Swords Against Swords

Chapter Three

Hello! Sorry for the slight delay in the posting of Chapter 3, but I had exams and my birthday this week! :) Tons of fun stuff and not so fun stuff. But we all lived. Haha. Anyway! Here's chapter 3!

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When morning arrived, I jumped out of my covers just as the sun rose. My excitement got the best of me when I thought that this was the day that Samuel would show me around!

I had decided before sleeping last night that I would surprise Samuel by meeting him at his home. What better way to impress him?

When I asked Nancy this morning for one of her casual dresses, she fixed me with a peculiar gaze, her eyes wide open and her mouth agape. "Now what mischief is this? What in heaven's name would you need one of my dresses for?"

"Oh please, Nancy!" I begged, "I'm going to the village with Samuel today, and I mustn't attract attention while we go about, so I need one of your dresses. Nothing I have could possibly be inconspicuous enough."

Nancy narrowed her eyes as if she were unsure of whether or not she should be offended by my statement. I looked upon her innocently, hoping she knew I meant no harm by it.

It was true though. Even the plainest of my dresses was at least silk.

Nancy huffed, disapproval radiating from her body. She stomped out of my room, but soon returned with a bundle in hand. She set the garment down on my bed and unwrapped the pack.

Nancy indicated for me to come to her so she could dress me, and I skipped over to her happily. As she slipped the plain cotton gown over my head, she said, "I don't like that instructor of yours. He seems very suspicious to me."

"Nonsense!" I waved off her concern. "Samuel is just a terse man."

"Has he spoken any word of his appearance in the garden yesterday morning?" She pressed.

"No...In fact, I had all but forgotten about that, really." I mused. "Although, now that you mention it, he did evade the question when I posed it yesterday..."

"See? I am not quite sure what kind of shady character he is."

"Nancy!" I admonished, growing frustrated. "Why must you always be such a drag?"

She sighed, tightening the single ribbon at the back of the dress. "I'm only—"

"You're always against everything I do that doesn't suit your image of a princess. I don't know if it was Mother that told you to act like that, but at least let me have some mind of my own." I ranted while I crossed my arms across my chest defiantly appearing exactly like the child I thought I had out grown.

Nancy came out from behind me and put her hands on my shoulders, seeming every bit of the seven years older than me she was. "I know you want to have more freedom, and believe me, I don't want to restrict you. Why else would I fit you in my clothes?" She smiled, "I just want you to be careful, Clarisse." Her eyes hardened, "That man seems like he has secrets, and the last thing I want is for you to get hurt. You can understand that, right?"

I nodded in silence, like a child who was just disciplined. Nancy smiled and placed a quick kiss on my forehead. It was times like these that I remembered that she was practically an older sister to me.

She sat me in front of my mirror and braided my hair into plaits and wrapped them into a bun like hers. When I looked at the finished image of myself in the mirror, I realized we really did look like sisters.