Faliure

-Verden, Skeldergate Forest. Afternoon, -547 DBeforeTR-

As soon as he had pulled the trigger he knew it was a great shot. However, the bolt didn't hit its target. Just as he had fired a gust of wind, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, suddenly hit the bolt which ended up piercing a log of wood instead of the stag.

Now, having wasted his chance, Nate pulled the reins and brought his horse to a holt. The two guards followed his example and one of them rode up next to him as he watched the stag disappear further into the woods. "An excellent shot, Sir. Too bad about the wind, but I'm sure we'll get it next time." The guard, Matthew, said, clearly trying to cheer him up.
Nate turned his head away to hide his bitter expression "But I still missed...". You can't win every time, but when being the future king of a country every failure felt like a major defeat. He had to be better to become a good example to his people. He had to be perfect. That was the number one rule throughout his life.

Sensing the prince's bad mood, Matt decided to change tactics. "That happens to everyone. Come, let's head back to the inn and get something to eat. I know they'll be serving duck tonight.". Nate sighed slightly "Fine...". Though he would like to have continued the hunt he knew the horses needed a break and to be honest he too had become quite hungry.

He turned the horse around and followed Matt and the other guard who almost already were on his way. Matt was riding in front of him and the other guard was riding further ahead of them, scouting for any potential threats. This was more practical when they were only two escorting him.

The guard who was taking the lead was a relatively newly hired, but highly dedicated man in his late twenties, where as Matt was roughly the same age as his father, the king. In many ways Matt had been almost like a father to Nate than Asgurt had, he certainly had spend many more hours together with him than his father ever had. This was also the reason why he had chosen him as one of the guards that had to escort him on this hunting trip.

While slowly riding back towards the inn they were staying at, Nate turned in his saddle and looked back. Of course the stag was long gone, but maybe he would get a chance to track it down tomorrow. If only the wind hadn't messed up his shot today...