The Mark Of A Warrior

Warding off evil, twin sisters

Italy 1114 A.D.

Josette's POV: I clutched the sword in my hands as I narrowed my eyes with a challenging smile. I swung the sword, smiling to myself as they moved to block me. "Elizabeth, go high", I shouted, grinning as my sister swung her sword down only to be blocked once more as I quickly stepped back to cut their belt, causing their pants to droop. "Dad", I sighed. "You saw that strike coming", I accused, causing dad to chuckle to himself.

"She is not wrong", mom laughed, watching us from the side. "A baby could have blocked that in their sleep", she smiled, causing me to smile.

"See? Mom agrees with-what does that mean", I glared, causing them to share an amused look.

"Will we get one of those when we are older, daddy", Elizabeth cut in, grabbing dad's arm to look over his tattoo. 

"Elizabeth, do not be foolish", I chided. "You know that the hunter's marks are only reserved for dad and the other four hunters", I reminded.

"Mom has one", she pointed out. 

"That is because mom is special", I huffed, rolling my eyes at my sister's childish behavior.

"Girls, that is enough", mom told us.

"Can I see your markings, mom", Elizabeth asked, handing her sword over to dad as she wondered over to mom's side. "See, Jo? Mom has one, and she is a vam-"

"Elizabeth", I hissed, moving to cover her mouth. "Just because dad doesn't mind that mom's a vampire, does not mean you should announce it to the entire village", I scolded before quickly snatching my hand away in disbelief. "Did you just lick me", I gawked. 

"Yep", she answered, sending me a bright smile. "Hey! Maybe that is my power. Warding off evil, twin sisters", she joked as I wiped my hand on my dress. 

"Hilarious", I told her sarcastically. "Maybe your power is making bad jokes", I threw back, smiling to myself as she stuck her tongue out at me childishly. 

"Kaleb has a mark", she grumbled.

"Kaleb got his when he turned sixteen, same as mom", I told her. "And that was before the hunting accident that turned him into a vamp dragon", I explained, causing her to giggle.

"Vamp dragon", she snickered, causing me to roll my eyes as we made our way into the marketplace.

"My point is that if we had a mark, then we would have gotten it last year", I said, causing her to pout.

"Miss", a drunken man called out, begging for money, as I rolled my eyes before noticing my sister reaching into her pocket to pull out a coin. 

"Liz...", I hissed, grabbing onto her arm before glaring at the man heatedly. "Leave", I demanded, causing him to scowl at my attitude and stumble off. "What were you thinking? You cannot just hand out coins to every homeless bloke that you cross paths with, Elizabeth", I chastised, causing her to lower her gaze. "I swear, our parents raised you to be a saint", I huffed, dragging her down the road as she waved at the villagers brightly.

"Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Wells", she called out cheerfully.

"Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to train with me tonight", I asked her. "Dad is supposed to be away, and mom is busy", I admitted, causing her to send me an offended look. 

"Why am I the last choice", she asked. 

"You are not the last", I told her truthfully. "I did not ask Kaleb, because I knew he is going to be out of the country for a few moons", I explained, causing her to grumble under her breath.

"Fine", she relented. "But only because Charlotte canceled on me", she said, causing me to send her a confused look.

"Who is Charlotte", I asked her. 

"My friend", she answered, causing me to send her a funny look. "I am allowed to have friends of my own. They do not have to have your approval", she huffed as I raised my eyebrows. "So, she is more of mom's friend, but she is great at knitting", she admitted, causing me to shake my head with a small smile. "Who is that", she asked, pointing off to my right, causing me to turn my head to see a young girl talking to Alexander. 

"Oh, that is Rebekah, Alexander is courting her", I said. "She and her family moved here not to long ago", I explained, causing her to frown to herself.

"Why did I not know about this", she questioned. "I know everyone here", she pointed out. "We could have showed them around", she sighed in disappointment before quickly perking up. "We should go say hi", she suggested eagerly, tugging me forward. 

"Elizabeth, you cannot just walk over there, and say-"

"Hi, my names Hope", a girl admitted, walking up to us with a charming smile. "I just moved here with my family, and I have not really explored the village yet", she explained. "And, I apologize for eavesdropping earlier, but I overheard that you two could give me a tour", she said, causing me to share a quick glance at my sister.

Looking the girl over cautiously, I could easily feel the magic coming off the girl in waves, causing my hairs to stand on ends. "I do not know. We are pretty busy to-"

"We would be happy to", Elizabeth threw in with a kind smile, causing me to mentally face-palm. 

"Great", Hope smiled.

"Tremendous", I said with a forced smile.

Does Elizabeth have no survival instincts at all?

I swear, she's gonna be the death of me one day.