Chapter Hundred-and-Ninety-Seven
**3rd Person POV**
*Fifteen Years Later*
Charlotte squinted her eyes as she focused her attention on her target. The target was a huge bear with white fur that towered miles high. Charlotte fired her shot and dropped the bow in her hand to check the progress of her shot. She was not quite prepared for what she saw. The bear grabbed the arrow she had fired with its hands. It did not seem to her like a move an animal would take. She used her binoculars to get a clearer view; the bear was indeed holding the arrow and this time it was walking towards her. Quickly, she took her bow and fired another arrow. Using her binoculars, she saw that the bear had managed to catch it again. The bear was still walking towards her and this time with speed. She fired more arrows in rapid succession but none of them hit her target.
She was now down to one arrow and she was convinced that the bear would only turn it into a toy. She considered fleeing on her horse, Thunder, which had been a gift from her father but she had not been raised to take to get heels. She had been trained to face every battle head-on. She was a courageous soldier and skilled fighter and she never backed out of a confrontation.
She jumped from her horse and drew out her sword. She marched towards the bear with no fear. She had made large armies fall on her sword, this bear would be no different. The bear stopped in its tract as though shocked that she was marching with alacrity towards it. It did not stop her at all; she continued to walk towards the bear. The bear did not move at all; it just stood there as though daring her to come closer. It cocked its head to the side and stared at her down. She did not back down nor did she feel intimidated. She did sense though that this bear has a higher intelligence than its frame.
When she was close enough to touch the bear with her sword, she stopped walking. She eyed the bear and they must have stared at each other for at least two minutes without making any moves. Charlotte was beginning to suspect that something was off. A normal bear would have punched her by now; or taken advantage of her stillness to gobble her up. This one looked like it had tried to scare her off only to discover that she was not scared and now it was not sure what to do with her.
Charlotte moved back slowly from the bear. If it was not going to hurt her then she had no inclination to do so. The bear made no movement at all as she retreated. She climbed her horse and galloped away in the opposite direction of the bear.
“Charlie, with the way you practice one would think we're gearing up for war,” joked Reginald as he helped his sister mount off her horse.
“We might as well be, seeing that the vampires are threatening our sovereignty,” returned Charlotte.
“About that, Aunt Em is talking about speeding up talks with the vampire kingdoms we share borders with starting from the Kingdom of Dome,” replied Reginald as he walked Thunder to her stall. Charlotte rolled her eyes, she was not interested in talks, she wanted war. In her opinion, it was the only language that the vampires understood.
“So you're leaving in a few days then?” quipped Charlotte. She did not admire her brother going around talking to governments in order to avoid conflicts.
“No, no. I won't be going,” said Reginald. The tone of his voice told Charlotte there was more to come; more that would annoy her significantly.
“No way. Aunt Em didn't!” shouted Charlotte in protest.
“If you attend court you might have argued your way out of it,” shrugged Reginald.
“That's why you do the fancy talking thing,” said Charlotte in a defeated tone.
“It's called debate and I assure you, I did my best but she was insistent,” returned Reginald.
“She can't do that. It will be a disaster. I will talk them into war and she knows that,” cried Charlotte.
“That is why she has set some incentives in place for you. I'm sorry, the alternate word to incentives eludes me. What I'm saying is you're not going to like what would happen if your talks escalate into a war,” explained Reginald.
“What is she going to do? Take away my horse? Aunt Em needs to understand that I'm not ten anymore,” scoffed Charlotte.
Reginald was quiet which drove Charlotte to panic mode.
“She can't be serious! She would take my army? Stop me from being a warrior? That is ridiculous! Why would she do that!” screamed Charlotte. Reginald just watched quietly as his sister lost her cool. He hated being caught in the crossfire between his aunt and his sister. They were always at loggerheads and somehow they managed to put him in between it.
“Perhaps you should air your frustrations to Aunt Em?” quipped Reginald.
“You are kidding, right? Aunt Em does not listen to me at all. Maybe if you are with me when I plead my case, she might reconsider?” there was a plea in Charlotte's voice.
“Charlie you know I cannot do that,” said Reginald with a sigh.
“Let's not get hung up on the foreplay, what do you want?” asked Charlotte.
“I am not helping you this time. You are on your own,” Reginald said even though he was eyeing Thunder.
“She's off limits, you'll have to think of something else,” Charlotte had not missed the eye he had given her horse.
“I'm afraid there's nothing I can do to help you, Charlotte. You should start packing though, Aunt Emily said she wants you in Dome sometime next week?”
“I cannot set you up with my friend. You are the king of players. You will break her heart and I am not giving my shoulder to Adeela to be cried on,” said Charlotte. They still had that uncanny twin bond so she knew Reginald was still negotiating with her.
“Then I'm afraid…”
“If she agrees to speak to you fine, I'll set it up,” Charlotte finally gave in. She caved because she saw her aunt heading in their direction.
“Aunt Em, what a delight…”
“Do not patronise me Charlotte. It has been a month since you attended court. Do you understand the temerity of your duties?” Emily was not allowing Charlotte to cozy up to her.
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