The Black Arrow

Chapter Three: Bastards, Brilliance, and Banter

"So where is my mother?" I growled as we walked out the magnificent castle door. A draw-bridge lay over a river of rapids below which led to a dirt road. The road looked to wind on forever through the trees in the distance which made me thankful that I was unconscious for my first trip through. However, though I escaped the massive boredom of my first travel along the road, that only made it a million times worse to navigate out of such a place. A boy stood by the draw bridge in front of a stunning green stable. Simon walked along my left and the king directly in front of him.

"She is in my cells. Complete this task and you shall be reunited." The king grumbled, unhappy with Simon's new bargain.

"I am not doing your dirty work and going back into a cell." I stated.

"Relax," Simon placed his hand on my shoulder as we walked across the bridge. "You will both be freed. You have my word."

"That doesn't mean much," I told him. Nothing he said made me feel comfortable at all. I wanted proof of my mother's existence, but the king said I couldn't see her until after. I felt more trapped in this situation than I did in the cell from earlier that day.

We walked up to the boy; he couldn't have been much older than me. Maybe even younger. A mop of brown hair settled on his head and he was sweating massively under chain-mail and brown leather pants. His skin was probably much fairer than what the golden sun had turned it into. I figured he was probably outside constantly. His golden eyes would have matched the king's if only they had been as dead. This boy's eyes gleamed with excitement and joy. One of those idiots who always saw a bright side to everything, I assumed...

Two horses stood ready behind him. One placed its head onto the boy's shoulder lovingly, ignoring the sweat dripping from his chin.

"All set and ready," The boy smiled.

"Good." The king waved his hand at the boy, "Meet Henry. You'll be seeing a lot of him around for the next little while. He's going with you to keep you in check and to make sure you're following my rules."

"Good morn', sire Clauss." Henry knelt onto one knee and bowed his head.

"Oh, gods..." I pinched the bridge of my knows. Morn'? Sire? I already hated this kid.

"It is a pleasure to meet such a name," he continued to introduce himself. "My name is Henry Gruinn. Happy stable boy, loyal pal, and official bastard of the king. It's my pleasure to assist the definition of fame itself."

"Official bastard of the king?" I said, "You're the king's son?"

"That's what I said. Second and youngest."

"Henry, get up. You look like a fool." Simon ordered.

"Yes, sir!" Henry shot to his feet like a spring. This was going to be a long trip.

"So where exactly am I going?" I asked as a horse mistaked my red hair for a patch of hay on fire.

"He likes you," The King said. "You're going to a small town called Rivershire."

"And how am I getting there?"

"Horses," Henry said obviously.

"I meant more along the lines of do I get directions?" I rolled my eyes.

"That's what Henry is. Though to be truthful he will probably be as useless to you as he would be to me on the throne. But the boy is brilliant at keeping people in check and popping up when you'd want him least...like at 2:00 AM on the castle doorstep left by a woman you slept with once while your wife was away. One time and I’m punished forever." The King sighed.

"Never been happier to be standing right here," Henry groaned.

I locked eyes with Henry before looking back at the king, “um… I think I would rather go about this myself.”

“I am sure you would,” Gruinn laughed. “So you can run off to your little murder land and hide in a hole until you’re dead. No, I want to know exactly what is going on. Henry can be your muscle.”

Simon folded his arms, “good luck.”

“If someone has to go with me I want it to be Simon,” I stated.

“Feeling loved…” Henry muttered sarcastically while petting the horses.

“Um, no. That’s an awful idea and I refuse to partake in this quest to swop the life of a harlot for that of a murderer.” Simon shook his head rapidly, “Nope. I won’t do it.”

“Yes, you will,” stated the king. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. I have no real use for you here anyway.”

“Exactly… what, what?” Simon’s jaw dropped. “What do you mean you have no use for me?”

“Maybe he wants a new bitch,” I shrugged. Henry chuckled from behind the horses.

“Screw off, kid.” Simon hissed, “look… you have already sent me to kill this broad-“

“And you failed. Four times. However, you gained all the information on this girl. You even came back bragging about how she thinks the two of you are engaged. Plus, your tracking skills would make things so much quicker. If she is as skilled as you say, Sebastion will need all of your help. You guys can be the three musketeers!”

“This story is taking place in a different time period; you should not know what that is.” Henry told him.

“The three blind mice, then.” The king continued, “I’m asking you to fetch something. Are you really going to defy me?”

“That is not fetching something. That is accompanying the fetcher. I am not a side character!” Simon argued.

“Okay, we’re breaking the fourth wall a little much here…” I muttered.

“This writer is a bitch!” Simon continued his little temper tantrum. “I already gathered all the information on carrot-top over here! If it wasn’t for me he wouldn’t even be going on this quest. He would either be dead or halfway to Durrellia!”

“And that’s why you’re my favourite. You’re like the second son I never had,” The king lifted his arm to rustle the boy’s hair.

“People seem to keep forgetting… I am right here.” Henry sighed, “Guess I’m getting another horse ready.”

We had been riding the horses down the road for two hours without seeing a single member of civilization. Simon held himself in a pouty, sullen, silence while Henry had no problem chatting my ear off the whole time. I wondered if he even noticed that I wasn't answering. The trees lined along-side the road and seemed to never end. The horses were getting anxious… or bored, whatever they were going through they felt the need to express the need by biting each other’s tails. I had started riding my horse as far away from the others because I wasn't the best rider and I had almost fallen off twenty times.

“So I just realized I don’t even know the name of this girl…” I muttered under Henry’s chatter.

Simon heard, “learn to read her name and you will know. It’s in the papers I put in your bag.”

“You can’t read?” Henry said in shock, “But I was told you were seventeen.”

“Can we not spread this around?” I rode my horse up next to Simon’s. “How did you know that?”

“I know a lot of things,” He didn’t even make an effort to glance at me. “Also when you first saw the papers you were squinting your eyes really hard. This could mean two things. Either you have terrible vision or you are unable to read and are completely illiterate. Your shots at your targets are a little too flawless for a blind man, so I could assume.”

“You’re still a little too smart for your own good, huh?” Henry interjected.

“Yup. I am pretty much the perfect package.” Simon responded proudly.

“For who? A pregnant hooker?” I joked.

He scoffed, “coming from the guy whose never even been kissed in his life.”

“The amount of information you know is seriously bordering on stalker-levels.” I told him.

“That’s my job.”

Just then Henry’s horse nipped at the ear of mine. She jumped back onto two legs which sent me pummelling onto the ground.

“What the hell, man?” I said, dusting the dirt off my clothes.

“Sorry, I was just trying to get the papers from your bag. I guess Daisy felt she needed a little snack,” he patted the horse on the head.

“I could have just given them to you,” I hissed as he jumped off the horse and picked my satchel off the ground. He pulled out the papers and looked down at them.

“Well, what’s her name?” I asked.

“Avienne Loucelles,” He stated. “Wow, this girl is gorgeous! I am sorry, but beautiful people are not smart and they definitely are not very strong.”

“I greatly disagree with that statement,” Simon looked back and flipped his blonde hair. “Guys, it’s time to go.”

“Seriously though, she is so pretty…” Henry carried on.

“She’s good in bed, too.” Simon told him.

“This conversation has gotten out of hand. I just want an arrow through her heart and that’s all I want.” I grabbed the reins on my horse, “Quick and easy.”

Simon laughed, “Good luck with that one.”

Simon trotted his horse around us, riling up the other mounts into a game of chase. Henry jumped to the side as one ran past him.

“Dude, you’re going to get us run over!” he yelped.

“Well, I said let’s go.” Simon chuckled. "And who says dude in this century?"

I rolled my eyes. All this horse play was wasting my time. And it was literally horse play. All I wanted was to find this girl quickly, kill the target, and then never speak of my past ever again. I was definitely now regretting bringing Simon along, but it seemed like a good idea at the time since he was able to take me down so easily. Oh, I mean… he was able to take me down after days of exhausted fighting. Plus, he said he was a tracker.

“Excuse me gentlemen, are you lost?” A small man appeared out of the woods and approached us. He wore a small light yellow tunic and boots that showed off way more than I could ever have wished to see in my lifetime.

Simon cleared his throat and said in a very deep voice, “Thank you, but we are now to be on our way.”

“What’s in the bag?” Another man, who looked like the first’s twin, snatched it from Henry’s hands.

“Any loot?” The little man chuckled.

I snatched it back and fastened it around my waist, “sorry little elf-man, I don’t share my property.”

That’s when the bag was snatched off my waist from behind, turning my body in the process. A second, and much fatter, little man was standing there barely towering my waist. He ruffled through my belongings until I back-handed him across his right cheek and he dropped what he had taken.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I hissed before the other small man swiftly plucked the bag off the dirt like a fox. Henry grabbed them by the scruff of the neck and lifted them both into the air, one in each hand.

“Come on, men. There is no need to bother with violence. Shall we let these men go off on their business and us, our own?” Simon trotted his horse over to us, trying to sound like a logical voice of reason but in reality he just made me want to back-hand him as well.

I was about to cuss the men out and ignore Simon’s words when three more men ran out of the bushes behind him. Simon held his head snooty and proud until a large rock about the size of a basketball catapulted itself from the trees and slammed against Simon’s chest. His eyes widened as he fell forcefully off the horse which who had its own little hissy-fit before fleeing from the scene.

Simon gasped on the ground, “you little shits!”

He got up and whipped the rock back into the direction it came, attempting to hide the massive pain. Immediately following the action, five more men appeared climbing out of the brush. Then five more. Then fifteen more. It wasn't long until we were completely surrounded. They began jumping at us tauntingly, backing us all into the centre of a giant circle of small men that seriously needed to shave.

“This... Is not good,” Henry pointed out.

“Thank you for that comment of brilliance,” I said sarcastically. “What should we do?”