Cries like thunder roared through the stadium, cracking through the silence that had once existed. Once people began to realise what had just happened they went crazy, stamping their feet and chanting songs that Gwen didn't know. Looking at the crowds of people that stared back down at her, Gwen knew she had made a mistake. Why didn't I throw the shot? Gwen yelled to herself, as the cheers seemed to get louder and louder. Stupid competitive streak, she mumbled, cursing herself for not listening to her reasonable side and letting those two jerks get into her head. She wished she could retreat into the shadows were no one could find her but suddenly she had the desire to sneak off, so instead she decided before anyone could do anything; she left. Gwen had just made it out of the stadium in time to hear the referee shout out her name and announced Gwen the winner of the archery competition. Wiping the nervous sweat off her forehead, she quickly grabbed a scarf and tied it around her hair to hide her unusual hair colour. There was nothing she could do with her strange eyes but that wouldn't matter if she made it out of this area quickly. Taking a deep breath she wormed her way through the crowd of civilians, not realising that someone was following her in the shadows.
Even though she should have been getting the hell out of this place she couldn't help but marvel at some of the stalls that she hadn't seen yet. Gwen cursed herself for not having any resistance against sweet tasting things or games. The scent of cooked apples and caramel caught her attention at one of the stands. Behind the stand stood an old, plump, cheery looking fellow, serving what looked like a caramel covered apple to a little girl.
"That's two coppers little lady." The stall manger beamed to the little girl that Gwen could guess just reached her knees.
"But I only got one copper sir." She replied, bowing her head in shame because she couldn't buy the delicious treat the man was dangling in her face. The older man seemed to be torn between letting her off this once or he should be strict on her so she would learn in the future to check prices and her money in the future. Gwen sighed and looked at the few coppers she had in her purse before she walked over to the stall.
"Here, I'll pay." Gwen smiled at the little girl as she reached into her purse and pulled out two copper nobles and placed them into the man's large hands.
"Thank you pretty lady." The little girl squeaked in delight before running off to probably find her parents. Gwen laughed at the girl's speedy escape as she also brought a caramel apple for herself, deciding that the smell was too good to resist. The sound of trumpets playing caught Gwen's attention back to the main area of the festival, unwilling to listen to the reaction explanation in her head telling Gwen to ignore it she followed the sounds to a huge crowd. A line of men playing wind instruments, which were then followed by acrobats, somersaulted down the open area that had been blocked off by a type of fence. Cheers and claps sounded from the crowd as some of them did a few flips and leaps into the air. I can do better than that, Gwen thought, unimpressed by the performance that was displayed in front of the crowd. Then a different set of trumpets went off which made the young girl look further down the line of watchers. The site made her mouth drop to the ground and back up again, smacking Gwen in the face with confusion and wonder. On finely breed horse's came the whole royal family, dressed in their finest gowns and suits and looking stunning (that's what happens when you put the two best looking people in the world together and allow them to breed) but that wasn't why Gwen dropped her stunned mouth. On the right hand side of the kings' heir was the guy she had competed with in the archery competition. A huge smirk grew on her face at the realisation that just hit her on the head. I kicked your royal ass! Gwen couldn't help but cheer to herself secretly, knowing she had just beaten his royal butt. Oh man this was like a dream I had just thought of come true, Gwen laughed at herself, as she watched the royal family get closer and closer. The crowd around her was beaming and cheering at the royal family, throwing flowers at their beloved monarchs. They smiled and waved back to their people, catching the flowers and laughing at the excitement around them as they went along. What a bunch of attention seekers? Gwen groaned, rolling her eyes, which was a big mistake because she found herself being caught in the beautiful hazel eyes of the prince. It seemed that time stood still, until Gwen ripped away from the staring match and began moving through the crowd when black cloth fluttering in the corner of her eye and caught her attention. Her mouth dropped open again but with horror, as she saw a man covered in black robes, trying to control a Stormwing with one hand and holding a cross bow in the other that was aiming right at the Tortall queen. Reacting first and thinking later. Gwen notched the arrow in her bow and aimed when she saw the man fire. Releasing her string her arrow flew true in the air and just barely knocked the incoming arrow away from Queen Thayet's head. It was then that chaos erupted and the archer was finally notice. Guards surrounded the royal family in a matter of seconds and archers had the bows notched and aimed at the Stormwing and its rider. Both Immortal and human flew from the sky and hit the hard ground blow them. It was obvious the man had died on an arrow that went right through his heart but the Stormwing wasn't going to die so easily. It had only fallen because of an arrow that had stunned her wing but not hurt and began flying into the air again but suddenly dipped down again. A young child's scream echoed through all of the terror that was happening and the Stormwing began to take off again but because Gwen was quite close and her mind was only focused on saving the child, she did the one thing that no one should ever do when face to face with a Stormwing. She took the monster on in close combat. Before the Immortal was high enough to make its escape Gwen had unsheathed her sword and dive through the crowds of terrified civilians and just like a javelin through it. The monster scream in pain as Gwen's sword lodged itself between the shoulder blade and the wing, making the monster drop to the floor again. The only weapons she had with her now were her bow and a small hunting knife she kept hidden in her boot. She cursed herself for throwing the sword instead of the dagger but she knew the sword would cause bigger impact. Rolling to the ground Gwen just barely dodged a sharp metal wing that had been aiming to detach her head from her body and thrust the knife into the beasts' belly. Shocked by her quickness the Stormwing let go of the little girl. Tearing the hunter's knife out of the creature's body, Gwen grabbed the little girl and threw her far away from her and the beast. Another metal wing slashed at the young warrior but this time she wasn't quick enough to block. Staggering back, Gwen clutched the chest as sliver blood began to pour down her shirt.
"You're not human!" The creature hissed, seeing the colour of her blood, since sliver blood represented one thing in the human world; Immortal.
"Funny, I was going to say the same thing about you." Gwen smirked, as the Stormwing let out another cursed shrieked and aimed her dagger wings at her heart but Gwen was able to avoid the attack by rolling under it, coming face to face with the demon in front of her, Gwen almost vomited at the stench of death that surrounded the Stormwing. Without a moment of hesitation she slashed the dagger at the monsters throat, deep enough to damage the jugular. The Stormwing staggered around for a moment, cutting it's on flesh as it tried to use its own wings as hands to cover up the gallons of blood, falling down her neck. Gwen clutched her own wound, as she pushed her way through the crowd of soldiers that had moved in to finish the job that she started but in her rush to escape she stumbled over her own footing and fell hard onto the muddy ground. Biting her tongue to stop herself from screaming Gwen began pushing herself off the floor but before she knew it two people had grabbed her by the arms and lifted Gwen to her feet.
"Are you ... What the..." The guy who Gwen had realised as the prince she competed against and another boy who must have been his brother -because they shared the same facial structure and hazel eye- froze. She didn't understand what they were shocked about, until a stab of pain in her chest reminded her that she had blood pouring down her chest; sliver blood.
"Sorry boys but if you want to see a freak show, you'll have to pay." Gwen joked, shaking her arm free from the older brother's hand and running away as fast as she could from the commotion.
A sigh of relief escaped her lips when she sank into the warm water that filled her bath tub. Somehow she had managed to escape the castle and make it back to her room without being seen, maybe it was years of experience but right now Gwen didn't care. It was times like these that she felt at peace, not having to worry about her problems but just relax and...Knock, knock! Oh you got to be kidding me! Gwen swore, grabbing a towel and wrapped it around her dripping body and the bandages that were wrapped around her chest. She didn't care if anyone at the door saw her like this, Gwen was too angry to care, couldn't she just take a nice relaxing bath for five minutes for once.
"There better be a warlord or something heading this way because if it's not then I'll have to take my anger out on you." She shouted at the young girl that stood in front of the door, shaking like a mouse trapped in a corner by a cat. Gwen didn't usually act like this but all she wanted was to be left alone.
"Mama sent me to tell all the guests that the kitchen is opened." The girl whispered quietly, as she tried to look anywhere but at Gwen. A huge lump of guilt fell heavily on to her chest, Gwen felt so guilty about scaring the poor girl.
"Sorry kid I didn't mean to scare you it's just been ... a rough day. Thanks for letting me know." Gwen tried to smile at the young girl. Her apology seemed to work because the young girl actually looked at her face and not her shoes.
"It's alright Miss, I get it all the time, at least you apologised." The little girl with golden curls smiled back at her. I like this kid, Gwen smiled to herself. Reaching around the corner of the door and picked up two coppers from her purse and handed them to the young girl.
"For your troubles kid." Gwen grinned and waved the girl goodbye before shutting the door behind her. Chucking the towel over the chair she made her way back to the bath and popped herself back into the warm water. She had planned to stay for at least a week but now that two members of the royal family had seen her, Gwen was pretty sure that they would hunt her down and dissect her for science experiments. It wasn't until the water had turned cold that Gwen decided to go down stairs and grab something to eat before she would leave in the middle of the night with her horse. Grabbing a book she was in the middle of reading, Gwen skipped down the stairs and bounced into the dining area of the inn but instantly slowed down when some of the men began to stare at her a little too closely for her liking. Seating herself into the darkest part of the room, she signal to the little girl she had met at the front of her door early (who seemed to also being playing waitress as well) bounce over to her and went through a whole list of specials her mother would be cooking tonight. Choosing a simple meal that would keep her going until she could find a small village to buy or borrow supplies from, the girl raced back to the kitchen to tell her mother Gwen's order, giving Gwen a chance to read her book. However, five minutes later the girl came back carrying a drink.
"The man over there ordered this for you, Miss." The blond smiled before bouncing off to the kitchen again. Gwen could only watch in confusion and amazement before shaking her head and then turning to the direction the girl had pointed to. She could not see the figure clearly, since he was covered in cloak and shadow but she was able to make out that he was a big figure and that he raised his drink to her. Her mouth turned into a firm line and before you could flick a hand, Gwen snapped her book back open and placed it in front of her face.
"I'm surprised to find someone like you reading books by Emry of Haryse." A witty voice spoke from behind her book. Peaking over the top, she looked up to see the man had move from his table and over to her. The man was quite well built for someone his age with white teeth that flashed against tanned skin and hazel eyes with the same glint of mischief her horse had.
"I am George Cooper and you are?"