The young woman stood behind the tree. Her bow in hand. She looked directly to the rabbit. She knew she had to shoot it quickly... And she did.
"Gwaine, we have dinner" she said as she noticed that she hit right in the target. She looked behind and give her brother a big smile.
She made her way to where the dead animal was. She grabbed it, without a problem. Sometimes, she was not like other girls. She did not do what other women of her age do. She loved hunting. And she was good at it, she had a good eye. A bow and some arrows were all that she needed.
"It's big. It's enough for today, and perhaps for tomorrow too. I hope you do not eat it all by yourself" she said looking at him.
"Good shoot, little sister" Gwaine smiled at her. "I do not know if I'm able to keep that promise" he laughed a little bit and she frowned. "I have an idea! We can go to a tavern to celebrate. And I can get you an ale, one ale"
"One ale? You will probably have hundreds!" she protested. "And I can guess what comes next; you are going to get drunk, perhaps you will get in a brawl, or maybe you will flirt with some random woman. Maybe both?" Elia knew her brother. Yes, travelling around was an adventure, but going into a tavern sometimes it was a little prediction. "But if it's true, you will be distracted and you will forget about the rabbit, so seems fair" she laughed.
"Yes, yes... Whatever the little one says, let's go" he laughed too.
"This little one got us the food. So you better do not be rude at me, brother" she looked at him faking an anger and then they both laughed again.
Gwaine and Elia made their way to the nearest local tavern. They had sit as the tavern wench came to them to make the order. Two ales, that were what they wanted.
Since a few years ago, it has been only the two of them. Their father died when they were very young, and their mother died not long time ago. So since then, Gwain has been taking care of his little sister. He knew the truth about Elia, but he had never told her. She had enough of with their parents' deaths. Elia meant the world for Gwaine, he would do anything for her. He did not want to see his little sister get hurt. He loved her more than anything.
Two young men walked into the room. One had blonde hair and the other had dark hair. The bloned guy and Elia stared at each other, it was a coincidence. She noticed his big blue eyes. He gave her a little smile. She blushed. Gwaine watched the little scene. He notice that the man was looking at Elia, a lot. Gwaine was so protective with his sister, he did not enjoy watching a man flirting with Elia.
"He's looking at you... A lot" he pointed. "He would better stop doing it before I do something about it".
"Oh, shut you mouth, Gwaine" she snorted. "He's not doing anything wrong. I did not complain when a woman looks at you, I never say a word".
Gwaine didn't respond. He made a weird face, like making fun of her and kept on drinking.
The cheerful sound of the people there, suddenly vanished. A not very friendly man walked in. Nobody spoke, nobody moved. The man claimed to the tavern wench her money. The woman got scared because she hadn't got enough. The blonde guy stood up to defend the woman. In a blink of an eye, a group of not very nice men showed up there. Elia was surprised because Gwaine decided to stand up to join the blonde guy and his friend. Pretty odd, because a few minutes ago he wanted to punch his face. Without a hurry, a brawl started. Gwaine ordered Elia to hide in a safe place. So that's what she did, even she didn't want to. She wanted to do something. But it was better hide herself because that would avoid a discuss with her brother. So, Elia watched the whole scene under the table. She knew had experience when it comes to a brawl. He was a good fighter. She focused in the blonde guy. He was good too, very skilled. Elia thought that he was very handsome, he probably had a lot of women behind him. Her thoughts disappeared when she found out that Gwaine was injured.
"Gwaine!" she cried out as she rushed to where he was.
She was so afraid. She was hoping that his injured wasn't a big deal.
"It's just a hit on his head. We'll take him to someone who can heal him, alright?" the guy with dark hair said. Elia nodded slightly. "I am Merlin" he introduced himself.
"I'm Elia, I'm his sister".
Elia grabbed her things and Gwaine's things too, and she went out of the tavern alongside Merlin and his friend, the two of them were carrying Gwaine.
"We do not have a horses with us" she said to Merlin.
"We can share. Your brother will be going to Arthur, he's a good rider, so don't worry. You can come with me if that's no bother you".
"Of course not".
He knew that the name of the other guy was Arthur. But he was not simply Arthur. He was Arthur Pendragon, prince of Camelot.