The wind slashed through my face as my siver hair floated behind me as I galloped my horse through the mountain. My plain white gown fluttering with every movement I made on the top of Ace, my horse and my best friend.
Ace was my father's horse and he used to take him everywhere he went. After my father's death he mostly stays in the small stable we own but I sneak out of my house with Ace once in a while whenever I'm in a shitty mood, of course without Mama's knowledge. The thought that she would come to realise that I have taken Ace out with me again makes me shudder. She would definitely scold my ears off. And if she finds out I've taken my father's sword with me too, she would definitely kill me.
But, I would worry about that once I return. Right now I'll fly with Ace. I clutched the hilt of my sword with one hand and kicked Ace as he started galloping with speed. The wind deafening my ears and my chest heaving due to adrenaline rush.
After riding to my heart's content I slowed down and took Ace towards the stream so that he could drink water.
I climbed off Ace and pulled him towards the stream. He started drinking water and I washed my hands and face in the stream feeling relieved. My mind feeling at peace even if it shouldn't after I was stripped off of the only job I had.
Yes. I lost my job today after working my ass off for 2 months, with 2 gold and 5 silver coins in my hand. After my father's death when I was nine, my mother has worked to sustain our family which consisted of me and my mother. Pretty big, isn't it? Hah. I have to let go of my sarcastic tongue. Or my mother would talk my ears off about the virtues of a decent women.
I sat by the stream and looked towards the sky. It was still bright. I was lost in thoughts when my hand landed on the hilt of my father's sword and my eyes shone as my breathing accelerated.
I stood up and started slashing my sword in air. The blade of the sword powerfully cutting the air. My father was commander-in-chief of the royal family and lifting his sword was no joke. After practicing for almost 5 years now, definitely not regularly because of Mama, I still find it a bit hard to maneuver. But I've gotten better from before.
Girls fighting with sword is not seen as a good thing in our kingdom. So, I used to stealthily peek by climbing on the walls of the training grounds looking at the soldiers training and learning a move or two. And this place is my training ground.
Once I was caught by a guard and I had to bit his hand to get away. Of course I've never mentioned these things to Mama.
I was engrossed in the practice, the sword feeling like it was part of my own body. As I turned around and slashed my sword in air it clashed with someone else's sword and my eyes widened.
Noone comes in this place as it is considered to be dangerous by the villagers. They say there are monsters in the mountains but funnily enough I've never encountered any of them in five years. Guess they are all rumours. But how come today my practice is interrupted by the man standing in front of me, blocking my sword. Isn't he afraid of the monsters? I thought and looked at him carefully.
His face was covered with a cloth and he looked like a soldier as he had the perfect build of muscles in the right places. His hair neither very short nor too long floating in the air and his eyes. Oh my god. Every ounce of breath flew out of my lungs.
His midnight Black eyes were like a devil. Trust me you do not want to encounter those eyes ever. Those eyes were death of a sane soul.
"What a women like you be doing here in the forest which suppose to have monsters in it?" He asked or maybe growled in his devil like deep voice and my heart shuddered in my chest.
I was going to say something when his sword pulled back. I was going to release a sigh of relief when his sword started to came back upon me in full force. My fight hormone kicked in and I barely managed to block his attack. But I guess I had unknowingly walked into my death today as his sword came at me relentlessly and I was clumsily trying to defend myself from this great swordsman devil.
I was getting out of breath and it was becoming difficult for me to defend myself anymore and my legs started to stumble backwards. My foot hit a rock and I painfully fell on the ground with my sword falling few inches apart from my hands. My eyes widened as the devil's sword neared me and I closed my eyes to embrace the end of my life. But the painful impact never came.
My heart thundered in my chest, my white gown soiled in dirt, while my silver hair splayed on the ground beneath me. I slowly opened my eyes and found the man's sword embedded on the ground beside my head and my eyes widened. It could have been my head.
I looked up and the devil was staring at me with his midnight black eyes looking into my soul.
"Who are you? How come a woman knows to wield a sword? Who taught you? Answer. Now!" he barked and my lips opened on their own accord as if they had life of their own. And who would be able to deny the devil's command.
" I'm the l-late commander-in-chief's daughter. H- He taught me how to wield a sword." I said or more specifically stuttered with fear. Of course I left the part that I secretly peeked at the training grounds. I wanted to live a few more years.
Suddenly his hand came forward and he ordered me to take it.
I took his hand and stood up. I wanted to ask who he was but I was afraid he would start attacking me again. He came forward and pulled his sword from the ground and stared deeply into my eyes as my heart shuddered in fear. But suddenly I did something even surprising my self.
My hands lifted as if they had a life of their own and tugged the cloth from his face and his emotionless eyes widened in surprise but only for a moment and in the next it became as cold as glacier.
His face was the definition of masculine perfection. His tanned face had a sharp jawline, high cheekbones and thick eyebrows. A scar ran down his right cheek but it didn't do anything to hinder his handsomeness.
But the dangerous look in his eyes made me want to run away.
His hand grabbed mine and he growled in a deep dangerous voice. "Tell someone what happened today and you won't be alive to see another day."
Then he suddenly left my hand and turned around. He got to his black horse which I didn't notice until now. Maybe I would have noticed this massive horse if someone else was it's rider, someone less intimidating.
I was standing on the same spot when he mounted his horse, secured the cloth around his face and bolted through the thick trees of the mountains.
I didn't know until when I stood there but when I came back to my senses it was already dark.
I picked up my sword which was lying on the ground and sheathed it. Then I walked to Ace looking like a corpse, and mounted him.
I tried to smoothen my hair a little with my hand and started to home.
My mind trying to process what happened today. Firstly I became jobless, then I galloped Ace through the mountain like a wantom. And as if it wasn't enough I nearly lost my life to a black eyed devil who was insanely handsome and dangerous.
If mother comes to know about the things I did today she will kill me with her bare hands. After I arrived in the town, I trotted towards my house.
By now people were used to seeing me riding a horse. At first, they used to say things like women don't ride horses but now noone actually cared, but wielding a sword was a completely different thing. Hence, I hid my sword beneath my dress as I reached my home. I jumped off the horse and pulled him towards our stable. I was about to stealthily enter the house when suddenly I heard the high pitched angry voice of my mother.
" ARIANA! WHERE WERE YOU THE WHOLE DAY?" she said angrily. 'God, help me today.' I cried in my mind. I already had enough trouble today to last a week.