I have made it through many days of training and archery will be my final weapon. So far I have been doing well with training. But as Dongho told me, “You are much better there is distance between you and the enemy. So I believe archery is you best option. Melee isn’t working out for you.”

  I trust him, but I’m just afraid of the Queen. She’s definitely intimidating.

  It was the regular routine: I wake up from AJ, he leads me to the kitchen for breakfast, and we head to the training grounds. Once there, I found the Queen wearing a lighter dress than usual. She held a bow and arrows in her hand.

  AJ bowed as we were near. “Good luck, Milady.” With that, he left me alone.

  I gulped, feeling a tension building up in me.

  “What are you waiting for?” The Queen asked, shoving the items in my hands. “Draw your arrow!”

  “Ah!” I nearly dropped all the arrows from the sheath as I jumped from her outburst. I took an arrow and drew my arrow straight ahead at the target. I felt stiff and was in a hurry. I let go and found my arrow flying only halfway towards the target. I took a deep breath and sighed.

  “Pathetic,” the Queen simply stated and snatched the bow and arrow from me. She drew the arrow facing the ground and raised it to eye level. She tilted it upwards, took a deep breath and released.

  I watched in amazement as the arrow glided across and hit a bull’s eye. My eyes widened. “Wow.”

  She grinned and gave them back. “Here’s what you need to do. Draw from the ground, relax, release. Just learn those first, and then I’ll teach you about aiming.”

  I nodded and did what I was told. I relaxed my muscles, took a deep breath, and let go. I watched as the arrow pierced through the air and hit the outer ring of the target. I was happy enough to hit it, but I wanted a bull’s eye.

  The Queen shrugged. “You could have done better. Show me your stance.”

  I nodded and drew an arrow, showing my stance. I felt confident with this weapon. It was light and less pressure.

  The Queen circled around me, not afraid of my letting go. She stopped beside me and placed a hand on the shoulder where I pulled the arrow back. “Relax more on this shoulder.” She pushed my other arm higher. “And always remember your arrow won’t always go straight. You’ll have to calculate the distance, angle, and so on.”

  I did what I was told, but still missed my goal. I groaned in frustration and tried a few more times. No matter what, I still missed the center.

  “It takes time to hit the center, so don’t get so frustrated,” the Queen grumbled.

  I took a deep breath and tried one last time before I could complain to her. I released the arrow. I closed my eyes, knowing I would miss. Hearing the thunk as the arrow came into contact, I opened my eyes to see I have not hit the target.

  “Ah!” I yelled and threw the bow to the ground. “I’m tired of this!” I sat on the ground and slammed my fist on the grass.

  The Queen picked up the bow. “Try again.”

  I snorted. “I don’t think this weapon is for me. I can’t do it.”

  She glared at me. “Just try again, you Earthling!” She spat, “You’re the Warrior and we need you. I can see archery is your specialty. After all, you were able to hit the target on your second try.”

  I gave in to her words and grabbed the bow. I drew it and aimed. “Fine. I’ll keep going.”

  I continued training. No matter what I did, I couldn’t hit where I wanted it. But strangely, the Queen was being encouraging. It was weird to my ears. I thought she hated me. Or is she only being like this because she knew if I felt pressured, I wouldn’t do so well.

  At one point, I felt the need to ask her a question since she most likely knew the answer, “What was Eli like in the past?”

  She doesn’t answer. Instead, she avoided the topic. “You’re getting better. Keep it up.”

  I dropped my arms, not giving up. “Tell me about Eli. I’m curious.”

  Her eyes trailed. “Keep practicing and I’ll tell you.”

  I obeyed and listened carefully.

  “Eli used to be a cry baby in the past. He was very sensitive but we, the Kingdom, needed him to be strong for he will inherit the throne. We forced him to train but he couldn’t put up with it. His father, my husband, wouldn’t allow it and locked him in one of the towers without food or drink for a whole day.”

  “Isn’t that abuse?” I got another arrow ready.

  “Not at that time. I guess for your generation it is,” she spat. “No wonder you Earthlings don’t know respect,” the Queen muttered.

  I ignored her comment and released the arrow.

  To my surprise, I finally hit the target.

  The Queen clapped sarcastically. “Good. Now shoot again.”

  I did it again and sure enough, I hit a bull’s eye once more. Finally! Then a thought hit me as I remembered I didn’t finish Eli’s story. “So after he got locked up, what happened?”

  She snorted. “You still want to know more?”

  I nodded.

  “What do you expect? He turned the way he is now: strong, cold, and reserved. I may be his mother but he doesn’t tell me everything.”

  I didn’t say a word. Why is everything here so mysterious? I feel like everyone is hiding something from me?

  “Anyways. Now that you’ve gotten the basics, come with me.” The Queen gestured and led me out of that area.

  Once again, I passed by pens where people were training. However there were fewer people; they were probably watching over the wall. It seemed like everyone is preparing, working vigorously.

  The Queen led me to another pen where I found a large stand with a dummy behind it. She walked towards it and called, “AJ!”

  AJ popped next to her, bowing low. “Yes, My Queen?”

  “You know what to do.”

  He nodded and stared at the dummy. It twitched for a moment before moving at a moderate speed, side to side. “Is there anything else you need, My Queen?”

  She shook her head. “No, but I want you to stay.”

  AJ bowed. “As you wish.” He stood by the Queen and glanced at me. He smiled faintly, telling me good luck.

  I blushed and tore my gaze away from him shyly.

  “Next is a moving target. Aim at it and shoot. The first five arrows will be warm up. After that, you will have a minute to shoot at least two arrows in it. If you succeed, the time will decrease,” the Queen explained, “This will show how great your aim and concentration will be. It’ll also give you a chance to feel pressured.”

  I nodded, understanding her words and took a deep breath. Alright. I can do this.

  I shot my five practice arrows, but missed completely.

  The Queen shook her head. “Forget about doing the challenge for now. We’re going to be practicing your aiming. But before that… AJ!”

  “Yes, My Queen?”

  “Take her for lunch. It’s about time.”

  He bowed. “Are you coming today, My Queen?”

  She shook her head. “No, not today. Now go.” She shooed him off.

  AJ bowed once more and held out a hand for me to take. “Would you like to walk back or be transported there, Milady?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Okay. Hold on tight.” He squeezed my hand and closed his eyes.

  Before I was transported to the dining, I caught a glimpse of the Queen drawing an arrow and releasing it. I wasn’t able to see her hit the moving dummy, but I knew she pierced it right through the area where the heart would be. I shuddered at the thought.

~*~

  At the table, everyone was here except the Queen. I felt less tense now that she was gone. However, Eli was a substitute. He was silent at the table, eating his lunch.

  I stared at him, slightly understanding his situation. It must’ve been tough for him as his father was alive. I wondered how much training he had experienced.

  “So how was training?” Kevin asked.

  I switched my gaze at Kevin. “It was fine.”

  “But she still needs to work on aiming at the moving targets,” AJ explained as he stood by the doorway. I was inappropriate for servants to be sitting with the royalties no matter how close they were.

  Kevin looked impressed. “You learned fast.”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t hit the moving dummy,” I stated, blushing from embarrassment and flattery.

  “Just think it’s Dongho and you’ll be fine.” He stuffed a chunk of meat into his mouth.

  Dongho paused from eating and dropped his fork on his plate. He gave his brother a look. “Hey! What’s that suppose to mean?”

  Kevin doesn’t say a word.

  I snickered.

  Dongho glared. “You guys are mean.”

  “You’ll be okay,” Kevin stated.

  Dongho sneered. “You’re a great brother, Kevin,” he muttered sarcastically.

  “Thank you.”

  I smiled at the sight. I wonder if I ever had siblings, would it be like this? I would enjoy it. At least it wouldn’t be boring around the house.

  “Have you heard of the ball next week?” Rima asked me as Kevin and Dongho were having an argument again.

  “A ball?”

  To celebrate our four hundredth year of being here,” AJ explained as he placed more food on the table. He was leaning between Rima and me, smiling.

  My eyes widened. “Four hundredth year?” Wow, they’re old!

  He nodded and picked up the empty plates. “It’s going to be big. Other humans like us from other kingdoms will arrive and celebrate it here.”

  “Why here?”

  Because we are the largest kingdom,” Eli explained.

  Upon hearing Eli’s voice, the two brothers stopped arguing and changed their attention to me.

  “Yes, our kingdom is the biggest. There are three smaller kingdom alliances with ours,” Dongho explained and smirked. “They listen to us. They follow everything we say. Without us, their kingdom could be destroyed by Shadows.”

  “We provide them protection, in other words.” Kevin added.

  Dongho gave him a look and continued, “So basically our kingdom is known as Sol: The Light Kingdom. The other three are Terra: The Earth Kingdom, Cielo: The Air Kingdom, and Luna: The Magic Kingdom.”

  “I don’t understand Luna,” I said. I mean seriously. How does the moon and magic connect?

  “Magic is stronger at night,” AJ explained, considering he’s the expert. “The moon gives us strength, hence the name Luna.”

  “Ah.” Now that makes sense.

  “However there was a fifth Kingdom that was ruled by Dark elves, but the Shadows took over, destroying most of the Dark Elf population,” Dongho continued, “They are still around, but no one knows where they are. There’s so may Kingdoms across the ocean but-“

  “Enough,” Eli interrupted. “There is no need to know more.” His eyes darted to me. “This world is much smaller than you think. That is why the Shadows are here. It will be easy to conquer unless we do something. Now no more questions about the Kingdoms and eat.”

  At those words, everyone fell silent and ate.

~*~

  After lunch, I was back to train with the Queen. She was still at the same place, shooting arrows and never missing. How does she do that?

  She spotted me and stopped. “Ready?” She asked while gathering all the shot arrows.

  I nodded and helped her.

  And so, we continued my training.

  “Make sure you shoot where you predict the target would be.” The Queen explained as we were back to the moving dummy. “You have to be quicker than your opponent. Act as if you control it.”

  I listened and took a deep breath. I shot the arrow and hit it. Drawing another, I did it again. I got faster with each arrow.

  The Queen nodded in approval. “Good. Now let’s add pressure. AJ!”

  “Yes, My Queen?” AJ popped up and bowed.

  “Place two more dummies made out of grass.”

  “Yes, My Queen.” AJ waved his hands, causing two more dummies to appear. They moved in front of the first dummy, blocking my view.

  The Queen turned to me. “Now I want you to hit the same dummy without hitting the others."