Home Soon, Love (Book 1)

30 Let's Not Talk About It

I awoke to the feeling of my head pounding tremendously as I stirred. The aching of my skull urged me every second to release the pain through screaming, yet I held back. I opened my eyes to the morning before quickly shielding them from the bright, irritating light. "So you have it too" I turned my head to the door where Theodred leaned against the door frame. "What do you mean?" I quickly got up and closed the curtains on the other side of Theodred's table.

"You have a common sickness from the brew. Here, take this" Theodred has walked over to me and handed me a drink of dark red. "It is called a hangover Theo, and it is why father did not want us to drink." I took a sip of the concoction given to me, almost immediately feeling a tad better. He had walked over to the door before stopping at the room entrance. 

"Meet me at the training field in ten minutes." he walked off, leaving me scurrying quickly to get ready. I set the drink on the table and ran to my belongings, fishing out the perfect outfit for the day.

I was walking under the sun on this fairly cool day, ready to practice with Theodred on the training field. I wore brown pants with high brown boots coming up just below my knee. I had worn a green chemise with short sleeves under a brown corset. The outfit was made to look presentable and lady-like to hide my true abilities. It was made to keep the average from knowing what war like strategies I had practiced. With me I carried my bow and full quiver on my back, along with my two daggers similar to the ones Legolas was given years ago.

I walked onto the designated field, skimming across it until my eyes laid on an orc. Without thinking, I drew an arrow through my bow and aimed for its head. Just before I let go of the arrow's end, Theodred appeared to my left and urged for me to stop. "It is just a target. "Tis not alive anymore." I brought down my bow and placed the arrow back into my quiver, calming my nerves. We walked over to the orc carcass that was stuck on a pole, along with around twenty more to the far right of it. "You will use these today." he walked to each target and began setting them in random spots over the field.

I stood in the middle of the field, surrounded all around by the orc targets, randomly placed. "You are to shoot these strategically. Act as if they are running straight for you. If you do not shoot the right one, it will get to you first before you realize it is behind you."

 I looked around once more and realized riders were standing behind each statue. "They're gonna move" I huffed, getting my weapons ready. "What if I destroy all of your orcs?" I flashed Theodred a cheeky grin. "Then we shall go out and get some more" he winked.

I exhaled deeply as Theodred counted down the time I had till starting. Once he got to four, I ran my fingers through the feathers of my ready arrow, waiting to surprise Theodred. With a short blow of a horn Theodred held, I began releasing arrows at the closest orcs, the statues being laid on the ground by heavily armed riders once killed.

 To change course of how I was predicted to fight by all the men on the field, I dropped my bow and took off my quiver. I quickly unsheathed my twin daggers and ran up to three orc statues charging towards me. While I had time of no attack on me, I switched out the dagger for four smaller ones from each boot, fanning them like cards in each hand. "Eight knives for eight orcs" I grinned, ready to take down the fake enemy.

I threw a blade at each orc's throats and stood up straight, waiting. All riders stopped pushing the orc statues, wondering why I had seized to keep attacking. As soon as the smile on my face returned, each orc head fell from its shoulders from being sliced clean off. I paced around the field, collecting my valuable blades and arrows. "Wow my lady, you should ride and kill with us more often." a rider said, holding up his beheaded statue. I winked before picking up my last blade and walking towards Theodred.