Royalty {RANDY}

3

Andy felt the breeze rush past his face as his horse galloped through the woods. Its hooves slammed on the floor and kicked up dirt as he raced through the forest, the scenery becoming a blur as his gaze fixed on the target hanging from a tree.

He heard his dog panting and his paws slamming on the ground as he ran to keep up.

He pulled his bow up, standing up in the stirrups rocking slightly before he regained his balance. He brought up his bow and holstered his arrow drawing the string back. He inhaled, and let the string jerk from his fingertips. The arrow shot forward and slammed into the wooden target, right in the loosely painted red circle in the middle.

He held the wood on his bow with one hand as he grabbed the horse's reins, pulling them back to bring the horse into a slow trot.

"Steady girl, steady." He hummed, bringing his quiver bag around to attatch his bow to it by the straps.

He looked behind him to see his hunting dog, Fovvs, panting heavily, yet he looked up at his owner with bright eyes. His black coat was dusty and covered in pebbles and dirt.

"Good boy." He told his dog.

It was still the early morning, the sun was barely peeking over the horizon, casting the forest in a soft yellow glow. He had gone out early this morning to the woods behind the castle. He was restless last night, and he didn't know why.

He was up until the moon was way over his head, and he didn't understand what was bringing him this unknown restlessness. Perhaps it was disguised anxiety, or he was getting ill? He didn't quite know.

His horse was trotting slowly back towards the castle, Fovvs keeping pace with it. Andy wasn't ready to go back yet. He just didn't want to, so he tugged on his horse's reins and whistled at his dog to follow. He turned left and went towards the cliffs at the back of the forest.

Rye hadn't shown a couple of nights back, and it was really bothering him. Of course, Rye wasn't condoned or told he had to show. That was idiotic and stupid. Rye was a free spirit and simply couldn't be kept in one place.

That's something Andy knew. Rye was someone who yearned for adventure, while also keeping to familiarity.

Andy was quite different. He loved adventure and the danger. He loved the thrill and he liked to sneak out, do things he wasn't supposed to do. To say he was the heir to the throne he acted like he had nothing to lose - he snuck out regularly and got into suspicious circumstances.

His friends found it irritating and often got annoyed, but they never tried to stop him anymore - after all, he never listened before, why would he now?

He heard a second set of hooves, and Fovvs lifted his head, ears pricked. The pharaoh hound looked around wildly until they saw a beige horse appearing from the trees.

Andy relaxed and so did Fovvs when they saw Sonny on its back.

"Morning Andy." Sonny greeted cheerfully. "Didn't expect to see you out so early."

Sonny was the leader of the royal guard and was Andy's closest friend within the castle. He was loyal, brave and cocky. But he was a sweetheart deep down and had expressed to the heir multiple times he didn't like his job.

"Couldn't sleep." Andy responded as Fovvs barked a greeting. "So I decided to do some target practice before I go up the cliffs for a bit. Maybe do some yoga." He said sarcastically.

"Like you'd do yoga." Sonny chuckled as he brought his horse to trot beside Andy.

"Is that a fat joke?" He laughed.