Sinking

I was happy. Pearson had let me out as I had hoped and I had gotten away as fast as I could. On a horse, almost no one could catch me. I had learned to ride when I was five and taken to it like a fish in water. I let the cool night air blow my braided hair around. I had dressed in almost all black, finding the blackest and simplest dress I could, knowing riding would be hard, because I was going to find adventure. I was going to go into the deepest darkest part of the woods and hunt. I was forbidden there, so it meant something had to be there.  And who would stop me?  I reasoned. Nobody except Pearson even knew I had left at all.

The woods seemed to be cast in a blue glow as I passed through them, trotting as silently as I could. I slipped off my horse, deciding I’d have to go from foot here. The forest thickened with trees as I kept walking, obscuring anything more than two feet away.

I walked slowly and slightly nervously. But, as I kept walking, I grew more and more confident. I was good with a bow and arrow, which I had strapped to my back. I wanted something to attack. If I’m a good hunter, father will have to realize that I could serve, I decided. It put a determination in my step.

I hit the ground with force. At first I thought there must have been a root I had tripped over. As I looked back, I saw nothing. I felt where I had tripped. There was a small thin wire across the only real path. I realized with horror that I hadn’t been really quiet. Not only had I scared off any prey, I could have aroused the predators, such as the Kahule.

The Kahule were a rebel force that was rumored to be near this end of Sanjua. It was a classic rebel-dictator story. The king, Sester, was not the greatest king. He was a bit like my dad. If it didn’t concern military and conquering, it could wait. Sanjua had been waiting for five decades. It’s not surprising that a rebel group was created. They opposed Sester’s conquests and attacked his conquered country, mostly military encampments, but others as well. They were a thorn in his side, always stopping his greatest conquests. At the moment, Sester could go no farther. He had control over the whole continent. From ocean to ocean. There was no more. But, with mountains and giant forests, the Kahule were everywhere he couldn’t be.

At that moment, I realized who this had to be. In the deep of woods, where no one is supposed to venture because hardly anyone ever returns. I remembered the tales of people coming out of the forests and how the soldiers were banned from there. I had thought of it as a lot of suspicious mumbo jumbo. No, I realized that it wasn’t a joke.

And, I was sinking.

Pearson wrote this...

Alex personally knew the officer at the gate closest to the stable. He was one of her father’s “friends” called Pearson. He was older, but had raptor vision and could hear if a mouse tried to sneak in. But, he of course let her sneak out.

He admitted to himself he had soft spot for that girl. Her manner reminded him of his wife, who had died nearly seven years ago. He smiled as she galloped away, looking like a warrior of the night.

The Man of the ...Tent

“Alexandra, have you been listening to your mother?” my father, General Fason Kline asked.

“Of course,” I responded, knowing where this was going. We’d had this conversation so many times that my father sounded bored. But then again, he always sounded bored if it didn’t involve important things, like supply routes and infantry stories. Family, nope. That didn’t matter. If it wasn’t military related, it wasn’t on my father’s priority list.

“If you were, we wouldn’t need to have this conversation again. She only wants what’s best for you and to give you the best education you can get while you’re out here,” he said.

“Maybe I don’t want to get an education while I’m out here. Maybe I don’t even want to be out here!” I said angrily. I wanted to throw something, but they were in my father’s tent and the only things I could throw would probably end up hurting me before they did any damage.

“You seemed excited about it when we told you,” he answered.

“Ya, because I thought I’d do something out here besides sit on my behind, reading my math book. I wanted adventure and all that I’ve got so far is homework and solitude. I don’t want it. I want to go home!” I shouted at him.

“You are home. Get used to it,” he said coldly, dismissing me with his eyes.

“If this were home, I’d have people here I loved,” I responded icily, leaving the tent as quickly as I could. Now I knew was going on that ride, just because he wouldn’t want me to. Mwa ha ha!  I added to myself.

So....

I know, maybe my mother and I have issues and all, but its not my fault I don't listen. She pushes me. Just wait until you meet dad. He's a blast. So, whatcha think of everything so far. Leave a comment and tell me. I'd love to hear another person's view on this.

Meet my mother

“Alexandra, keep with your lessons,” my mother intoned. My mother, Penelope, had fine, short, bright blonde hair with blue eyes that watched me like a hawk and pale skin. She looked nothing like me, who was darker skinned with long, soft golden brown hair and caring chocolate eyes. My father was a military man with a short, close cropped head of brown, wiry hair and brown eyes.

I was sitting inside her tent. It was a beautiful day and I was stuck doing lessons. I wanted to practice fighting with the men! I did not want to be stuck here, learning geography! I, of course, could barely handle one of the beef sticks that the infantry of this army called a sword, but I was dying to try out one. But my mother plainly refused, stating that a battle is no place for a woman. I thought who wanted to be a woman, when men get to do all the exciting things.

“Alex, stop dawdling and finish your reading,” my mother ordered strictly, looking up from the book she was reading as she was perched on her chair.

Even in an army camp, I still had to do work. I just couldn’t take the injustice of it. When, three months ago, my father explained to me that he was needed to help set up a camp in the northernmost region of Sanjua, I had been excited. I had always been different from everyone near me. I didn’t have any great friends where I was, so the chance for an adventure was a hearty relief.

But so far, the only adventure I had had was inside the pages of books. I was hardly ever allowed to watch the men. I had asked for a reason from my father, who might have been not as tender as my mother, but at least he was honest.

‘You distract the men,’ was all he would say. I didn’t know how. I wasn’t startlingly beautiful and the other girls that were in the camp, daughters of other generals, were by far more beautiful than I, I believed. I guessed my mother had gotten there first and told him not to tell me the real reason.

“Alex,” my mother warned again.

“I’m reading. If anything, Mother, all you’re mumbling is distracting me,” I retorted, but immediately regretted it. I had a smart mouth and my mother hated it. With a page long essay about everything I had read, I guessed I would have no time for my country ride that afternoon.

Great, I thought. No ride plus extra homework.

“I’ll finish it all tonight then,” I promised, bouncing out the tent before my mother could object. Dashing around uniformed men, I made my way to the stables. They were only temporary. This would soon be a permanent fort, but I had only arrived two weeks ago, with my father and the entire regiment of soldiers now based here. The cavalry was soon arriving, so construction for a permanent stable was already under way. I snuck past the stable boy who had more on his mind than the general’s daughter, like one of those freshly picked apples.

Weaving past other officers, I made it to my horse’s pen and slipped in. Bri snorted at me at first, but she calmed down as I stroked her. She nuzzled her head close to me, and I gave in and handed over her carrot that I had snatched. Bri munched on it happily. I decided right then and there, that no matter what my mother said, I’d go on that ride. It gave me a clear head.

“See you at midnight,” I murmured to Bri as I slipped away.

I wrote this down years later...

The wind was cold and brutal against her face. She climbed the steep hill as fast as she could. The terrain seemed to be wishing that she fell. She felt the ground shake, as if it was taking a hard beating.

In the next second, horses flitted around above her. They were rampaging down the giant hill, headed towards her. They didn’t seem to be attacking…her. The men on the horses looked ferocious, but they didn’t even seem to notice the girl standing in the middle of them. A twang of a bow rang out from behind her and a horse hit the dirt. The man in the saddle fell, hitting the earth with force, the horse lying on top of him.

Screaming with rage she didn’t understand, she turned around and raced down the hill.  An arrow was flung toward her, making her stumble and fall down the hill. She bounced up at the bottom and was assaulted by three men. It would be a fight to the death. And she would come out alive.

Rage burned inside her and tears welled up on the corner of her eyes. She didn’t understand the feeling, even though she knew she knew him, she had no idea who the man on the horse had been. Just thinking about it made her blood boil. She could wield a sword, yes, but that was pretty much it. How would she defeat these three swordsmen? She needed a miracle. She wasn’t going to get one.

The man closest to her thrust his sword at her, which somehow, amazingly, she parried. But, she wasn’t expecting the second blade. It plunged into her stomach. She fell to the ground.

Smack! I landed on the cold hard ground. I had hit my head on the fall. I sat up blearily, in a cold sweat from my dream, my heart still racing. What could that have been? Hopefully not a premonition. I had just been killed by my father otherwise.

Still blinking rapidly, I sat up and climbed back onto my cot, covering up in my blankets once more.

Sleep soon took her again and when she woke up in the morning, she remembered nothing of the dream.

Hello

So, I'm going to give it you. My whole history and everything. Sometimes I'm sure you'll think its stupid or impossible, but trust me, it happened. I don't live near here. In fact, I'm sure you've never even heard of it. It's a place called Sangua and it is ruled by an evil dictator, blah, blah, blah. All the nasty stuff. But just listen. The story does get good.