The Lady Archer (Completed)

VII

Tired of being cooked up in the house for so long, she decided to head to the Farmers Market to peruse through and see what she could find. Although judging by the deep hole in her pocket, she most likely would be browsing through instead of shopping.

Putting on her long silky dress, together with her brown belt, leather sandals and black cloak, she left the house but not before locking it.

The market place was bustling; children were playing, market vendors were yelling, women gossiping, customers bargaining, farmers dragging their animals to the slaughterhouse and thieves trying to steal but getting caught in the process.

Lady Archer kept her head down as the hood of the cloak covered most of her face. Occasionally she would bump into people who would either shout 'watch it' or those who would shove her aside like a dirty street rat.

She continued to move around the market, watching everyone with suspicion and generally enjoying the feel of the wind in her face.

Suddenly, she saw people running, more specifically, ladies. The women ran as though they were possessed, fighting and scratching anyone in their path. Avery took a step aside so that she wouldn't have to face the women's wrath. Otherwise, she would have done ten times more damage than they would have.

She wondered, where are they all going?
What was so vital that they had to run like a bunch of cows on heat!

None the less, she was determined to find out. She couldn't stop herself as she wondered, what if they're giving out free food or free clothes or shoes or even books? She became overjoyed by those small facts, giggling at her thoughts.

When she was sure that the herd of aggressive women had finally disappeared from the market, she took that as her queue to follow, making sure she wasn't too near but at the same time close enough to see them and where they were going. 

She realised that they had stopped at the Duke's mansion gates, their eyes set at the podium that was before them, anticipating the arrival of an announcer or the Duke himself. 

The Duke was not at all handsome, but some of the ladies of the town did love to live richly.

After some few minutes, the Duke arrived. Taking the stand and lightly tapping the microphone, he said, winking, "Hello Ladies."

Some of the ladies giggled while others just watched him in awe. However, Avery just rolled her eyes.

"I come with a vital message from his Majesty, Prince Coldante. On Sunday, in the evening, he will be holding a masquerade ball, and every lady in the Dynasty is invited. For those of you who are married and single, you may stay at home with your men; we only want the single maidens. Come one. Come All. Dress appropriately and also register with my men who will be marching around the town noting down names. It's very crucial to register, otherwise, you will not enter. They will return the names to me by sundown so that I may return them to the Prince. Now, off you ladies go, and remember dress to impress." The duke finished his announcement, and suddenly, the chatter began.

"Oh, my lord."

"The Prince is holding a ball!"

"They've invited us all."

"This is so wonderful."

The ladies all around Avery started to chatter about the ball. She continued to stand there and listen in on various conversations laughing whenever the girls said something hilarious.

"We have to look stunning for the Prince." She heard a girl say to her group of friends. "Rumor has it, that he may be looking like for his bride to be. It could be any one of us."

"We don't have money for those expensive dresses, and even if we did buy those dresses, do you think the prince will dare look in your direction?" One girl added, not scared of her friends brooding face.

"Stop being such a wuss and leave a little. No risk no reward, right. Even if he doesn't look in our direction, I'm sure they'll be refreshments, we could always drown our miseries consuming those delectable pastries."

"We could even bring some receptacles!" Another lady in the group chimed in the conversation.

"We could even sneak into the kitchen and pack some more snacks to go."

"Brilliant! Let's go shopping, ladies."

"Wait," another girl said. "Even though we have a plan B, we still need to look good for the Prince, right?"

"Riiiight," one of her friends stated as she prolonged the word.

"Now, come on let's go." The first girl to speak suddenly said, eager for the day so that she would carry out her plans.

As the conversations went on, Avery started to realise that they were more similar to the other talks that she recently heard rotating in the crowd. She decided to leave the area and head on home.

She did not register her name because she hated royal families. She had an unsatisfactory experience with the previous ones that she had met. The royals, always thought themselves to be inferior and more significant than others, which also came as a surprise to see that this family was inviting people that they had considered not worthy to even step on the soil, they walk on.

Besides, she wanted to stay under the radar, she did not want people to see her or better yet recognise her because that would mean they would come for her, and this time she will have nowhere to escape.

She reached home safely, peeling off her clothes and heading straight upstairs to her tiny bathroom and washing up. She put on her nightdress and took a seat on her bed watching the stars shine bright, a few minutes later, she lay on her bed as she fell into a deep slumber.
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I hope you liked the chapter. Please let me know what you think about it.