Long ago and far away there were two kingdoms which lived peacefully side by side. The kings to either side of the river were the best of friends. Being rather good kings, and good fathers, the king of the land to the north of the river, Silas, and the King of the land to the south of the river, King Alexander, both wanted to ensure the continued protection of their kingdoms and their children.

King Silas's wife, Queen Eleanor, had just given birth to their third child, another girl to Silas's disappointment.

Silas confided to Alexander his fear that he may never get the boy he was hoping for to pass on his kingdom. He worried his kingdom might be torn apart by civil war should he leave no heir to the throne.

So a deal was made between the two kings. Silas promised his newborn daughter, Laurel, to the two year old son of his friend King Alexander. Silas didn’t particularly like the idea of the arranged marriages which were all the rage during his time, however, thought that Alexander’s idea of uniting their two kingdoms with their children’s marriage was quite good.

The reason why Silas wasn’t always quite so keen on the idea of arranged marriages was because though they often resulted in rather appealing treaties between kingdoms and usually substantial gains for both families, they also had a rather nasty habit of leaving those who’d been promised to each other no choice in the matter. Having no choice in the matter of course didn’t always mean disaster, in fact, Silas had been quite happy with his arranged marriage to Eleanor.

To Laurel though, once she learned how to spell, an arranged marriage to Silas’s son spelt disaster. When she first learned of her future she had thought it was a punishment.

Laurel learned of her betrothal when she was only five years old. It was after she’d just gotten into a fight with Alexander’s son, Robert. He and King Silas had always been rather good friends and so, when Silas had suggested that Alexander and his family come to stay at his castle for a few months in the summer, both kings had thought it a great way to acquaint their children with one another.

However, the visit didn’t go quite as well as the kings had hoped. And Laurel learned of her betrothal to Alexander’s son after being scolded for fighting with him.

“What a terrible thing to do!” Laurel’s older sister, Lily was scolding her when Silas had sent her to get cleaned up. “Trying to fight with King Alexander’s son! Really, what were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that he’s pretty scrawny and not much taller than me so it couldn’t be too hard to take him down.”

“Really!” Lily burst out in obvious shock and utter dismay. “What a thing to say!”

“I meant it,” Laurel replied hotly. “I hate him. He wouldn’t let me play with him because I’m a girl! He said because girls are stupid, but I can already read and spell and add two plus three and mommy always said I was such a smart little girl for being able to read and spell already and-”

“Oh, Laurel, you’re not stupid.” Lily reassured her. “And I’m sure you don’t hate him. Hate’s a strong word.

“I mean it. He’s a beast, honestly,” Laurel said.

“Well, beast or not, you’re betrothed to him.”

“Bethru… what?” she barely managed the questioning inflection as she stumbled over the word.
“Betrothed. Promised to each other…” Lily could tell her sister still wasn’t understanding her explanation. She let out an exasperated sigh and tried to think of the easiest way to explain the word. “It means you’ll have to marry him one day.”

“Marry? Marry him?” Laurel asked incredulously. “Like how mommy and daddy are married?”

Lily couldn’t help but laugh at her sister’s obvious revulsion. “The same exact way.”

“Ewwwwwww! And I’ll have to live with him all year? Not just like how he visits sometimes?”

“For all year,” Lily was getting entertainment out of this. “For forever and always. Now go get dressed and then I’ll comb your hair.”

I won’t marry him, Laurel thought to herself as she set about pulling a dress over her shift.

“Getting married is gross,” Laurel stated. “Boys have cooties.”

“Daddy doesn’t have cooties.”

“Because Daddy’s Daddy. But Robert’s awful! And getting married still sounds gross.”

“Oh I don’t know,” Lily said in a sort of dreamy voice. “I think it’s a bit romantic. I’m betrothed to Prince Patrik of Enkenon.”

“Enkenon?” Laurel asked, truly intrigued. “You mean where the Wood Nymphs live?”

Lily nodded.

“Bet he isn’t as horrible as Robert,” Laurel grumped.

Lily shook her head. “No.”

“Well?” Laurel prompted. “What’s he like?”

“He’s very tall and has these lovely blue eyes. He’s awfully handsome,” her sister finished smugly.

“You’re only ten. How do you know what’s handsome?”

“Daddy’s handsome,” Lily returned.

“Daddy’s old,” Laurel insisted.

Lily shrugged. “Oh but I’m sure he was very handsome when he was younger.”

“Daddy,” Laurel said, tentatively approaching him later that evening.

Still upset with her he raised one eyebrow saying, “Yes?”

“Daddy, if you’re mad at me, don’t let me eat dessert ever again, or make me stand in the corner for a whole hour every night, but please don’t make me marry Robert!”

“What-?”

“Or… you can take away all my Christmas presents, and I’ll try to be nice to him, I really will, but-“

“Laurel, I’m not going to make you marry him because I’m angry at you. You’ve been betrothed to him since you were three weeks old.”

“What?”

He gathered his daughter up in his arms and set her on his lap. “Laurel, I agreed to Alexander’s idea of betrothal when you were little so our two kingdoms could unite. Instead of the Kingdom of the North and the Kingdom of the South, it’ll be just one big kingdom. That sounds nice, doesn’t it?”

“I guess. Do I have to marry him? Can’t you get me out of it?”

“I can’t- look, you’re too young to be worrying about getting married to begin with. Besides, you two are both very young. People change when they get older.”

The following summer Laurel was very glad she didn’t have to deal with the terrible Robert. Her family stayed with the Patrik’s family in Enkenon.

Laurel liked Patrick’s family very much. His mother, Queen Ostara and his father, King Philip, were extremely kind. She also liked Patrik who was indeed very good looking and also good hearted, as Lily had described him.

He let her play hide and seek with his siblings and numerous cousins. That summer had been Laurel’s best yet. Patrick and his siblings taught her to climb trees and to speak the language of the wood nymphs. And Laurel met Patrick’s younger sister, Jocelyn, with whom she became fast friends.

Laurel and Jocelyn had a hard time parting at the end of that summer. Lily and Patrik had become friends as well but they preferred to talk and/or play crescal (the wood nymph equivalent of chess) and (unbeknownst to Laurel) plan practical jokes on plenty of the grown ups from which they received much amusement and little accusation due to their cleverly sneaky ways of concealing their crimes.

The next summer Jocelyn and Laurel yelled and shouted at the sight of one another when the royal wood nymph family had arrived in the Northern Kingdom. It was a much less joyous occasion when the dreadful prince of the southern kingdom arrived.

Though Laurel found that she now towered over her husband-to-be, he still made every attempt to make her life miserable. In most cases, he succeeded.

One day she and Jocelyn followed him and many other boys into the courtyard to see what they were doing. They all were running around with sticks which, of course being rather dangerous, always appealed to most children.

“That looks like fun can we please play?” Laurel had recently discovered that when she added please to her demands they were more likely to be followed. She also had been told by her mother that if she tried to be nice to Robert she would get extra dessert that night at dinner.

“No,” Robert answered on the spot. “You’re girls.”

“So what?” Laurel demanded to know as she squinted her eyes and stood her ground. “You said that the last time I asked if I could play with you and I beat you up.”

“Did not!” Robert shouted hotly.

“Did too!” Laurel shouted back.

“Well it doesn’t matter anyway because you can’t play,” he smirked.

“Why not?” Jocelyn asked.

“Because,” Robert said sounding irritated as though they were being stupid on purpose. “You’re girls. We’re playing war and everybody knows girls don’t go to war.”

“Says who?” Laurel yelled stamping her foot.

“Says everybody. Ask your mother. She’ll tell you.”

Now neither Laurel nor Jocelyn, however different each one was from the other, was the sort who would normally back down from a fight. However, Robert had sounded so sure of himself that they had to wonder if he was right.

Most children, when they want to be told what it is that they want to hear, generally do not ask their parents, Laurel was no exception to this rule and so decided to ask Lily first.

“He’s right,” her older sister told her simply. “Girls can’t become warriors.”

“But why?” Laurel found herself whining.

“Oh for goodness sakes don’t you know anything? It’s not a woman’s place!”

“Says who?”

“Says everybody. I don’t know why it’s like that it just is. Now stop pestering me. Go play with Jocelyn.” Lily tried to persuade her to leave the room where she and her older friends were playing the silly sort of games girls play when they reach the age just before adolescence robs them of their childhood.

“But-“

“Shoo!” her sister hissed.

Not getting the kind of answer she’d wanted to hear from her sister, Laurel then decided she’d try her father.

King Silas smiled at his daughter, a weary, rather old smile.

“You want to fight little one, is that it?”

“Y-yes.”

The king laughed, amused by his spirited daughter. “I bet you’d be a fright to meet in battle.”

“I sure would,” Laurel confirmed his statement stoutly. Her dirty face looked determined.

“I would rather it not be so little one. Battle kills something in everyone even when one survives.”

Not understanding her father and not yet ready to accept defeat Laurel decided to ask her mother.

“But why?” she found herself whining again moments later.

“Because.”

“Because why?”

“Because that’s the way it is,” Queen Eleanor finished sternly. She then sighed looking at her daughter’s crestfallen face. “Listen to me little one,” she said, taking a gentler tone. “You don’t want to fight. I promise you. It’s not as glorious as it looks in all the tapestries.

Feeling highly dejected, and still not understanding what either of her parents ment, Laurel left her mother and drifted down the corridor running into Jocelyn along the way.

“Laurel!” she shouted looking excited. “I knew he was wrong! Girls can fight! Patrick told me I could. He told me he wouldn’t have been allowed to teach me if I couldn’t.”

“But what about me?” Laurel wondered aloud. “Everyone I talked to told me I couldn’t.”

Jocelyn’s smile diminished. “Oh… well, I suppose they don’t let human girls. That’s rubbish if you ask me.” She noted her friends’ disappointment. “I bet I could get Patrick to teach you.” Jocelyn grabbed Laurel by the hand to take her to her brother.

“Please, please, please?” Laurel was begging Patrick soon enough.

“Won’t your parents object…?” he replied uneasily.

“Erm-“ Laurel began before Jocelyn cut her off.

“Since when have you cared about what grownups think? I know all the things you and Lily did last summer and this. If you can keep those secret enough so can you keep this in the same manner.”

“I-“ he looked from Laurel’s eager face to his younger sister’s threatening glare.

“I’ll teach her all I know anyway. It’s not much but it’s the least I can do for my friend. And you know, I could easily let something slip,” Jocelyn added.

“No! I er- I mean oh… okay…”

“I told you he’d do it.”

Laurel smiled, then suddenly remembered something she had not understood in Jocelyn and Patrick’s banter. “Wait, what would you have let slip?”

“Slip?”

“You said to Patrick that you would let something slip if he didn’t teach me. What would you let slip?”

“Well, how is it that you humans say, I have dirt on him.”

Soon enough Laurel found that learning how to fight wasn’t as easy as running about with a stick. Learning to use a sword was hard. She couldn’t believe how difficult it was. It was heavy too! She could hardly even lift it at the beginning.

“Don’t worry about it being hard for you right now,” Patrick had reassured her one day. “You know, most people don’t start learning any of this until their nine or older.” He tossed a look back at his younger sister that plainly said you oughtn’t even be learning this now, but Jocelyn was ambivalent to his insinuating. She only replied “You started learning when you were seven. Me and Laurel are nine.”

And so, Patrik continued to teach them. Once Laurel grew stronger using a sword came easily to her. She had a certain quickness and agility that seemed void of her daily routine and only truly shone through during her sessions with Patrik and Jocelyn.

Every so often, Laurel would watch Robert with his teacher noting the difference in style between what Patrik had taught her and what Robert’s teacher was teaching him. She would make sure she couldn’t be seen and would smile wryly whenever he made a mistake. One day when Robert had stayed alone in the garden to practice by himself unaware of Laurel watching, Patrik spotted her in her hiding place.

“What are you up to?” he asked, quietly.

“I’m watching.”

“Hmmm, studying the weaknesses of your enemy?” he asked wryly. It was no secret that Laurel and Robert loathed each other.

“Exactly.” Laurel grinned.

“Better look hard, there aren’t many weaknesses to find.” Robert had obviously heard them, and had spotted the barely visible top of Patrick’s head peeking over the top of the hedge he and Laurel had been watching from behind. “I’ve been learning since I was seven.”

“Then you must be rather slow, you don’t seem to have picked up much,” Laurel called, standing up.

“Coming from a stupid girl.”

“I’m not stupid. In fact, what I’ve been taught about fighting, I’ve learned rather quickly.”

“Indeed? And who’s been teaching you?”

“Why should I tell you?”

His eyes traveled to the sword at Patrik’s side.

“Very secretive.” He said.

“You don’t know anything.”

“Maybe I do, and maybe I don’t. How are you going to make sure I’m going to keep quiet about it?”

“I’m going to fight you. If I win, you have to keep quiet about it. And I’ll keep quiet about you getting beaten by a girl.”

He paused, and seemed to be considering his options.

“And if I win? What’s in it for me?”

“Why do you need compensation? Are you afraid to fight such a stupid girl?”

“No, but I’d just rather know what my options are. Ratting you out and making you miserable wouldn’t be much different from what normally goes on, wouldn’t you agree?”

Laurel sighed. He was right. There wasn’t much he would get out of fighting her, when he could go and tell someone her secret without it.

She bit her lip. “If you win, you can have all my deserts for the rest of the summer.”

“Alright then, swear.” He spat into the palm of his hand and stuck it out, intending for Laurel to shake it.

Laurel spat into hers and shook his.

“Okay, we need someone to say ‘go’.”

“Patrik,” Laurel said instantly, and called him over.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” he said striding over, his brows furrowed with worry. “You could seriously hurt each other or yourselves. More likely yourselves.”

“We won’t. You’ll be here to call things off if it gets too dangerous.”

Patrik looked uneasily from Robert’s impatient face, to Laurel’s.

“Alright. But if I say so, you have to stop. Your parents will kill me if I’m responsible for letting you kill each other. Understand?” Both of the children nodded.

“Alright, take your stances.” Laurel and Robert faced each other. “On my count. One. Two. Three.”

“I’ll go easy on you,” Robert said, as he lunged forward. “Seeing as you’re a stupid girl.”

“In that case, I’d better go easy on you,” Laurel replied as she blocked his cut at her. “In order to keep things fair and all.”

For a while they clattered about, neither one experienced enough to be able to inflict any damage on the other. Though Laurel was less experienced than Robert, she found that she had a quicker eye. And since she had been watching him fight for the past few weeks she knew some of his weaknesses. For instance, she knew that he leaned slightly to the left, leaving his right side vulnerable. She made for his right side and hit his flesh for the first time on his right forearm.

He cried out.

“Stop!” Patrik called, but neither child was stopping. Instead, Robert had taken advantage of Laurel’s moment of rest and had lashed out, causing her to turn awkwardly in order to avoid the blow. She had tried to do a turn Patrick had taught her, a turn that she hadn’t really mastered yet and had ruined it. Just as she was trying to turn back, Robert got her in the back, scratching across the flesh of the lower part of her left shoulder.

It was her turn to voice her discomfort.

“Stop it! Both of you! This was a mistake!” Patrik was trying to put himself in between the two without hurting himself and was having little luck. But neither Laurel nor Robert would be so easily swayed. Temper driven, Laurel broke free of Patrick’s grasp on the neck of her dress and ran at Robert, lashing out at him more ferociously, both children now fighting all the more fiercely.

Before long, Laurel managed to make him lose his grip on his weapon, and while he was fumbling Laurel waited for him to breathe in, as Patrik had instructed her, and punched Robert in the chest as hard as she could with her free left hand.

He coughed and gasped, the wind literally knocked out of him. He tried to block the blow Laurel dealt, again taking advantage of his lack of focus, and his bare hand made contact with Laurel’s sharp blade, slicing open the palm of his hand.

“ENOUGH!” Patrik shouted. The sword seemed to have cut through more than flesh, for this time Laurel really heard him, and, stunned at what she had done, lowered her weapon.

“Oh little one!” Lily was sighing an hour later as she sat putting wet strips of cloth on her sister’s wound. “Your cut looks a fright. And where on earth did you get the sword?”

“Well, it doesn’t matter now ‘cause mommy hid it from me.” Laurel’s face twisted into a grumpy frown.

Lily laughed. “Really, Laurel -“ she began. But Laurel cut her off.

“I know, I know. It’s not a woman’s place to fight. You don’t need to tell me again. But I’m not going to stop. Even if you tell mother that it was Patrik who taught me and they forbid him to continue I’ll find another way. I don’t care what you all say.”

“I won’t stop you, little one,” Lily told her. “But that doesn’t mean you won’t have to stop. At least for a little while. Patrik says he’s angry and doesn’t want to teach you anymore. He said it wasn’t right for you to go looking for a fight, that it wasn’t why he taught you.”

“What on earth-?”

Lily held up her hand. “You’ll have to talk to him. But in the meantime, he may be too busy to teach you for a while.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve asked him to teach me.”

“But it’s not a girl’s place,” Laurel mocked her sister in a high pitched voice.

“Oh stop it. What you did wasn’t your place. If you want to prove so bad that you’re better than Robert stop lowering yourself to his level and stop picking fights with him. Any fool can pick a fight, it doesn’t make you any better to be a braggart. What I want to do is learn how to defend myself because it’s a much better use of time than bragging. It can’t be all bad for a girl to learn how to defend herself. In any case it keeps you more civil. Minus the fight-picking. I’ve noticed you’ve been nicer to the maids when they brush your hair and force you into dresses. Perhaps it has been good for you to start expressing your temper in other ways. Even if you couldn’t keep your temper from getting out of control today.”

“Is he alright? Is his hand going to mend?”

Lily smiled shrewdly. “What do you care?”

“Well, I’ll be in even more trouble if his hand falls off, won’t I?”

“You’re going to be severely punished no matter what. Didn’t you see how angry father was when he scolded you?” Laurel looked down. “But yes, I’m sure his hand will mend. It was a deep scratch, but just a scratch. He probably will always have a scar though.”

Laurel smiled, satisfied.