Huntress [REWRITE] - NaNoWriMo 2023

Chapter One

Chapter One

Lady Lucilia Bennett had two weaknesses, archery and her parents.

The second one was easily managed with the right words and actions that had taken 15 years to master. The first, however, she was sure would always be a weakness.

Around her was a crude stone wall twenty feet wide and 100 feet long. She had made the wall herself as part of her training, therefore she knew all of its imperfections and faults like she knew her own.

At the far end, 100 feet from Lucilia, was a target she was trying to hit with an arrow. Trying and failing miserably, for the last 3 hours. There was a reason archery was a weakness for her, she couldn't hit the target dead center with it 5 feet from her or 100 feet.

Lucilia let another arrow fly, it landed in the grass to the right of the target. She sighed and dropped the bow on the ground beside her. She felt like she was getting worse and worse the more she practiced. Lucilia took a moment to look around her, that was when she noticed the sun was setting. With another dramatic sigh she started to clean up. Grabbing the bow and scattered arrows to put back into the shed - which she also built after the wall.

The shed was in the south-west corner of the training area, right beside the door. The door and the shed both were locked when she left, even though no one had ever come across this place. The closest town was filled with people too afraid to enter this side of the forest. Tales of ghosts and wondering souls always helped keep them away.

After so many years of training here, Lucilia has still yet to see a ghost. She did not believe they existed.

Lucilia figured she should have started running the second she left the compound, but she was too mentally tired to care that she might be late for dinner. Today, her parents could be mad at her.

As she walked back to her parents estate, she relived the conversations with her mother before she left to train. There was a lot of nagging and berating this morning which was why she was not eager to return. No doubt her mother would continue at dinner as the whole time was spent picking out things for the upcoming dinner they were hosting. What better place to talk about more important hosting topics than at their actual dinner time.

Lucilia felt herself walk even slower at that revelation.

By the time she saw the wall of the estate and the gates were looming at her, the sun had set and the guards had lit the torches signaling the back entrance.

Lucilia made as much noise as she could while approaching, the guards were tense anyways. They drew their swords and were prepared for anything, as they should, until Lucilia walked out of the trees and then they relaxed. Being guards for the house of a military powerhouse meant they had to be the best of the best. They wanted to be better than her father - it would never happen but they could try.

The things her father knew, the things he had seen and accomplish, were unmatched by even those who grew up in a military household.

One of the guards nodded his head at Lucilia and opened the gate for her. She thanked him and made her way inside the yard and towards the house. Since she came in through the back gate, she made her way to the staff entrance to the kitchen. It was the closest and would give her a good idea of the mood he parents were in.

The kitchen staff was cooking dinner like usual, but they weren't running around. The cooking was methodical and they were all smiling. Every one of them remembered to welcome Lucilia back and smiled at her because they were in a good mood. This was what let Lucilia finally relax, her parents were also in a good mood then. If they hadn't yelled at the kitchen staff about dinner, then all was well. And that also meant there weren't any random guests to join them.