RUDEV MARY

The Arrow of Will

Later that night.

Sir Alfred walked towards the dungeon stealthily. He visited the prisoner responsible for the attempted murder. The man came out of the corner. He buried himself and faced Alfred," Sir. you have to get me out of here. If not, I'll take you down with me, " he threatened him. Alfred pulled him closer and whispered, 

"That won't be necessary, a simple task, and you couldn't accomplish it. ," Alfred pulled out a dagger and stabbed him when he wasn't noticing 

"Next time you wouldn't dare threaten me cause there wouldn't be the next time. " The man gulped blood out of his mouth and fell. He died on the spot. Alfred cleaned himself up. He looked around, hoping no one did not notice him. He left the scene. Unfortunately for him, priel his older daughter was eavesdropping. She saw him going there while she was playing with her friends. She followed him, oblivious to finding out where he was going to. Priel hid as he walked past her. She was very tense and scared at the same time. She never knew her dad was this evil. What was she going to do? 

***

Rudev was in her room looking out the window, she was impressed with herself 

"Grandpa! I made you proud today ... everyone was impressed with my skills. One day I'll be just like you then I'll be truly proud of myself" King Ephraim came in during her conversation with her imaginary grandpa. Ephraim was amazed, she always knew rudev wanted to be like The Great Rudev. He  placed his hand on  rudev 's shoulder and said 

"I'm pretty sure, he's proud of you " Rudev turned to him and smiled 

"You think?" Ephraim nodded at her question and pulled out a surprise for her. Rudev face lit up when she saw it. It was the Arrow of will, It belonged to her grandpa. The Arrow is golden brown with green stones all over it. It could turn into a sword and an arrow a the same time. It could never damage and never run out of arrows. Rudev thought it was pretty cool.

"How did you get it? Grandma would be mad if she finds out it was gone. "Rudev said 

Ephraim shushed her saying

"Today I made up my mind that you're exactly like him and you're almost as good as him. He would want me to give this to you" He placed it in her hands.  

***

In the morning, the sun is bright, and the sunlight is warm and not harsh. The birds keep chirping, and the breeze is cool. The leaves of the plants are covered by dew drops. The level of noise pollution in the mornings is less compared to the other times of the day but  there was a huge argument between Alfred and the king in the living room, their conversation went like this 

"No citizen is paying tax again because of the tax increase!"Ephraim screamed. 

"So? that doesn't mean that we should decrease the tax levy?!" Alfred replied. The argument took forever, sooner or later amira was tired of hearing their voices.

"Oh no every time!"  she grumbles and gets up from her seat where she was picking beans." Enough!" she yells. The sound of her voice was loud enough to wake the children up, they both kept silent and turned to her. She began

"Alfred will you just keep quiet already!" This statement shocked Alfred.                                                     "Ephraim is king? so you should stop trying to act like it's you !" This was too embarrassing for him.

Ephraim wanted to interfere "No! let me go on " she insisted

"Alfred, stop arguing with him, we only have one King !" This was enough. it shook the whole palace, and Alfred became cold and angry. He sighed and walked away in shame. Amira dusted her hands and carefully sat down.

"Finally some peace!" she relaxed even more

Then a knock was heard on the door, this disturbed amira again. She tisked and yelled, "Will someone get that ?!" 

Maid Sarah walked towards the door and opened it. "Good morning!" a boy said, he was young about Dan's age and he was putting on a knight's outfit. 

"I'm here to pick up  Dan, Joza and Priel" he bowed.

"Of course" Sarah replied and called their names. They all ran out immediately like they were expecting the call, they also put on knight outfits

"I see you're ready for training ?" amira said. They all greeted her and replied "Yes!" 

Rudev on the other hand came running along, she was also prepared"Wait for me !" she screamed. She rolled down the stairs and got on her feet, but they didn't wait for her, they left. She felt bad and sighed"Don't worry, they're not too far," Sarah said to her.

"Grandma, good morning "she muttered. 

"Cheer up rudev, don't be late " amira replied. Amira doesn't hate rudev, she was just too strict and like that with everyone. Rudev smiled and ran off.

***

In peacetime, knights often demonstrated their martial skills in tournaments, which usually took place on the grounds of a castle and it was divided into two categories; adults and children.

The training was going well for the kids. Rudev was practising arching in the field when she saw her mates form a circle like they were about to play a game. She approached them and smiled 

"Can I join?"

The kids turned to her "Nope " a boy, Reuben replied. Rudev wasn't liked very much amongst her peers. She was known to brag a lot about her skills, so they were either angry or jealous of her. 

"Says who!" she yelled. 

Reuben turned to her again " I ! and please don't disturb us again"                                                                "Just because you're captain means nothing to me! " She flips her hair off her shoulder"I'll still beat you every time" she bragged again.

Reuben smiled and replied"I'll beat you with my eyes closed" Everyone snickered behind. Rudev laughed so hard and replied, "You mean in your dreams!!"This made everyone burst into laughter. Reuben got pissed and pushed rudev to the ground, she screamed and bruised her ankle. Dan interfered and stopped Reuben

"This girl is my cousin, watch it! and she's the princess too. "Dan helped her up. 

"Thanks," rudev said and turned to Reuben " If you think you can beat me then let's organise a challenge!" Everyone agreed.

"What then?" he asked 

Philip, another boy stepped out and suggested "Tonight is the festival of glowing hot air balloons, right?" Everyone nodded

"Good, no one is allowed to ride in the balloons, so if any of you targets one ballon, strikes it and the balloon burst, you will win the challenge! And you know it doesn't burst that easily " he concluded. 

"Are we in ?" Dan asked 

"Yep, I never back out of a challenge," Reuben said. 

"Ok then, it's a deal "Rudev shook on it.