A Court of Pain and Sorrow

Men are evil

A year passed and the money ran out.

The Archeron family hadn't eaten in two days and Rhaella took upon herself the mission to feed the family.

So there she was, a spring afternoon, bow and arrow in hand as she tried to kill something to eat.
She had been out for two hours and she hadn't found anything other than birds.

She sighted and finally gave up, took and arrow, placed it on the bow, looked up, aimed and shot.
The bird's body hit the ground and Rhaella rushed towards it. It wasn't small, but it definitely wasn't enough to feed a family of five.

So she kept killing birds, until she had six of them in her hands.

She then returned home, yelling at her sisters to come and help her get dinner ready.
While the girls were working, her father called her.

"You brought dinner?" The man asked.

"Yes, father, I did." She answered, proud of herself.

"You shouldn't wander the woods alone, kid. It's not safe."

"Well, we have to eat something, don't we?" The girl was starting to get angry. "If you don't like my ways, why don't you get up of that goddammed chair and do something efficient" she thought.

"All I'm saying is that there are dangers in those forests. The hunters are one. Those men don't like other's messing with their jobs."

"I'll be careful."

Her father simply nooded and Rhaella went back to helping her sisters.

***

It wasn't long before the youngest Archeron had to return to the woods. This time, however, her sister Feyre had budged her to come along with her. She had even made those puppy eyes of hers that made Rhaella give her anything she asked for.

In the end, and with Nesta's help, Rhaella convinced Feyre to wait until the next expedition to tag along.

She would later thank the forgotten Gods she did.

As she walked through the forest, eyes open to any movement, the young Archeron heard voices.
Remembering her father's words, she hid behind some nearby bushes.

"Come on, that deer couldn't have gone far away."

A group of three men came into Rhaella's vision range. They all carried weapons: the first one had a bow, the second one, a sword and the third one, two knifes.

"Let's look around. If someone sees anything, scream."

The heart of the young Archeron girl started to beat very fast. For some reason, she didn't want them to find her. Her instincts told her to stay away, to hide, to run even.

She didn't have time to think what to do, though.

Rhaella screamed as the man with the sword grabbed her ankle and dragged her out if the bushes.

"Look what I've found guys!" He said.

"What on Earth is a little girl like you doing in this forest?." Other man said.

"I-I don't want any trouble... Please." Rhaella stuttered.
She felt a sharp pain on her cheek. She looked at the man who had just slapped her as he spoke: