This is a New story that i was working on! Hope you like it.
Living with the weight of the monarchy on my shoulders was something already normal, dinners and formal talks, elegant dresses, the various celebrations that took place during the weeks, the correct vocabulary and posture, the lessons from Mr Walrras; and a lot of things that I had to do for being just one of the king's daughters. Of three daughters, I occupied the last place, a little rebellious and rude were adjectives that identified me according to my parents.
At my short 19 years in this world, I was part of the coordination for the army of our city and the Royal Guards, along with Anthon, an elderly gentleman whose sword had been used several times to defend the kingdom and honour the king.
The first time I wielded a sword was when I was 12 years old, just out of curiosity, and since then I have never let it go, I have practised day and night with the most experienced warriors in the city and over time I managed to handle it in an extraordinary way, not that I would want to show off but I feel very prideful. My parents never liked the fact that I fought, my mother was terrified of the idea that I was going to manipulate a sword and face men twice my size and strength; but she could never stop me. When my parents tried to avoid it I had escaped from the castle for 3 days in a row, that was enough to scare them into ordering more than 100 warriors to look for me and implore that I return, so I did it but only on the condition that I was allowed to swordfight, which my parents ended up giving in to.
This is how I managed to survive during these last few years of my life, where the types of obligations were changing, and the concerns of my parents was not the amount of time I used to learn how to read but, now that I am older, getting me a husband was the most important thing according to my mother. My other two sisters, being older than me, were not married but the suitors who were looking for their hands could be said to be a few, the reason they had not accepted was because my father didn't allow us to marry with men who are not honourable in his eyes, one of the reasons for my parents' conflicts.
My older sister's name was Gretta, she was 23 years old, old enough to have an armed family according to my mother but she was still enjoying her single life that fascinated her; she loved going out to the park in the morning and reading all the books she could before the sun goes down or painting, which was another of her great abilities. One of her paintings was exposed in the great hall so that everyone could see them when they enter, a great masterpiece. Gretta never protested when she met her suitors, I think she seemed attracted to them even though she had never talked about it with us.
My other sister, Beatrice, aged 21, was the most romantic of us. she used to tell us her dreams or goals in her life several times a day. She wanted to start a big family and have a husband who loved her for the rest of her life; but my father had disapproved of every man who had tried to approach her, moreover, once there was a competition where the participating knights fought to get her hand, but again my father rejected him when he realized that the victor was just a poor blacksmith.
My mother wished for us to marry as soon as possible, however, my father's approval made it almost impossible and caused my mother to get so angry that they often slept in separate beds, that was how far this issue had affected my family, but my father knew that sooner or later he would have to give in and choose a husband for each one; but as far as I was concerned, my father had a hard time accepting and in my case the number of suitors was zero, well, in fact, there was a couple but I got to scare them away before they were to approach my father which meant punishment for me arranged by my mother.
It was already something that I had very clearly stated, I did not want to marry so young with men that I barely knew and or shared no interest in me and my way of life. Of course, I wanted to have a family but only when I determined the moment, not because of tradition in having to leave a descendant as soon as possible for the kingdom, I wanted to be part of that decision. When the time came I would have to see how I would react to all of this and it depends on when and who with.
The bright morning light penetrated the large balcony of my room, my maid came in every morning and there would be the big open curtains and heated water to bathe. I got up very quietly and headed straight for the tub, nothing was better than a refreshing shower in the morning.
My father had to attend a meeting that morning to organize the great ship to the East, where many kingdoms and small distant cities participated in the assault, as it generated great profits for the kingdoms. I dressed with the help of my maids and headed to the great hall, breakfast was ready. All my family sitting around the main table of the great hall accompanied by the leaders of the neighbouring armies.
Upon arrival my father immediately raised his hand when he sees me and begins to stop from his seat: "Ara come here quickly, I have to introduce you to an old friend" he exclaimed, approaching a man.
I start walking towards him until he grabs me by the shoulder and points me to the man who is standing right in front of us. "Ara, this is Flicht." he points a finger at the man.
"It's a pleasure, Mr Flicht." I greet you with a nod.
"Oh, the pleasure is mine, princess." He laughs and grabs my hand, placing a short kiss on the back "Your father has convinced me to make this journey again, and when he told me that his daughter was directing him I could not refuse" he smiles in the direction of my father and then look towards me.
"Ara, with Flicht we travelled everywhere assaulting all the cities, we fought shoulder to shoulder in each battle when we were young." my father practically screams so that everyone in the room can listen "And I have managed to go this year with all of you to the great ship."
"It is an honour for me to make the trip with one of my father's confidants," I say grabbing one of my father's hands as I look at Flicht with a smile. "We will talk about all the details after breakfast" I warn Flicht, which he listens carefully nodding and then pointing to a chair next to my father. I sit while Flicht accommodates my chair and then everyone continues with their morning talks, enjoying their breakfast.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, I can observe my sisters talking vigorously with Joshua, head of the Montreal City Army; He has been sailing with us for 5 years so he is practically family. He is the same age as Gretta and loves spending time in the Kingdom where he is free of responsibilities. Right in front of me, I can see how Anthon talks with other leaders about women, I can see from the enthusiasm with which he expresses himself. Anthon is also part of the family, he taught me many things about the organization and the attacks; He is my battle mentor.
Breakfast went smoothly with many conversations about future attacks and ambitions that leaders had. After a while, my father gets up and talks. "Very well my gentlemen, it is time, follow Moonle to the office" He points to the servant and everyone gets up to go to the king's office after they had bowed to my mother, the queen, and my sisters. "My love, I am going to do my homework now, but I promise you that we will visit your mother this afternoon," he tells my mother while placing a kiss on her forehead and she nods before he starts walking with me towards the meeting.
We enter the office and they are all already settled around a large circular table where a large map that shows the extension of the kingdom is supported. My father accommodated me in my place as he sits right in the middle of everyone. "The organization of the great ship enters the session" The king knocks on the table.
"I have a question my lord" exclaims one of the men so that my father settles towards his address, "How will we divide the loot?, In the past assaults we have brought less profit than the previous ones, every time there is less to loot in the area and the one who always benefits is the kingdom, sir." Accuses the man.
"What do you want to refer to?" Anthon asks. "We have brought the same thing as the other times and the distribution was done equitably as everyone asked"
"But do you remember when we arrived in Port and they greeted us with celebrations and banquets? They are no longer afraid of us, they just give us things; That is no longer an assault" the man exclaims, almost screaming.
"And you have another idea?" My father asked.
"I do not know! We may not have to use more ships for a while and instead concentrate on each of the cities," he says with a little shame.
"No! Ships are a tradition! They are like rituals for our ancestors, it is a way of honouring them for everything they give us, we cannot stop doing them. The gods would not forgive us!" says Joshua angrily looking at each man.
That was the point for a whole discussion about what the ship truthfully meant to them; the discussion went from being only verbal to being violent, some of the leaders began fighting each other, raising their voices to a point where my father decided to get up from his seat and shout. "Stop fighting! it is not a matter of discussion the profits or the divinity that the ship represents or simply the meaning that they have in the life of each one of us. The abandonment of the ships represents a lack of respect from us mortals" he exclaims looking at each person individually. "I understand what you say and I think that as civilized people we can find a solution," he says as he looks at the man who generated the discord. "But the solution is not going to be yelling or fighting amongst us." The king looks at Joshua.
"I will send Will to neighbouring lands for information. In the meantime, the session is closed and during this time of waiting, I do not want there to be any fighting between you about this. Do I make myself clear?" He asked with the authority of a king.
We all looked at each other and nodded in unison. "Yes, my king", My father nods and heads towards the door to leave the room and meet my mother.
While each one of us began to leave individually and without ushering a word as we continue our routine lives until the notice of the next meeting, which would be within two weeks or so.
That he was supposed to do those two weeks of waiting when we supposedly had to use them to prepare the ship's resources. The situation was already making me angry, things did not go as planned today and nobody helped to improve the situation. We have always done used the ships, every year since my first memory.
I remember my father saying goodbye in the early hours of the morning that same day that they were leaving, placing a kiss on my forehead and saying that he would return and he always did, sometimes in good condition and sometimes not, but he always did.
When I turned 17 my father allowed me to accompany him on the trip that same year and it was one of the best experiences I've had in my few years of life; Of course, my mother did not agree with the fact that I would set sail and fight if necessary but somehow agreed, after my father bribed her with many gifts, something that my mother could never deny.
And so, at the age of 17, I travelled east, accompanied by my father and the best soldiers of the whole city, in one of the ships that marked my life forever, it was the first real experience of something that I would never have imagined and worst of all, it felt amazing.
I wanna to say thank you to @lets-imagine-fanfics who helped me correct the story! Love you.
And also to @oddsnendsfanfics who conviced me to publish it! ❤
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