I'm attempting the full challenge this year! And not just as sentence fics! (although I'm sure some of them will probably still be sentence fics...) Amber will be all the shorter fics—longer or more serious fics will probably be posted individually right from the start, instead of me later deciding to extract them. Extended author's notes on any of Amber's chapters can be found at: (link to be added if needed)


Prompt: Write about a time when Lucy missed when she threw her dagger. What or whom did she hit instead?


Lucy considered the round, straw-stuffed target several yards away with a doubtful expression. So far, she'd only managed to hit it twice in ten throws. One of those had hit hilt-first and simply bounced off, and the other had stuck quivering in the very edge for a moment before slicing through the remaining shred of canvas and clattering to the ground.

"Are you certain this is something I need to learn, Sayana?"

The Faun sergeant's short braids swung briskly as she nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty. It is wise for anyone who carries a weapon to be familiar with all usages of it. Over these last few months, we have considered the dagger as a short sword, a means to stab and parry within arm's reach. Now we must consider the dagger as a knife, a means of attacking or threatening at range."

"But it's already my last line of defense in an emergency," Lucy argued. "If I threw it, I wouldn't have anything left to fight with."

"Ah, but a single distance blow may be all you need to escape, my queen. Far better that you should learn the skill and never need it, than to one day need it and never have learned it."

The Faun crouched, and with a spring of her powerful legs, somersaulted a yard above Lucy's head.

Lucy gave a little shriek of surprise.

"Now, a foul traitor with a sword might have taken your head off with that jump. Your arms would not stretch high enough to reach him." Sayana held up a finger. "But suppose you threw? You might hit him easily then. Or suppose you saw him before he leaped? You might stop him by threat before he ever came near enough to reach you with his sword."

"I suppose," said Lucy slowly.

Sayana gestured to the second target, a bucket of water placed atop several sacks of grain to make it taller. "We'll try this one now. See if you can't give the courtyard weeds a good watering, Majesty."

Lucy bit her lip, aimed, and threw.

Thump. Sssssssssss

One corner of Sayana's mouth turned up. "Excellent hit, Queen Lucy," she said lightly. "In general, however, I would recommend that you make a practice of targeting the chest or head rather than the leg."

"Oh, dear," Lucy sighed, as fat golden grains of wheat trickled down onto the cobblestones. "I can see I've a long way to go."