Prologue

"Aim and fire!" The six year old girl listened to the man who was supposed to be her father and took aim. She let the bow string loose so that the arrow would fly towards its intended target. She watched the arrow flying hoping, pleading, that the arrow would hit the bulls eye. The small blond girl let out a small whimper as she saw the arrow narrowly miss the angry red circle.

"Damn it, Artemis! How difficult is it to hit the center of the damn target!" Oh no, she thought as she felt the tears spilling over and leaving streaks across her cheeks. "Why can't you be like your sister? She never misses!" Artemis dared a glance at her sister. The dark haired ten year old proved as a stark contrast against her blond haired, grey eyed younger sister. She gave the younger girl a look of pure smugness. Despite what their mother said, Artemis knew Jade was always the favorite.

"Lawrence, why don't you leave her alone, she is only six," everyone's attention was turned to the older brunette. She was a rarity in these parts being Vietnamese, making it difficult for her to do her job. Which constituted blending in, in order to kill.

"That is no excuse, Jade-"

"She is not Jade."

"You needn't remind me Paula," the look he gave his wife was one of pure fury. Artemis and Jade decided to take their live before things got violent, and with their parents, things were bound to get very violent.

The girls trekked through the small cottage in complete silence. Well, not complete silence, they could hear their parents shouting from the forest outside the place they called their home. "You know Father likes me more," Jade threw Artemis a smug smile.

"Yeah, well I'm not sure that is something to be proud of. At least I have Mother, she's always nice," and Artemis meant it. She loved her mother, she was the only one that was always kind to Artemis. Jade was kind to Artemis sometimes, but only when she wanted something.

"Father says that's going to get Mother into trouble one day," and that was the end of that. They arrived at their small, shared bedroom. The walls were plain and white with dirt stains across them. There were two small cots stuffed with hay pushed against walls on opposite sides of the room. Artemis went to her small chest of drawers to pull out a dress, one preferably not soaked in blood, but even that was a difficult job. Everything was silent for a while before they heard the thud of a fist connecting with soft flesh.

I love pants! The recently turned nine year old thought. There wasn't room for girls or women to wear pants in their day and age. It was the only time Artemis would admit she actually liked what she was being forced to do.

"Artemis, sweetheart, you need to hurry!" The warm, accented voice shouted from the front of the group.

"I'm trying Mother, but I keep tripping over roots!" She loved the forest, its green, lush trees, and the soothing pine scent, but running at high speeds through its thick roots and fallen trees was not an easy task for a "big kid."

"Alright then sweetie, time for a piggy back ride," her mother fell into step next to her and squatted to that the younger girl could hop onto her back. Now that Artemis was being carried instead of walking, she could observe everyone. Her father was wearing an arm band that went from his shoulder to his wrist, he was also wearing a protective sort of armor and a mask, well, they were all wearing masks so as not to be noticed. Jade was still wearing a dress, green, but it was cut so that it reached her mid-thigh, she was also wearing black suede boots that reached her thighs and a long sleeved, black slip with green gloves and her sais attached to her back. She was wearing a cat like mask with her bushy black hair flowing behind her; she called herself Cheshire, after a story their mother used to tell them. Paula was wearing an orange pantsuit with black stripes like a tiger; she coined the title Huntress years before she had the two girls. Artemis was also wearing a pantsuit, a dark green with an arrowhead on the top half and a green cowl with her hair tied up. She hadn't yet thought of a name for herself so she settled with just plain Artemis. Her mother made her feel better by saying she was just like the goddess Artemis, who was a master of archery.

They had gotten a mission from Lawrence's boss, they were to find and kill the Duke of Queen, Oliver, and his lover, Dinah. Artemis, needless to say, was nervous; she had never killed anyone, not like Jade or the rest of her family. She was always left at home because her father thought she would be a hindrance. Not that she was complaining, she liked it that way. She never told anyone, not even her mother, but she hated what her family did, killing innocent people.

"Artemis, get ready," her father's harsh voice snapped her out of her reverie. They arrived at the huge palace that belonged to the Queens. She leapt off her mother's back so that they could climb up to the second story window. They climbed up one by one, past the guards that were bought off and snuck into the bedroom that was supposedly empty. Everyone was already out through the door when Artemis heard it, breathing. Deep breaths as if someone were asleep, it was relatively early. Artemis decided not to tell anyone because she figured there would be enough bloodshed. Little did she know that the green eyes belonging to a small red headed boy opened and saw her and her family sneaking out of the room. This fact would change her life, and not necessarily for the worse.