Gwendolyn Ng was an archer.
It was what her name meant- Archer. Atleast, her Ardish name. Her Cainese name was Xifeng. West wind. Fitting, for the way her arrows soared through the air, landing true every time. Roza had attempted translating her name into Nebesan, but it didn't end very well and she was left with no Nebesan-appropriate name.
House Ng, the scions of Arachnos, god of the hunt. The blessings of Arachnos varied, some children blessed with simple gifts like perfect vision, or eerily quiet footsteps.
Gwen had it all.
She had advanced vision, nightvision, the quiet footsteps, the self-regeneration, enhanced healing, the excellent health and disease resistance, and the uncanny ability to track things nobody else could.
But best of all, she had perfect aim.
House Ng was famous for producing regular super-soldiers. That's why they were a high house. They were perfect hunters, predators looking for some poor prey to kill.
A long while ago, her father recognized her gifts and taught her everything she needed to know to rise through the ranks of the Elite Army. While she naturally had wider and farther vision that was clearer, her father taught her how to exploit every bit of it. In the periphery of her line of sight, she was told to find different objects and targets, usually fruits from the kitchen that had gone bad. In the forest, they played games like hide-and-seek, where Gwen would do her best to use all of her skills to track her father down.
Nobody liked playing hide-and-seek with her.
Her favourite lessons were the archery lessons, because she knew that no matter where she aimed, the arrow would always land true. She once aimed it at the sky, but telling the arrow where to go meant it struck bullseye every time. Li Ng, her father's Cainese name, was the one who had given her everything.
A proper name.
Proper work habits.
True aim.
Once, she had been brought out to the archery range. She had thought that it was a simple lesson, where she would shoot a moving target and then laugh along with her father. She was wrong- she was very wrong.
It was a sunny day. The sun glowered onto them, the breeze just enough to keep them cool and satisfied. The archery range was in perfect condition, and the grass was a bright, fresh green. Gwen had turned fourteen the other day.
"Xifeng, have you met these two before?" Her father gestured to the two girls holding his hand. Both looked identical- jet black hair tied up in space buns, brown eyes that kissed in the corners, a petite nose, and thin lips. They both wore red and gold qipaos. Gwen couldn't remember which house they were from.
"No, father." She replied. Gwen did not care about the two girls. She was very excited for archery, not socializing.
Li smiled. "I will introduce you. These girls are Aiko and Mariko Arigato, from House Duchy. Does that ring a bell?"
As soon as she heard the last name, she knew who they were. Aiko and Mariko, the twins who were born deaf and used their hands to communicate. She knew a bit of the language of signs they used, but there were so many gestures it was hard to keep up. Aiko and Mariko were from an infamous house- House Duchy had the powers of conduction, the power to manipulate the energy within an Elite's body. If she remembered correctly, Aiko absorbed energy- Mariko redirected it.
She glanced towards the girls once again. Gwen could still not decipher who was who. "I recognize them now."
Both girls looked toward another, gesticulating and somehow communicating with each other. After a brief period of silence one of them spoke up. "It's nice to meet you," she said with a smile.
Gwen nodded. She turned her attention back to her father. "Why are they here?"
"Because," her father replied simply. "You're going to learn new lessons."
It was weird, at first. Not having her powers, the freedom to aim wherever she wanted was gone. She had to actually learn to aim, to track, to listen. Li Ng cautioned that one day, her powers could not help her. She learned how to use her skills without help from Arachnos, and by the next year, she was just as good as she was with her powers. Every day, her father brought Aiko in the morning to absorb her energy. In the evenings, Mariko would redirect it back into her body. Gwen always felt a rush of euphoria whenever the blessings were returned to her. What was more interesting, was that apparently, Gwen had a natural resistance to Aiko and Mariko's powers- everyday, it grew harder for Aiko to take energy. Eventually, she teamed up with the girls to make herself completely invulnerable to their powers. By the time she turned seventeen, she had been fully able to resist Aiko's recall, and Mariko's attempt to just redirect the energy out of the body.
In that time, she had found out that they made for good friends. Aiko was an artist, and Mariko was a writer; as if the twins couldn't be more of a perfect matching set. Of course, they were mostly quiet, but Gwen didn't mind too much. She enjoyed their silence more than anything. She loved reading Mariko's stories about heroic warriors who fought dragons, and loved Aiko's gorgeous scenery when she took out her pencil and sketched outside. One time, the duo had surprised Gwen with a story about herself- her life, accompanied by drawings. The trio often wandered about the palace, indoors and outdoors. Mariko made friends with the servants, allowing them access into all of the servants quarters and the kitchen when they wanted snacks. Aiko befriended Sylas from House Lai, and from then on they were able to access House Lai's exclusive training field on their estate property. Gwen enlisted in the young army, as she knew she would always have wound up doing. As she rose through the ranks, she gained access to more and more toys for the trio to explore. It was a good system- Aiko befriended children of high houses so they could explore their lands, Mariko got them access to all the secrets and rumours in the palace, and Gwendolyn had gotten them access to restricted military zones. They were just silly kids and teenagers then. Now, she was twenty-one, and the twins were eighteen. They didn't see each other as often any more, now that she was a general and the twins were used as punishers for the king.
A sudden sound at the door in her room snapped her out of her reminiscing.
The person on the other side didn't bother waiting for Gwen to open the door. The knock served more as an announcement of arrival- she already knew who it was.
"Gwen, dear, you're going to miss the fête. Hurry up." Roza Zhelvakova strode through the doorway, letting the door shut loudly behind her. She paused, standing behind her in the mirror. Their reflections were starkly and drastically different- Roza's bouncy brown curls, her silver eyes, and a clunky pair of diamond earrings paired with a flattering deep blue glittering gown made her look like royalty. Meanwhile, Gwen had just returned from running drills and facilitating sparring matches between soldiers- her uniform was rumpled and wrinkled, and the side of her blonde hair that wasn't shorn was completely tangled. She had dark circles beneath her amber eyes; it was as if she hadn't slept in days. It wasn't a false assumption.
Roza made some kind of clicking noise with her tongue, and shook her head. "You haven't even started getting ready. You're lucky you have me." Without thinking twice, she marched on towards Gwen's closet, throwing the doors open with such force that she should've ripped the doors right off the hinges.
A moment later, she poked her head out. "Gwen. You. Have. No. Dresses."
She scoffed. "Why did you think I had any?"
Roza stuck her head back into the closet, muffling her voice. "What do you wear to social events?"
"I don't go to social events." Gwen responded. As a general, she didn't have much time to go to celebrations.
"Why are you going to this one then?" Roza asked, still rifling through her clothes. She wasn't going to find a single dress in her wardrobe.
Gwen walked over to the closet. "You don't remember telling me I had to go to this one?"
"I was probably drunk. At least I now have someone to take me upstairs after." Roza continued rummaging through her closet, turning towards anything on hangers. "But seriously, you've never gone to one of these things? How? Tell me your secrets."
"Usually I get someone else to go as a representative." Gwen replied nonchalantly. "Those are all dress suits." She pointed to where Roza was looking.
Roza groaned. "Seriously? You know what, come with me. I'll see if I have anything in your size."
She grabbed her hand, dragging the general out of her chambers and slamming the door behind her. Typical of her to destroy everything in her path in the name of fashion. Anyone who was still in this wing of the palace was sure to be awakened by such a ruckus. As soon as she made it to her room, which wasn't a far walk considering it was the room next door, Roza thrusted the door open, barging in despite it being her own room. The door swung violently shut.
As soon as Gwen entered Roza's closet, she knew that she was doomed. The closet was full of sparkling dresses of all colours, but mostly shades of blue. Somehow, there were even dresses in Gwen's house colour, chartreuse, a blend between yellow and green.
"Pick anything that looks remotely your size. Everything in my closet looks gorgeous so you don't need to think about design. This isn't some common dress shop."
"How much of your allowance do you spend on your wardrobe?"
"More than what I spend on good wine. Estella is an excellent tailor."
Gwen stuck her hands, sifting between fabrics. It was a marvelous sight- the crystal chandelier hanging above reflected its light onto the sparkles and jewels, creating an illusion of rainbow teardrops on the walls.
"Gwen! Out here!" Roza beckoned her out to the main room, where she was holding a gown in chartreuse. It looked to be made out of satin or silk, decorated with lace and ribbons. Roza roughly spun Gwen around, helping her into the lavish dress. With a grunt, she pulled up the zipper, sealing the dress. She guided Gwen to the mirror, where she dramatically walked away to give her new muse space.
"So?"
Gwen looked down at the dress. It was nice, but it was practically screaming I'm from Roza's closet. "It's nice. I just don't feel like wearing it."
Roza turned back to the closet. "Let's keep looking."
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Gwen ended up wearing a suit.
Roza had scoured the deepest ends of her closet, but Gwen couldn't decide on anything. She had scowled at the fact she had wasted so much time searching, but the general bought her smile with promise of a night with chardonnay. It worked pretty well. Her promise was very conditional- no alcohol during the party.
"What is this festival even for?" Gwen whispered.
"It marks the first day of winter. The changing of the seasons. I thought that was on the invitation? Starfrost Fête?" Roza replied, gesturing to the decorations than hung above. She looked to Gwen's waist. "Seriously? You brought the bow?"
"It's good to be cautious."
The bow had been a favour she cashed in from Jeong Xiao, a weaponsmith from House Ola. It was perfectly designed to be lightweight when used, the weights installed perfectly spread across the structure. The bow could be retracted and folded into itself, shrinking the size to allow for easy access when in a dire situation. While there was nothing she could do about the long white bow string drooping down, it was a great comfort. No matter where she was, she carried a quiver stocked with arrows tipped with poisonous venom. Everyone around the palace had grown used to the sight of a giant container filled with toxic, piercing weapons on her back. Nobody dared to question her.
"General Ng. Lieutenant General Zhelvakova. Good to see you."
The girls were approached by King Magnus Yan, who wore a yellow robe lined with fur and embellished with yellow stones, cut to perfection in the shape of a sun- a circle.
"Your majesty," they both said and bowed in unison. "Thank you for this great honour."
"It is my pleasure. Please, enjoy yourself- and, err, general, you may want to reconsider your choice of outerwear today. We have guests from other kingdoms. Excuse me now- I must attend to those guests." The king waved them off, and sauntered towards another table.
"See? Even the king disapproves." Roza hissed. "Okay. We have to socialize. Talk about military movements and things."
"You're part of the military too. Second in command, lieutenant general." Gwen replied coolly.
"I don't talk about that stuff. I tell them about high house politics so they'll get bored and leave me alone. You know my strategy for parties. Take the wine and go." she replied. "Sometimes, I show them some fancy tricks if they're from another country. Gwen, want to entertain our guests?"
The general sighed. "Fine. But we're only at this party for half an hour, maximum. I'll make an excuse to get us out of here."
"If only making excuses to leave the king's party without raising suspicion was easy."
They strolled over to one of the Nebesan diplomats, enjoying herself alone, sipping a single glass of red wine. Gwen recognized her as Katerina Zaychik, from the international relations sector of the Nebesan Empire. They had never interacted before- she was often too busy to talk with diplomats. But since Roza was here to accompany her, she supposed it wouldn't hurt to get to know one person. The diplomat was wearing a blue waistcoat, ending in two spiky trails, padded in the shoulders. She was adorned with medals and badges, pins and ribbons. She was a very decorated woman, it seemed. Aside from that, her outfit was not much different from Gwen's.
"Good evening, miss Zaychik." Gwen greeted. "Are you quite alright?"
Katerina looked up. "I suppose. It's been a rough week, and as you can see I am indulging in quite a bit of wine."
Gwen counted the empty glasses she could now see hidden behind Katerina's long blonde locks. It wasn't that much- four glasses, including the one she had just set down. Nothing compared to Roza's records.
Behind her, Gwen could feel Roza rolling her eyes, probably scoffing at Katerina's low tolerance. In her books, Zaychik was probably a light drinker, at best.
Before Roza could say something she might regret later on, the doors suddenly burst open, and every guests' head turned to the door.
Sylas Lai stood at the frontier of the door, panting, and completely disheveled. "They're here. Monsters!"