"Level your elbow with the arrow." Clarisse barked from behind. She raised her bow so it could be equally balanced with her elbow.
"Don't tug on the string." Clarisse instructed yet again. "You want the arrow to glide not fall directly into the ground."
With that being said, she gently plucked the string and to her surprise the arrow actually flew. It darted past her intended target and instead hit a nest.
"Reyna!" Clarisse growled with clear wroth. "We've been at this all morning and you still seem not to get it."
"Well it flew, right." Clearly her response evoked more anger in her mentor.
"I don't get it." Clarisse sighed as she rubbed her temples. "You can throw a javelin better than me but you can't even angle an arrow properly."
She wasn't entirely sure either. Both weapons needed to aimed properly at their targets. So how come she couldn't shoot an arrow?
"Whatever." Clarisse breathed out. "Session adjourned."
Gathering all her equipment she left for the city's bathhouse before she returned to the inn. Her arms were still sore from all her training but she was advancing day by day. The girls had congratulated her on her skills but little did they know that all of it was just of a refreshment of the past training she had back at home.
"How was Archery?" Helene asked as she stumbled into her room and began to put away her equipment.
"I feel like I could collapse." She panted.
"Well that's unfortunate." Helene replied as she threw herself on her bed. "Just remember today's your shift at the bar!"
"It was an awful idea to go by ship." Jason grumbled as the legion marched down the ship's ramp.
"Which other way could we all go to Egypt?" Brutus glowered at him. "It's not like we could all fly like you."
"At least we've got the notion she was here." Jason breathed. As soon as the legion assembled in front of him was when he started to address them. "Tomorrow we will scour the city and see if we find any leads." He started. "For now rest up and regain your strength, the trip here was a restless one. Set up your camps." With a curt nod he dismissed them and returned to his quarters.
Although he was a whole seas length away from Rome his paper work had certainly followed him. While he was busy signing documents he had never even noticed Brutus barge into the tent.
"It will take another hour or so for the food to be fully prepared." Brutus informed him as he seated himself on his recliner.
"That's good."
"Why don't we journey out to the city for awhile." Brutus suggested. "Maybe we can catch a glimpse of her—"
"We're doing that tomorrow, Brutus."
Brutus waved off his comment and continued to pester him."It's never too early to start." Brutus said as he sank further into his recliner. "Besides I happen to be tired of the trail mix. I want real food." Brutus shrugged.
"So you'll feast like a king while your comrades are going hungry?" He replied, his eyes still glued on to his work table. "Where do your loyalties lie?"
"No, no, everyone else is leaving to the city too. Don't you think your overdramatizing things a tad bit?"
"I don't see what's wrong with our food." He said as he scratched the stubble on his chin thoughtfully. "And why would the legionnaires leave without my approval? Do they not know the penalties of being defiant."
"Jason don't you think you're being a little too hasty?" He could tell Brutus was phrasing it lightly. "Besides look at you now, are you sure you want to meet your fiancé looking like the way you do now?"
As of the late Jason had put a halt to his grooming practices, as in shaving and cutting his hair. The stress of searching for Reyna along with the impending doom of his senatorial duties once he arrived home was too much of a burden to carry. He fully acknowledged his stress level was taking a toll on his appearance but he could care less on the matter.
"Appearance means nothing to me, Brutus." He said as he analyzed another document. His friend was a hard-headed man and refused to leave the tent without him agreeing to come along with him. After another round of pestering he finally gave into Brutus's request and followed him out of the campground and out to the city.
Alexandria had not changed from his last visit. The streets were still crowded, if not even more crowded then the last time he was there. Private seminars were still echoing from the lecture halls. As he was pondering about the last time he was in the city he was knocked out of his thoughts by someone colliding into him.
"Sorry." She mumbled quickly. He hadn't caught a glimpse of her face except for the loose strands of red hair that was slipping from her veil. Right before he could ask her if she was alright she had rushed past them. And as fast as their brief encounter; she was gone.
"Well she was definitely in a hurry." Brutus grumbled. "Let's get going.
She spent most of her lunch break sitting behind the counter and observing the guests. Earlier she had sent Reyna to pick up supplies from the market. Now that Reyna returned she looked a little shaken up. She watched silently as Reyna poured water in a glass and handed it to one of the guests. Her hands were trembling terribly as she brought over a tray of food to the customer. Just as she was about to place the tray on the table it suddenly dropped, sending pieces of food and shards of glass everywhere, including on to her. Immediately Reyna dropped to the ground to clean up the mess.
"What kind of service is this?" The customer roared. All the heads in the room whipped towards were the commotion was coming from.
"We're deeply sorry for this, we assure you this won't happen again." Aurelia, the owner of the store said. "But please don't yell, your disturbing the guests."
The man refused to comply to Aurelia's request and continued to scream obscene words into Reyna's ear.
"I'm sorry." She said softly although her voice was drowned out by the man's yelling.
Her blood began to curdle and almost instinctively she marched up between the man and Reyna, who was still sulked on the floor and glared up at him
"Leave." She said with so much hostility that the man winced.
"You have no right to tell me what to do." He slurred.
"Leave." She said for the final time.
After a few more curses, all in which were coming from the man, he finally left leaving all the guests eyes on them.
"Reyna." She said gently as she crouched down on the floor next to her. "You're not supposed to clean glass like that."
Reyna suddenly snapped out of her trance and stared up at her blankly. Helene took this as the chance to wrap her arms around her and take her to their room. Fortunately Aurelia gave them the signal that it was okay to go. Blood was smeared all over Reyna's fingers and caked on to her dress. Some of Reyna's blood had soaked on to her clothes too. As she was walking to their room Reyna was shaking uncontrollably in her arms.
"What happened?" She asked as she closed the door behind her. She had just fetched a damp cloth to clean Reyna's wounds with.
"Where's the man, I have to go apologize to him."Reyna said frantically as she glanced around the room. She was right about to climb out of the bed until Helene sat her back down.
"He's already gone." She said soothingly. "Why don't you stay here and rest, you probably had a long and hard day." Reaching up she placed her hand on Reyna's forehead. Surprisingly her forehead was not warm at all, in fact it was the very opposite. Her forehead was clammy and her skin was looking very pallor. "Why don't you lie down." She suggested.
After today's turn events she was honestly beginning to worry about her friends well-being. What exactly had happened to her while she was at the market place and why did it have such a profound effect on her?
I'm not completely happy with this chapter but heres a hint for the next one. Reyna and Jason will meet again I'm noticing I don't have not that much reviews lately, so please review! Leave Reviews and Suggestions!