The Black Arrow , Book I Content . I was young when the Duchess of Woda hired me as an assistant footman at her summer palace . My experience with the ways of the titled aristocracy was very limited before that day . There were wealthy merchants , traders , diplomats , and officials who had large operations in Eldenroot , and ostentatious palaces for entertaining , but my relatives were all far from those social circles . There was no family business for me to enter when I reached adulthood , but my cousin heard that an estate far from the city required servants . It was so remotely located that there were unlikely to be many applicants for the positions . I walked for five days into the jungles of Valenwood before I met a group of riders going my direction . They were three Bosmer men , one Bosmer woman , two Breton women , and a Dunmer man , adventurers from the look of them . “ Are you also going to Moliva ? ” asked Prolyssa , one of the Breton women , after we had made our introductions . “ I don ' t know what that is , ” I replied . “ I ' m seeking a domestic position with the Duchess of Woda . ” “ We ' ll take you to her gate , ” said the Dunmer Missun Akin , pulling me up to his horse . “ But you would be wise not to tell Her Grace that students from Moliva escorted you . Not unless you don ' t really want the position in her service . ” Akin explained himself as we rode on . Moliva was the closest village to the Duchess ' s estate , where a great and renowned archer had retired after a long life of military service . His name was Hiomaste , and though he was retired , he had begun to accept students who wished to learn the art of the bow . In time , when word spread of the great teacher , more and more students arrived to learn from the Master . The Breton women had come down all the way from the Western Reach of High Rock . Akin himself had journeyed across the continent from his home near the great volcano in Morrowind . He showed me the ebony arrows he had brought from his homeland . I had never seen anything so black . “ From what we ' ve heard , ” said Kopale , one of the Bosmer men . “ The Duchess is an Imperial whose family has been here even before the Empire was formed , so you might think that she was accustomed to the common people of Valenwood . Nothing could be further from the truth . She despises the village , and the school most of all . ” “ I suppose she wants to control all the traffic in her jungle , ” laughed Prolyssa . I accepted the information with gratitude , and found myself dreading more and more my first meeting with the intolerant Duchess . My first sight of the palace through the trees did nothing to assuage my fears . It was nothing like any building I had ever seen in Valenwood . A vast edifice of stone and iron , with a jagged row of battlements like the jaws of a great beast . Most of the trees near the palace had been hewn away long ago : I could only imagine the scandal that must have caused , and what fear the Bosmer peasants must have had of the Duchy of Woda to have allowed it . In their stead was a wide gray - green moat circling in a ring around the palace , so it seemed to be on a perfect if artificial island . I had seen such sights in tapestries from High Rock and the Imperial Province , but never in my homeland . “ There ' ll be a guard at the gate , so we ' ll leave you here , ” said Akin , stopping his horse in the road . “ It ' d be best for you if you weren ' t damned by association with us . ” I thanked my companions , and wished them good luck with their schooling . They rode on and I followed on foot . In a few minutes ' time , I was at the front gate , which I noticed was linked to tall and ornate railings to keep the compound secure . When the gate - keeper understood that I was there to inquire about a domestic position , he allowed me past and signaled to another guard across the open lawn to extend the drawbridge and allow me to cross the moat . There was one last security measure : the front door . An iron monstrosity with the Woda Coat of Arms across the top , reinforced by more strips of iron , and a single golden keyhole . The man standing guard unlocked the door and gave me passage into the huge gloomy gray stone palace . Her Grace greeted me in her drawing room . She was thin and wrinkled like a reptile , cloaked in a simple red gown . It was obviously that she never smiled . Our interview consisted of a single question . “ Do you know anything about being a junior footman in the employment of an Imperial noblewoman ? ” Her voice was like ancient leather . “ No , Your Grace . ” “ Good . No servant ever understands what needs to be done , and I particularly dislike those who think they do . You ' re engaged . ” Life at the palace was joyless , but the position of junior footman was very undemanding . I had nothing to do on most days except to stay out of the Duchess ' s sight . At such times , I usually walked two miles down the road to Moliva . In some ways , there was nothing special or unusual about the village - there are thousands of identical places in Valenwood . But on the hillside nearby was Master Hiomaste ' s archery academy , and I would often take my luncheon and watch the practice . Prolyssa and Akin would sometimes meet me afterwards . With Akin , the subjects of conversation very seldom strayed far from archery . Though I was very fond of him , I found Prolyssa a more enchanting companion , not only because she was pretty for a Breton , but also because she seemed to have interests outside the realm of marksmanship . “ There ' s a circus in High Rock I saw when I was a little girl called the Quill Circus , ” she said during one of our walks through the woods . “ They ' ve been around for as long as anyone can remember . You have to see them if you ever can . They have plays , and sideshows , and the most amazing acrobats and archers you ' ve ever seen . That ' s my dream , to join them some day when I ' m good enough . ” “ How will you know when you ' re a good enough archer ? ” I asked . She didn ' t answer , and when I turned , I realized that she had disappeared . I looked around , bewildered , until I heard laughter from the tree above me . She was perched on a branch , grinning . “ I may not join as an archer , maybe I ' ll join as an acrobat , ” she said . “ Or maybe as both . I figured that Valenwood would be the place to go to see what I could learn . You ' ve got all those great teachers to imitate in the trees here . Those ape men . ” She coiled up , bracing her left leg before springing forward on her right . In a second , she had leapt across to a neighboring branch . I found it difficult to keep talking to her . “ The Imga , you mean ? ” I stammered . “ Aren ' t you nervous up at that height ? ” “ It ' s a cliche , I know , ” she said , jumping to an even higher branch , “ But the secret is not to ever look down . ” “ Would you mind coming down ? ” “ I probably should anyhow , ” she said . She was a good thirty feet up now , balancing herself , arms outstretched , on a very narrow branch . She gestured toward the gate just barely visible on the other side of the road . “ This tree is actually as close as I want to get to your Duchess ' s palace . ” I held back a gasp as she dove off the branch , somersaulting until she landed on the ground , knees slightly bent . That was the trick , she explained . Anticipating the blow before it happened . I expressed to her my confidence that she would be a great attraction at the Quill Circus . Of course , I know now that never was to be . On that day , as I recall , I had to return early . It was one of the rare occasions when I had work , of a sort , to do . Whenever the Duchess had guests , I was to be at the palace . That is not to say that I had any particular duties , except to be seen standing at attention in the dining room . The stewards and maids worked hard to bring in the food and clear the plates afterwards , but the footmen were purely decorative , a formality . But at least I was an audience for the drama to come .