— Enough.
Eastar lay down on the grass, with the bow dropped by his side, and looked at the sky. It was time for lunch, and he could no longer shoot arrows. His fingers were blistered, the inside of the left forearm was burning and full marks due to the friction of the rope, since it only found the protector long after.
He saw that some servants were passing by with water bottles and handing them to some archers, so he raised his hand and, when a young woman looked, he asked for some. He was confused when saw two other servants approach her, start talking, and giggle as they stole a glance at him.
The stellar look down and, for the first time, noticed that was the only person shirtless around the courtyard. He patted his face, remembering what his father had said about the chambermaids. Apparently, some people on the planet were afraid to talk openly, maybe because their rank was low, if they knew he wasn't even in the legion, they might not do that.
The girl approached and offered the bottle, her face was red with embarrassment, and she looked down. The young star did not understand, was embarrassed and was thinking of something to say when his father saved him.
— What's up, brat? Did you get anything right?
Eastar drank and looked at his father.
— Just look at the target, old man. You know the answer very well.
He returned the bottle and thanked the young woman, who left in a hurry, looking at her feet.
— Just being polite, which you have to learn, you know that? — The commander nodded kindly to the young woman who passed him and turned to his son again, a small smile on his face. — I'm sorry to tell you, son, but here on earth things are not very simple, the princess would be a beast if she saw you with any of these girls.
— Really?
— Oh yes, you will hardly find people here who separate sex from relationship.
— You mean… if I want sex...
— You'll have to be kind and hope the woman likes you.
— Complicated. — He frowned.
— I got used to it because of your mother. — Aros smiled.
— What is it? So I can only have one for the rest of my life?
— Oh no. — The father shook his head. — It's not that hard either, your mother and I choose that.
— Got it. — He said, relieved.
— I think the princess is very interested in you, so, be careful.
— Well, she's interesting, I think it will be worth the experience.
— Ha! Smart chit. All right, let's have lunch. Herimbor must be waiting for us with your sweetheart.
Eastar punched his father's arm with a might capable of thrown a man from yards away, but it seemed like a slight push to Aros. The two of them continued to laugh into the hall of the castle.
Arriving there, one of the servants hurried to bring a white shirt and a vest for the young star, who thanks as she left giggling compulsively. He raised an eyebrow at his father, who patted his shoulder as if in regret.
They both saw that the king was already sitting with his daughter on his thrones with a table full of food in front of them.
— They arrived! I hope the training was invigorating, young stellar. — The king got up and opened his arms to receive them. — But, if you want to continue, it is good to eat well. My little eagle said you were practicing with the bow, have you gotten the hang of it?
Eastar sat down and studied the food before answering. There was hunt meat, a pasta with a yellow mass made of orange and nuts, and a dark broth of peppercorns.
— Wasn't too hard, but I can still get better. — He sat down and filled his plate with pasta and meat.
— This is amazing! Your boy is a prodigy, Aros! It even reminds me of my daughter!
— Hi? — Aros was with his mouth full of broth and not paying attention to the conversation. — Yes, yes, Your Majesty.
— Well, it's still hard to hit the center. — The young man said as he ate, the dough stuck in his throat, and he hit his chest to go down. — Still, I wanted to try from farther, but the rope and bow can take no more pressure"
— Then why don't we make a dust bow?
— Dust bow... — For the first time, the young star took the eye of food and faced the king. — Are you talking about star dust? Do the earthlings have this?
— Of course we have. Since you stellars down in The Fall we acquired a lot of knowledge, young man
— Amazing! And when can I have this bow?
— I'll send one of my artifices to do so, it will be delivered as soon as possible.
— That's great, but now that I'm thinking, why don't you use dust for other things? It is a much tougher material.
— We use. — The king pointed, smiling, a goose thigh to the boy. — In the the city walls, some weapons... things we want to last for ages, or to be resistant. — Maybe you saw my father's statue in the central square?
— Actually… I haven't had time to walk around town yet, your majesty. — Eastar said, while looking at his father, that just returned a big smile smeared with food.
— No? Now this! So you must do it, it's a beautiful city! — The king scratched his beard for a moment and turned to his daughter. — Little eagle, could you take young Eastar to join you tomorrow during the ride?
— I'll be glad... — She tilted her head.
The king smiled approvingly and turned to the young star again, Sindar blinked at the stellar, enjoying that his father did not see, and he smiled.
— Great! — said Herimbor. — Now, back to the statue. As I was saying, star dust has been diluted in her bronze, so we hope it will last a long time.
— Got it! Thank you, your majesty.
— You're welcome! — The king was already stuffing the food in his mouth.
The princess looked at her future companion as he ate, she had not imagined that he could adapt to the bow so fast to be already looking for improvement, the best bowmen she ever met took months to learn how to handle a bow well enough, especially long bows like the one he used that would not allow the archer to aim.
She always thought that the sirions were easy to learn because they descended from the stellars, and that was one of the few characteristics they could boast of keeping from their ancestors, but something on that level was already ridiculous.
Eastar tore at a piece of meat, eating quickly. He looked at the princess when he realized she was staring at him. She takes a glass of wine to her mouth, and he gave a toothy and meated smile for her.
She spat the wine and laughed out loud.
The young man realized what he had done and turned his attention to his plate, embarrassed, while the two older men stared at each other without understanding what had happened.