Serene ran across the palace grounds. Her legs pumped under her simple dress, the skirts of it gathered in her hands. She turned a corner, her breathing was uneven, and her chest burned, but she did not slow down. Serene nearly skidded when she pushed open the heavy door to the outer courtyard. The archery range was ahead. She could see two figures at the firing line: Evander and Seraphina. Royal guards stood nearby. As she got closer, Evander let an arrow fly, and it struck the center of the target with a solid thump.
"Bull's eye!" one of the guards shouted.
Evander raised his fist and punched the air. "Yes!" He turned toward Seraphina with a wide grin on his face. Did you see that? You're going to have to do better than that."
Seraphina lowered her bow calmly. "Stop bluffing. You got lucky today."
Evander scoffed. "If you wanted to beat me today, you should have picked horse riding. You know I'm terrible at it."
