Guard

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Surprise

LANDON

"You were right," I groaned as I massaged my arm with my hand. "I feel like my arms are going to fall off."

"I told you," Elena said with a cheeky smile on her face.

A week had gone by and I was still getting accustomed to life here in Celia. There were a lot of things I didn't think I'd have a problem with, when in reality, I had problems with a lot of them.

The smell that lingered around the town for example, the lack of hygiene, just the amount of people in one place at one time, the work - especially how I thought I would adjust to it quickly - the way the people were treated, and how the children were treated and how they lived. The list could go on.

After just one week here I definitely began to appreciate my normal life a lot more. But in addition to that, my appreciation for Elena grew. For someone of such high class - the highest class for that matter - to stoop down to the level of a peasant and live among them, to be one of them, to live according to their ways, to learn how to do things on her own, relearn everything; it took humility. And observing Elena, she had that. She would make a great Queen. I would be proud to be under her rulership.

It made sense to me why Alec had developed feelings for her. He hadn't told me of course, but I could just tell. Since we were children, Alec wasn't the type to openly express his feelings, but seeing him after such a long time, there was something different about him. In addition to that, to see him so emotional about having to leave without saying goodbye, I knew, from that moment, that he cared for her.

"Landon?" I heard faintly.

"Landon!" Elena shouted, shaking me.

I jumped in fright and whipped my head to look at her. "What? What happened?" I exclaimed, worried.

"May I have it now?" She asked, her hands outstretched towards me.

I looked at the longbow in my hands and handed it over to her.

"I don't know why I accepted your offer to continue your training," I started, crossing my arms. "Working as a blacksmith is hard enough, and now I have more work to do with my arms?" I questioned, throwing my hands up in the air, exasperated.

"What happened to 'How hard could it possibly be?'" Elena remarked back, raising an eyebrow at me.

"I take it back."

As I saw her smiling at me I tsked and waved my hand. "Alright young lady, back to work. Show me your stance." I told her.

She playfully rolled her eyes and turned her attention to the target, lifting up the bow and arrow. She placed her feet shoulder-width apart and stood up straight.

"Good," I commented. I walked around her observing her posture. "Touch your mouth with your hand."

She did so.

"Release."

I heard a blunt pop of the string as the arrow left the bow and hit the target at high speed. I looked at the target. Bullseye.

"Well done Princess." I praised, clapping my hands. "Now we work on speed."

"Speed?" She asked.

I nodded. "Your Majesty, I'm quite certain that in war, one as powerful as you will have more than one enemy. The skill of an archer isn't just limited to a single arrow. It's to use two, three consecutively or all at once at any given time ." I told her.