Duty and Honour (a 300 fan fiction)

Evading Duty

It was certain that Filomela would get scolded if her father realized that she had run away again. But she did not care any more. She just wanted to get out of the house and away from her responsibilities. Her father is constantly telling her, that she has to fulfil her duty as a Spartan woman to marry a good man and to have children. That she has to give birth to Spartan sons and daughters because only Spartan women can bring real warriors into this world. At least that is what her father had told her all her life. 

She doesn't care about all that. She doesn't want to marry some stranger who her father deemed worthy for marrying his precious little daughter. Not only that, but she wants to stay herself, she wants to stay independent. 

A single tear escapes her eye as she looks at the scenic area on the outskirts of the town. The seemingly endless wheat fields in front of her seem so peaceful, as she rethinks her father's words and tries to understand his reasoning. She may not agree with her father's plans for her future, but she still tries to understand him. It has always been like this. She was always the most understanding and compliant out of her siblings. But according to her father, she is also the most thickheaded and unruly one. Her father himself is not a great warrior, quite the contrary. He is a blacksmith and is therefore responsible for forging the armour and weapons for Sparta's warriors. An injury caused him to change his path. His shoulder blade got crushed during a sparring fight. This never healed properly, and he was no longer fit to serve in the Spartan army. Despite that, he is still seen as a reputable member of the spartan society, and therefore it is understandable that he wants his children to have a good future accommodating their status. 

Filomela's two older brothers are training to become Spartan soldiers and her youngest brother, who is still older than her by three years, is training under her father to take over his business as a blacksmith. So that means it is only her who hasn't got a path for her future yet. The problem child, as her father likes to lovingly call her. 

Thinking about the discussion she earlier had with her father, a few tears slip down Filomela's face again. She shakes her head to ban the bad thoughts and to get rid of the tears. Lost in her thoughts, she doesn't realize that a few young boys run onto the fields not far from her seat. They goof around in the field and don't see Filomela at first. 

Until one of the boys spots Filomela and informs his buddies: "Hey, look! There is someone!". This shout shakes Filomela from her little trance, and she whips her head around to where the shout came from. She spots three boys in the fields, they are all maybe a few years older than her. One of them points towards her. She thinks about running from them for a second, but by then it is already too late, the boy who pointed at her is coming towards her while his friends follow him reluctantly. "Hey! What are you doing there?", he wants to know. At first, Filomela doesn't know what to tell him, you could even say she was a bit frightened because in mere seconds a wall consisting of three boys appeared before her. Intimidated by the boys, she stares up at them and fails to breathe under their stares. "Come on! Tell us already! What are you doing here?", one of the boys demands to know, harshly. Filomela flinches at his harsh outburst. "Hey Stelios, don't be so harsh! You scare her!", the boy who first noticed her, scolds his friend. "Please forgive Stelios, he isn't very good with this sort of thing. My name is Dilios, what's your name?", Dilios says softly. Filomela looks up in his icy-blue eyes and whispers: "Filomela", whereas she has to concentrate, so her voice doesn't fail. "That is a beautiful name", Dilios smiles "these are my friends Stelios and Theron", he continues to introduce his friends and points at them. The one who shouted at her earlier, Stelios, looks apologetically in Filomela's direction, whereas Theron seems to be uninterested and looks bored. "Do you want to come with us?", "Hey Dilios, what are you doing?! You wouldn't want to invite this little girl to come with us?! We wanted to run to the Pond today!", exclaims an outraged Stelios before Filomela was even given the chance to respond to Dilios' question. Theron is quick to agree with his friend and is nodding vigorously. "Okay,  Stelios! You are right! You three go ahead, I will come after you in a few seconds!", Dilios instructs his friends. After dealing with his impatient friends, Dilios turns towards Filomela with an apologetic look on his face: "My friends can be rough sometimes, but they are great people. I am sorry, but I have to go. Maybe next time you can come with us", he grins. Filomela just nods and watches the boy run towards his friends. Yes, perhaps next time!

Hello, 

I know the chapter is super short, and the following  chapters will be short as well. This is just a very short story that I wrote as part of a big project. I hope you enjoy it nevertheless. Also, I just wanted to add, that English isn't my first language and so mistakes are very possible, if you find any just let me know.

Greetings, 

Kayla