The Arrow of Fate

Chapter II

       Sorcha's favorite thing about where they lived was the meadow. All around their house and farm was forest, for their house had been built slightly away from the dirt road that wound through said forest. Sorcha always assumed it was because her great grandfather, who built the house, wanted to have a view of the vast meadow which they sat on the edge of. Her father had told her though, that his father told him it was actually because her great grandfather wanted lots of good land nearby for his children to build houses on. But her grandfather had been the only male child, his sisters all marrying men who lived in far off villages, and her father was an only child. She didn't know what was to happen after he died.
       She thought over the beauty of the meadow as she crossed it  to its farthest end. It took awhile to walk the distance but she needed to be farther away from the cottage in order to do what she wanted to do.
       Once she had gotten to the tree line, she went over the moss covered log she and her sister would sometimes use as a bench to sit on as they read. Inside it, protected from the weather, Sorcha kept her bow and ten arrows.
       They had been her maternal grandfather's, he had given them to her uncle Felim when he died. Six years ago, Felim became a monk and divided up his possessions amongst his family. He gave her his bow and a dozen arrows with a wink and said "If yer even a drop like yer mother- and I know yer more than that- you'll be wanting these."
Every other day since then, she had practiced with them. It was difficult at first. She didn't have anything to really aim at other than trees, she had to be careful not too shoot to close or else she couldn't get the arrows out without breaking them- she lost two that way- and she had to sneak around as her father would not have approved. But after a small while she came up with the idea of putting a small cloth on a board and aiming at that. That way the arrows didn't get stuck and she could practice with a smaller target.
Right now Sorcha was securing her arrows to her belt. They needed to be tight enough that they wouldn't fall out with her movements but loose enough that she could detach them in an instant. Sorcha notched her first arrow, drew the string back as she brought it up to eye level and shot. She struck the plum on the wild plum tree she had been looking at only seconds ago. Years ago, she had learned the hard way that one was not supposed to aim while using a bow.
She knocked down a few other low hanging plums, and then waited for the moon to finish rising. She wanted to see if she could still hit the wild plums if she was in the darkness of a half moon. After a few minutes, she drew her fifth arrow and grazed the bottom of a plum. She was going to need to practice some more.
       "Sorcha!" Aurnia called from a distance. Sorcha turned and saw her sister coming from half way up the meadow. "It's time to come in!"
       She wasn't worried about Aurnia seeing her bow. She already knew about it and Sorcha was glad that although they didn't truly get along with each other anymore, she and her sister could still keep each other's secrets.
       "Alright!" She called, and Aurnia began heading back to the cottage. Sorcha went into the tree line to retrieve the arrows and plums. The plums would serve as breakfast tomorrow along with the cheese her father had bought.
       As she finished gathering her items she heard the crunch of twigs underfoot. The footsteps sounded too heavy to be any of the small woodland creatures she was used to seeing run around day and night. Perhaps it could be one of the red deer that roamed the deeper parts of the woods?
Sorcha ducked behind the nearest tree as quietly as she could, not wanting to startle the creature. She could still hear the footsteps but they sounded farther away. When she peeked around the tree's trunk she could see a distant shape walking the opposite way. The half moon didn't give much light, but she could still identify the silhouette of a man.
Sorcha didn't even think to put her arrows back in the log with her bow. She took off running to her cottage.
~ ~ ~ ~
       An hour later she was pulling back the covers of her bed. Aurnia looked like she was asleep, but Sorcha knew her better than that. "Aurnia," she whispered across the beds.
       "What?" she replied with a slightly annoyed tone.
"I need to tell you something." She paused waiting for her sister to respond. When she didn't, "I saw a man walking in the forest." The candle in the room gave enough light that she could see her sister's eyes widen.
"Tonight? Before I called you in?"
"After. There's no path that way, and he was walking deeper into the forest. He probably saw me."
"We have to tell Father." Aurnia said after a few seconds of silence. Her voice was grave.
"No, he can't know why I was on the far side of the meadow at night."
Aurnia sat up. "Sorcha, there's a man wandering in the woods around our house. You've heard the stories. Of small bands of raiders, looking for little houses far from villages to sack. This is more important than your little hobby."
It might have been the first sensical thing her sister had said in awhile. Maybe there needed to be balance in the world, with sisters disagreeing with each other. One giving common sense and the other refusing to listen. Sorcha knew her defense was weak, but she still insisted upon it. She had few enough things in her life, she didn't want her bow and arrows to be taken away.
      "There would have been reports from neighboring villages if that was the case. It's not serious enough to tell him. I just wanted to tell you so you know not to go outside at night this week. And we both need to go with Father next time he goes into town."
       Aurnia didn't reply. She leaned over to their shared dresser and blew out the candle that laid a top it. In the total darkness, Sorcha could only hear her sister turn in her bed to face away from her.
       "I will not tell Father, but you will have to ask the man who is coming to see the cow tomorrow about any and all robberies that he's heard of while traveling."
        "Alright."

AN: thank you for reading! I'll try to update sooner than I did this time.