Rowan's eyes, fierce and protective, bore into the surprised faces of Gwen's assailants. They immediately backed away from her, arms dropping from her shoulder. The groveling began shortly after.

"Your Highness," the large man stuttered. "W-we didn't realize-"

"Didn't realize what?" Rowan barked back, jaw tense. "That I would be paying attention? That you wouldn't get away with it? That someone cares?" he asked, voice dangerously low.

The men had started to back away from the angry prince, wariness evident in their posture.

"We're sorry," the second man muttered. "It won't happen again."

"You're damn right it won't happen again!" Rowan exploded. "If I so much as catch you looking at her the wrong way I'll-"

"Rowan!" Gwen cried out, catching the wildness in his eyes. "I'm fine! Let them go." Gwen was so caught up in the action she almost missed the surprised look passed between the two men at her use of the Prince's first name.

Her fists were clenched tensely. As much as she appreciated the rescue, she was used to fighting her own battles. Letting someone else fight for her went against every instinct she had.

The anger drained out of Rowan's body at her voice. He turned his back on the men, who took it as a dismissal and hurried away. He closed the gap between them, hands going up to her face. He examined her quickly, holding her in place as he did so.

Gwen shoved his hands off of her and stepped away from him, her sudden shortness of breath surprising her. The spot on her face where he had held her felt like it was burning. Gwen felt her cheeks turning red.

"I said I'm fine!" she snapped, more harshly than she had intended. "You aren't my brother," she muttered, pain racing through her heart at the thought.

Rowan stepped back, surprised at her reaction.

"I was just trying to help," he said uncertainly.

"Yeah well you helped alright. You basically told them I'm a little girl who can't stand up for herself." Gwen glared, anger overcoming her at the hurt expression on his face. Who did he think he was, swooping in to save her every time something went a little wrong?

"I can take care of myself!" Gwen yelled, her voice rising into hysterics.

Rowan started to back away, not meeting her eyes.

"I'll stay out of it next time," he said softly, vanishing into the crowd.

Gwen let out a shaky breath, guilt starting to creep it's way into her mind. No, you were right to put him in his place, she thought, trying her best to ignore the pit in her stomach.

The way she kept reacting to Rowan's presence had caught Gwen off guard. She had never had issues keeping her emotions in check around anyone else. Rowan just seemed to bring out powerful reactions in her.

Gwen shook off her thoughts, refocusing on the competition. The beginning competitors had started to take their second shots, which meant she would be called up soon. She knew she had to make two perfect shots in order to make up for her missed one.

"Gwen Caldwell!" the guard who seemed to be in charge called over the noise.

She made her way up to the front, pushing through the thick crowd. Gwen was determined; she would not let her emotions get the better of her this time.

When Gwen reached the mat, she picked up the bow, weighing it in her hands carefully. She took two deep breaths, calming her racing heart and tuned out the chattering behind her.

She knocked an arrow, completely focused on the task at hand. Before giving a second thought Gwen let her instincts take over. She pretended she was in the forest again with her brother, the distance easily manageable for her. Before she knew it the string had been released from her hand, the arrow sailing towards the target.

A sharp intake of breath from the crowd made Gwen lift her stare to the target. Her arrow was deeply imbedded right in the center of the target. A grin spread across her face.

She dropped the smile before turning to face the awed crowd. After her first miserable performance no one had expected her to succeed. She cocked her head slightly, challenging anyone to say something. When no one did, she made her way through the crowd again, before stopping at a tug on her sleeve.

Gwen whirled around, ready to bite the head off of anyone who tried to challenge her. This was her one shot, and she wasn't going to let some egotistical man ruin it for her.

Gwen stopped short, surprised by the small figure in front of her. It was the girl from earlier, Taylor.

"That was an amazing shot," she said with a small smile, "I'm glad you didn't let them get to you," she nodded towards the men from before.

Gwen gave the girl a quizzical smile, not expecting the friendliness from her. Taylor had to know as well as she did that only one of them would make the guard.

"Thanks," she said slowly. "You had a nice one too."

Taylor smiled widely at her, taking the response as a go ahead to keep talking. She rambled on and on, about the castle, about the other competitors, about pretty much anything. Gwen admired the girl's friendliness, she couldn't bring herself to trust anyone in the competition yet, and Taylor was revealing all sorts of information.

Gwen looked up, surprised. "What was that?" she asked quickly.

"I asked if you thought the prince was cute," Taylor said giggling delicately.

Gwen immediately became defensive "Why would you ask that?" she demanded.

Taylor looked taken aback. "Because I think he is, and I saw you talking to him earlier."

Gwen slowly dropped her anger and rolled her eyes. Taylor was just another silly girl, hoping to meet the Prince. Even with her archery skills, Gwen found herself unable to take Taylor seriously. She couldn't be as much of a threat, Gwen assumed.

"Sure," Gwen said, relaxing. "If you're into that sort of thing."

"What sort of thing?" Taylor asked, hanging onto Gwen's every word. She stared up at her in admiration, taking everything in.

"Oh you know," Gwen said, voice filled with laughter. "Overly protective egomaniac."

Taylor laughed nervously, throwing a look over her shoulder. Gwen grimaced, realizing she had just insulted the prince of the kingdom.

"Well, I have to go shoot."

Gwen nodded towards the guard, calling her name for the last time.

"Why don't you go talk to him?" she suggested, walking to the front, not glancing back at the awestruck girl.

Gwen threw a confident smirk as she came to the front. After the success of the last shot, Gwen was assured she could do anything the men could do. Without a moment's hesitation, Gwen picked up the bow and shot the arrow fluidly, like she had done a thousand times. The arrow hit the target, not as perfectly as her last shot, but it was a good shot nonetheless.

No one dared to approach her, steering clear of her challenging smirk. She watched as the rest of the competitors take their last shots. There were some that were as good as her, or better, but others looked like they hadn't held a bow in their life. Once everyone was finished, Gwen felt confident that she wouldn't be in the bottom five, meaning she would move on to the next round.

The guard started called out the rankings from top to bottom. Taylor had ranked ahead of her, which surprised her a little; she hadn't been that sure that Taylor would continue to succeed in the trial. Out of the twenty-five competitors Gwen had ranked thirteenth. She was pretty much in the middle, which seemed like a good place to be. She wouldn't be a target going into the next round, and she might be under-estimated.

"The next trial will take place tomorrow. Each of you will be escorted by a guard around the castle. No one is to leave their room without the company of a guard," the King said, appearing at the front of the room from behind a group of guards.

Gwen sought out a familiar face as she walked to the doors. She smiled slightly as Jennings appeared by her side. She had grown used to his company already, and felt like he was warming up to her.

"Take me to my chambers," she joked, the usually stone-faced guard cracked a smile, rolling his eyes at her.

"This is way below my station you know," he said, leading her towards her room. "I should be out protecting the kingdom, not shuttling some girl around the castle."

"Shut up and find me some food." Gwen laughed, feeling light hearted after her victory.

Jennings sighed and proceeded to ignore her incessant teasing the rest of the way back to her room.

After wishing him a goodnight, Gwen headed into her room, an ecstatic grin blossoming across her face as she realized what she had accomplished that day.

"One down, two to go."

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Thanks so much for reading! If you liked it don't forget to leave a comment and vote, it means so much to me when people comment. I've had a  hard time sticking with stories in the past, this one has really come alive to me thanks to all the wonderful comments so thank you!

xoxo Emma