Kel grimly strung her bow, running her fingers over the wood and had a mixed feeling of emotions run though her. She thought about Cleon. He had always helped her practice, and now he was trying to better her. He had never used to be this competitive or negative, but pain can chage a person. Kel had seen many animals turn mean if they were hurt; The same goes for people, and Cleon was definitely in pain, though little of it physcial. 'If anyone should be in pain, it's me!' Kel thought, but then quickly squelched those thoughts. She really HAD been away from the Yamani Islands too long.
Then, a servant of Kennan gave the signal for them to begin. Kel didn't rush, there was no time limit, and she didn't want to make a careless mistake. She methodically put an arrow to her string, and squinted as she aimed. The main bulls-eye seemed miniscule from 20 yards back, but she knew that it wouldn't be much bigger if she was right in front of it. Both Kel and Cleon were good archers, the typical black circle that was 7 inches in diameter was too vague for them. Instead, there was an extra white circle inside of the black with a diameter of about 4 inches, and an even smaller black circle that couldn't be much more than an inch wide. Grimly, Kel watched Cleon next to her, and saw that he was watching her too, almost daring her to shoot first. Not wanting to stoop to his level of hopeful intimidation, Kel aimed, and loosed her string. Almost simultaneously, Kel heard the twang of a bowstring to her left. Apparently Cleon had chosen almost the exact same moment to shoot.
The servant, who had stood with the other spectators during the actualy release, rushed back to see the accuracy of the two knights. He examined both equally, and then invited another 3 people to examine them also. Kel was relieve to see that one of them was Nealan, he would make sure there was no corruption with the judges. (Unless it was in Kel's favor of course.) The servant, after conferring with the others, trotted back towards Cleon and Keladry. "Your arrow, my lord," the servant addressed Cleon, "was just two thumb-widths outside of the smallest target to the right. The lady knight's was almost the same, but to the left. It was too close to judge one way or the other, so this round has been declared a tie." Inwardly, Kel smiled at the irony of the situation. 'Funny, Cleon and I competed years ago, and now we're competing and it really counts. We could never beat eachother then, why does he think that would have changed?'
The next arrows went flying again, loosed at the same time. This time the news was good, if you were on Cleon's side. His point was embedded just an inch closer to dead center than Keladry's was. Looking to her left and seeing Cleon's almost bitter smile, it just made her more determined to win. Rapidly, Kel brought her bow up for what she hoped would be the last time. Then, hesitating just a moment to collect herself, she pictured the target in her mind rather that actually looking at it, and let the arrow fly.
Kel quickly glanced at Cleon, he was staring at the target in apparent deep concentration. Kel was tempted to try one of the tricks the pages used against eachother while training; Just as someone was about to shoot, another boy would say, "Don't miss!" Kel always thought of it as a stupid practice, and even imagining herself doing it now made her grin. Then, as though Cleon had finally made a descision, he swung his bow up and loosed, barely aiming. No one but Kel would have noticed, but he looked at her in the last split-second before he shot.
The results that came back were surprising. Cleon had missed the middle dot by almost six inches, while Kel had hit it almost dead center. Kel looked at Cleon to see how he was taking it, and saw that his face was emotionless. Kel tried to make eye contact, but he would not look at her. Unnerved, Kel decided to persue her suspicion later beause just then she was surrounded by Neal, Yuki, Owen, and Dom. She was patted healthily on the back by a massive hand. Turning to see who had hands that big, she was shocked to see her old knight-master standing behind her.
"What are you doing here, Raoul?? Dom said that your company was headed for New Hope, but I didn't expect to see you until I got back home!"
"Glad you're happy to see me, Kel. I had a few things to clear up in the capitol before leaving, and decided I'd check in to see if Dom was still here. Looks like I got here at just the right time, although I'm not quite sure what I was here for..." Raoul trailed off, his eyes questioning, but kind.
"There will be plenty of time for stories in a bit, but right now I'm starving!" Owen interjected, a grin on his round face.
"Owen, we just ate!" Kel protested, but then realized that her stomach was growling to. Looking to Neal for some confirmation of the time, he said, "Well, it did seem like there had been no time at all since breakfast, but the sun is almost directly overhead....Let's eat!"
"How about we go to the Prancing Pony?" Dom suggested tactfully, naming an inn just 20 minutes away on foot. "We can celebrate there...I don't know how receptive most of Cleon's guests will be towards Kel right about now..."
"Good idea, Dom." Kel said thankfully. "Besides, I really need to take Peachblossom for a ride...he's starting to sulk."
"How can you tell any different between sulking and his normally...good...humor? He's always so pleasant to be around, although I don't know how much he really adores me, although I must taste pretty good!" Neal said with a wry grin. "Although Yuki could tell you exactly how good.." Neal added with a wicked gleam in his eyes.
Yuki's eyebrows shot up. "You little, I can't believe you!" Then delivered a good-natured nudge to Neal's ribs. "Do you REALLY want me to tell them how good you taste? You wouldn't want to embarrassed now, would you? I mean, especially after being out riding all day......" Neal's face slowly turned pink and he quickly steered the conversation in a much safer direction.
"So, how about last one to the stables eats my vegetables?" With little more than a few scattered laughs the rest of the small company took off, and even though Neal was a fast runner, he couldn't catch up to the other knights before they reached the stables. As Neal walked in, he tried to hide his smile as the others tried to keep from looking winded.
"So, Neal, what took you so long?" Kel asked with a wicked grin, already perched on Peachblossom's back.
Then, a servant of Kennan gave the signal for them to begin. Kel didn't rush, there was no time limit, and she didn't want to make a careless mistake. She methodically put an arrow to her string, and squinted as she aimed. The main bulls-eye seemed miniscule from 20 yards back, but she knew that it wouldn't be much bigger if she was right in front of it. Both Kel and Cleon were good archers, the typical black circle that was 7 inches in diameter was too vague for them. Instead, there was an extra white circle inside of the black with a diameter of about 4 inches, and an even smaller black circle that couldn't be much more than an inch wide. Grimly, Kel watched Cleon next to her, and saw that he was watching her too, almost daring her to shoot first. Not wanting to stoop to his level of hopeful intimidation, Kel aimed, and loosed her string. Almost simultaneously, Kel heard the twang of a bowstring to her left. Apparently Cleon had chosen almost the exact same moment to shoot.
The servant, who had stood with the other spectators during the actualy release, rushed back to see the accuracy of the two knights. He examined both equally, and then invited another 3 people to examine them also. Kel was relieve to see that one of them was Nealan, he would make sure there was no corruption with the judges. (Unless it was in Kel's favor of course.) The servant, after conferring with the others, trotted back towards Cleon and Keladry. "Your arrow, my lord," the servant addressed Cleon, "was just two thumb-widths outside of the smallest target to the right. The lady knight's was almost the same, but to the left. It was too close to judge one way or the other, so this round has been declared a tie." Inwardly, Kel smiled at the irony of the situation. 'Funny, Cleon and I competed years ago, and now we're competing and it really counts. We could never beat eachother then, why does he think that would have changed?'
The next arrows went flying again, loosed at the same time. This time the news was good, if you were on Cleon's side. His point was embedded just an inch closer to dead center than Keladry's was. Looking to her left and seeing Cleon's almost bitter smile, it just made her more determined to win. Rapidly, Kel brought her bow up for what she hoped would be the last time. Then, hesitating just a moment to collect herself, she pictured the target in her mind rather that actually looking at it, and let the arrow fly.
Kel quickly glanced at Cleon, he was staring at the target in apparent deep concentration. Kel was tempted to try one of the tricks the pages used against eachother while training; Just as someone was about to shoot, another boy would say, "Don't miss!" Kel always thought of it as a stupid practice, and even imagining herself doing it now made her grin. Then, as though Cleon had finally made a descision, he swung his bow up and loosed, barely aiming. No one but Kel would have noticed, but he looked at her in the last split-second before he shot.
The results that came back were surprising. Cleon had missed the middle dot by almost six inches, while Kel had hit it almost dead center. Kel looked at Cleon to see how he was taking it, and saw that his face was emotionless. Kel tried to make eye contact, but he would not look at her. Unnerved, Kel decided to persue her suspicion later beause just then she was surrounded by Neal, Yuki, Owen, and Dom. She was patted healthily on the back by a massive hand. Turning to see who had hands that big, she was shocked to see her old knight-master standing behind her.
"What are you doing here, Raoul?? Dom said that your company was headed for New Hope, but I didn't expect to see you until I got back home!"
"Glad you're happy to see me, Kel. I had a few things to clear up in the capitol before leaving, and decided I'd check in to see if Dom was still here. Looks like I got here at just the right time, although I'm not quite sure what I was here for..." Raoul trailed off, his eyes questioning, but kind.
"There will be plenty of time for stories in a bit, but right now I'm starving!" Owen interjected, a grin on his round face.
"Owen, we just ate!" Kel protested, but then realized that her stomach was growling to. Looking to Neal for some confirmation of the time, he said, "Well, it did seem like there had been no time at all since breakfast, but the sun is almost directly overhead....Let's eat!"
"How about we go to the Prancing Pony?" Dom suggested tactfully, naming an inn just 20 minutes away on foot. "We can celebrate there...I don't know how receptive most of Cleon's guests will be towards Kel right about now..."
"Good idea, Dom." Kel said thankfully. "Besides, I really need to take Peachblossom for a ride...he's starting to sulk."
"How can you tell any different between sulking and his normally...good...humor? He's always so pleasant to be around, although I don't know how much he really adores me, although I must taste pretty good!" Neal said with a wry grin. "Although Yuki could tell you exactly how good.." Neal added with a wicked gleam in his eyes.
Yuki's eyebrows shot up. "You little, I can't believe you!" Then delivered a good-natured nudge to Neal's ribs. "Do you REALLY want me to tell them how good you taste? You wouldn't want to embarrassed now, would you? I mean, especially after being out riding all day......" Neal's face slowly turned pink and he quickly steered the conversation in a much safer direction.
"So, how about last one to the stables eats my vegetables?" With little more than a few scattered laughs the rest of the small company took off, and even though Neal was a fast runner, he couldn't catch up to the other knights before they reached the stables. As Neal walked in, he tried to hide his smile as the others tried to keep from looking winded.
"So, Neal, what took you so long?" Kel asked with a wicked grin, already perched on Peachblossom's back.
