Inspired

The Archer

Finneas hurried Leandra and Kael into the throne room where King Killian and his wife Queen Viviana were conducting country affairs. "Your highness!" Finneas barked in the strict tone of a knight, but laced with tinges of panic "An arrow was just shot in the direction of our deer princess. I was there and moved her from its path."  The king quickly stood. A rage in his greyish eyes began to give them some hints of warmth. "An assassination attempt?? And where was my son in all this? Why were you not with her? Is it not your duty to protect your Queen and Country?"
"Father, I was practicing my archery. She was sitting on the grass next to me, it came out of no where! Sir Finneas here came to the rescue."
The king's anger did not leave his face. "Sir Finneas, have your company sweep the grounds. The shooter couldn't  have gone far. We will not risk this alliance." "Yes your majesty," Finneas said in the same tone. He quickly flipped around and marched out of the throne room. "My deer Leandra I fear you cannot be at the palace anymore. For it is not safe." This is the moment Queen Viviana stood from her shiny golden chair. "And where would she go? We cannot send her to another convent, do you remember what happened last time? She is not safe anywhere but the streets. And we cannot send her out there to live a peasants life."
"Send her to the country cottage until we can find a better option. She will need guards, servants and her ladies. No one must know." The king never makes rash decisions, the cottage is his number one solution for quick fixes. He needs him time to think and reason, but the cottage? How could that be safer than the palace?
"My lord if I may, I believe I will be truly safer in the palace." Leandra tried to reason but it was no use. The king stared at her as if she had just thrown her crown into the ocean. She knew she was out of line. Even being a future queen does not give her permission to speak to the king without acknowledgment. Leandra moved back to her place and bowed her head. Welp. There goes her lovely life at court.
"I will take her father. I will organize the carriage ride for her and her ladies. It is the only way to keep this as quiet as possible."
The words were spoken from a figure in the shadows. "I suppose you are correct my son. Begin preparations at once. We must have her moved as soon as possible."
The shadowy figure revealed himself to be Zayn, the king and Queen Vivian's son. Being second in line to the throne, he has no real purpose at court but to be a spare. He is rarely seen, but folks around the palace speak awful of him. He is known as a ruthless, revenge hungry man. A man who would cut off his nose, just to spite his face. Hungry for confrontation, though weak with a blade. Rumors that he practices alchemy and even witchcraft spread rampant. All forms of high treason in Cadmian.
"Come with me my lady," he says in his soft gentle voice. Leandra hesitates but soon puts her arm around his as he leads her back to her room to pack. The walk was silent, no one spoke a word. Leandra took a moments glance at Zayn. She had never properly looked at him up close, he seemed to avoid her after they entered their teen years. She noticed his black hair and colorless eyes he shared with Killian. He looked more like him than Kael ever could. Kael looked like his mother and always would, he didn't have the same strong hard jawline of his father, he has the soft kind features of Marceline. At one moment he looked over at her and make eye contact. As their gaze met Leandra noticed a glint of some odd color pass his eyes. It made her wonder if he was really as mysterious as people thought. "Alright your grace, I can assist you in packing your things or keep gaurd while your ladies help instead. Whatever makes you must comfortable but with the most haste."
"Thank you Zayn, but my ladies and I can take it from here." A little piece of Leandra wished she could accept the offer to get to know her future brother in law, to know his secrets, to see if he is really misunderstood. But the larder part of her knew that she mustn't take her time. For someone really did try to assassinate her. Someone quiet, someone stealthy, someone who knew the woods near the palace, someone that could only be seen by the trained eye of a knight. Someone, like her brother.