“Beautiful, isn’t it? And just ripe for the picking…”

“Wonder who’s in there..?”

“Another duke I hope! That last one we snagged was so entertaining.”

“You mean the one that started sobbing when we pulled him out of his carriage?”

Two adolescent boys crouched together among the thick foliage, speaking to each other in hushed, excited voices. They were dressed in dark, hooded cloaks and each carried a hunting bow and arrows. Their eyes were locked on the horse drawn carriage that was making its way steadily down the dirt road, in their direction. Even at this distance, they could tell it belonged to someone noteworthy. It wasn’t overly extravagant, nor was it accompanied by an overwhelming number of guards. But the carriage was a quality one, and it’s large wooden wheels sunk heavily into the mud as it lumbered along, clearly carrying more goods than the average traveller. They knew they had hit the jackpot. 

“Two horsemen in front, four in the back. Two guards on either side. This’ll be easy.”

“Come on, come on, what is she [i]waiting[/i] for?”

“Hush. She knows what she’s doing…”

By this point, the procession was slowly passing in front of them. They were close enough to hear the guards speaking conversationally to one another. One of the guards on foot reached up and pulled off his helmet to wipe the sweat from his brow. His hair clung to his scalp. 

“Shall I give him a little trim off the top?” breathed one of the boys, already aiming at the guard’s head, his bowstring taught.

“Wait for it…” replied the other, his voice barely a whisper. 

Just then, a trill whistle cut through the air. The boy let loose his arrow and it sliced the top of the guard’s nose before sinking with a thud into the side of the carriage. Suddenly everything was chaos as more arrows began to rain down from the treetops. Figures in black cloaks appeared in every direction, never lingering in one spot for too long. Their arrows came relentlessly, and yet they never seemed to find their mark. They would scratch the skin, as the boy’s had done, or knock a helmet off. One of them struck a glass window of the carriage and shattered it to a million pieces. 

“Why don’t you step out and tell your men to surrender?” came a strong, clear command from somewhere among the trees. “Otherwise, I fear you’ll find their aim improving…”