Aikka and Eva were realizing that the servants were evenly space with enough room for them to be comfortable in their seating arrangement.
They were intently staring at the floating mirror that was hovering above the ground.
Some of the images that were shown was from the perspective of the deer and the hunters.
An image of their daughter Kiera concealed behind a small brush with one knee on the forest floor while the other leg was propped at a ninety-degree angle.
She was visibly inhaling a long slow deep breath, pinching the edge of her arrow with her bent index finger and thumb along with pulling the string of the bow back.
"It seems as if Kiera spotted someone." He whispers to his wife after they position themselves at an angle so that they could have a clear view of the mirror.
What happened next seemed to have thoroughly surprised the servants and Eva, Kiera closed both of her eyes in concentration before she released her trigger arm.
The vibrations from the released arrow seemed to have shaken her bag of felt-tip arrows.
"It was Raul. That's about three on him from Kiera." One of the servants announces. The queen could not help but feel proud of her daughter at her recent accomplishment.
The mirror image shifts to Kieran, who manages to avoid contact with what was suppose to be a trap set by a combine effort of John, Lola, and Molly.
He also easily dodges the green color felt-tip arrow as he swiftly hops backward from his previous location.
Another one was aimed for his back, so he swiftly fell toward the forest ground right as the arrow sails over his head.
The young boy purposely rolled underneath thick brushes to avoid another arrow that was aimed for his forehead.
"As expected from the Royal Family Prince Kieran." Another woman servant compliments the male twin on a job well done.
The loud buzzing noise emitting from the timer was signaling that time is up.
The hunters along with their respective deer needed to report immediately back to the school grounds for the results of the test.
"I wonder who won?" Eva rhetorically pondered, which caused her husband to smile before they briefly awaited for the students to arrive back.
Canaan eventually arrives back at the main grounds, makes his way over to the large timer, and pushes the yellow button that ceases the loud noises.
It was then that he heard bushes and leaves shifted around him before he observed that his students now stood in a straight line next to each other.
"As you all know, the little game we just played was a test to see if my lessons have left any effect on your ability to process problem solving and basic instincts that will keep you alive in real world situation."
"I must say that I saw some vast improvements in all of you today..." He discloses while he paces the line before he halts to stare at Kiera, "...and some that seemed to have purposely kept their progress a secret from their instructor."
Kiera permitted a smirk to appear on her face after she heard Master Canaan indirectly mentioned to her before her attention turned to a servant with a board in her hand and a marker in the other.
"Norm and Melrose, step forward for your evaluation." Canaan orders a specific group first, which prompts the twins to direct their sights toward the unlikely couple.
Melrose, who have endured complete torture, was covered from head to toe in paint. On the other hand, Norm simply scratched the back of his head with one of his hands.
"One green, two purple and blue, three yellow and six red." He relays the information as he makes sure to thoroughly check all possible targets on a human body.
The evaluation was like that with each and every group that he summoned forward as they all seemed to have taken at least one hit.
"Last but not least, the twins Kiera and Kieran please step forward." Their teacher orders the twins, who were in synch, take a step forward.
"You two showed impressive teamwork during the game and that will take you pretty far in the field of battle."
"Kieran, you worked excellently and diligently as a decoy. Also, you weren't willing to allow yourself to be hit by any of the arrows."
"That's an impressive fighting spirit that you have there." He begins his evaluation by doing Kieran first.
"Kiera, you showed some skills that greatly rivaled your brother's. I'm just baffled at the fact as to why you didn't openly show your progress during the weekly and monthly tests?"
They both faced a fussy Morose, who was absolutely peeved at Norm's feeble attempt to apologize to her.
"However, it seems as if I've already found out the answer to my question." Their teacher alleged.
"Well...I think that the winners of the game is quite obvious so this will be the end of the lessons for today." Canaan dismissed his class.
They formed a line in order to place their weapons and their unused arrows back in the Armory room.
Aikka and Eva chose that as the time to surprise their children with their presence.
He aids his wife to her feet as the servants seem thoroughly surprise that the king and queen was still among them.
Kiera received a lot of "congratulations" and "well done" from her fellow peers once they finally placed their items back in their proper place.
She could not help but to wear a smile even after Morose draws closer to her.
"Liars don't deserve the spotlight…they're the fakest people for not being honest to others." The young girl firmly declares after she folds her arms across her chest.
"Just because you didn't receive any good reviews from the test isn't my fault."
"You should've worked with your partner like Kieran and I did then just maybe you guys would have had a fighting chance." The princess calmly bites back with words of her own.
Canaan immediately spotted the two rivals going at it again for the second time today.
Before he was able to interfere, Morose said something that he knew Kiera deeply hated whenever people say to her, "If your father wasn't the king and one of the best archers on Noursaia then you would be nothing without him except for a regular peasant."
Kieran watches his twin's eyes hide behind her light brownish red hair. Her fists repeatedly clench and unclench as if she attempts to calm herself down.
"Morose, I'm only going to warn you once, if you say any thing else about our father you're not going to like what you see." He sincerely forewarns the girl in a serious tone.
"Oh puh-lease…Kiera is nothing without you as her brother! For all I know, she's floating in the same boat with Norm." Morose boldly asserts to him.
She was clearly unaware of the hostility that festered around Kiera once she reached out to touch her shoulders, "No, that would just be a compliment. Norm is way better…"
Kieran releases a deep sigh when he observes his twin roughly tackles Morose to the field grounds.
She began to unleash the anger that Morose pumped in to her out onto her face.
"Kiera, get off of her!" He overhears another voice orders her.
His crimson eyes was witnessing their Master Canaan breaking up the fight by locking Kiera in a hold that she could not easily break free from.
"What's going on here?!" Kieran knew that voice all to well. After all, he would recognize his very own mother's voice.
'Oh crap! I didn't know mom and dad were here…if I would've know then I would have prevented the fight.' He conceives.
Another thought passes through his head, 'Melrose deserved it! Maybe next time, she'd learn to stop annoying people to death.'
Morose's vision beheld the king and the queen, who currently stood over them both.
After she glances upward, she catches sight of the queen's face. It seemed completely unreadable to the little girl and so was the king's face.
"Kieran, don't make me have to ask you again or there will be some servere consequences for you too." Eva's tone sharpens after she lays eyes on her son, who stands nearby.
"This is exactly what happened mom..." Kieran was interrupted by Morose's desperate attempt to make it appeared as if she was the victim in the whole thing.
"I came to congratulate Kiera on a job well done today because she won the hunter and the deer game in our class."
"Next thing I know, she just attacked me for no reason at all!"
"I think she did it because she thought since she played those horrible pranks on me that I was going to retaliate. I was just going to tell her that I forgive her for what happened earlier."
Kiera's ire was showing no bounds since she could not stomach Melrose trying to paint her as the culprit in the whole thing.
Yet, the lock that Master Canaan was holding her in was slowly draining her anger and energy.
It felt as if every time she thought she had the upper hand, it would quickly disappear within a blink of an eye.
"Is what this little girl saying true?" This time it was their father, who questioned his sole son with a cold stoic expression on his face that absolutely scared Morose.
"Answer your father, Kieran." Eva promptly ordered one of her children before he glanced back at them.
"No, it is not."
"Morose was coming on to Kiera with an ulterior motive other than congratulating her. She said that Kiera was a liar because she received high compliments on her evaluation from the game."
"Morose felt that she did it on purpose just so she could attack her. Kiera responded back and said that if she only worked harder on being a team with Norm then they probably would've given us a run for first place."
"Morose went on to say that if you weren't Kiera's father and the best archer in Noursaia then she wouldn't be that good. She even said that if it wasn't for me then she would have been dead last in our class and touched her shoulder."
"But before that even could happen, I warned her about Kiera's temper but she continued on with what I just said and Kiera snapped." Kieran recaps the entire story from his point of view.
"Master Canaan, did you witness any of the conversation exchanged between the two girls? Their stories doesn't seem to match up, at least until the part where Kiera attacked her on her own freewill." Aikka inquires about the situation that they were in to his former master.
An unplanned quietness soon settled over the fieldgrounds.
Morose secretly prayed that their master did not witness the beginning of their conversation since she knew that she was in the wrong.
"Actually King Aikka...I did see what happened." She immediately froze once she heard what her master just said to the King.
"Did you see the beginning of the conversation or the whole thing?" Eva questions him.
Morose was now silently praying that Canaan would not put an end to all of these guessing games to reveal who really was telling the truth.
"Matter of fact, I witnessed who started the entire fight and she will definitely not go unpunished. After all, I think she clearly knows that she is in the wrong. She even went against what she said about liars." Canaan revealed before Morose mentally shattered.
She should have double checked her surroundings.
He felt Kiera's body instantly eased once the truth unfurled and released her from his Master Lock Grip. She then made her way over to where her twin was and enclosed him in a hug as if to say "thanks for having my side".
Aikka instantly faced his wife since he knew that they had to discuss about their daughter's behavior as well as her relationship toward the little girl she just attacked.
"Kiera, you were cleared luckily because Master Canaan validated Kieran's story. Fighting is just out of line unless someone else made the first move but…I am proud that you handle yourself very well in a fight." Eva slipped in, which earned her daughter to quietly laugh at what she was just told.
0000
Natalie and two of her most trusted subordinates patiently stood at the Royal Palace for Princess Mai arrival at the gates.
After all, it was their duty to make sure that any special guest that passes through the castle's gate should feel safe within the walls.
'Where is this woman?! She's late by military and even royal standards.' She annoyingly regards since she had to speedily change from her battle outfit to her standard military uniform.
A carriage soon made its way up to their gates with a young woman that was probably younger than Queen Eva's age emerged from her mode of transportation.
Her tanned skin clearly showed that she was natively born in Noursaia when her cheerful eyes met Natalie's unyielding eyes.
'She doesn't appear to fit the mold of a crazed stalker but hey what do I know? In this field, you just can't rule people out unless you have sufficient hard evidence.' The solider deems in the back of her mind before she issues the command "Present Arms" to the soldiers.
"Welcome to the Royal Palace, Princess Mai. My name is Captain Natalie Andros, I will be your security during your stay here with King Aikka and Queen Eva."
"They're currently out at the moment but are due to arrive back at the castle within a couple of hours. If you would like, my men will escort you to your quarters in the guest wing." The captain repeats the mandatory and traditional greeting that was required of her while she silently scopes the woman out..
"It would be my pleasure! I'm in no rush to meet the king but do inform me the moment he returns!"
"The business I have to tell him is of dire emergency about my kingdom." Princess Mai requests as Natalie's men remove four bags from within her carriage.
"How long do you intend to talk about your business with the king and queen? It is of crucial importance since we need to know when to keep soldiers available for civilian guarding." She inquires since the answer would secure her warning from the Avatar to be true.
"As long as it would take until I see the results that I promise to my kingdom." The princess provides her a standard answer.
Once her green eyes noted that her men secured the princess' luggage, which she would have to personally check for any items that were not permitted in the castle.
"Well...your determination is very awe-inspiring!"
"I mean I usually don't meet too many princesses, who actually like to actively work for their country even when they aren't in power yet." The raven haired woman constructs her opinion in order to make sure she would not arouse suspicion that she knows who she really is.
"Thank you, Captain Andros. I can forsee that we will become close friends during my stay at the Royal Palace."
"Would you think that is possible?" Mai poses to the woman, who walks behind Natalie that did not verbally respond instead she returns a smile.
"I would like that." Natalie agrees to Mai's proposition but thinks in her head, 'As long as you don't try to hurt my family then we can be friends.'
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Author's Notes:
11.27.16 Major editing revision
Major editing cleaning 06.23.17