Aiming Straight, Aiming True.

Chapter 10 - Different connections

Arena watched the two boys curiously and she smirked when they both fell over. It had been a few days since the Prince, Hunter,  the guard captain and 2 guards had arrived back in her home town. Stephen had offered her something any other girl would have died for. A place among the royal family, to be a friend of the prince's and have a taste of noble life. For part of saving Stephen's life, him and his father have agreed to allow Arena to live the best life possible for a girl. To be like another royal archer like Hunter or like a special lady in waiting.

If Arena wanted to, she could stay with Stephen and Hunter as good friends as a thank you for saving Stephen. She would be given anything she wanted and treated like a princess. The only thing that appealed to her was that she could learn how to fight with special permission from the king himself.  She could rid herself of acting like a typical girl and ignore the system. But she turned the offer down and she thought that the boys would leave but they didn't.

They both had been here for a week and  already they had changed her life dramatically. Since she had disagreed to the offer, they had decided to stay to keep her company and become friends. She scowled to herself at agreeing to let them stay. Every morning they would come back from the inn they were staying in and hang out with her.

It was annoying, she was busy and she didn't have time to hang out with two lazy boys. Niether of them had any experience on a farm, the most help they had been was falling over and making a mess, like now. They were trying to plow the ground for the next crops but they weren't having much success. Hunter got up from the dirt and pulled Stephen to his feet. They were both covered in dirt and their hair was filthy. Arena took one look at their appearance and burst out laughing.

She couldn't help it, they looked so funny wearing borrowed baggy clothes of Cederic's and covered in dirt and grass. Two castle dwellers in the country trying to work on a farm. She was leaning on her own plow as the two boys glared at her which only made her laugh more.

Arena's family new helper or a pair of extra hands Arena called him had stopped working and was glaring at all three of them. He had shown up out of the blue asking if he could work and asking for somewhere to sleep and something to eat in return. Arena thought it was pretty strange he didn't ask for gold or something but he seemed content enough.

She liked Damon and they had become friends and talked a bit before Stephen and Hunter came. He made her smile and he didn't care that she was the talk of the country. He wanted to really get to know her. They hadn't talked much since Stephen and Hunter had agreed to stay for a while. Damon saw Arena looking and shook his head before continuing to work. Arena turned her attention back to the two boys who stood awkwardly as she smiled at them.

" I don't get it, what's so funny", grumbled Hunter, his dark eyebrows furrowing together.

"It's the both of you, how you're acting and how you guys look, it's amusing", she giggled.

"Well,  I'm glad we are your entertainment, milady ", smirked Stephen bowing. Arena giggled and pushed Stephen who fell over into the dirt. "Hey, why did you do that", he laughed jumping up.

" I don't know your majesty, I just thought you should see what the ground feels like", Arena giggled. Even though it was annoying, it was kind of fun having someone else to talk to besides Roger. Now she had three different boys and she was the leader. Hunter smirked as he watched Arena. She seemed so different when she was not trying to hide who she was.

" What are you looking at proud hunter ", smirked Arena before he got the same treatment as Stephen. He spat dirt out of his mouth as dirt fell around him, onto his clothes and hair.

" Thanks, I guess I needed to feel what the dirt felt like too", asked Hunter as he slowly got up.

" No, you were annoying me with that smirk of yours, proud hunter ", smiled Arena. She looked so beautiful today in rolled up trousers and a large green shirt from her brother's room. She didn't really like wearing dresses and skirts but if she had to, she would. She was more comfortable in a shirt and a pair of pants, usually green her favourite colour.