CHAPTER TEN

"Lots more?"Brenda asked.

"Yes, your highness. Running targets, flying targets, swimming targets..."

"Okay, I'm ready for whatever targets you bring but where do we get a running target?"

"We could leave the palace and do some hunting, it'll be good for your training"

"Um... let's start with the other targets. If we have enough time left after we've tried the other targets,then we can go hunting to try running targets"

"Okay your highness"

"Let's start with flying targets"

Bryan nodded and took out a fruit from the basket.

"I'm going to throw this fruit up and you have shoot it with an arrow before it touches the ground. Ready?"

Brenda nodded.

Bryan threw the fruit up and Brenda shot her arrow at it.

"Yes" She said happily when her arrow hit the fruit before it touched the ground.

Bryan threw more fruits in the air and Brenda shot her arrows at them without missing any one of them.

She grinned satisfactorily.

He suddenly threw two fruits at a time.

Although caught unaware,she raised her bow and arrow swiftly and shot but she was able to hit only one of the fruits.

"Hey, that's not fair" She said, turning to face him with a frown.

"Do you want to learn how to shoot more than one arrow at a time?" He asked,smiling.

She stared at him for a while before nodding.

"I have to warn you though, it's a bit difficult" He said,taking the bow from her.

"Is that supposed to scare me?" She asked.

"You're not the type to get scared easily" He smiled.

"A compliment coming from the teacher, that's nice"She smiled.

He chuckled.

She chuckled also,staring at him.

If only he knew how handsome he looked right now, especially with a smile on his face.

Before the sun rose the next day,Brenda prepared to go to Griffin Empire to save her mother and brother.

She put on one of her brother's casual clothes and packed her hair in a half ponytail.

She didn't have to dress like a king since she was leaving the kingdom.

She carried a black bag she found in Shane's closet and kept her bow and arrows in it.

She also kept some other weapons she felt she might need too and some other things in it.

She picked up the map lastly before walking to the window .

She opened it and stared down.

It was high but not too high for a jump.

She couldn't go out through the door so the guards

wouldn't see her.

She took in her breath before taking the jump.

She landed on the ground.

She stood properly and walked cautiously to the palace gates,there were guards guarding the palace gates.

She stopped,thinking of how to make her way out of the palace gates.

The fence built around the palace was too high for her to scale through even if she wanted to.

She sighed,she only had one option.

She packed her hair into a bun and walked to the leader of the guards guarding the palace gates.

"Your highness" He bowed

"I have an urgent matter to attend to outside the palace. Tell your men to open the gates"She commanded,using a deep voice.

"Open the gates"He said to his men immediately.

Brenda smiled.

"One more thing "She said to him"No one must know I left the palace. If someone asks of the king,tell such person that the king is ill. Breath a word of me leaving the palace to anyone and I'll make sure the only thing you ever feel throughout the rest of your life is regret" She said,her eyes staring dangerously into his.

He swallowed

"Understood your highness" He bowed.

"Good" She said before leaving the palace

Not long after Brenda left,Bryan came to knock on her door but he got no response so he went to the garden.

He was surprised when he didn't meet her there.

He went back to her room and entered.

She wasn't in her room either.

"Where could she possibly be?" He asked himself.

Suddenly,his mind raced back to the previous day.

The questions,the map...

"The map!" He said and began to search for it.

He searched every nook and cranny of the room but he didn't find it.

"No way" He said when a thought suddenly occured to him "Did she go to Griffin Empire?" He asked himself.

His mind raced back to when she mentioned her mother the previous day

If he could remember clearly,she said 'That means my mother is there'

If she truly went to Griffin Empire like he was suspecting,that means she probably went there to save her mother and he felt that it was somehow connected to why she was pretending to be king

"I have to help her,else she's going to get herself killed" He said and ran out of the room

The second entrance to Griffin Empire was actually a short cut

She found herself there in no time

The entrance was guarded like Bryan told her but there were only a few guards

With her archery skills,she was able to take them down in just a few minutes

She then began to find her way to the palace

After walking for minutes,she finally found her way to the palace but it was heavily guarded.

"Maybe I should find another entrance" She said to herself.

Bryan picked a few weapons and left the palace without allowing anyone notice anything.

Brenda was able to find another entrance to the palace.

It was guarded but not as guarded as the first one.

There were only three guards.

She stood a few steps away from the entrance,making sure to hide herself properly

She raised her bow and an arrow,aiming for one of the guards.

She shot her arrow and it pierced his shoulder.

He held his shoulder, blood oozing out of it.

The other two guards rushed to him immediately.

Seeing two of the guards distracted already, Brenda picked up a stone and ran to them,hitting one of the guards behind his head with it.

He fell on the ground immediately.

The last guard advanced towards her angrily, pulling out his sword.

He almost chopped her head off but she ducked.

She wasn't a good fighter but she had to give all it took to take the guard down.

She grabbed his arm and stabbed him with an arrow.

Her eyes widened when he pulled out the arrow,he didn't seem to feel any pain.

He grabbed her hair tightly.

She gritted,breathing heavily.

He brought his sword close to her stomach, smiling devilishly and was about to stab her but she held his hand with hers and knocked his forehead with hers.

He staggered back.

She brought out an arrow and rushed to him, piercing his neck with it before he could get another chance to attack her again.

She exhaled,breathing hard as she watched him collapse on the ground.

She was able to enter the palace successfully without getting caught by any other guard.

"Hey" Brenda heard a voice and looked back.

"Who are you?" The guard who called her asked.

"I'm..." She thought of what to say "I'm here to see the princess " She lied.

"Which one of them?"The guard asked.

"I'm sorry,what?"

"We have four princesses, which one of them are you here to see"

"I'm here to see the...um...the first prin...no the second prin..." She stammered.

She didn't expect there would be so many princesses.

"What's that?" The guard asked, pointing at Brenda's bow.

"This?" She asked touching her bow"This is actually a gift for the...um...fourth princess" She said.

The guard moved closer to her.

"None of our princesses are skilled in archery "He brought out his sword"Now,who are you really?"

She moved back,bringing out an arrow and her bow and pointed it at the guard.

"Stay away from me,I don't want to hurt you" She said.

"I think you mean us"The guard said and whistled by putting two fingers in his mouth.

"Us?" She asked looking confused.

Before she knew it,about fifteen guards joined him.

They circled her and brought out their swords.

"Drop the bow" A guard said to her.

"I'm sorry but I have to save my brother" She said and released the arrow.

The arrow pierced the guard's leg and he fell on the ground.

"You just made a terrible mistake" A guard said and wanted to hit her with his sword but just as he was about to hit her,an arrow pierced his stomach from behind.

She raised her hands immediately.

"I didn't do that,I -" She paused her sentence when she saw Bryan standing in front of her

His dark eyes blazing and still as bold as always.

He had the same look on his face like when he first came to the palace.

A brave and fearless look she always admired.

'But, what was he doing here? How did he know she came to Griffin Empire"