This short story is an entry into the Free Kingdom Lore Contest. The contest is sponsored by Jon Warren. The judges will be three monarch candidates from the Free Kingdom competition: NiHZ, Seele, and Jon Warren. An official list of the lore contest entries will be frequently updated on the Lore Contest thread

Breathing calmly and moving at a slow pace, she approached the nearest bush hiding her from the lone horse that she's been tracking ever since entering the forest and is now grazing in a clearing.

The cold autumn breeze caressing her pale, freckled cheeks carried all sorts of scents, a feeling of relief as she had feared the wind would turn and betray her presence. Blending into the the surroundings with a cloak of hazel colors, silencing her breath she pulled out a selfmade, wooden arrow from the leather quiver with stichings of past preys.

Lifting her trusty hunting bow covered in engravings that almost seemed excentric, she struggled to draw the bow and used all her strength to maintain a steady aim. Pacing her breath and locking on to her target, the surroundings becoming a blurr and only focusing on the horse ahead, she inhaled one last time before holding her breath to release the arrow.

Then the sound of cracking in front of her, she looked past the prey and lowered her bow, the horse looked into the same direction and quickly ran away. The shot had a chance to reach its target and she was ready to kill to sate her hunger, but would avoid the death of an innocent at any cost if possible.

Squeezing the eyelids together for farsight, she confirmed the person to obstruct her hunt was alone. Standing up and removing her hood to reveal wheat colored hair, she waved and started shouting "Over here" several times. At the other side of the clearing a person in rugged, but colorfull clothing emerged out of the underbush.

As the stranger started walking towards her in unsteady steps with arms crossed, she slowly headed to meet halfway. Coming closer the stranger appeared to be a mann youth, his looks and behavior rather juvenile. Wearing clothes made from rather luxurious fabrics, the vibrant colors reflected in the bright afternoon sunlight, even if they are torn here and ripped there.

"Greetings Maam, I am Vonse Aponathyme, mayhap you have any food to spare for a lost boy?" he asked, stretching out his small arms with open palms, revealing soft skin that never knew labor. Startled by the mature and polite greeting, the huntress found herself jaw dropped and eyes wide open, regaining her composure with slight embarrassment. "Nice to meet you Vonse, I'm Merryl, sorry but I don't have anything to eat except from some herbs, not enough to fill an empty stomach and my prey got spooked by your recent arrival. It would be a while until I manage to track it down again."

Her belly rumbled as if to confirm her statement, she blushed and tried to stop the awkwardness with another topic. "Why are you alone out here, are you lost?" she asked while patting his head and making gestures as if to measure his height and age, with him being almost two heads shorter than herself. "My mother and I ran away from bandits who broke into our house two nights ago, when we escaped into the forest we got separated" he said while looking at the ground, averting her gaze seeing his face. In an uplifting tone Merryl asked "Want me to help you find her? I can find humann traces just as good as animals." as if to cheer up Vonse she boasted her talent and bumped a fist on her puffed up chest.

"Thanks but no, my mother instructed me to head for my relatives no matter what happens, if anything happens she would meet me there, they live across this forest halfway up the mountain range." Vonse replied, this time looking her in the eyes with a determined expression. "Then let me help you get to your relatives, my preys gone and maybe I have more luck with game in the mountains" her conscience not allowing her to abandon someone helpless, but wanted to make an excuse for accompanying him. Vonse agreed and led the way as if he knew the layout of the land, heading first to a nearby creek of water to drink and refill Merryls water bag, then follow the stream up the mountains.

On their way Merryl shared her knowledge about the flora and showed which plants and roots are edible. When they were scrapping together some berries, Merryl grew silent for a while as she checked some animal tracks. With the days getting shorter, it was getting darker by the minute. They had reached the edge of the forest at the foot of the mountain, but decided to stay inside the forest for shelter. They made a small fire and were preparing the vegetables they found for a soup when Merryl stood up and started walking away, "I've got to check something real quick, be a darling and watch the soup."

Almost an hour passed and the darkness completely surrounded the small campfire before Merryl finally came back. Vonse who was not used to this situation came running and flung himself onto Merryl "Please don't leave me alone" he said with tears in his eyes. She stroked his hair gently and said in a soft voice "There there, I'm here aren't I? Sorry I made you worry." After eating they made themselves as comfortable as nature would allow and fell asleep.

The serenity of the night was cut short by the sound of howling, followed by whimpers, Vonse crouched towards Merryl and said in a shaky voice "W-what is making that sound?." Merryl gripped her bow tightly and explained why she was gone for a while, "Must be Canis Rabbits, I noticed their footprints in the forest and made some traps, but I'm not sure that's enough to scare them away." As she explained, another whimper could be heard behind a tree and after what seemed like an eternity Vonse gathered his courage and asked "Are still around?"

Merryl stepped to the side to grab a handfull pebbles and threw them in the direction she last heard anything from. "Praise Kernos the traps worked, they seem to be gone for now. Don't worry I'll keep watch, you need your strength so rest a while longer," she said while sitting down next to him.

Waking up after a disturbed night Vons greets Merryl in a rugged voice, she hands him a carved cup with tea in it and says "Good morning 'Logfeet', wanna freshen up before we keep going?" Vonse gulps down the rest of his cup, stands up and dusts himself off, "I am ready to go as right away, I don't want to make mother worry any longer than she has to."

They went out of the forest and started hiking up the mountain, when the sky was brightest Merryl found some recent Humann traces, which they followed with an increased pace. A little while later an arrow planted itself into the ground next to her and suddenly several menn pop out of the mountain crevices. A last person appears from behind a boulder further up, wearing a cape over rather elegant hardened leather armor. Don't move, state your name and business! the armored person said with a female but commanding and stern voice.

Vonse who was hiding behind Merryl suddenly left her side and ran towards the archer who apparently fired off the warning shot. Also wearing a cape but instead of armor he wore a fine leather jerkin. "Uncle Greg!" shouted Vonse and the mann dropped his bow to embrace him and called out "Alphonse! What are you doing here?" "Ehem! My lord! Would you kindly not lower your guard around strangers so much?" The womann said in a familiar and lecturing tone. Vonse explained to his uncle the situation, his uncle then approached Merryl and introduced himself with his brightest smile, "Greetings my lady benefactor of my nephew! You have my gratitude for escorting him safely to us. My name Gregor van Lörac, please join me and my family for supper."

Merryl nodded and wanted to speak but Gregor made a handgesture to stop, "Please wait with any questions until we arrive." As he said with a serious expression, Merryl merely nodded again without a word. During the whole journey Merryl silently followed Gregor and Alphonse(Vonse) who exchanged stories and tales with each other, while the others followed behind her back, watching her like a Pteroguin would his natural enemy.

Finally arriving in a compact Manor hidden by natural environment and guarded by several fully armored guards, Merryl let out a deep sigh and asked away without holding back, "Could somebody please explain the situation to me now! First of which why some 'Lord' is hiding out here with a platoon of armed mann, second why I had to keep quiet the whole way and third why Alphonse lied to me about his name."

"Allright, please take a seat Lady Merryl and someone bring us refreshments." Gregor pointed towards the dinning room which had a large table reaching across the room. "Know that what I tell you now, I tell with confidentiality" Gregor explains, trying to indicate his trust towards Merryl, before continuing. "As you may know the former king, also known as 'the Mad or the Deranged king'," he said with his gaze turning bleak, "was killed in a coup. All relatives fled the country in fear or persecution or hope of better a better life, all except us. I am the brother of the kings fiancé and had a good relationship to him. I cannot believe his last actions and thus, stayed back to uncover the true cause for all of this."

The room turned silent as Gregor waited for Merryls response to all she heard. "So that's why Alphonse lied to me about his name, he was scared I'd have ulterior motives, knowing that he's a relative of the king." she said with face like solving a difficult riddle. "Exactly, but since you've not shown any suspicious actions we decided to trust you with this. Please do forgive him for being overly cautious."

As he apologized Alphonse tugged on his cape and asked with a worried face, "Uncle Greg where is my mother? I thought she would be here when I arrive." Gregor patted Alphonses head and looked over to Merryl, "If you would, I'd like you to think about what you plan on doing next. As it seems I must put together a search party, should you be in need of anything my trusted aide shall see to it." With that said Gregor stood up and left the dinning room to prepare, while the female clad in hard leather armor whom they met earlier came in and saluted before giving an introduction.