Elizabeth's mocha brown hair flopped back against her back in an exotic , elegant new braid. She'd learned how to weave it from the daughter of the last merchant that'd come through. Truthfully it'd been a couple weeks before, but it had taken her this long to master the exact weave. Braids, cosmetics, and other feminine arts certainly didn't come easily to her. If she managed to put her mind to one of the skills long enough she was likely to master it, but mastering it didn't always mean she could do it consistently, with grace and with a good end result.
Stowing the brush and pieces of cloth back into the lavish chest her uncle had given her just the week before, she let the lid close with a reassuring creak. It was almost as big as her and yet it still didn't hold all of the gifts of clothing, jewels, cosmetics and various other gifts. He'd given her extra trunks over the years to hold all of the gifts. Although he was extremely wealthy and of a high position in the decent sized coast town , he still made it a priority to do all of his own traveling. Besides being the ruler of the town he had quite the flourishing trade company from which he'd built himself. When he'd taken the position from his brother upon bis tragic death he hadn't been able to part with his trade. He didn't need the money anymore, but the people he'd met along the way, the routes he'd always taken had become a very important part of him. As much as he loved spending time with his niece his eyes always seemed light up with an exuberant spark whenever he was getting ready for a trip. Elizabeth certainly couldn't blame him. The few times he'd let her come with him she'd loved it. The adventure of sailing out onto the open sea, the gentle rock of the waves, the extra stops he'd make for her, the people they met. The only downside had been that she had been sea sick occasionally. Some of the herbs from his sea chest had soon helped that, though, and it only bothered her when she forgot to bring the plants along.
When her mother was only nineteen she'd made the mistake, as most people saw it, to marry a foreigner. Although the couple was happy beyond words the constant disapproval, even threats they earned wherever they moved wore on them. The point when it became too much, though, was when on their first night in a new town someone tried to start their house on fire. They were just able to escape the flaming structure with their own and their new baby girl's life. It was obvious the town's they went to weren't welcoming of a foreigner who unlikely looked a lot like his people. His family had been pirates, pirates who had ravaged many of the settlements around which made the people hate a bit more understandable, but he'd left the life when he fell in love with Elizabeth's mother. Despite all of the facts, though they'd decided they needed somewhere else for their daughter to go. They were willing to take the chance of their safety, but not when it came to her life. With that a letter was sent begging for Elizabeth's mom's(Help me give her a name in the comments) brother to take her in. He had more than enough means to take care of her and give her a good life, a life he certainly would as he had a good heart. Even though he didn't exactly agree with his sister's choices, he loved her regardless and immediately upon receiving the letter the arrangements were made. While he tried to tame the wild flame that seemed to ignite in her at every attempt of being a 'proper lady' he also gave in a bit and hired the best tutors for her to learn the art of fighting and other ways of self defense. On top of that his library was always open to her, providing her with countless hours she could be immersed deeply into another world through the pages. That had been sixteen years ago. Just a couple weeks before had been Elizabeth's birthday, one that was celebrated with her choice of activity, which had been a trip to one of the close islands which housed one of her uncle's dear trading friends. The man's store and stories of even farther off lands had been a special treat for her birthday.
Using the chest for support as she slowly lifted herself up from the cross legged position she'd crouched into on the plush white fluffy rug that covered most of her bedroom floor, she went to look for her training clothes. She'd spent most of the morning mastering the braid, she deserved some training time. After she'd slipped into an old pair of trousers and a loose white shirt; the outfit she wore for training or riding. As she was finishing the last button on the shirt a couple panicked cries came drifting through the window in her room. Letting her feet slap urgently against the edge of the room, where the warm rug wasn't laying she eagerly peeked out the window. Most of the time when there was unrest in the town it was over a loose animal or sometimes even a couples fight. Most of the couples in the village were quiet about their fights but there were a couple that made a whole scene in front of whoever would stop to watch or could hear from their windows. It was both entertaining and sad at the same time, although with the couple that was at it the most it was more on the humorous side. When she didn't notice any of that she started to pay more attention to the actual words being screamed at the top of several people's lungs now.
