A/N: Thanks to everyone that seems to be liking what I'm writing, this chapter isn't all that exciting just kind of a flex of Daines marksman skills. Going to try to update soon after this, if not tonight then tomorrow.
When Daine woke up she was sweating and covered by a heavy fluffy heater. Daine struggled under the weight until it moved, finally annoyed enough to get up and move to the end of the bed. Daine got up with a sigh, lately, Banshee had been more clingy in her sleep, preferring to sleep next to or on top of Daine over the floor or couch where she used to sleep. Daine moved about her room, tidying up before Jess came in, Daine knew it wasn't her job to clean her room, there were servants for that, but Daine couldn't really get with the idea that someone else had to clean up a mess she made, and it wasn't even all that messy, just a couple pieces of clothing from when Daine changed last night, and some other bits and bobs. Daine looked over at the bed, she couldn't exactly make it when Banshee was curled up in the blankets so she'd have to leave that how it was. Daine washed her face and did her stretches and it was finally time for Jess to come to get her ready. Jess helped her bathe, did her hair, and put her into her dreaded corset, and then a light blue dress that flared so prettily when she spun, it was a hot day and this was the perfect dress for staying cool. Daine hurried off to breakfast, knowing it wouldn't go like usual in the sense that the twins wouldn't be climbing around different laps, telling stories, and the wolves weren't going to be laying on the ground begging for scraps or playing on the rug. This was going to be the first breakfast of the week that she would be sitting silently through hoping that whoever showed up today was less strict or at least would distract Lady Mirabelle long enough Daine could run off and shoot at something.
Daine walked into the dining room, curtsied, and sat in her usual spot, Sarra arrived shortly after repeating the process. They were served, ate quickly and their guests left to return to their rooms. Daine, Sarra, Juliet, Annabelle, and finally Juliana walked to the atrium, Juliana repeated the same process as the day before, checking their clothes and hair before Stephans wetnurse brought him down sleeping. They walked out and lined up the same as before and waited, Daine and Sarra worked to keep the twins settled, kneeling down to talk to them, Daine saw a few cats sitting in the shade and called them over much to the girls' enjoyment, they couched down petting the cats dangling a ribbon in front of them. The girls all stood up when they heard hoofbeats in the distance. They straightened up and waited patiently for their guests to show so they could see how their day would go. In came a column of some of the more beautiful horses Daine had ever seen followed by a cart filled with totes. The horses came to a halt at the signal of one of the front riders, all except the one leading the train, who came to press its head into Daine´s chest. Daine couldn't help herself she stroked the mare's cheek, laughing and crooning compliments until the rider finally managed to get their horse to step back. Daine finally looked up at the rider to see a handsome young man with an exasperated smile on his face.
"Uncle Adam!" Sarra yelled as the 20 something dismounted. The man walked over to Sarra and scooped her up into a big hug, lifting her off the ground. The twins latched onto his legs making him laugh, Daine couldn't help but smile at the reunion. The man set Sarra down but didn't try to detach the giggling children from his legs.
"Adam it's so good to see you, you know the girls, this little one is Stephan and this is Daine. Daine this is Sir Adam, my husband's little brother." Adam made a face at Juliana when she called him little, much as a child might.
"Pleasure to meet you lady Daine, please call me Adam" he bowed over her hand, looking up in surprise when he felt the calluses on her palm, he laughed, dropped her hand, and looked at Juliana, "you did say she was unique, I hear you're a cursed good shot, I'll have to see before I leave, I'm good with a sword and all but I gotta see how I stand up with a pure archer." He smiled at her.
"Well, then it's Daine, and either way I've never so much as touched a sword so you will at least know your better than I am at that." Daine smiled back.
Adam called for the rest of his group to dismount, one of the men taking his horse away, a few clapping him on the back. "I'm sorry I brought my men, the only way I could convince the king to give me leave was to bring them and spend our week off here. But I brought presents, soooo…" He smiled, waited for the twins to let go of him, with a little help from Daine and Sarra to pry them off, and walked off to get his things.
Juliana called after him, "I'll send some servants to help with your things, and to get you settled. We'll see you at midday." Adam went into the house tossing a smile over his shoulder.
xxx
The family waited outside, lounging in chairs and on a bench below a large tree, the servants brought out books and Juliana's embroidery materials. They sat in companionable silence with the twins running around them, breaking the silence with their squeals and giggles, Stephan was collected by his wetnurse not long after Adam finished bringing his things inside. More guests arrived, the twins, Sarra, Daine, and Juliana greeted them warmly, with Daine trying to stay as invisible as possible, and then it was time for midday meal. With all the guests, the table was starting to fill up, instead of being a more intimate fun setting or even a separate affair, their meals were becoming more and more formal. Daine didn't like that their previous arrangement was slipping away, this was a preview of what was to come of her life once she got to the palace and possibly when she was married. That´s an issue for the future, in the meantime, she would try and enjoy her time here, and take pleasure in the quiet moments here.
When Daine and Sarra were finally able to slip away they took the chance, they exited the dining room the picture of noble young ladies, as soon as they reached the stairs they took off, running to Daines room to retrieve her bow and arm guards, and some throwing knives from Sarra's. They snuck down to the servants stairs, careful to keep out of sight, through the practice yards, and into the forest at the back of the courts. The girls snuck off her often, they had even stuck some targets upon the trees. Daine strung her bow and was quickly sinking into the practiced monotony of shooting, bullseye after bullseye, going from stationary easy shots to slowly moving further, speeding up, and walking in an arc around the target. Soon she was shooting so fast she wasn't even aiming truly, she just knocked, drew, and shot, still her aim was true. Sarra was much slower, but she was just as accurate, she had been secretly teaching herself how to throw knives for years, but she wasn't a natural, and even though her aim when stationary was true and strong, she was still a far way from the quick draw that Daine had with her bow.
The girls continued their practice, letting off steam until a stick-breaking drew their attention, Sarra freezing, but Daine, she turned with an arrow ready to be shot.
Adam stood there with his hands raised in surrender, a smile betraying his true feelings. Daine quickly relaxed her hold, pointing her arrow at the ground and then unknocking it. "Woah now, I just saw you ladies sneak out earlier and wanted to see if we could have that competition?" Daine walked over to the target she was using and pulled the arrows she could out, some being buried too deep to get out whole. She handed 3 to him and kept 3 for herself.
"Sarra can be the judge." Daine winked at Sarra. "Wanna go first?" Adam laughed and stepped up to the spot Daine pointed to. He had a good stance, a bit stiff but the right idea, his bow was a good size for him, he drew back a couple of times loosening up himself and his bow. He then rolled his shoulders and then picked up his arrows, he put two with their heads sticking into the ground making them easier to reach, he drew back with his first arrow and shot. It went straight, hitting right next to the bullseye. His next hit similarly, as well as his third, in the end, he ended up with a neat little cluster in the bullseye.
"Try and beat that little girl." He quite immaturely stuck his tongue out at Daine making her giggle. Daine picked up her arrows, walked to the spot, and did her own stretches, threw a wink at Sarra, and then knocked her first arrow. Daine shot slower than she usually did, she didn't want to completely ruin his ego, just smudge it. Daine still shot in quick succession, her arrows all being in so tight a grouping that she split her first arrow with her second. Daine smiled at Adam, and when she saw his shocked face she took a dramatic bow much like that of a player. Adam gave her a stunning look and then walked up to the target for a closer look, seeing how she split the arrow and as he looked closer, he could see that the arrows had embedded themselves so deep they would have to cut them out. "Those are some of the best shots I've seen in a long time, how you get so good?" Daine smile wavered, she could either tell a partial truth or completely lie.
"I just would try and learn as much as possible, follow around visitors, ya know be an annoying kid, try to be sneaky about it but luckily my family didn't care, did a good amount of hunting once I got good. Now I can shoot my longbow over 100 yards I think was my best, but that was just for fun it wasn't even that good a shot just seeing how far I could shoot." Daine smiled, this was a subject she enjoyed and even though it brought back sore memories of her grandfather teaching her, it was something she loved and brought happy memories along with talking about it. Suddenly she was surprised out of her musings when the bell rang, alerting all that dinner would be in an hour. "Oddbobs, Sarra we need to get back before someone finds out." Daine picked up her things, unstringing her bow, waved at Adam and the girls ran through the trees, trying to tread as quietly as possible but still quickly. When they reached the tree line they stopped and used the shadows to help hide their approach to the house. Daine listened to the animals around them pausing and hiding when they said they saw a two-legger and running to the next hidey-hole when they were clear, the way into the house was slow but they got to their rooms in time to change and freshen up before heading to dinner.
When the girls saw each other they shared a smile. Then when Adam gave them a knowing smile, they both blushed and bowed their heads. Daine and Sarra sat next to each other and spent the meal listening to the adults and guests talk, the two of them were mostly ignored except for a few times when Adam tried to pull them into the conversation, but he gave up after a few failed attempts where they pulled back after seeing one of the other adults, specifically Lady Mirabelle give them a look that told them, mainly Daine, to be quiet. Daine saw the looks the Marchioness sent her way, and the longer the woman was visiting, the more Daine saw that no matter what she did, she was never going to be liked by the woman.