23. Archery Tournament
Adira stood far away from Prince Dylan because of the number of princes surrounding her. Adira suspected the rest were siblings. There were about 10 princes there.
Prince Dylan turned around, looking for Adira. When he saw Adira, he walked away from the prince and stood next to her.
She frowned as Dylan approached her again. “Why are you here again? The competition is about to start. Why did you leave?”
“I don’t feel comfortable when they are near me.”
“Why?”
“I feel like they’re going to do something while I’m not facing them. I should stay away so I don’t hear hurtful words while the other princes start to prove themselves. ”
She folded her arms and looked at the princes. “They are not also blessed with kindness like Prince Damon?”
“Some are misbehaving, but I’m just not sure about the others.”
“It’s a pity you don’t have any friends here.”
Dylan looked at her with a shocked and angry face. “You’re starting again, young lady. We’re not in the palace, so I can’t show you the behavior I’m showing you there. ”
She frowned. “Is there any difference between here and the palace? Look at your appearance. Your eyeballs almost popped out of so much annoyance.”
The prince just sighed. “Why do you have to ruin my day now? You know, I’m already nervous.”
“You should even be thankful because I’m helping you get rid of your nervousness.” She looked at the other prince, who was starting to use a bow and was hitting an arrow at the target. She can say that the previous ones were good, but no one has yet buried the arrow in the white color in the center.
Her eyes searched for where Prince Damon was. She saw that he was only focused on the princes, who had to prove themselves first.
“Now I will find out if what General Agustin said about you using the bow and arrow being better than the sword is true,” she said in her mind.
A few hours passed, and Prince Dylan was about to hit the target, but before that, Prince Damon was the first to prove himself.
Prince Damon took the bow and looked at the spot where Adira was. His face showed no emotion as he looked at the two, but a few moments later he faced the target and took an arrow.
She narrowed her eyes because it was Prince Damon who was now trying to hit the white target. She needed to see every arrow in his hand because, on this day, she wanted Dylan to win. Prince Dylan’s chance is small because he is still a beginner in the proper use of the bow and arrow, but Prince Dylan will have more courage if he starts to show the other princes that he can keep up with them now and that what happened before will not happen again.
At every turn of Prince Damon, it sinks into the white color. That’s why the last turn should not be in the color white so that he is not the winner on this day. Prince Damon turned around to Adira, but she only gave the prince a smirk.
Prince Damon quickly took the arrow and pulled the string. At that time, it took a long time to hit the target. Almost everyone was focused, even Prince Dylan, who was quiet next to Adira. And since Prince Damon wins every year, he’s scared of his last shot.
Prince Damon released the arrow, and everyone held their breath as their eyes quickly followed the arrow to the target. But everyone was shocked that it didn’t hit the white color itself. That it is in the middle of white and red means that Prince Dylan has a chance to win the biggest prize.
She’s just looking at the target. “You have a good chance, my dear prince because he missed his last turn. Prove yourself so you don’t get any more insults from other princes and Prince Damon himself,” she said while still looking at the target, but she didn’t get any answer from Dylan, so she turned around, but he was just staring at her.
“What does that look like?”
“I’m nervous.”
“Of course, you’re the last one who will be the next to hit the target, so walk over there.”
“I can’t do it.”
Her eyebrows almost met with what he said. “What can’t you do? When we’re here, then you can’t do it. Do you want to taste a punch from me? I focused on teaching you the bow and arrow, and then you say you can’t! ” Every word she said had an emphasis, so he could tell that she was annoyed by what he said.
“What if I miss my first pitch?”
She just slapped her forehead. “You are thinking so hard, dear prince; if you walk now, we will know whether you will return defeated.”
He took a deep breath. “Can I use your gloves first in case all three hits are buried in the target?”
Her face became serious. “Start walking, Prince, and the others here have been watching us for a while. Hurry up, because when I run out of patience with you, I will burn all the arrows into your body!”
“You are mean to me.”
Prince Dylan started to walk, but before he could get away completely, Adira called him again.
“Dear prince!”
Prince Dylan turned around with a frown. “What?”
“Every time you turn to hit the target, I’ll let you look at me in case you get the strength and hit all the arrows on target.” Unconcerned, Prince Dylan just kept walking.
“He pretends not to want to, but I’m sure he’ll turn around and look at me in his three hits .” She shook her head and followed him until he was in front of the table where the bow and arrow were placed.
Prince Dylan took a deep breath and was ready to grab the bow, but someone spoke near to him, It’s Prince Damon.
“Did the young lady teach you well, Prince Dylan? I guess it’s the same as before. You can’t even bury an arrow in the target because you’re weak.”
Prince Dylan looked at him. “I know more now than before, Prince Damon, even if I can’t bury the arrow three times or even just once. That’s a bigger deal to me than the so-called “Archery Prince” missing his last turn.” And then Prince Dylan looks on target. He was unable to read Prince Damon’s reaction to Prince Dylan’s last words, so he just walked away.
Adira now has her arms folded while watching Dylan. She also saw how Prince Damon came a little closer to him, and she thinks he tried to tease Prince Dylan.
A few moments later, Dylan pulled the string with the arrow and suddenly let go. She followed the arrow and grinned as it hit the center of the white-painted target.
While Prince Dylan was holding his breath as he let go of the arrow, he turned and looked at Adira, who was looking at the target and smirking. He took another arrow and landed a second time. The second shot was buried again on the target, but with the last arrow, he feels nervous because if the arrow hit in the middle of the target, he would be considered the best of the day.
With a trembling hand, he took the arrow and placed it between the bow and string. But his hand was still shaking, and he thought that when he released the arrow, he was sure that it would not hit the target.
She frowned when Dylan suddenly stopped. The arrow was ready in his bow, but it took him a while to release it. She was nervous about what would happen. She stopped when Dylan turned and just stared at her. The nervousness and fear were evident in his eyes. She smiled a little and nodded to ease his nervousness. He quickly faced the target again and released the arrow.
No noise could be heard around Prince Dylan as he released the arrow. Almost everyone there was just focused on the arrow to the target.
Suddenly, a big drum that was there sounded. It means that the competition is over, but if the drum is loud, the princes and other people who are there are stunned by what they see.
A few moments later, the other prince was slowly applauding because Prince Dylan’s last turn was in the middle of the target again.
Dylan was happy to come to her. “You saw that? I won!” His face was happy, especially his eyes, which were filled with a few tears.
“Good, dear prince.” She looked at his whole face.
Prince Franco came over and greeted Prince Dylan. “Congratulations on your win, Prince Dylan.”
“Thank you!” he replied, smiling.
Some princes also congratulated Prince Dylan, but some princes did not approach him. It can also be seen that there are princes who don’t like Prince Dylan based on the way they are acting now, like Prince Damon. He didn’t come close to where Prince Dylan was; he just looked, but that was it.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.
After a few minutes, the princes and the soldiers started to leave the place, and Adira, Prince Dylan, and Prince Franco were left behind.
“What’s your prize?” She’s excited to know their prize in this kind of tournament.
Prince Dylan looked around. “It’s not here yet, but it might be here in a few minutes.”
She frowned because he said that it would be there in just a few minutes. Isn’t winning a trophy given?