A/N: I live on reviews, my friends. Don't be shy to leave your comments; lets me know I'm doing on ok job.
Getting exciting because I'm getting to the part in the story I'm looking forward to the most.
Later
"Get down!"
Neither Victoria nor Catherine questioned the command. They complied swiftly.
"What is happening?" Catherine asked.
Trina looked around intently, looking for the origin of the arrow in her grasp.
"It is safe," she sighed. "For now."
"How in the world did you catch that?" Victoria pointed.
"I...heard it" replied Trina, dumbfounded.
Catherine's eyes grew wide. "Impossible."
Victoria folded her arms, "I would not put anything past my sister."
"And you should not put anything past Noxymis," Trina said. "In his craft and time in the shadows, he has surely forged kinship with various manner of lowlife."
"You think that was from an agent of his?" Catherine asked.
"No doubt," Victoria mused. "We must keep moving. That last one was close and we were moving. I am certain the next one will be deadly if we remain still."
The troupe continued onward. Trina studied the rogue arrow and pocketed it in her cloak.
That night, after an exhausting first day's hike, the women set up camp. There were boulders and logs that made a semi circle. Trina saw it as an ideal place to build a fire. She diligently worked on rubbing sticks together to produce that fateful spark. She blew on it and steadily fed the flame until it grew. The light and heat generated by it was adequate, not only for their comfort but to ward away any wild animals.
By the time Trina was done starting the fire, she noticed that Victoria and Catherine were finished unloading some meager cookware to make supper. Catherine also had a point to pack some tealeaves so they could make a fresh pot for everyone.
Victoria laid some cloth over a good flat rock and started slicing potatoes while Trina set up a pot of water to boil over the fire. Catherine brought out some broccoli that she picked just that morning before leaving town and began prepping it.
"Those will make a fine stew," Trina observed as she tore herbs with her fingers and added them to the pot. "Good thing. It feels like a cold night."
The snapping of a twig made the company fall dead quiet and look around.
"I heard it, too" Victoria whispered. She slowly and as softly as she could began to unsheathe her sword which was fortunately close by. "I will take a look."
Peering by a tree, she spotted a figure (possibly a man) in the dark. The stranger was rummaging through their satchels. Victoria turned back to her compatriots and signaled for them to keep silent and stay their distance. The brunette dove into the darkness and in a flash, grabbed a hold of the scoundrel and positioned her sword at his throat.
"I thought I heard a rat," sneered Victoria.
The young man with dark curly hair put up his hands, "Please don't, Miss."
"I plan not to miss," she quipped. That made Trina giggle.
"Please you mustn't," he stammered. "I meant no ill will to you ladies."
"Oh?" Victoria asked incredulously.
Trina pointed, "See, sister? He is harmless. He only wanted to steal from us." She wondered if that look in his eyes was the same as a mouse when it is captured by a cat. Victoria was definitely toying with him like one. Her sister seemed tough but she knew she would not end this lowly thief. Trina honestly believed that Victoria was the kind who would only release a killing stroke if she felt her life was in immediate danger.
His surprised and nervous visage made Trina doubt this possibility.
"What were you looking to take from us, bandit?" asked Catherine.
The stranger's eyes softened at the sight of the redhead. His heart started to beat that much faster but for different reasons.
"What is your name?" Catherine added to the questioning.
"R-R-Rob," he choked out. "My name is Rob."
"My friend asked you a question," Victoria said, keeping the tip of her blade just an inch from the thief's neck. "Speak quickly, or you may call me the last thing you will ever see."
The bandit called Rob swallowed and coughed.
"I saw three beautiful women traveling together; how could I not think there was gold or jewels to be had?"
"Well, you are sorely mistaken," Trina said. "We are not nobility nor are we wealthy."
"Looks can be deceiving," Rob shrugged. "I did not expect a trio of women to have one of them know their way with a sword."
"Indeed," Tori agreed.
Catherine knelt beside Tori's sword to look into the bandit's eyes.
"I want you to swear to me that you did not mean any harm," she told him.
"I swear," he said. "Never a woman..."
Trina showed the arrow that she caught.
"Then tell me about this," she scolded. The older sister pointed to Rob's quiver. "You are an archer, I see."
"It was not happenstance," Rob sighed.
"I knew it," Trina spat.
"Now, please listen. I saw an archer in a black hood shoot toward you and I saw moments before you captured it, it glowed for an instant and began to slow down. I knew that it was no ordinary arrow, but truly an enchanted arrow. Before I could figure out what I had witnessed, the archer vanished."
Trina was about to protest when she began to consider just how unusual it was that she detected that arrow. It was as simple as someone tapping her shoulder. She then understood. The arrow wanted to be captured. What's more, she was strangely compelled to hold onto it.
"Remember when you said Noxymis had spies everywhere?" Catherine asked.
Trina nodded.
"Perhaps, this was one of his tricks," the redhead suggested.
Rob held out his hand, "May I?"
Victoria thought about it and slowly backed away, her sword still fixed on him as a target but at a less intimate distance.
The thief got himself to his feet and gestured for Trina to hand him the arrow. She gives it to him and he looks at it carefully.
"If your enemies sent this without the intention to dispose of you, they must be using it for reconnaissance" Rob suggested. "Tell me, are those that seek you proficient in the dark arts?"
"Yes," Victoria nodded.
"Then we must get rid of this quickly."
Rob pulled out his bow and strung up the enemy arrow into position. He stood stoic as a statue for several seconds, aiming toward the downside of the mountain. With a twang, he let it go and sent the arrow careening through the air into the blackness of night.
"That was very skillful archery, Rob" observed Victoria.
The man turned around, bemused by the sudden compliment from the woman who had just threatened his life.
"Thank you," he said nervously.
"Would you mind teaching me how?"
Trina and Catherine shot glances at Victoria as if she were out of her mind.
"I am comfortable enough with my swordplay but I would like to strengthen my archery."
"You spared my life," Rob told Victoria face to face. "You could have slit my throat and had every right. I trespassed your camp in furtherance of theft and you withheld your blade's wrath. To that I am in your debt."
"Then it is settled," Victoria said, extending her hand to Rob. He accepts it and they shake on it. "When we are resting, you may train me in the way of the bow and when we are in transit, your duty is to protect this company. You can attack an enemy before they can get too close. That will be invaluable."
Rob looked over to Victoria's fellow travelers who had their mouths agape.
"What do we do now?" Rob asked.
"Sleep," Trina said. "Victoria and myself."
"We will be taking our sleep in shifts as we stop," Catherine said. "We take turns standing guard."
"You may sleep yourself," he told Catherine. "I will keep watch tonight."
"No offense but we only met you," Trina bluntly said. "And not under the best of circumstances."
Rob nodded thoughtfully, "Fair is fair." He turned to Catherine. "I will try not to be bad company."
Catherine narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms.
Noxymis stared at the basin of water as the image of Geolia and her friends ebbed away.
"Meddlesome retch," he snorted in regards to the thief. "No matter; let them drop their guard. They will have no idea they are going int he direction of their own destruction."
He chuckled to himself, "Trina, mmm. So that is your true name, my dear. Interesting."
He walked about, contemplating his concerns about how to isolate the dissonance in his ranks. Noxymis will not rest until he is confident that he can trust every one of his men. Simply being the king, he knew, would not be enough to win their loyalty.
He needed to give them a test.
"But how?" he wondered.