The King's Mistress

Chapter 116: Onward

On the day of the archery test, Sierra put her best foot forward. She went down to the stable early in the morning to check on her horses. Now that she had Midnight and Macadamia, she didn’t know who to pick to ride.

She would be on horseback for parts of the archery contest and she needed a steady horse to bring her through. While she enjoyed riding Macadamia, she had to give Midnight time to shine too.

"Now now, Macadamia, you’ll get your chance to shine in the future," Sierra chuckled when the war stallion stomped his hooves, knowing he wasn’t chosen.

Midnight turned to her side and nuzzled the war stallion. Sierra was quite surprised that both horses got along well, so much so they were able to stay in the same stable.

With Midnight’s support, Macadamia softened a little, snorted, and turned to eat some hay. Sierra gently patted Midnight’s coat. This time, she checked to ensure her beloved mare was well rested before the test.

Knowing that there could be others who might try to harm her, her horses, or sabotage her equipment, Sierra kept a close watch on everything. In fact, up till that morning, she had not decided which horse to take for that specific reason.

She had also personally taken care of them in the days leading up to the test. All of her archery equipment had not left her side either. While most other princesses had servants to maintain the equipment for them, Sierra did not let them leave her sight.

Ida offered to help on occasion and she had allowed it, only because she was the only other person she could trust. Now that the test was finally here, Sierra could not wait to get it done and over with.

As soon as the sun was up in the sky, all the princesses got ready for the test. They were assembled at the edge of the forest, where tents and spectator viewing grounds

had been set up.

"Do you have everything you need, Princess?" Ida asked nervously as she helped tighten the strap on Midnight’s saddle.

"That should be the last of it," Sierra replied as she strapped on her quiver and checked her bow for the last time.

As usual, she also had her swords belted to her waist and two saddlebags with extra equipment just in case. All the princesses were allowed to have these things, so no one had more than the other.

None of them were allowed to receive help from their maids and servants once they were in the forest too. The results of the test were entirely based on their efforts. Once again, the nobles had gathered to watch the final test. King Alistair and Queen Roxine were seated in their own separate open-air tent to watch the test.

Sierra glanced over to them and smiled. Lady Diane came to visit and she was seated next to Roxine. The two of them were smiling at her, wishing her the best of luck on the hunt.

When she glanced over at Alistair, he too shared a smile. Sierra turned back to face the forest. She mounted onto Midnight and headed to the starting line.

"Best of luck, princess!" Ida wished her good fortune nervously, praying for her safe return.

The forest and its creatures could be unpredictable. Even the most skilled hunters could return injured or worse. All she wanted was for Sierra to return safe and sound. Sierra joined the rest of the princesses as the rules of the test were repeated.

Each princess had already been given a different set of scores for each kill they made or each target they hit. These would only be counted should they be hit by an arrow launched from their bow.

While they were allowed to use the gifts they had received from the Patrons to assist, kills and targets hit by those attacks would not be counted towards their final score. Sierra stretched out her arms and cracked her neck.

This was the final test and she intended on proving herself well in this.

"Each of you will have two hours in the forest. Please take note of the targets you’re to hit, only shoot the ones that have a red star on them. If you hit the targets with a blue star on them, points will be deducted," the announcer explained.

"Now, if everyone is ready," he called out to them as raised his hand to signal the trumpeter, "May the archery test begin!"

With that, all the princesses kicked off their horses and sped into the forest. Sierra did not rush forward like most of them, preferring to reserve Midnight’s energy at the start.

She did not know what to expect in the forest, but from the scoring sheet she had been given the day before, she knew what sort of beasts she could look forward to hunting.

"Where should we head first?" Sierra could hear someone speaking in a hushed voice in the distance.

To her surprise, she saw Princess Cassandra, Princess Agnes, and another princess huddled together in discussion. As soon as they saw her looking in their direction, they quickly turned their horses to speak elsewhere.

Sierra could not help but chuckle. It looked like she was not the only one with the brilliant idea of teaming up with others. Princess Taita and Myra met up with her just a little distance away in a forest clearing. freewēbnoveℓ.com

Together, they hatched a plan to move forward. Sierra opted to do a quick scout of the surrounding area, so each princess set off in a different direction and met back at the clearing minutes later.

"The targets on my side had already been hit."

"Mine too, there are a few left."

Sierra smiled, "My side was untouched, let’s head there then."

They set off immediately and got to the spot quickly so that no one else would be there. Sierra guided Taita and Myra to hit the targets. The closer they were to the center, the more points they received.

"Great work, let’s move on," Sierra praised before turning Midnight in another direction.

"Sierra, what about you? You haven’t hit any of them yet," Taita voiced, confused.

Myra pointed out at the moving targets, "Yeah, there are those ones too."

Sierra shook her head, "Don’t worry about me, I have my eyes on the big catch and it seems like we have luck on our side too. I’ll start raking up those points later."

Though neither Myra nor Taita knew exactly what she meant, they went along with it.