A sharp sound passed through the air just before an arrow hit a target attached to a tree causing it to sink deep into it.
"This one was good, but it could be better."
Said a red-haired boy dressed in simple peasant clothes, brown pants attached to a tattered belt and wearing white shirts with a wide V-shaped opening at the neck.
Beside the boy was a girl holding a bow, the girl had brown eyes that gleamed slightly in the daylight and black hair held back by a red scarf that was on top of her head forming a long ponytail.
She lowered the bow with a sigh causing her to bend her body a little and soften her arms.
"Seriously, how do you hit all of them?" out of 10 I hit 3 and two still caught on the side."
The boy let out a high-pitched laugh, placing his right hand on the girl's shoulder and flashing a big smile as she lifted her face to look at him.
" It's okay, you've improved a lot, last month you barely hit an arrow in the tree"
The girl smiled and raised her body, standing up again and taking an arrow from the quiver that was on her back, placing it on the bow support and then starting to tension it until her palm was close to her face and then fired again when releasing.
The arrow flew through the air, deflecting to the left, hitting a bush right next to the target.
"Ah! What am I doing wrong?!"
Complained the girl making an expression of anger and frustration and then the boy gave her a light slap on the back making her shiver and with that he took the bow from the girl's hand and one of her arrows
"You can't just release the rope when shooting, otherwise it will shake and the chance of missing the shot increases"
He tensioned the bow in the same way that the girl had done, but instead of releasing the string to shoot, he moved the elbow of the arm that held the bow backwards making his fingers slide along the string and the arrow was fired precisely in the center of the target.
"See? It's not as difficult as seems"
The boy spoke with enthusiasm and a wide smile on his face just before turning to the girl who had her arms down holding one of the arrows with her right hand and then extended her free hand to the boy.
"Okay, let me try again.
The boy handed over the bow, the girl took it and positioned herself with the bow to shoot, but before shooting the boy moved to his back putting his hand between the girl's shoulder blades making her freeze and shiver completely releasing the arrow randomly
"W- What is it?"
The girl walked away with a red face holding the bow against her chest and the boy burst out laughing, but before he could say anything, they both heard a female voice in the distance.
" Secilia! Where are you?! Your father is waiting for you!"
The girl dropped her bow when she heard her mother's voice coming from the road where two small houses met. Secilia looked at the boy with a worried expression, the boy indicated for her to go through the forest, the girl started to run inside it towards the back of the houses trying to go unnoticed by the woman.
As he ran the boy sighed grabbing the bow and quiver that the girl dropped and left the forest waving to the girl's mother
"Hello, Mistress Laffrey! Looking for Secilia?"
The woman looked at the man holding a bow and walking calmly towards him.
"Yes, she just so happened to not be with you again, was she?"
The woman's question was followed by a rigid and inquisitive look at the young man, she had long black hair that fell over her shoulder and wore a blue dress without many details, but clearly something unconventional for villagers.
"No ma'am, but I saw her walking to apple trees"
The boy was pointing to the trees behind the house where there was a cluster of apple trees, one of the town's lace with the grapes and the winery they planted.
" That girl… I already warned her not to come here!"
The girl came out of the apple trees area passing close to two other villagers who were picking apples with an unusual hue, being purple on top and becoming blue along the rest of the apple, the girl took one of them making a sign of silence for both who smiled as if the girl did it constantly, she followed behind the houses with the apple and smiled waving.
"I'm here Mom!"
The girl screamed coming out of the gap between the houses holding the apple, taking a bite of it and waving to the woman with her free hand, her mother at a time crossing her arms when she saw Secilia leaving with the bottom hem of her white dress dirty with dirt
"Came to get apples again?! We've already talked about this, leave that to the maids, you have other obligations and as for you Mr. Clark, I hope the hunt is yielding a lot and that you're not missing too many arrows."
The woman began to complain to the girl as she approached and then let out a sigh putting her hand in front of her face and looking at the boy with a threatening but inquisitive expression. Clark in turn noticed the absence of the arrows they used to train and that they didn't had no hunting.
"They're harder to hunt, you know… I think they're getting smarter.
The woman huffed turning around and continued walking, Secilia smiled at him waving her palm behind her back as she followed with her mother
"If your father finds out about this, he'll keep you stuck at home for days, you know that don't you?"
The girl lowered her head leaving the apple low beside her body and responded almost inaudibly.
"As if he cares…"
"What's it?"
"Nothing mom, shall we?"
Miss Laffrey sighed for a moment and looked at her daughter and had a slight smile on her face.
"How about buying some clothes for the festival?' Your dad is a little busy with the winery, so he can wait a bit.
Secilia looked up with a happy smile to her mother, lifting the apple to her chest and placing both hands around it as she walked beside her towards the center of town.
Clark stayed behind watching Secilia leave, for a moment he let out a sigh while the man who was picking apples with his wife
" It's best not to think about it, boy, you know what's waiting for her."
"But she no…"
He turned and headed towards the place where they practiced with a serious and closed expression as the lord watched him and sighed before returning to his wife.