Laura Remington made her way indoors after a tedious two day hunting trip. There was dirt on her boots and twigs in her hair. Her thighs were sore from gripping her horse and she was ready for a nap. The bow slung over her shoulder had helped her get a deer that would easily feed multiple families for a few days.
“Welcome home, Milady.” Charles, an older gentleman who had served her father for longer than she had been alive, now looked after her in her father’s disappearance. “Yes, welcome back,” a few of the house keepers chirped as Laura pulled her red cape off in the warmth of her home. It was lucky that deer didn't seem to see color.
“Thank you.” Laura smiled. Her home was sizable but it was the people who occupied it that really made her happy. She hadn’t smiled in months after her father came up missing but the two days of solitude in the woods did her soul good. She was ready to take on the world and get back to the seemingly endless hunt for her father. “Charles, please get the deer cleaned and distribute the meat to the three families I visited last week." The older white bearded man stood erect and nodded curtly.
"Yes Milady."
In truth, Charles had probably taught her more than her father ever had. He was the one who jumped in the river with her in order to teach her how to swim. He gave her the very first bow she had ever owned at the tender age of ten, and then on her twentieth birthday had another handcrafted specifically for her. Her father never would have approved but it was a secret gift. It was the same bow she used to take down the deer she had tracked.
Her father, the Lord of Dragandria, had been far too busy running the day to day activities of the town than to spend time with his motherless daughter. She did admire him though. He did everything he could to protect their town from magical beings since that was the greatest fear of her people. That was, until he mysteriously disappeared one day after a trip to check on how the town next to them was faring after a bad harvest. It was now winter, and she had kept up the guise of his existence for months. The townsfolk thought him to be taken ill, as she had told them, and secretly,she had sent word to the King of his disappearance. The King assured her that he would have his men searching for her father day and night which had eased her mind. But there had been no word in many months and the villagers were getting restless and word was spreading throughout the taverns that her father had abandoned them.
Just as she had bent over to remove her riding boots, someone pounded on the door behind her. "We need to speak with Lord Remington."
Charles had turned to take care of the deer but stopped at the pounding at made eye contact with her. She smiled. "I will take care of it, Charles."
When she cracked the door the maid ran down the stairs at her left. "Do not open it. The whole town is out there and very agitated!"
She went to close the door but a boot at the bottom stopped her. Instead of showing that she was going to close the door on them she opened it up slightly and had her body block the opening. "I am sorry. As you know he is very ill and cannot see anyone at the moment."
Angry shouts followed her words making her face burn as her pulse picked up. The man who had spoken first shouted at her so the crowd could hear. "We think he isn't even here. His horse is not in the stable, we think he fled from you or you killed him. The poor are starving and it is because of you!"
Her mouth parted in surprise. "What? Me? He is here. His horse was very old and died." She figured it wasn’t really a lie since his horse had been much older than she was and probably had not made it depending on what had happened to her father. The crowd became louder and more rowdy.
"If you do not let us in. We will come in of our own accord. If he is not around to uphold the law, then we’re goin’ to take it into our own hands and burn you at the stake!" There was a shout of agreement behind him and her heart sank.
