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I never imagine my life to turn the way it did.

Considering being born into the class I had, there wasn’t much to expect from such a poor ordinary life. Except when I was born, a shaman claimed it was under special circumstances, forewarning my family that I would bring two great changes.

To my parents, they figured it would be the additional mouth they would have to feed, and they wouldn’t be wrong. But nobody could have expected the special set of circumstances, unless they believed in the disruption of fate.

My formative years, I spent learning my family trade. My father and my older brother woke up early every day for target practice. My mother tried her best to teach me how to delicately wrap a spear at the end of an arrow for its deadly intentions.

Most of the time I snuck away with my brother to watch them practice.

My father was the best at killing tigers, a must if you lived out in the countryside with not much protection other than your own wit.

Occasionally, my father was called out to take care of a tiger wandering too close to a village. That was when my brother, with not much else to do, taught me how to shoot an arrow. I still remembered how clumsy my fingers felt drawing the bow back and having the arrow shy away from the arch.

Jongdae would roar in laughter but would help correct me.

My brother had quite the aim (but not as great as me). He often got praised by our father, but he never took him on any of his jobs. Of course, I was never considered.

Father’s jobs were well paid for a skilled worker, even if work was few and far between. I missed him when he was gone but mother assured that he was the only man in the kingdom that was able shoot once and bring down a tiger.

I never understood well why the king’s military couldn’t do the task themselves, but I never questioned it, not even when my father was called to the Imperial Palace.

Even at seven years old, I didn’t under why all my family was traveling to the Palace. I only knew that I was excited and thanks to my mother’s skillful hands, I was able to wear a new garment she had made for the occasion.

I was scrubbed down from a well-deserved bath and after I was dressed, we were placed in the back of our family wagon. Father rode on the horse that pulled us away from our home. At the moment, it never occurred to me that I would never see that humble home ever again.

It was a day trip to the Palace and once we entered the city, we were surrounded with beautiful homes and beautiful people dressed in the most beautiful set of garments I’ve ever set eyes on. I begged my mother to make me a garment the same color as the sky. My mother brushed me off, looking around worried at the looks we were getting from the people casually walking on the roads.

Later I found out that our father took the route where all of the kingdom’s high society lived Myeongwol District. It was lined with lavish homes and exquiste gardens, it was all a sight to behold.

But it was nothing, compared to the Palace where we were escorted in by the King’s footmen.

Father had an assignment.

We were told that they were highly suspicious that a tiger was set loose in the Royal Garden. Several servants had spotted the unmistakable sight of the animal drinking by the fountains.

The king looked down from his throne at our kneeling family.

“Keep the beasts alive,” He ordered, while the Queen scooted herself to the edge of her thron. “We have reason to believe there is a conspiracy.”

“Your Majesty,” My father bowed his head, “I can’t imagine anyone who would attempt to displease you with such a gesture.”

The Queen closed his eyes at my father’s simple thinking, “How does one suppose a tiger found itself in our garden without being spotted wandering into the city?”

My father nodded, “Understood, Your Majesty.”

“I was told that your wife was unable to conjure materials for you on time,” The King motioned over to my mother, who sat up proudly next to my father.

My father nodded, “We came as soon as we were called upon, but she was able to fix up a few new arrows for me on our travels here, but we would need time to make more.”

“We?” The king smiled.

“My son and I,” My father looked at Jongdae, who was only about 14 years of age, “He is my apprentice, and I wouldn’t want him to miss out on such an important assignment.”

The king let out a chuckle and his court did as well, “And the girl?”

“She is young,” My father simply said, “She cannot stay at home.”

“Very well,” The King smiled, “We are honored that you came as quickly as you could, will you require assistance? Anything you need.”

My father shook his head, “My family is all I need.”

We were all directed to the entrance of the Royal Garden and my eyes couldn’t be more delighted. It looked like heaven. The sun was finally descending from its late afternoon travels. The rays of light that caught in the middle of the courtyard were the long reeds of grass that reached my waist. The slight breeze would ripple through the grass, billowing through the entire length of it. The entire garden was lined with the dark bark of cherry blossom trees. Their bloom only a few days away.

Astonished with how grand and lush the garden was, my father immediately, took hold of my mother’s arm.

“Do you see what I see?” He whispered.

“Two.” She confirmed.

My brother and I stopped admiring the garden itself and followed my parent’s line of view. I wasn’t quite sure how they spotted them, but they did, right at the edge of the forest, disappearing from view. A guard, who had escorted us, informed my father that anytime they came close to capturing the tiger, it would jump into the forest and hide in its thick.

“It’s no surprise,” My father gave him a polite smile, “With all your armor, you announce your coming to your enemy, hours before you arrive.”

The guard frowned, gesturing to the weapons they had provided in the case. My father took a few practice shots, before be decided to keep his own bow but grabbed a handful of finely craft arrows. My mother did so as well, much to the protest of my brother who noticed she had his bow in her hands.

“I’m sorry Jongdae,” My father apologized, “If there are two tigers, I can not risk having you out there. Tigers are extremely predatory, if there is a team of two, it could mean they work well off each other or-”

“They’re really hungry.” My mother finished, “Stay here and protect your sister.”

“What?” Jongdae spoke up, watching my mother wield her own weapons, shedding her own frock and heading it to me. She was dressed like my father, and it looked quite silly. However, feeling the weight of fabric, I understood why it would be a mistake of she kept her garment on.

My father patted my brother on the head, “If it was one, I would allow you to come but the King also ordered they wanted to keep the beast alive. You’re skilled at a moving target but I’m not quite sure if you know how to capture it alive.”

My brother was left speechless. My father gave my mother a loving look, “Your mother is a decent shot and the best at setting traps.”

Both my brother and I exchanged looks, and she gave us a wink, “Perhaps your next lessons will be with me when we return home young man.”

And with that they were off.

Jongdae and I sat at the steps of the entrance of the garden. Jongdae didn’t waste any time, he stood up and fiddled with the royal weapons. He would mutter under his breath how much more smoothly the arrows would fly but how terribly heavy the bow was. I was intrigued with the hand knife, which I pocketed. It was a beautiful shiny black, made from the same obsidian stone my mother would use to make father’s arrow tips. I lifted the bow and made the same mental note that my brother did. 

It was heavy.

I wish I could speak to Jongdae and agree with his assessment but father had taught us that it only welcomed tigers, even low whispers attracted them. It was a rule to never speak unless absolutely necessary.

You could imagine my surprise when my brother spoke just as I drew the arrow back with my tiny arms.

“Kaira. Don’t. Move.” He spoke. I spun around, lowering my aim, staring at the long grass. Another breeze rippled through the field and that’s when I saw it. A disturbance of the ripple. It was as if a large rock had been embedded right in the middle.

Jongdae held up his hand at me, warning me not to react. I remained still.

“I’m going to distract it away from you.” He calmly whispered, before carefully sneaking off into the edge of the cherry blossom trees. I stared hard into the grass, finding the two beady black eyes that had its eyes set on us. It was stalking. I felt the fear run through my veins like ice cold water.

I was terrified to have my brother inch away from me, so I looked around to see if the guard was still somewhere within eye sight. Perhaps I could signal him down.

Instead, I saw a tousle of bright red fabric and a curious look. A small boy was walking in my direction with a funny looking hat on his head.

He gave me a curious look and began to march towards me.

“You there!” He pointed, “Who are you? State your case!”

My eyes widened.

“Answer!” He pointed his dignified finger at me as he approached, although I was sheltered, I wasn’t stupid, I knew he was someone important. Even higher than the people on the streets we passed earlier that day.

“You shouldn’t be here!” I whispered out, “Go away.”

His mouth dropped in disbelief, “How dare you speak to me that way lowly servant? I am the Third Prince, Baekhyun! I can be anywhere where I please!”

“Kaira!” My brother’s voice cut through the air. I whirled around to find that disturbance in the grass coming closer and all I had was this heavy bow.

Perhaps this was the great change the shaman had talked about. My impending death would dishonor my family for generations to come if I allowed the tiger to hurt the prince.

“I’m speaking to you!” The Third Prince demanded.

Just then, the beast’s body lurched forward out of his hiding place, eyes directly on the Prince, focused on the beautiful color of his garments. I gripped my bow and launched an unskilled arrow into the air and pushing the Prince back blocking him from view of the tiger. He shouted at me, threatening me with my life, calling the guards to take me away. I only saw the tiger advancing quickly towards us, the arrow clumsily ricochetting off its body. In a blink of an eye, he had leaped into the air, only to let out a startling roar.

A sliver of an arrow flew through the sky and pierced the beast shoulder blade. My brother had given it a critical hit.

The sound of its roar caught the Prince’s attention, blood draining from his face. It wasn’t a rather large tiger, but it was still limping towards us. It was in great pain but with one last push, he advanced, I stumbled backwards my arm raised with the knife I had pocketed eariler.

I wasn’t sure if I had died but the crushing weight of the tiger on me sure felt like I might have, if it wasn’t for the constantly shrieks of the Third Prince grounding me back to reality. The powerful muscles of the tiger relaxed and before long, my brother Jongdae pushed the beast off, crying to find me shaking and splattered with blood.

The beast’s throat had been slashed. I didn’t have the knowledge or the dexterity to get out of the special circumstance alive. It was the only time in my life I could say I had caused a great change.

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