The Princess Makes a Move
"Agh!" Garrett Hollis screamed, blood gushing from the arrow shaft lodged in his hand. He clutched his palm, face contorted in a mask of fury. "Who did this?" he roared. "You people from Stonehaven? Are you trying to get yourselves killed?"
He drew his saber and spun, face twisted with menace, ready to find whichever Redgrave fool had dared to shoot him. But the person standing at the entrance wasn't a Redgrave.
It was Princess Solana.
She sat perched on a small, colorful donkey that clopped casually into the courtyard, her dark hair tied back and her body clad in crimson riding gear.
Behind her, dozens of elite guards in black armor filed in, their faces grim and professional.
They moved with silent efficiency, surrounding Garrett and his men before they could even react.
Cassidy Sterling swung the bow in her hand, admiring Garrett's bleeding palm as if it were a masterpiece.
"Not bad, right?" she boasted to no one in particular. "A perfect bullseye. I'm a natural."
And she knew she was. If she could snipe a target from half a mile away, a simple bow and arrow was just child's play.
The System couldn't resist chiming in. "Host, why didn't you just use the sniper rifle?"
The System was just dying to see how a sniper rifle with no bullets could possibly work.
"I was afraid this mutt would get my rifle dirty," Cassidy replied coolly.
Auspicious, her lady-in-waiting, was completely starstruck. "Princess, when did you learn to do that?" she whispered, eyes wide. She'd been with the princess since childhood and had never seen her even hold a bow, let alone shoot with such terrifying skill.
Cassidy was momentarily speechless. How was *she* supposed to know? She was just one of those people who was instantly good at everything. What could you do?
Riding the wave of unearned confidence that apparently came from getting your head kicked by a donkey, Cassidy shrugged. "I don't know. I don't remember."
Auspicious nodded, her expression full of awe. "I know what it is!"
Cassidy blinked. *Wait, what do you know? I don't even know.*
"The princess is naturally gifted," Auspicious declared proudly. "She masters anything after seeing it just once."
Cassidy couldn't help but be pleased with that explanation. "Of course. For a once-in-a-century genius like me, a little archery is nothing."
Garrett clutched his bleeding hand, shock warring with fury as he recognized the arrivals.
Listening to the princess and her aide brag about their marksmanship like he was a piece of target practice finally made him snap.
"Princess Solana," he seethed, "you dare attack an official of the Imperial Court?"
Cassidy, who had been admiring her own genius, finally turned her attention back to him. She sized him up with a sneer. "An official of the Imperial Court?"
She patted her little donkey's head and let it amble closer, toying with the longbow in her hand. A defiant, mocking smile played on her lips. "I shot you. What are you going to do about it?"
Besides, the Emperor had ordered her to go out and stir up trouble. Hurting someone was just part of the job description.
Garrett's face turned beet red. "You,! You're arrogant, Princess! Using your power to bully an official! I'm going to report you to His Majesty and see you punished!"
"Oh, please do," Cassidy challenged, her smile widening. "I'm looking forward to it."
Before he could process her words, Cassidy had another arrow nocked.
The bowstring sang, and the feathered shaft shot forward with a sharp whistle.
It happened so fast no one could react. The arrow punched straight through his other palm with a sickening thud, and fresh blood sprayed across the ground.
Garrett was thrown off balance, collapsing in a heap. He curled into a ball, a raw scream tearing from his throat as pain flooded his body, his face draining of all color.
Cassidy didn't even glance at the man writhing on the ground.
She pulled a token from The Capital Inspection Bureau from her belt and tossed it to Reid Donovan.
"Go to the Imperial Palace. Report to His Majesty that I was investigating the Stonehaven case, found this mutt trespassing, and caught him carrying out an illegal punishment. Then ask if I have his permission to execute him on the spot."
Garrett, still balled up on the ground, saw the token and froze. The princess also held a position with the Bureau. That gave her a direct line to the Emperor and the authority to dispose of people.
The pain in his hands vanished, replaced by a cold, sharp dread. Only one thought echoed in his mind: *It's over.*
He had assumed the Emperor sending Prince Ashworth and Princess Solana was just for show, a signal that the Marquis of Stonehaven was finished. Who would have guessed the princess wasn't here to investigate at all? She was just here to crack skulls.
Ignoring the agony in his hands, he scrambled to his feet. "Princess, I, I didn't use any illegal punishment! I was guarding the estate on His Majesty's orders. That Young Lord Redgrave trespassed, and I was just doing my duty! I did nothing wrong!"
Cassidy's face hardened. She raised her bow again, aiming the tip of an arrow right between his eyes. "Do you think I'm blind?" she asked, her voice dropping to a dangerous low. "How many lives do you have that you think you can lie to my face?"
Garrett stared at the arrowhead, barely a yard from his forehead. It felt like it would pierce his skull at any second. The last of his courage evaporated. He began to tremble violently before dropping to his knees with a thud, pressing his forehead to the dusty ground.
"Princess, please, spare my life! I, I didn't... It was the Redgrave family, " He stammered, trying to find an excuse, but when he risked a glance up and met her cold, mocking eyes, the words died in his throat. His mind went blank, filled with nothing but pure terror.
He remembered how she'd shot him, twice, without a moment's hesitation. This wasn't a risk he could take. Any other official might just have him demoted for abuse of power. But this princess... she looked like she would actually kill him right here and now.
Seeing him finally break, Cassidy lowered her bow and winked at the guards behind her. "Take this mutt away. We'll throw him in the Ministry of Justice's dungeons later. As for the rest of them..."
She raised her bow again, aiming it at the Imperial Guards who had been laughing the loudest just moments before. "You were all having such a good time earlier. Why aren't you laughing anymore?"
The guards saw the arrow pointed at them and remembered the sickening thud of it punching through their captain's hands. They collapsed into a terrified heap, bowing frantically.
"Princess, spare us! We weren't thinking! We'll never do it again!"
Cassidy sneered down at the groveling men.
"Since you can't seem to do your jobs properly," she said darkly, "and since the Capital Inspection Bureau headquarters is being repaired, you can go help. If the compound isn't completely fixed in two weeks, I'll have you all hung from the city walls to dry."
As the guards erupted into a fresh wave of desperate begging, Garrett let out a quiet sigh of relief. His legs were still shaking, but at least the Ministry of Justice was survivable. If he fell into the princess's hands, he wouldn't even know how he died.
After all, for a royal as favored as Princess Solana, beating an official to death would probably just earn her a few months of confinement. After feeling two arrows tear through his hands, he was well and truly terrified.