[
@visualspice !]
Oh, how her servants and advisers had
fussed!
Qiana's pregnancy wasn't even showing, and yet her handmaidens were acting like she was nine months pregnant already! Like she ought to spend her days bedridden, like she might trip going down stairs on her own and oh, the horror if she stooped to pick something up on her own or lift anything that might be heavier than a plate! Qiana found such doting obnoxious before; she had come from Featherfall, after all, and she had been raised to be strong and independent like the other women in her family. She had participated in the gryphons hunts from a young age and even knew how to skin and gut an animal unaided.
She was a lady, yes, and the queen, but she was far from helpless and frail! And while it was irksome before, she had been able to endure it with poise and grace.
Nowadays, she felt like she could bite off their heads.
Between that and the stress of her job (did the fools not realize they were only stressing her out
more?), enough was bloody enough! Qiana needed to get out in the fresh air and vent in a
healthy way, away from all the fussing and responsibility. One day wouldn't hurt anyone.
And so she dressed in her simple hunting garb, a simple, sturdy dress with boots beneath, her hair tightly braided and pinned up and out of the way. She gathered a few of her most loyal guards, men and women she'd brought with her from Featherfall, and with them she set out on horseback to hunt...well, something. Maybe a deer for the kitchens. Wouldn't the cooks have a
fit when they realized she was the one to slay it?
Her hunt took her near the swamps. There weren't many large forests around Arca, but where there were trees, they were most plentiful by the water. And where there was water, there were animals. She had been tracking a deer for some time, a young buck, and one of her companions reported fresh droppings which meant they were close.
Which was both exciting and unfortunate. Qiana had been enjoying her time out here, free and on horseback, and was hoping it would have lasted longer--
Her thoughts cut off. There was a rustle in the bushes, and then a large shape, shrouded in shadow. It moved again, and Qiana nocked an arrow and took aim.
It was a short hunt, but...there would always be others.
She took aim, and let the arrow fly.