Prince Leo, also, saw what happened and we decided to follow them, discreetly. We exited through the front door to avoid raising suspicions. Then, walked on the opposite street as we followed them. People on the streets lessen as walked further from the town market so we had to increase the distance between us and them. Until, we lost them as soon as they entered the woods. We entered the woods to try to find them, but the massive number of trees doesn't help us at all.
We were about to retreat to get some help when we heard someone shouting, we followed the sound, then, came across a clearing where Prince Wang Jung was kneeling on the ground with the scary-looking men behind him and in front of him was the owner of the building.
I turned to Prince Leo and whispered to him, "Go around them, I have a plan."
"I can't leave you here, on your own, Princess."
"We don't have much time, I'll run away if my plan fails. Now, go."
"Please, be careful, Laurana."
"I will. You, too, Leo."
After he left, I quietly slipped off my bow over my head and arm, then, held the bow away from my body using my left hand and reached an arrow from my quiver on my back. It was a small hunting bow with a light draw weight so it won't be too heavy for me to pull the bow string and it's a good thing I already was wearing my gloves. I placed the arrow on the left side of the bow with my right hand and using my left forefinger as the arrow rest. I tried doing a pinched draw then, paused to aim, with the arrow tail against the corner of my mouth. I released the arrow but my hold wasn't stable, it wouldn't hit the target, for sure.
My plan could still work, whether it'll hit the target or not, I just have to be confident. Using a bow and an arrow for hunting is good because it doesn't make a sound. And that way, these scary-looking men wouldn't know my exact position, right away. They didn't noticed the arrow, until it was getting nearer to where their boss was.
"Boss!! Look out!!" The arrow hit the ground near the boss' feet as some of the scary-looking men run towards him. What I didn't know was, there's a certain prince hiding with wide eyes, looking at the direction where he left me.
"Who's there?! Come out!!" The owner of the building was a little bit shaken and angry, I can hear it in his voice.
...
As soon as I released that arrow, I reached for another arrow in my quiver and placed it on the bow without pulling it, yet. I, also, wore a mask to hide my face.
"Release the man!! Or else, the next arrow will surely hit your boss' head!!" I kept changing my hiding position as I shout at them.
"Oh!! I also heard some of the palace guards were heading this way, by the way!!" Noticing they weren't leaving. I decided to show myself with the bow and arrow facing the ground.
"Over there!!" As they looked at where the man was pointing, they didn't expect to see someone wearing a cloak and a mask with only strands of dark red hair and blue eyes, showing.
"Nuh-uh! Stay where you are!" I raised my bow and arrow towards them, and warned them as I saw someone was about to step forward. Then I pointed it at their boss and pulled the bow string up to the middle of the arrow.
"Release him or I'll release this arrow!" They were belittling me and my arms were starting to get tired. So I stopped pulling and looked into the woods surrounding them.
"You know, I'm not alone, right? That man has an unfinished business with us, and we want to take care of him, if you know what I mean. We don't have any business with you, so we'll just let you walk away. But, if you still insist on keeping him.. we don't have a choice." I said that in the most sinister way, possible. I suddenly pointed my bow and arrow at them, left to right, right after I stopped talking.
"Place your arrows!!" Understanding my plan, Prince Leo made some noises in several bushes. Hearing those, the owner of the building was starting to panic. Even more so, when he heard me shout again.
"Draw!!"
"Stop! Stop! Stop! He's all yours!! We'll leave!" They hurriedly walked away, not looking back.
"You! Stay kneeling!" I shouted, for them to hear.
...
After making sure that they were all gone, Prince Leopold made his presence known and walked towards the both of us as I removed my mask.
"You can stand up now, Prince Jung."
"Woah! I didn't know you knew how to use a bow, Princess."
"I don't."
"But--"
"I was just bluffing. Did you believe me?" I laughed at him.
"Is the palace guards with you?" He looked around him.
"That's also a bluff, its just the two of us."
"What were you thinking, Princess?! What if it didn't work?!" Prince Leo held both of my arms. It wasn't an angry shout, but a worried one.
"Leo.. it worked, didn't it? I'm sorry for making you worry; besides, it won't happen again, right, Prince Jung?"
"Definitely!"
"This is your fault! If you didn't sneaked out, she wouldn't be put in possible danger."
"Hey, hey, hey. Nothing bad happened to me. I have nothing to worry about, because I knew you were there. Furthermore, I scared the sh*t out of them, didn't I?" I held his arms, smiled at him and wiggled my eyebrows.
"You bet, you did, Laurana." He finally smiled at me.
"Enough with the touching. Thank you for saving me, Princess. I am indebted to you, from now on." That was Prince Jung ruining the moment.
"Wait a minute. What are you, two, doing outside the palace?"
"I sneaked out to visit the town and practice archery, in secret. And I hope my parents won't hear any of this." Both of the princes nodded.
"I caught her sneaking out so I came along. Princess, how long ago did you start practicing archery?"
"I haven't." They looked at me with surprised looks.
"But, how did you know how to hold the bow and arrow, properly?"
'On the internet, back on Earth.' But, I couldn't tell them that.
"Instincts? Uhm.. I actually saw my father using one, so, yeah. Oh, look, it'll get dark soon, we better hurry and go back to the palace."