“In two weeks, you shall return to Aristonia, and never speak again of what happened here on High Luana.”
“That is more than fair.” Far better than anything Jo had hoped for.
The king motioned for one of the servants. “Following breakfast, show the Master and his companion to the lower-level workshops.”
“Well, isn’t this berries,” Wayne chimed in.
“Berries?” The king blinked in confusion.
“Don’t ask,” Jo said with a shake of her head and a smile that she couldn’t hide.
“We have the craftsman, the material, the arrow, and the marksman. Now all we need is a plan,” Wayne continued.
“I will leave you to that, as I have no interest in being a conspirator in whatever action you take with my boon.” The king stood and Eslar stood with him. At a small hand gesture from Eslar, the rest of the group rose as well. King Silvus departed, pausing to speak to the herald who had initially summoned them. “See they are given free use of the workshops and other basic facilities. They are not permitted in the royal wing. Any other questions of permission come right to me.”
“Yes, my lord.” The man gave a low bow and with that the king departed, two servants scampering to be at his side.
“We shall be off, then?” Eslar said to Samson.
“Yes!” Samson nearly burst from his skin, quickly grabbing at Eslar’s elbow to walk arm in arm like an eager child. Eslar, to his credit, did nothing to shrug him off. If anything, Jo caught the ghost of a smile as they passed.
“And where does that leave us?” Wayne asked, looking to Jo.
However, it was Takako who responded. “War tactics are my area of expertise . . . but there’s something that’s not.”
“What?” Jo asked.
“Archery.”
Chapter 18
Coming Out Alive
The archery range was elaborate to say the least.
The area was broken off from one of the main courtyards, bordered not by fences or ropes, but by rows of interconnected trees, their trunks literally woven into each other in a crisscross pattern that nearly looked artificial for its near-perfection. It was as though, for the centuries this range had existed, the trees had simply chosen to grow that way in deference to the courtyard’s purpose.
The border of woven trees permitted glimpses of the ocean beyond; targets were placed inside the range at varying distances. Some were close enough that Jo assumed they were for elvish children in their early stages of training, but some were so far away even she had a hard time making out the bullseye.
Takako had chosen to start with some of the middle targets, closer than she would have for shooting, but farther than one would expect of a novice. Even with Takako’s precision magic, Jo was curious to see what her aim would be like with a weapon so far from her element—and timeline.
“For training purposes, you will acquaint yourself with a standard longbow,” a female elf dressed in a form fitting pair of trousers and cinched tunic explained. She handed Takako a sleek looking bow, already strung, and curved on both ends. When they’d been deposited at the archery range, they were left in the care of the royal archer and her unmatched expertise. She seemed less than thrilled to be offering that care to them.
Still, unfazed, Takako grabbed the longbow at the grip and positioned it the way the archer instructed. It took some fumbling to get the arrow to stay nocked, but eventually Takako managed it and aimed.
Jo felt the buzz of magic in the air at once, could taste it like static electricity at the back of her tongue. Jo could almost imagine Takako’s eyes layered over with crosshairs, her magic allowing her to envision her target with scope-like precision. If the archer felt it too, she made no move to interrupt, a look of boredom on her face. The elves, for whatever reason, seemed to be immune to sensing the magics of the Society’s members. But Jo was far from bored, practically leaning forward to watch magic meet arrow meet target.
With a breath, Takako drew back her arm, bent at the elbow. Jo watched her muscles strain, pulling the bowstring to tension. Fingers rested briefly against her lower jaw-line at the anchoring point, and then, on the exhale, she fired.
The arrow released from the bow with a satisfyingtwang, and though Jo shouldn’t have been surprised, it easily found a home at the very dead center of the bullseye of Takako’s choice.
“Still got it.” Wayne whistled in appreciation as Jo clapped Takako on the back. When she glanced over at the royal archer, it was to find a look of barely veiled surprise. And maybe even something resembling appreciation.
“I will leave it to you, then,” she said, gesturing to a booth with more arrows and bows in case they wanted to practice different distances, styles, and resistances. “If you require any more assistance, I’ll be on the other end of the field.”
Jo got the impression the archer hoped they wouldn’t take her up on that.
Takako was already readying another arrow by the time Jo turned back around. “I’m not surprised you took to this so easy, but I’m relieved,” Jo said, watching Takako experiment with different stances, sometimes aiming in an arch, sometimes keeping the arrow pointed straight forward.
