The Four Kingdoms of the Four Seasons

Chapter 3 - The young Golbahar princess

            "Young, Wild and Free. Young as a human in his prime. Wild as a mad man ready to destroy anything or anyone going against his beliefs. Free as an eagle in the wild blue sky. These are the greatest strength of every youngling, magical or human.
           However, at the same time, it could be their greatest weakness. Young could become naïve, Wild could become dangerous, Free could become captive. At the end all that matters are our life experience and the decisions which come from them. How we will put this experience in use? What is their influence on us? What are the consequences for us? And wither we are ready to live with the decisions we made or not? These are the questions of younglings on their path of adulthood." – unknown human writer

ARYA'S PoV

1 year later

           As I'm heading to the secret training chamber, in order to meet up with my uncle and start another two-hour training session. Memories of the last eight years of my life were emerging to surface. However, the most memorable one, was only one year ago when uncle Roran stumbled accidentally on me while practising fencing, that I could make huge progress in the art of war. In this one-year uncle, Roran not only thought me fencing and archery, but he also started to teach me the basics of all sorts of weapon. I also learnt war strategies, supplying methods, war and army hierarchies.

           I almost stumbled in a servant. Rya come back to your senses! I was scolding myself. It was already a miracle that nobody discovered mine and my uncle's secret. Fortunately, the whole castle is buzzing. The royal household servants were busy to check the last details of tomorrow's banquet. My ninth birthday banquet. Today is way easier to slip away from watchful eyes than on other days.

            In the last year, it became an everyday routine, to try to enter the training chamber without uncle noticing me and to hit him successfully. In the beginning, he always told me whenever I entered the chamber. After a couple of months, he stopped to say it, even if I knew he was aware of my presence. I asked him immediately, why wouldn't he tell me?

"Lil'boss at the beginning I could already hear your footsteps way before you entered the South Tower. Now your posture, the way of your breathing and walking is way more adequate to basic skills of stealth. An average soldier would only hear you if you would be in five hundred step range. Continue to reduce this range. From now on, I will let you enter the chamber without saying I'm aware of your presence try to hit me successfully in whatever way you can think of."

           I already tried to hit him with every possible way I could think of. With aiming an arrow on him, he always parried or cut my arrow before it could hit him. Striking down on him with different weapons from the top of the vault. Throwing daggers, sneaking on him from the shadows, hand to hand combat... I couldn't hit him successfully one single time.

           However, I like to think that I'm closer to success after every failed attempt, even if I know this may only happen at least after a thousand years. He has way more experience than I could gather in a couple of thousand years. Although, I won't stop until I succeed on this mission one day. 

           I slowly entered the chamber from a high window. I silently jumped on one of the wooden desks which were sticking out the closest to me from the circular walls. I aimed my throwing dagger on uncle's back between his neck and at the beginning of his upper spine. This is a deadly strike, the target hit this way would die instantly without feeling any pain or realizing what is happening to him.

           Wait, wait, slow down your breathing, gather your strength in your throwing arm and throw. The dagger silently flies in the way of his target, when it was about to hit uncle. I throw to more of my daggers. And... uncle parried every single dagger.