but all her senses were alert to hear the well-being of her brother from her father's mouth. She saw a trail of blood from behind her father's ear, trailing down to redden his armored shoulder.

Her father looked at both of them and sighed, "He has been brave. Very brave." His head turned to the cart as he looked at his son making his women too follow his gaze.

Samara's breath caught in her throat while her mother let out a gasp of horror. Her eyes stunned and tears stuck at her lashes as she observed her brother's body through blurry vision.

There he was, laid on the cart with six arrows stuck on his body, on the pool of his own blood that had started to soak the cart's wood.

_________

"He is unconscious because of the extreme pain, child. So many gashes have led to loss of blood. We would have to give him soups and juices," said the seer encouragingly.

"We will. We will provide everything. He is my brave child. He would surely go through this," said Lord Hampton while observing the cuts from the arrows on his son's naked body, covered by blanket till his stomach.

"Will he be alright?" asked Ida, other best friend of Samara.

Samara too nodded at her father questioningly. Instead, the seer smiled at them. "Oh, he will. Fit and fine. But it will take time. Till then, we need to take care of him. His body is so much in pain. God's game is so twisted as how an efficient Archer is stabbed by six arrows."

Samara saw Ida gulping and staring at her brother with pain reflecting in her eyes. 

Ida Hopper, the daughter of high Lord Gerard Hopper who was the member of Council of the King, was a beautiful, down-to-earth girl. He was the only high Lord from their village who was educated and smart enough to win King's trust and became his council's member.

But being the lover of open village area than the guarded chambers of castles, Ida's father had been living in the village only, with his old friends and families.

The interesting thing was how the daughter of this high Lord, was deeply in love with Samuel Hampton.

"He will be alright soon. We all will keep praying," said Samara to cheer her friend.

She saw her friend nodding at her briefly and suddenly asking, "Did you meet Nathaniel? Father said that he was alright. But he has lost three of his great friends. He must be so broken."

Samara's face fell at the news and realized that due to horror of her brother's poor health, she hadn't even thought about Nathaniel's well being. But since Ida's father had been a good friend with Lord Commandant of the army, she must be speaking the truth.

She looked back at her brother who was surrounded by her mother, father and the seer. It's been six hours since the army of Walderstone had arrived after defeating the Kingdom of Burnsley. Her brother's wounds were treated and all he needed was the time to recover. The seer had said, he would be waking up anytime tomorrow.

Feeling stable that she could now leave for Barton's residency, she called for her mother.

"Mother, can I go visit Nathaniel to check if he's alright?" she asked softly.

Her mother blankly looked at her father for permission who too gave her a blank look. "Return before the dinner. It's already dark," said her father in his rough voice making her nod obediently.

"Come Ida," she said while holding her friend's hand and walking out of her house.

_________

"Samara, he is a rich man. These little berries won't make difference again and again. Your one smile would lit his heart on fire," muttered Ida annoyingly who was tired of Samara's romanticism.

"Please. He loves them. My wild berry lover. I just want to cheer him up anyhow," explained Samara while plucking another berry from the tree and glancing at Ida who was standing with a lantern in her hand to give light.

Before she could see Ida rolling her eyes, her eyes shifted on a man coming towards them with a bundle of wooden branches on his shoulder. She noticed that he was passing through the same way and looked familiar. Just as he neared, she stood up.

"Logan," she called and saw Logan smiling at her sadly.

"Going home with these. Mother wants to make my favorite dishes," he said while smiling slowly at Ida. "Where's Violet?"

"She's gone to her home," replied Samara while noticing the twitch on Logan's lips as if he was dying to see her. It was so rare when naughty boys like him would smile so genuinely. Logan and Davis had always been notorious, thanks to their leader Rodwin Lester.

Suddenly, the thought of him being dead made her stomach churn in nervousness. She didn't have any news about him. She immediately looked at Logan and bit her lip knowing, he might tease her for even asking about him. "Logan, is he alright?"

"Who, Samara?" asked Logan softly, which seemed foreign to her.

Her cheeks burned but she finally mentioned, "Rodwin. I am asking about your best friend."

She had expected him to tease or laugh at her. Instead, she saw his face falling and eyes turning glossy. She observed a scratch on his neck going down under his shirt. 

Logan gulped and breathed heavily. "I lost my best friend, Samara. He left me."

As if someone had punched her in the face, she gasped in pain while her eyes widened in shock.

"What?" Ida was stunned too.

Logan nodded, "We couldn't even bring his body from there. It was brutally cut in pieces. The Burnsley is the kingdom of heartless people. Their warriors were so horrific."

Samara covered her mouth and burst out in tears. The fact that she had been so angry at him when they had met thelast time, made her cry more. No matter how notorious he was, he didn't deserve to die. He was a human, a son, a friend and a soldier.

'Be careful what you wish for.'

She remembered him saying when she had wished for him to die. She knew that she didn't mean those words and had just said them in anger. She remembered his wish to kiss her. Despite him being so flirtatious and mean to her, he was a great soldier and too wanted to be the royal warrior like her brother wanted to. What of his old father who would be alone from now?

"Are you happy now, Samara? Didn't you want him to die?" taunted Logan while looking at her.

She immediately shook her head. "God, no! I didn't mean it, Logan. I am no witch that my words can get true. I would never wish for anyone's death and he clearly didn't deserve to die. Moreover, this brutally," she cried while covering her mouth.

"My brother, Davis, Nathaniel, even you. All have returned. Why not him? He was the most muscular from all of you," she sobbed while noticing Logan's blank face. He was staring at her intently.

Suddenly, the corner of his lips twitched upwards as he pressed them tight to control his laughter.

Samara stopped crying and looked at him stunned when she heard a familiar voice from behind.

"I knew you love me, Samara."

________

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