Now that their home was fuller than ever, Dorothea craved escape whenever possible. As much as she could handle courtly behavior and politeness, she found the crowded space was just too much. She couldn’t move anywhere without bumping into someone and then engaging in polite talk for five to ten minutes. Time, during which, she spent fantasizing about escaping outdoors. Then, when she finally did make it nearly outside, she was bombarded by someone yet again, asking her something or requiring her for a task. It was all a bit tedious, but she felt as though she was bearing her duties rather well. And so, when the opportunity presented itself for an escape, Dorothea took it, miraculously managing not to run into anyone at all on her way out. Her maid servant may have had a bit to do with that, as Dorothea pleaded with her to run interference should anyone approach.
Her beloved bow on her back, Dorothea crept towards the practice range she and her father had been developing over the past fifteen years of her life. She constantly changed out the targets, varied the lengths and depths in which she needed to shoot. Finally, she would set up her own odd places to stand, kneel, perch, or even jump from. If the target couldn’t always be moving, then she must account for herself (though they had rigged a rather ingenious pulley system which could in fact move targets on occasion).
The range was set up rather simply for the past week, allowing for the Princess Athanasia’s lessons. It had been enjoyable so far, teaching the young woman. She was a quick study and eager to learn. Dorothea often enjoyed giving lessons, especially to young women. It was satisfying to watch them begin to feel empowered in their own skills and abilities as they improved. Dorothea believed strongly that women should learn to protect themselves and not feel to need to rely on men for everything. She felt as though she could get by without a man in her life, though she deeply loved her father and brother. But should the need arise, she could protect herself. It was scary to feel helpless and she wouldn’t wish that on anyone. And so, she trained others when asked. Even if they would never be the best, that was okay. They would know the skills should the need ever arise. That was enough.
Even though the range was set up rather simply, Dorothea could make it a challenge for herself. Shooting for the center was easy, boring. But shooting in a pattern? Now that was more fun. She took a brief second to consider her design, then drew her arrows, firing at a rapid pace. After a minute, she had exhausted all of her arrows and her design was complete: a passable outline of a stag, antlers and all. If anything, perhaps her design was slightly flawed. All of her arrows had landed exactly where she intended them.
Dorothea smiled, brushing a stray curl from her braid away, knowing that her effort would have no effect. She shivered slightly as a light breeze rippled through the area, her sleeveless green chiton, meant for archery practice felt like not enough for the weather. Then again, she was always cold, even in the warmest months, so this was no surprise. Still, nothing would keep her from practicing.
She went through several other rounds, her latest being a rather ambitious looking crab, pausing only as she heard the sound of soft applause. At some point, it seemed she had attracted a visitor. She turned, spotting the Lady Imeeya at once and offered the young woman a smile. She was surprised to note the young woman alone, but made no mention of it.
“Good afternoon, Lady Imeeya,” she greeted. “Have you come to join me?” She hadn’t succeeded in getting the lady to try, but perhaps this was her chance.
Since Imeeya had been staying at the Dimitrou estate, Imeeya had finally had a chance to relax for the first time since she had come to Taengea. Imeeya was finding that as she began to feel comfortable, she had a lot of thoughts on her mind. Without other things to occupy her mind, she seemed to be suddenly finding those thoughts coming to mind inconveniently. When the men had come back from fighting the Creed, Imeeya had jumped in to help with taking care of the wounded soldiers without a second thought. Yet, nothing in her sheltered life up until that point had prepared her for dealing with those kinds of things. Now, if she sat still for too long, she ended up thinking about those things. Imeeya did not particularly want to think about those things.
Therefore, Imeeya had kept herself busy during her stay at the Dimitrou estate. Today, Imeeya decided to take the time to do some exploring outside around the grounds. After breakfast, Imeeya had wandered down a path that she hadn’t previously followed, not considering that this was the direction that Asia and Dorothea went to practice their archery until she stumbled upon Dorothea alone shooting at targets. Imeeya immediately started to turn to head back towards the house, not wanting to disturb the woman at her practice but paused when she saw Dorothea nock her bow. She hadn’t had much opportunity to watch anyone practice archery, and she supposed as long as she was quiet, it probably wouldn’t matter.
Imeeya had always assumed that practices would be full of stumbling attempts, and perhaps they were for someone less skilled with a bow than Dorothea, but Imeeya found herself open-mouthed in awe as she watched her fire off a perfect pattern of arrows in the shape of a crab. Imeeya found herself applauding without even thinking at the amazing display of bowmanship. Luckily, Imeeya managed to regain her composure by the time Dorothea had turned to see her there.
”Good afternoon”, Imeeya returned the greeting. ”Oh, I was just out walking when I stumbled upon you practicing.” Imeeya demurred. She had no interest in learning archery like her cousin, despite the fact that Asia had been bugging her to come to join them. Perhaps Dorothea thought that Imeeya had finally given in to her pleas to learn archery for herself. ”It seems you are something of an artist as well as an archer.” Imeeya quickly changed the subject, with a smug grin, looking over at the arrangement of arrows. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad to stick around and watch Dorothea practice after all.Dorothea of Dimitrou,
Dorothea believed in getting to know any guests in her home, yet as of late there were more guests than usual. She regretted not having a chance to speak with the lady Imeeya much beyond the occasional greeting here and there. It seemed as though there were many important people she had to attend to and somehow this young woman had gotten lost in the fray. Dorothea felt bad, but was glad she was here now. Perhaps if she couldn’t teach Imeeya something with the bow, she could at least get to know her a little better. She felt bound to try and know everyone staying in her household better.
Although Imeeya deflected her suggestion deftly, Dorothea was not to be deterred. She wouldn’t let her pass this easily. Especially not when they were alone and she had a chance to convince her companion. For now, she would not push it completely. Smiling at the compliment, Dorothea replied, “It keeps me from getting too bored. I know I could hit the center of that target, even with my eyes closed, so it is not a challenge. I am constantly looking for ways to improve myself and this,” she shrugged, “well, it is a bit more fun. I fear that when it looks odd it is more due to my poor design than skill. Crabs, at least, I can recreate rather accurately.”
She moved towards the target, quickly pulling the arrows and erasing the shape before retuning to Imeeya. Now she could make her argument with the tools in her hands. She’d had enough practice for the day, so felt no need to continue shooting, but hoped that Imeeya would. As of yet, Dorothea hadn’t been able to get much of a read on the woman. She had picked up little from Asia, the princess seemed less than willing to mention Imeeya. After a few brief attempts to learn more, Dorothea had let it rest and focused on what Asia had come to learn from her.
“I’m sorry we haven’t had much of an opportunity to speak as of yet,” Dorothea said, turning her attention to the young woman in front of her. “I hope you are finding your stay here comfortable. What do you think of Taengea so far?” It was always interesting to hear the perspective of her homeland from someone else. Of course, she thought that Meganea was the most spectacular part of Taengea, but was well aware that was biased. She was also interested in hearing more of Colchis. She had read so much about the place, but it had truly been brought to life with the arrival of their guests. Never before had she had much of an inclination to travel, but she was slowly beginning to feel that change. It would be nice to experience more of the world.
Despite not having much experience with a bow herself, Imeeya couldn’t help but be impressed by the casual way in which Dorothea described her bow and arrow artwork. It seemed as if it shouldn’t be so simple to have the arrow go so precisely where one wanted it to. But Dorothea was known to be an expert bow-woman so for her, it must be as simple as it seemed. Imeeya watched as the woman went to the target and removed the arrows, bringing them back to where they were standing. Imeeya expected that the woman would continue her practice, but instead, Dorothea began to make conversation.
Imeeya and Dorothea hadn’t had much time to talk since she had been in Meganea, and some of that had been Imeeya’s fault. She had been trying her best to keep herself busy so she didn’t have to think about what had happened when the men returned from fighting the Creed. Normally some form of light activity would keep those images from her head.
”I believe some of that fault may like with me, Lady Dorothea.” Imeeya politely redirected the criticism from her hostess to herself. ”I admit that I’ve been hard to pin down lately.” Although it was yet another change in venue and Imeeya was not the most happy with having to adjust to yet another new place, she had been enjoying her time in Megaenea so far. ”My stay has been very pleasant so far. And my visit to Taengea has been….” Imeeya paused for just a moment trying to pick the right words for the situation, though the pause almost spoke for itself. “Very busy so far. There have been many unexpected happenings, but I can definitely say that I haven’t been bored.” Imeeya smiled pleasantly, making the statement into a bit of a joke.