Stalemate | A Rise To Power

𝘈𝘶𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘺

It was a spacious area—the lower floor contained twenty-two archways leading to various chambers and towers—and always seemed too quiet, even with the nobles tittering and the servants gossiping. The sounds of everyday life could never fill the place, as if the stone hungrily devoured all sounds and replaced them with a cold draught.

Audrey's footsteps were swallowed by the hall as she turned, heading out the heavy mahogany doors into the crisp spring air of the gardens. After a sharp right, she walked past a large rose garden to reach the archery butts. A few archers were using crossbows against the targets, but they had cleared an area for Audrey to practice.

Her trainer and father were already waiting for her, standing side by side. The contrast between them was almost comical: the king was a tall and athletic man in his early forties with shoulder-long blonde hair and the striking blue eyes that most Everwoods seemed to have in common. He was dressed in navy silk with an iron longsword hanging at his waist, the worn-out hilt protruding from the scabbard. Next to him was her trainer, William Darkwood. Will was young, about sixteen, with a charming smile, white-blonde hair short at the front and long at the back, and cerulean blue eyes. But, unlike Lucian's glacial eyes, his were a warm blue; eyes that were easy to become lost in. The rest of his face was pleasant—dark eyebrows, a slightly crooked nose, and light brown skin suggesting Islander genetics—but his eyes remained his most prominent feature.

He had joined the castle a few days before Audrey's previous trainer had been hung for selling information to King Adebiyi of the East. Audrey knew of little concerning Will as she had never had a session with him before; she only knew his name, that he had come to Lucian asking for refuge, and had fled from his last master. Will had initially been appointed as a messenger until Lucian had executed Audrey's last trainer and needed a replacement; Will had been promoted after allegedly shooting a bullseye on a moving horse from forty metres away.

"You are late," Lucian snapped at her.

Audrey tried to ignore Will, who was smirking slightly.

"I'm sorry," Audrey replied.

"You know how I feel about punctuality and your mother agrees. The day after tomorrow, you will attend an execution, and let us pray you won't be late to that," Lucian warned.

Audrey flinched at the thought of it. She thought she could get used to executions, but something about watching someone writhe and kick, choking as they clawed at their neck, their eyes going red as the life drained from them, got to her every time. Beheadings weren't much better; seeing the panic in one's eyes as they said their last words, usually a prayer, plea, or cry for loved ones. The first time Audrey had attended an execution, she had cried her eyes out and told her father that she pitied the people dying.

Do not pity the dead. Everyone must die, after all, he had told her.

"I'll leave it to you." Lucian turned to Will who bowed, any trace of a smirk instantly gone.

"I am yours to command, Your Majesty," Will said sincerely as he straightened.

Lucian nodded and strode away. Will then turned his attention to her, his eyebrows slightly raised as he looked her up and down.

"I assume you know how to nock an arrow, milady?" Will asked, holding a bow and quiver out for her. His voice was full of mirth, as if everything were a joke to him, but also warm and familiar.

"I am not a dullard," Audrey replied, snatching a bow from him. Was he mocking her?

"Go on, then." He nodded to a target. "Show me."

She nocked an arrow, aiming before letting the arrow fly and hitting one of the outer rings. She tried again, that time getting it closer to the centre, and turned to Will expectantly.