Chapter Twenty Two

"Never would I have thought that my wife is such an excellent archer." Alex's proud and gentle voice echoed, but Julie didn't move to even glance at him. She simply stood there, tensed, as her heart suddenly began to thud fast inside her rib cage.

She could hear the maids and Elijah greeting him. She knew that courtesy required her to offer him her greetings too. But Julie was utterly overwhelmed with the emotions that were surging tempestuously inside of her – the anger, the homesickness and the… unwanted feelings that blazed even stronger in his presence. Why? Why was she feeling like this? What did he do to her that his mere presence could shake her to her core?

Slowly, Julie steeled herself and when she turned towards him, he smiled at her. She stiffened at the sight of that heartbreaking smile that haunted her since last night and then the whole day too.

Rigid, Julie didn't move nor said anything. She couldn't. But when he took a step towards her, she took a step back automatically even before she realized she had done so.

The prince's brows creased slightly, and his smile faded at her reaction. However, he still continued stepping closer to her. This time, she managed to root her feet to the ground and stood firm. Uncontrollably, her heart hammered even faster inside her, and she found herself growing more nervous. Her body just kept reacting in a way that she neither recognised nor like.

But he stopped just three steps short of reaching her as if he had sensed someone's presence. Levy landed behind him, causing him to turn away from Julie.

"What is it?" he asked in a quiet tone, returning his gaze back to Julie again.

"Your Highness, General Alcan and his daughter are here." Levy said and Alex seemed a little surprised.

It was silent for a moment, but Julie felt like a secret conversation was going on between the men that the rest of them are not privy to.

When Alex faced her again, he looked at her practice target. "I think you've played enough, wife. You should have a rest now. I'll see you again at dinner."

After saying those, Alex immediately left. A general visiting the prince's castle at this hour… if they were humans, this hour was considered near dawn. That General Alcan must be a very important guest to cause Alex to leave in such a haste, she thought.

Letting out a sigh, Julie silently faced her target again. She was so nervous when he was here but when he left, she almost called out and said 'wait'. Gripping her bow, Julie picked up another arrow and then took a stabling deep breath.

"Is…" she started. "Is General Alcan an important ally of His highness?" she asked and the maids' silence made Julie stop her shot and glanced at them over her shoulder.

"No milady. The truth is…" Fray paused hesitantly. "General Alcan is known to be the emperor's most loyal subordinate. He's Lady Thea's father."

Julie's eyes widened and quickly, she hid her face from them. Again, she felt her pulse beating at a furious tempo just like before Alex arrived. Only this time, it was far graver. She was glad she wasn't facing them because she could no longer keep her face serene.

"Sir Levy said he's with his daughter. He only has one daughter and that's lady Thea, right?" Fray said to Gina in a soft voice.

"Oh no, could it be that he's here to insist on His Highness marrying his daughter?" Gina replied.

"But the general is loyal to the emperor –"

"What if the general swear his loyalty to prince Alex now once His Highness marries his daughter?"

"Oh my, now that you mention it… that is possible, His Highness really needs an ally after all –"

Suddenly, the maids gasped as they looked at Julie. Their faces were apologetic and worried. They tend to gossip like this all the time before their lady arrived that they had forgotten their lady was with them and could hear them discussing it clearly.

"Uhm… my lady… that –"

"Fray, Gina…" she cut her maid off. "I'd like to go into that little forest. I could hear birds singing from there, I think I can hunt one with this bow." Julie's voice was unusually calm.

The maids looked at each other.

"I'll shoot one first before I return to my chambers," she continued as she picked the arrows and then, squaring her shoulders, she walked off and headed to the nearby small forest inside the castle's premises that she mentioned about previously.

"You two please wait here. I don't want the birds to be startled by so many people and end up running away so don't follow me. I'll be back as soon as I catch one." Julie's voice was light and seemingly cheery. However, Fray and Gina didn't know why but they felt her expressions were odd.

Fray and Gina looked at each other again but they eventually bowed obediently to her as they watched Julie enter the forest. They were a little hesitant at first but seeing that she seemed to be alright, they sat on the grass and waited.

As soon as Julie was inside the forest, she hid behind a tree trunk and leaned her back against the tree. She couldn't believe her reaction just a while ago upon hearing what the maids were saying. She felt like she had been shot by a stray arrow right through the heart and her throat constricted to the point it physically hurt, and she had had to silently release her breath in a controlled flow, to hide her emotions from the maids.

How could she? How was it possible for her to feel this way? Their marriage was never a love match. She didn't even spend much time with him yet. It has only been a few days since their wedding!

Julie buried her face into her palms. The feelings she had felt that moment frightened her and at the same time, invigorated her. The worse thing was she didn't know how to handle such strong emotions she had never felt before.

She leaned the back of her head against the tree and kept her eyes closed and regulated her breathing to calm her chaotic mind. Her fists at her sides were clenched so tightly as she wished desperately for absolute strength to mightily shut her own stupid, mindless and rebellious heart.

When her breathing became even, Julie filled her mind with the faces of the terrifying aliens she had met before. She relived that time when the Aliens attacked her carriage and she saw those dead bodies of their own soldiers, mutilated and torn apart. And then she pulled out that one memory in time when she witnessed their soldiers coming back home tattered and bloodied because they had lost the war against the Alien. She remembered how she felt that day when she saw just how many of the lively and confident soldiers who had left before then came back marching home like walking dead. That time, Julie had asked her mother how they could stop this from happening again and she had been told that the only way to stop such tragedy was to annihilate the Aliens.

Julie flinched at the thought of annihilation and all of a sudden, the faces of the Aliens in this place that she had seen and met invaded her head. She pictured all their smiling faces; she saw them eating and dancing peacefully – carrying out their daily lives, just as if they were no different from humans and she gritted her teeth.

Aware that her thoughts were drifting dangerously towards something she didn't like, Julie closed her eyes and let out a shaky sigh. She grabbed her bow and arrows and looked up. She realised she was feeling angry again – angry with herself.

A beautiful bird unexpectedly flew into view and she remembered what she told her maids. A bitter smile curved on her lips and she raised her bow and aimed at the beautiful bird singing joyfully. And she started to tremble. She couldn't even shoot an animal. Even when she was back home, she knew that her skill in archery was useless because she couldn't put it to use. She could only shoot a non-living target.

Julie suddenly felt like crying. She stood there, alone and lost in her dismal thoughts. She didn't even realize that it was already twilight until she felt a chill that crawled through her spine – one that was not caused by the cold but by something else.

She whipped around behind her and her eyes slowly widened in alarm.

A wolf was staring at her.

Julie froze in fear. She immediately remembered the beasts Alex had killed in the dark valley. This wolf wasn't as huge as those beasts, but it was definitely bigger and scarier than the normal wolves she usually encountered and had seen back home. It took a step towards her and bared its fangs. With the next step, it was snarling at her and its red eyes were fixed on her.

When the wolf moved without taking its eyes off her, Julie's eyes trailed its every single movement. She was overcome with fear, but she realized she was holding her bow arrow and they were ready to be shot. Her survival instinct kicked in and she lifted her weapon and wasted no time in aiming it at the wolf.

She didn't know how she managed but it seemed like her body knew what needed to be done. Her hands were trembling, her body so stiff but with the weapon aimed and locked onto the wolf made the animal still for a moment before it started to circle her. Julie followed it's every move, never letting herself get distracted even though she felt sweat trickling down her back. She didn't know what else she could do. She doubted the use of her screaming for help after thinking through for a bit. Screaming would not be of much use as she was quite certain that the wolf would most probably get to her before her maids could even reach her.

One wrong move and she was done for. And her hands were still trembling. She was aiming for the area between its eyes, but could she hit with her current condition?

Julie nearly smiled in both fear and utter disbelief. She couldn't believe what was happening. She was prepared to deal with the aliens and rescue herself against them. But that did not involve rescuing herself against a wild animal.

The forest became so eerily quiet. Julie could no longer hear anything but the heavy thumping of her heartbeat and the sounds of her feet moving so slowly as she continued the same circling motions, following the predator that was circling her. Was it truly her fate to come to a foreign land and die in the jaws of an animal?

Julie choked back on her tears and somehow, the shivering in her hands settled a little. However, the wolf that was growling menacingly suddenly stilled and warning bells rang in Julie's head. It's going to attack now!

Julie's trembling started again as she carefully took a small step back. No! Don't!

The next moment, the wolf made a move. Time seemed to stop and before she knew it, the wolf was leaping towards her. Her lips opened and she didn't know why she uttered Alex's name as she released her arrow.