The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke
img img The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke img Chapter 1 Prologue
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Chapter 10 Nine img
Chapter 11 Ten img
Chapter 12 Eleven img
Chapter 13 Twelve img
Chapter 14 Thirteen img
Chapter 15 Fourteen img
Chapter 16 Fifteen img
Chapter 17 Sixteen img
Chapter 18 Seventeen img
Chapter 19 Eighteen img
Chapter 20 Nineteen img
Chapter 21 Twenty img
Chapter 22 Twenty-One img
Chapter 23 Twenty-Two img
Chapter 24 Twenty-Three img
Chapter 25 Twenty-Four img
Chapter 26 Twenty-Five img
Chapter 27 Twenty-Six img
Chapter 28 Twenty-Seven img
Chapter 29 Twenty-Eight img
Chapter 30 Twenty-Nine img
Chapter 31 Thirty img
Chapter 32 Thirty-One img
Chapter 33 Thirty-Two img
Chapter 34 Thirty-Three img
Chapter 35 Thirty-Four img
Chapter 36 Thirty-Five img
Chapter 37 Thirty-Six img
Chapter 38 Thirty-Seven img
Chapter 39 Thirty-Eight img
Chapter 40 Thirty-Nine img
Chapter 41 Forty img
Chapter 42 Forty-One img
Chapter 43 Forty-Two img
Chapter 44 Forty-Three img
Chapter 45 Forty-Four img
Chapter 46 Forty-Five img
Chapter 47 Forty-Six img
Chapter 48 Forty-Seven img
Chapter 49 Forty-Eight img
Chapter 50 Forty-Nine img
Chapter 51 Fifty img
Chapter 52 Fifty-One img
Chapter 53 Fifty-Two img
Chapter 54 Fifty-Three img
Chapter 55 Fifty-Four img
Chapter 56 Fifty-Five img
Chapter 57 Fifty-Six img
Chapter 58 Fifty-Seven img
Chapter 59 Fifty-Eight img
Chapter 60 Fifty-Nine img
Chapter 61 Sixty img
Chapter 62 Sixty-One img
Chapter 63 Sixty-Two img
Chapter 64 Sixty-Three img
Chapter 65 Sixty-Four img
Chapter 66 Sixty-Five img
Chapter 67 Sixty-Six img
Chapter 68 Sixty-Seven img
Chapter 69 Sixty-Eight img
Chapter 70 Sixty-Nine img
Chapter 71 Seventy img
Chapter 72 Seventy-One img
Chapter 73 Seventy-Two img
Chapter 74 Seventy-Three img
Chapter 75 Seventy-Four img
Chapter 76 Seventy-Five img
Chapter 77 Seventy-Six img
Chapter 78 Seventy-Seven img
Chapter 79 Seventy-Eight img
Chapter 80 Seventy-Nine img
Chapter 81 Eighty img
Chapter 82 Eighty-One img
Chapter 83 Eighty-Two img
Chapter 84 Eighty-Three img
Chapter 85 Eighty-Four img
Chapter 86 Eighty-Five img
Chapter 87 Epilogue img
Chapter 88 Bonus Scene 1 2: Chapter 59.5 img
Chapter 89 Bonus Scene 2 2: Chapter 60.5 img
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The Indomitable Huntress & the Hardened Duke

Stina's Pen
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Chapter 1 Prologue

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO

"Over here, Sush," the old man said from the hospital bed, his voice hoarse and weak, the words came out in barely a whisper.

Seventeen-year-old Sushmita Alagumalai came home to find her uncle on the floor next to a broken mug, a pool coffee spilling over the floor. She screamed and the neighbors came over, calling the emergency helpline as she tried to wake her uncle.

An ambulance arrived and she was held back as the medical team checked his vitals - another heart attack, strapped him on a stretcher and hauled him into the ambulance, letting Sush sit with him and hold his hand. In a journey that seemed too long, all she could think of was, "Please, help him. Please make him wake up. I'll be good. I'll do anything. Don't let him go, too. Please."

She didn't know who or what she was praying to. She'd just lost her aunt two years ago, and she and her uncle had been grieving her death ever since. They were happy that they still had each other, until the first heart attack a year ago planted a seed of worry in her, a gnawing feeling grew as the the seed sprouted, like it was telling her the last person she had wasn't going to be there for much longer, and when she walked in on his fallen body, it was like her worst nightmare had come true.

At the hospital, once the ambulance doors flew open, everything that happened next was a blur. She didn't know how she got off, nor did she remember which corridors they passed through or whether she'd knocked into anyone. All she knew was that the operating room seemed too far away when it was - in fact - just right down the first hallway.

She stayed outside alone, sunk into one of the plastic chairs that were stained yellow from its original white, blind to her surroundings, deaf to the chatters, screaming and medical staff yelling orders. Her back was bent over, elbows on her knees, mouth to her interlaced fingers that had already turned cold. Her mind was blank and it only knew one word - please.

When the doors next to her cracked open, she shot up from her seat, eyes fixed on the two nurses and a doctor who emerged. The nurses went the other way, while the doctor met her gaze, a flash of sympathy marring his face. "He wants to see you," was all he said, holding the door open for her.

She sprinted in, wasting no time, halting only when the sight before her created a force from the ground that was so strong it threatened to bring her to her knees.

Her uncle pushed a reassuring smile, asking her to come closer. She drew strength from his voice, as she always did, battling against the pull of the ground and letting his eyes guide her. By the time she reached his side, her hands had to clench around the rail of the bed, no longer able to support herself. How could a man she once knew to be strong and invincible - one who fought for her and her aunt, one who taught her to fight for herself - now find himself in this state, unable to speak as loud as he used to and could hardly move?

"Sush," he drew her prying eyes from the machines and blood back to him. His throat bobbed. "Your aunt has always been with us. And I will always be with you."

She knew what that meant, and the tears of fear turned into ones of anger. Her mouth opened but before she could say anything, his hand raised ever so slightly as his forehead creased, knowing what she wanted to say but stopping the words right before they spilled out. "It won't be easy," he continued "But you will do well. Your aunt and I... have never done anything that surpassed our pride of raising you."

Sushmita didn't know how, but her hand found his, her thumb brushing across the back, feeling the wrinkles. His grip was still strong, and she let herself hope, hope that this was a phase, that he would get better, that everything would go back to normal, as much as his exhausted eyes were telling her he'd lost the will to fight.

He swallowed a lump in his throat, and she watched the wave the movement created in case she never got to see it again. "Your aunt... never wanted to tell you this, but I think you have a right to know. Your mother... She didn't pass away from a road accident."

Her eyes grew wide, a hunger for the truth now rivaled with the devastation of her uncle's state. The old man went on for a few minutes, and when he'd told her everything, he said, "We had hoped it would surface one day - the truth, but maybe you're the one who's destined to hear it. And when you do, Sush, tread wisely, choose carefully. Choose peace. Choose happiness. Choose what's best for yourself."

The corner of his lips lifted as he gave her hand a firm squeeze for a moment before his eyelids fell, his grip lost strength and the beeping that Sush didn't hear before was now a flat monotone.

As the medical team spilled in and ushered her toward the corner, an endless supply of tears trailed down her cheeks that no amount of tissues were able to absorb.

It was hours before the tears stopped, days before she fully processed the events of that day, and months before she accepted that she'd lost everyone she held close. Everytime she replayed her uncle's last words, a fire blossomed in the middle of her chest, and one day she decided that what was best for herself was to get to the bottom of things, to hunt down the ones who killed her mother, and she was going to make them suffer, down to the very last creature.

            
            

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