Ten minutes later she found herself peeking around the gate, partially hidden by the myriad of vines woven through the metal bars. She hoped to find that the men had forgotten her silly agreement and gone back to their own business.
No such luck.
They were standing in the sunshine, in the exact same places, many of them with their arms crossed. Waiting. Expectant. Chatting contentedly among themselves.
Blast that Donny! She ought to whack him with a whale bone.
Behind her, Aerity heard quick, light footfalls and pantingbreaths. The princess turned to see her sister and cousin, their faces pink from running. Wyneth wore her gray skirts, but Vixie wore trousers like Aerity and held her bow.
My, word travels fast, Aerity thought.
“Do Mama and Papa know you’re out here?” Aerity asked her sister.
Vixie lifted her chin. “I don’t care what the king says. But no. They don’t know.”
Aerity fought back a smile. Their parents would know soon enough. Aerity was still nervous about having Vixie near the hunters, for several reasons, but she realized allowing Vixie to participate would take a fraction of the attention off herself. “All right, then.”
“Well, you’d best hurry,” Wyneth said. “If the queen finds out her children are flipping through the air with arrows at the ready in front of all these hunters, we’re all in trouble!”
With a deep breath Aerity led the way into the commons and the men cheered. She felt foolish, like a performing monkey from her grandparents’ former circus days, improperly dressed no less, but it was too late to back out now.
With all three royal children in the west commons, guards poured in, lining the crowd. Aerity spotted marksmen from the castle rooftops and balconies, moving to get a better look at the spectacle below.
Fantastic.
She refused to look around and see if the man Paxton was watching. If he wasn’t, then he was the only one. It would beher luck to fall on her face in front of everyone.
“Let’s get this over with,” she muttered to herself. Louder, she said to her siblings, “Line up beside me facing your targets. We go on my count.”
The sun was high in the sky, surrounded by wisps of cottony clouds. Despite the cool fall breeze, Aerity was warm enough to break a sweat.
Men shuffled around them as the two princesses and the prince stood in a row with Aerity in the middle, their quivers with single arrows fit tightly over their backs. Aerity did not look toward the crowd, though she felt their eyes on her. She’d taken many years of calisthenics and archery, but was not accustomed to having a large audience.
Aerity focused her sights on the target and took a deep breath, relaxing her muscles. She felt the light weight of the quiver on her back, and gripped her bow tighter, tucking it at an angle across her body. Then she took ten steps back, her brother and sister doing the same. In her peripheral view she could see them smiling as they watched her.
“Ready . . .” Aerity began. “And go.”
They sprinted forward, gaining quick momentum, and at the same time all three of them launched themselves into forward flips, tucking their legs. As she felt her body completing its arc, Aerity reached back and snatched the arrow. She had it lined up, and her bowstring pulled back as her feet smacked the earth. Her eye met the target in a blur as her knees bent, and she loosed the arrow. She heard the slaps of feet and pingsof arrows beside her. In a rush all three arrows hit the targets with synchronizedthwats. Donubhan’s wobbled in the outer ring. Vixie and Aerity’s both hit the inner ring, but not the bull’s-eye.
Still, the men raised a great cheer and Aerity laughed in relief. Vixie jumped up next to her.
“Nice one, Vix,” Aerity said.
A few men from Kalor stepped up with smiles and motioned to the targets.
“We try?”
“Oh yes, please.” Aerity and Vixie moved out of the way. Donubhan was more than happy to assist the dark-haired men.
When Harrison walked over to inquire of Wyneth’s well-being, Aerity stepped away with Vixie to let them talk.
“Very impressive, princesses,” said a jovial voice behind them.
Aerity and Vixie turned to find Tiern standing there. Aerity returned his smile and glanced past him to see Paxton walking slowly to join them, as if forced.
“Vixie, this is Tiern Seabolt, a local lad,” Aerity said.
Tiern gave her a friendly nod. “You’re as full of spunk as they say.”
