Sierra pulled her bowstring back to her cheek, letting the feather on the end of her arrow brush her jawline. Her target sat on a tree branch, absentmindedly nibbling at a seed. Sierra readied her position to fire.

"SIERRA!" screeched an annoyingly familiar voice from behind her.

"Mom! You just scared the squirrel off!" Sierra complained, lowering her bow and resisting the urge to scream in frustration. "It would have sold well, it would have been the fattest squirrel on the market!"

"Enough about this hunter nonsense! Aren't you forgetting something?" Mother asked impatiently.

"I left my skinning knives home today?" Sierra guessed.

"NO!" Mother threw up her hands in exasperation. "The Twilight Gala is TONIGHT!"

"Yeah, I know," Sierra didn't understand why her mother was freaking out.

"You only have an hour and a half to get ready!"

Sierra shot her mother a confused glance. "I'm going to the gala?"

Mother started walking back to their cottage, motioning for Sierra to follow. "Of course you are. Your father is a nobleman! You are the Head of the Royal Guard's daughter! And all of the royalists from the Kingdom of Garrigan and our Kingdom are going to be there!"

Sierra looked at her feet in disgust. "A Gala? With another Kingdom? That means double the princes and dukes' sons and whatever else!"

"Yes, and you are sixteen! It will be a perfect chance for you to get to know some handsome nobleman."

Sierra wrinkled her nose at the thought. "But I don't want to go!" She protested as they neared the house. "I want to hunt!"

Mother took the rabbit Sierra had caught earlier from her game pouch and lifted it in the air, looking grotesquely at the meat. "This is not ladylike. Now go inside and wash up. I laid your dress on the bed." She swung open the door, and Sierra glumly walked down the hall and into the room she shared with Crystal, her older sister.

Crystal was by the vanity, already in a fancy gold and cream dress. It had long sleeves that billowed at the elbow and the hem reached all the way to the floor.

She was doing her dark brown hair up in a exquisite bun, adorning the updo with faux flowers. She looked perfect and dainty, as always.

"Good evening, sister." she said as Sierra walked by.

"Hey," Sierra responded, and trudged into the washroom, where she undressed and stepped into the barrel to clean herself.

I can't believe she's making me go to the gala, Sierra thought angrily as she scrubbed her shoulders. She knows I dislike extravagant balls and dainty princesses and having to remember everyone's name. She poured water over herself and continued to wash. Sometimes I wish I could just hunt all day and not worry about all that Royal stuff. I wish I could just be with Esther, Tia, and Diana and go to the river and swim.

Sierra paused, then thought bitterly, But we have all this junk to do instead.

She finished bathing and stepped out wrapped in a towel.

When she stepped out of the washroom, Crystal was applying crushed mulberry to her cheeks and lips to redden them.

Is mom going to make me smear mashed fruit all over my face? Sierra wondered. She dismissed the thought and walked over to her bed to see the dress that her mother was talking about.

The dress was a cherry red shade, with long billowy sleeves that had silver cuffs at the elbows. A silver rope was tied around the waist, its ends trailing down to the bottom of the dress.

"Absolutely not," Sierra stated. The dress looked fancy and uncomfortable- not at all like the tunics and denim that she normally wore to hunt.

"Put it ON," Crystal ordered sternly, not turning from the mirror to face her sister. "Quit whining."

Sierra, realizing there was no way out of this, reluctantly threw aside her towel and slipped the dress over her head.

She was right- it was uncomfortable. It felt like the dress weighed twenty pounds. The sleeves restricted her arm movement. And worst of all, she was way too warm.

"Come here and let me do your hair," Crystal ordered.

"I can do my own," Sierra started to tie back her hair into a ponytail with a black ribbon.

"Mom's orders."

"What?" Sierra felt as if her own liberties were being ripped away one by one.

"Besides, that's too plain," Crystal crossed the room to sit on the bed, then began to work on Sierra's hair, twisting and pulling. She winced as Crystal tore through her hair with a brush. She sat sourly, all the while her hair practically getting ripped out of its roots.

"Done!" Crystal turned Sierra so she could see herself in the vanity mirror.

Her hair was done up in a style that was completely not like herself- a tight twisted bun with a fancy French braid "crown" across the top of her head.

Sierra tried hard not to wretch and instead plastered a smile across her face. "Greaaat!" She forced out, trying not to hurt her sister's feelings, but really, she thought she looked ridiculous.

"How long is the gala?" Sierra asked, trying to adjust her dress.

"Only four hours," Crystal responded.

Sierra held back a moan. Four hours of torture in this ridiculous attire?

"The Wilsons and Fowlers will be there," Crystal continued.

She lit up. This was great news! Now it wouldn't be so horribly boring, with her friends there.

"Sierra! Come down so I can have a look at you!" Mother called from down the hallway.

Sierra whisked out of the room, her spirits slightly lifted, and slammed to a halt in front of her mother, who was standing by the door.

"Just beautiful," Mother said, and Sierra grinned, then realized mother was addressing Crystal , who was standing behind her.

Crystal's luscious dark hair stood out against her golden dress. She did look stunning.

"My little princess is so grown up!" Mother rushed over and hugged her eldest daughter, ignoring Sierra .

Sierra sat down on a bench, watching the sappy moment enviously. As much as she disliked how her mother wanted her to be a proper noble, she wished that her mother would show her the affection that she showed Crystal .

Crystal was always the good, polite child, the pretty daughter, the one that all the young men swooned over. The one that Mother prefers.

A/N: I know this chapter was a bit meh, but I promise the action will come in a couple chapters. Thanks for reading!

~ Falcon