Sween, Vicca, Wilfred, Garten and I all sat around the roaring fire, shoulder to shoulder with friends and neighbours. Sparks twinkled with the stars in the night sky as they rose on wings of ash, clearing the treetops of the forest around us. Our bellies filled and minds awake as ever, we'd gathered around the fire to spin tales and sing songs, the best part of the night.

I sat next to my Da, watching Farmer Folds stumble around the fire, teetering on his heels with excitement as he related for the fifth year in a row his tumultuous, almost legendary, tussle with a bear when he was a young buck.

Hardly anyone but my Da was paying attention. Most were just gasping and flinching every time the elderly buck tottered on his feet, swaying close to the fire. Folds took this as a response to his story and continued to trip about in an avid frenzy.

Wilfred was sneaking glances at the book he kept hidden in his jacket while Sween, Vicca, and Garten whispered with each other, sometimes breaking out into stifled laughter and getting looks of disapproval from Mrs. Dann and Mum.

Finally, I heard Garten whisper, "We could tell this story better than old Folds himself, having heard it so much! What do you say we sneak off and have our own bonfire?"

Sween glanced at Vicca. "You want to go?"

Vicca looked between Sween and Garten, and I saw the tell-tale twitches of a frown on her face. "No. You two go ahead. I forgot how the story ends, anyway," she whispered back, staring straight at me, begging me not to interfere,

I rolled my eyes. I knew that she could recite Farmer Folds' tale in her sleep. I'd even heard her do it once. I didn't have a clue about why she wanted to stay.

Sween looked past Garten at Wilfred. "Do you want to come, Wilfy?"

Wilfred didn't answer. He just flipped the page.

Vicca choked on a giggle. "That's a definite no."

"C'mon, Sween! I want to show you something!"

Sween shifted uncomfortably on the bench. "Fine. I'll come." I saw her share a smile with Vicca. What was that about?

Garten and Sween slipped off into the forest together, snickering into their cloaks as they disappeared into the darkness. I watched them go out of the corner of my, hating Garten for not even thinking to invite me.

I turned my back on them and stared bitterly into the fire, the heat of the flames against my face matching that of the anger in my heart. Anger and envy.

But, for the first time, I felt something else there. It wasn't only my deep-seated envy against Sween for stealing my hero away from me. It was anger toward a Garten for an unknown offence, like he had crossed into territory I had just claimed, without either of us knowing it.

Just when the hot-headed, confused thoughts whirling in my head reached their boiling point, Da finally noticed the absence of Garten and Sween.

"Whittle?"

I fought to keep my voice even. "Yes, Da?"

"Please get yar brother and Sween, will ya? Hezekee Folds is nar finished his story and Mum 'as 'un to tell next. I wan' them ta 'ear it!"

I clenched my fists. "Yes, Da."

I slipped from my seat on the bench, feeling Vicca's eyes on me as I followed Garten's tracks into the forest, the bright light of the full moon shining down on me like a white sun.

I followed them at a run, dodging through the thin grove, muttering my angry thoughts under my breath. It wasn't long before I found them, both perched in the Covenant Tree in Ansel's Hollow. If I hadn't had the spark of good sense in me that I did, I would've screamed at Garten then and there.

Instead, I plunged into the brush a few feet away before they could see me. I sat there, scratched and wounded in more ways than one, listening and taking deep, heaving breaths.

"This is a beautiful tree, Garten," I heard Sween saying. "Why haven't we come here before? It'd make a great haunt!"

I heard Garten clear his throat nervously. "It's called the Covenant Tree. You see, a long time ago, there was this doe named Ansel. They say that Ansel was the prettiest doe who ever lived in Natalia - I think that's rubbish, by the way - and everyone loved her, especially all the village bucks."

Sween laughed. "Sounds like Vicca."

They shared a laugh.

"Anyway," Garten continued, voice growing in strength, "she only ever loved one rabbit her entire life, a buck by the name of Grym. They were married beneath this tree and lived out the rest of their lives together. You can see their names carved down there in the center of the trunk."

I peeked through the leaves, trying to distinguish the markings. I'd long wondered why they were there.

"Oh, that's sweet," said Sween, and I lay low again.

"Yeah. Since then, most of the weddings in Houncric happen under this tree and happy couples carve their names into the bark."

"Oh. That's sweet." Sween sounded a little more uncomfortable now. "So, is this what you wanted to show me?"

"No," there was a scuffling sound as Garten stood up on the tree branch and reached into the leafy heights, "this is."

"Oh, Garten! It's beautiful! Is that me?"

I closed my eyes, grass and leaves tickling my ears as I lay, stalk still, in the undergrown, picturing the canvas Garten must have given her.

"Yeah. I painted it this afternoon. Do you like it?" He sounded so anxious, I almost felt sorry for him.

"I do!" Sween said. "It's wonderful!"

I got up the courage to sneak another look at the two. Garten was spread out on a long, sloping limb, while Sween sat in a little hollow in the trunk. Garten seemed to be avoiding eye contact with her. Instead, he stared at the stars.

"One day," he said, wistfully, "I want to be worthy of carving my name into this tree with..."

"With who?" Sween asked, her voice unnaturally quiet and tense.

The following silence was long and almost unbearable for all who heard, or rather didn't hear, it.

Then, the answer came. "You."

I sat up, staring at the two. If my face hadn't been hidden in the shadows, they would've seen me for sure. Garten was stubbornly refusing to look in Sween's direction, his face contorted with worry. Sween was scratching at the wood with a stone, looking embarrassed.

"Garten?" she asked tentatively.

"Yes, Sween?"

But what she would've said, no one will ever know, not even I. Da's voice echoed in the forest like thunder.

"Garten! Sween! Come 'ere, if ya please!"

Sween and Garten finally exchanged a look.

"We'd better get going," Sween said, sliding down from the hollow.

Garten followed, saying nothing.

I laid low, breathing as much as I dared, as they passed, saying nothing to each other. The night air felt as though it were chilled with anxiety, the foremost feeling in all of our hearts.

It was not until they were safely away that I stood, a lone figure in the shadows. The moon seemed to smile upon me and I realized that I no longer felt angry or envious, just numb, as if I'd made too many discoveries about myself and my world to process.

I stumbled, dazed, toward the Covenant Tree, staring up at all the names of those couples that were happily married. I thought about Sween and Garten, wondering if I'd one day see their names written there, next to that of Ansel and Grym.

I wondered if I'd ever carve my name there.

I climbed the tree. If my Da was calling me, I didn't hear him; it was if no sound could penetrate my ears.

Soon, I was settled into the same hollow that Sween had occupied. The wood was still warm from her presence, though I didn't notice it. I felt warmed to the bone by what I saw.

There, carved into the wood beside me, was Sween's name, all along but for the word 'and'. The rest was smooth and blank, full of possibilities. The same went for my mind.

Slowly, as though in a trance, I picked up the stone Sween had left in the hollow. I pressed the stone into the wood and, before I could change my mind, carved my name next to hers.

When I dropped the stone and saw the two names written there, sheltered from sun and rain, hidden away where no one could see them, all my emotions flooded back. I heard Da calling my name.

But, most importantly, I knew that I loved Sween Furrow.

#TheTraitorsLove #SweenandWhittle #WHITTLEISSOSWEEEEEEEEEEET!!!

I'm sorry if there are a ton of typos (LOL, I just misspelled 'typos'!). I got so sleepy writing this chapter, for some reason.

Also, weird note, but I keep spelling Garten as "Farten". Sorry if that happened I didn't see it!