Just as I promised, I finished the next chapter. So please read and review! Enjoy
Chapter seven: The Hunt
When the first rays of light touched the wooden floor of Talia's bedroom, Talia was already up and dressed in a pair of leather trousers and a red tunic, quickly braiding her hair. Excitement and impatience controlled her movements; it resulted in a loose and untidy plait. Some of her dark curls framed Talia's face, which was glowing of anticipation.
"Emily can do it better than me, but I have no time to wait for her." She said to herself, annoyed that she had to waste her time on her hair.
Talia walked out of her room singing to herself. On the way down, she met Emily, who was just on the way up to her.
"Mistress Talia, are you already up?" Emily asked surprised, "I was just about to wake you up. – Your hair mistress… what have you done?" Emily inspected Talia's hair critically and turned her nose up in disapproval.
"Well, I did it myself Emily. I don't want to miss one part of the day so I couldn't wait for you. And there is no time for setting my hair now, so leave me. I like it the way it is."
"Very well mistress." Emily said ascending the stairs again on the way to make Talia's bed.
Talia, on the other hand, continued her way down to the dining room, where she gulped down her breakfast. As more and more guests entered, Talia was already on her way to the stables.
"I knew you would join the hunt, Talia. I guess there is nothing that can stop you, is there? Finally you can show the world what a perfect archer you are."
"You know me too well." Talia turned around and looked into her brother's broadly smiling face. Thetis was wearing a green tunic and a matching pair of trousers, which was perfect for camouflaging in the forest. His bow and arrows hung over his shoulder, and in his right hand he was holding a second bow and in his left another set of arrows.
"I am your brother, what do you expect? I guess you will need this, won't you?" Thetis said, still grinning and handing Talia the bow and arrows.
"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot." Talia scowled quietly. She almost forgot the most important thing. "Thanks. As I can see, you are joining as well."
"You bet. I have promised myself that I will shoot the most magnificent stag today!"
"I think you will have to break your promise, my dear brother." Talia said, now also grinning, "I have already decided to do so and no one will stop me!"
"We will see about that." Thetis left for the stables. A few minutes later he returned, leading his black mare to his right and Talia's brown stallion, Strega, to his left. She mounted her horse elegantly and waited, together with Thetis, for the rest of the hunting party to arrive.
When all guests were assembled, Lord Tedeon divided the waiting group in two. One group was the hunting party, following Lord Tedeon and the second group would be following Talas to the picnic spot. Talas never participated in hunting parties, because he despised the fact of killing animals for fun.
Over twenty horses left the court and started off in a quick trot towards the forest, following Lord Tedeon, who was the head of the group. His hunting dogs were up front, trying eagerly to find a fresh trail of a stag. At first Talia was in the middle of the hunting party, but she wanted to catch up with her brothers, and, therefore, she gave Strega a strong kick to urge him on.
After half an hour of a fast but pleasant ride, the dogs suddenly started barking madly – they found a trail. The hunting party spread out and lead their horses into a gallop.Talia loved the feeling of wind blowing against her face and once in while she had to evade low hanging branches. The chase turned faster and more brutal. Several hunters could not hold themselves on their horses and fell, or they got hit by branches. Talia's tunic was ripped open on her left side and her plait fell asunder, but she did not care. She was focused on following the excited dogs. Birds and other small animals ran away in fright, when they heard the screaming of the hunters. The horses where driven faster and faster. At one moment, Tanis was right behind Talia, but when she turned around, he was gone again. Everything went so fast and before Talia could realise it, she was at the head, leaving the other participants behind.
Suddenly a large animal came from the left and nearly crashed into Talia. It was a frightened stag, trying to escape the dogs.
'What a magnificent stag.' Talia thought, 'He will be mine.'
She forced Strega into a faster gallop and laid an arrow onto her bow. The stag ran only a few meters in front of her, desperate to find a way out, but the Underwood was too thick to get through. Talia shot…and missed. The stag made a quick turn and disappeared behind some tall spruces, leaving an angry Talia behind.
"Darn" she shouted, following the stag even faster and laying a second arrow onto her bow. Talia shut everything out, even her yelling brother Tanis behind her, and focused only on the stag:
And there he was again! Talia let go of Strega's reins, aimed and let go of the arrow. She hit! The stag's left hind leg was now injured; which made him slower. Talia shot again. Another hit- this time it was the stag's right shoulder. The stag ran in a zigzag, trying to avoid Talia's arrows. He did not want to give up.
"Strong one, aren't you?" Talia yelled, aiming for the fatal shot. This time she hit him in the neck, a lethal wound. He tumbled and fell. She jumped off her horse and walked towards the stag, which was still breathing, although very shallow. Then he tried to rise up one last time, but fell back again. The stag closed its eyes forever.
Talia looked upon the stag, whose courage and pride lasted long but were broken in the end. If she would have known that this obstinacy towards defeat and suppression would repeat itself again in her own life, she would not have looked down upon the stag with an expression of pride and triumph.
It was not long until the rest of the hunting party arrived, all looking quite tired. It had been a hard ride. Talia was sitting on a stone next to the stag. It took a while for them to realise that the stag was dead and that Talia was the one who shot him. Who would have thought that a woman could do such a thing?
'Serves you right' Talia thought, 'You laughed at me at the banquet, so I took away your prize. Now you have nothing more to laugh about.'
"Nice going, sister." Tanis said, getting off his horse and examining the stag. "This is indeed a magnificent stag. One of the best I have seen so far."
"Yeah. In the future, we will have to take you willy-nilly with us on our hunting trips. We cannot manage without you!" Tarabas admitted sarcastically.
"Oh shut up. You are only jealous."
"Well I have to admit," Thetis joined the examining, "You beat me this time. But I say it was only luck. Next time I will win!"
"Want to bet?" Talia smirked.
Lord Tedeon examined the stag a while as well, until he turned to face his daughter.
"I must say Talia, your technique was perfect. First slowing him down and then giving him the final shot. I could not have done it better myself. I am proud of you, my daughter"
Talia's grin turned wider and wider with every word her father said. It was unusual for him to give compliments, especially when guests were around. This honouring in public was special and made her heart beat in pride. Nothing could ruin her day now – but she was to be mistaken.