Status: In progress but looking for feedback. The Prologue has been trimmed! More chapters coming soon :)
Always Anyways...
The Archer's Challenge
I could barely let her go, terrified of the games I did not know the rules to. But Aryness walked out confidently with her bow over her shoulder like it was nothing more then a regular daily hunt. Evandar ran his hand over his face, and looked as if he wanted to scream. With a shove of his sword into his belt, Gregor gave us both a strong nod and followed her out. The next time I saw her, Aryness was striding into the training ring. It was little more then a large wide horse corral on the edge of guard's barracks. It had sawdust and sand covering the ground with a rough wood fence outlining the edge. I have seen this space used for several types of trainings, from combat training, jousting practice and now for archery. Across the length of the space was several targets set up - bulls-eyes, straw dummies and high jousting rings. Waiting for Aryness, my brother had chosen four of his trained archers, two long bowmen and two short bowmen. Gregor stopped at the wooden fence and Aryness nodded to him as she stepped inside without hesitation. The men sized her up and started snickering at her. I was above the training ring in grandstands set up for commanders to watch over as the men practice. I walked to the balcony's edge as Eadgar and Dmitri were still sipping wine.
Evandar stopped at my side, and whispered in my ear, “That man in green leather....is the Archery Master for your father. He has fought in more battles then I can name.” I nodded, not removing my eyes from Aryness. The Archery Master walked into the ring and bowed slightly before Aryness, “Greetings my Lady...I am told you are talented with a bow?” She bowed in return, “I was trained by my father, a fowler.” He nodded, “Very well...then these targets should be easy because they aren't moving. Can you hit from this distance.” Aryness's chin remained high, “With ease my Lord.” He stepped back and motioned for her to shoot, “The bulls-eyes then please.” Aryness set her bow, and with one fluid movement without hesitation, drew from the quiver and fired her arrow. Not once, but three times hitting all three dead center of the red eye. “Does that please you, my Lord?” she asked as her bow lowered. The archery master walked over and had to yank the arrows from the center, showing strong hits. “Indeed it does my Lady. My Prince shall the challenge begin?” He shouted up to my brother. Eadgar nodded and the Archery Master walked back over and began giving different challenges to the archers. The first challenge was each one aiming for dead center. The winner would be the closest to the middle in one shot. Not only did Aryness hit well, but she knocked the previous arrow out of the center while securing her own. The archer turned to her, “How did you do that?? That is magic!” Aryness looked over at him, “No, it is speed and angle, good sir.” The man shook his head and Dmitri cheered, “One point for the sea captain!!” The archery master moved onto the straw dummies and each archer had five seconds to hit five critical targets on the body. Aryness finished in sync with the others, except her shot to the face hit the eye and not the forehead as the archery master indicated. When he faulted her for the strike, Aryness tilted her head, “But my Lord, on a real man that shot would not penetrate without a reinforced shaft and perhaps the strength of a long bow. I was taught that the eyes are always preferred.” The archery master looked up to my brother, and he called down, “Well?? Is she right??” The archery master nodded, “Well in theory she is right, but hitting a man at 200 yards in the eye is an impossible shot.” Aryness was quick to retort, “No it isn't. I can hit a turkey in flight through the eye....done it several times.” Evandar's hands curled ever tighter around the balcony railing, and I feared he might break the wood in pieces. Aryness' confidence was getting the best of her. Worse yet, my brother's temper was slipping, “Give her the point!” he nearly shouted. When the archery master nodded to her, Dmitri cheered again. “Two points my sweet!” Evandar’s face was burning red and I laid my hand gently over his, “It is nearly over.” I whispered. Dmitri downed his cup and quickly asked for more, “You see...I have heard of this girl. She is amazing...I told you I was right!” Eadgar nodded, brooding, “Yes yes, so you love to say.” Aryness was doing too well and losing sight of what little she needed to do. While I could not deny she was amazing, this was the wrong way for me to find out. “Dear Lady, I beg that you are careful!” I shouted to her, hoping it would remind her of her promise to lose and lose convincingly. Aryness turned to look up at me, and bowed slightly, “Of course my Princess!” I hoped that my sweet warning got my message across.
The Archery Master was quick to set up the next challenge, and this time Aryness missed one of the targets by about 2 inches. There was no doubt in my mind that she missed on purpose, and I could barely hide my sigh of relief when the point went to my brother. In the next challenge, Aryness again missed the last shot, making her lose the point at the last attempt. I looked up at Evandar, and I saw beads of sweat rolling down his brow as if he himself was in the middle of a great battle. The last challenge was by far the most complex. The Archery Master moved the jousting rings, and the archers had to shoot through two of them to hit a bulls-eye. It required careful aiming, and every archer before Aryness missed a ring, two of them not even hitting the bulls-eye. As Aryness pulled an arrow from her quiver, she peeked up at me. Her aim hesitated for a moment, but it sailed through the rings and hit dead center. I dropped my head, it was the winning point. There was unmistakable silence for a moment as no one could believe that a woman could make such a shot. I think even Aryness was surprised herself because she was the first one to break the silence, “It was a lucky strike my Lord...” she said, bowing deeply to the Archery Master. He motioned to her, “Point to the Lady. Excellent shot.” My brother clenched his fist and Dmitri whooped loudly in triumph. Aryness was quick to walk over to the balcony and drop to a knee, “My Prince, I beg your forgiveness for besting your archers. It was mere luck for they are clearly more skilled then I could ever be.”
Dmitri leaned on his elbow at the railing, smiling a very wide smile at Eadgar, “It is a fair win, luck or not. Perhaps the gods of war prefer a fairer face these days.” Eadgar set his jaw and forced one of the most false smiles I have ever seen. The smile was completely overdone, as if he quickly donned a mask. “A fair win indeed....” he reached for his belt and pulled off the pouch, “Your prize.” Dmitri did not reach for it, “I will happily let you keep your gold for a walk in the gardens with that beautiful creature.” His confidence oozed and my body sprung without hesitation, “I happily accept!” I walked over and slid my hand around Dmitri's arm. I am not sure who was more stunned, Prince Dmitri, Eadgar, Evandar or Aryness. I continued with my charm, “Surely I am worth far more then could possibly be in that pouch!” My giggle sound disingenuous, but if Dmitri believed it that was all that mattered. Dmitri stood up, resting his hand against my arm, “You are priceless my dear Lady....infinitely so!” I was lucky that Dmitri's honour trumped his more sordid desires. Eadgar's smile now switched to a sly twist, “I could not agree more. Do enjoy your time!” He bowed to us and quickly walked out before Dmitri could ask for more. I swore I heard my brother snicker on his way down the stairs.
Evandar stopped at my side, and whispered in my ear, “That man in green leather....is the Archery Master for your father. He has fought in more battles then I can name.” I nodded, not removing my eyes from Aryness. The Archery Master walked into the ring and bowed slightly before Aryness, “Greetings my Lady...I am told you are talented with a bow?” She bowed in return, “I was trained by my father, a fowler.” He nodded, “Very well...then these targets should be easy because they aren't moving. Can you hit from this distance.” Aryness's chin remained high, “With ease my Lord.” He stepped back and motioned for her to shoot, “The bulls-eyes then please.” Aryness set her bow, and with one fluid movement without hesitation, drew from the quiver and fired her arrow. Not once, but three times hitting all three dead center of the red eye. “Does that please you, my Lord?” she asked as her bow lowered. The archery master walked over and had to yank the arrows from the center, showing strong hits. “Indeed it does my Lady. My Prince shall the challenge begin?” He shouted up to my brother. Eadgar nodded and the Archery Master walked back over and began giving different challenges to the archers. The first challenge was each one aiming for dead center. The winner would be the closest to the middle in one shot. Not only did Aryness hit well, but she knocked the previous arrow out of the center while securing her own. The archer turned to her, “How did you do that?? That is magic!” Aryness looked over at him, “No, it is speed and angle, good sir.” The man shook his head and Dmitri cheered, “One point for the sea captain!!” The archery master moved onto the straw dummies and each archer had five seconds to hit five critical targets on the body. Aryness finished in sync with the others, except her shot to the face hit the eye and not the forehead as the archery master indicated. When he faulted her for the strike, Aryness tilted her head, “But my Lord, on a real man that shot would not penetrate without a reinforced shaft and perhaps the strength of a long bow. I was taught that the eyes are always preferred.” The archery master looked up to my brother, and he called down, “Well?? Is she right??” The archery master nodded, “Well in theory she is right, but hitting a man at 200 yards in the eye is an impossible shot.” Aryness was quick to retort, “No it isn't. I can hit a turkey in flight through the eye....done it several times.” Evandar's hands curled ever tighter around the balcony railing, and I feared he might break the wood in pieces. Aryness' confidence was getting the best of her. Worse yet, my brother's temper was slipping, “Give her the point!” he nearly shouted. When the archery master nodded to her, Dmitri cheered again. “Two points my sweet!” Evandar’s face was burning red and I laid my hand gently over his, “It is nearly over.” I whispered. Dmitri downed his cup and quickly asked for more, “You see...I have heard of this girl. She is amazing...I told you I was right!” Eadgar nodded, brooding, “Yes yes, so you love to say.” Aryness was doing too well and losing sight of what little she needed to do. While I could not deny she was amazing, this was the wrong way for me to find out. “Dear Lady, I beg that you are careful!” I shouted to her, hoping it would remind her of her promise to lose and lose convincingly. Aryness turned to look up at me, and bowed slightly, “Of course my Princess!” I hoped that my sweet warning got my message across.
The Archery Master was quick to set up the next challenge, and this time Aryness missed one of the targets by about 2 inches. There was no doubt in my mind that she missed on purpose, and I could barely hide my sigh of relief when the point went to my brother. In the next challenge, Aryness again missed the last shot, making her lose the point at the last attempt. I looked up at Evandar, and I saw beads of sweat rolling down his brow as if he himself was in the middle of a great battle. The last challenge was by far the most complex. The Archery Master moved the jousting rings, and the archers had to shoot through two of them to hit a bulls-eye. It required careful aiming, and every archer before Aryness missed a ring, two of them not even hitting the bulls-eye. As Aryness pulled an arrow from her quiver, she peeked up at me. Her aim hesitated for a moment, but it sailed through the rings and hit dead center. I dropped my head, it was the winning point. There was unmistakable silence for a moment as no one could believe that a woman could make such a shot. I think even Aryness was surprised herself because she was the first one to break the silence, “It was a lucky strike my Lord...” she said, bowing deeply to the Archery Master. He motioned to her, “Point to the Lady. Excellent shot.” My brother clenched his fist and Dmitri whooped loudly in triumph. Aryness was quick to walk over to the balcony and drop to a knee, “My Prince, I beg your forgiveness for besting your archers. It was mere luck for they are clearly more skilled then I could ever be.”
Dmitri leaned on his elbow at the railing, smiling a very wide smile at Eadgar, “It is a fair win, luck or not. Perhaps the gods of war prefer a fairer face these days.” Eadgar set his jaw and forced one of the most false smiles I have ever seen. The smile was completely overdone, as if he quickly donned a mask. “A fair win indeed....” he reached for his belt and pulled off the pouch, “Your prize.” Dmitri did not reach for it, “I will happily let you keep your gold for a walk in the gardens with that beautiful creature.” His confidence oozed and my body sprung without hesitation, “I happily accept!” I walked over and slid my hand around Dmitri's arm. I am not sure who was more stunned, Prince Dmitri, Eadgar, Evandar or Aryness. I continued with my charm, “Surely I am worth far more then could possibly be in that pouch!” My giggle sound disingenuous, but if Dmitri believed it that was all that mattered. Dmitri stood up, resting his hand against my arm, “You are priceless my dear Lady....infinitely so!” I was lucky that Dmitri's honour trumped his more sordid desires. Eadgar's smile now switched to a sly twist, “I could not agree more. Do enjoy your time!” He bowed to us and quickly walked out before Dmitri could ask for more. I swore I heard my brother snicker on his way down the stairs.