QUEEN AMINA

CHAPTER 3

'Amina, Amina' her father called to her gently, as her mother sobbed beside her. She gradually gasped back to life, coughing blood. 'Amina! oh the gods, look at my daughter' her mother said wailing beside her 'woman please put yourself together' the king said, holding unto Amina 'nurse do something quickly' the King said raising his voice at her impatiently, Amina slumped only to wake up hours later to find her parents looking her over 'what in the world could have gotten into this girl? the Queen said pacing around with her hands folded and the King shook his head, Amina groaned and her mother rushed to her side 'Amina,are you OK? she said with concern 'i'm thirsty' Amina replied in a faint whisper and a maid hurried out quickly to get her some water.

Her parents gave her a week to heal a bit and get over the trauma after which, she had series of interrogations 'how long has this been going on? 'since...since i was thirteen' Amina said biting her lip as her mother glared at her 'are you crazy? Amina,have you completely lost your mind? no, look at you, have you ever wondered who would get married to you, if you damaged your body? answer me, have you?? her mother said scolding her 'calm down my dear, calm down' 'no, don't tell me that,you are encouraging her silly ideas of becoming a warrior obviously...i'm out of here, talk to her, it seems she might listen to you, seeing my words and advice are of no importance to her' the Queen said storming off 'sorry dear sister' Henrietta said patting her gently 'please get better OK? the king walked up to them and sighed heavily'my dears, please leave us alone' he said dismissing his older daughters and the maids. Amina hid her face in her palm and her father drew closer to her 'Amina,...hey it's OK' he said consoling her as she sobbed 'i'm sorry...' 'sorry for what? i am sorry for you cause you are the one afflicted with pain'  he said softly and Amina wiped her tears and lifted her head to look at him 'i only wanted to make you proud father not cause you shame, i love to fight and I want to inherit the beads' she said crying and her father smiled 'i am proud of you...but Amina, women are not fighters' 'no father, there has not been a female fighter in your time but in my time they will be, starting with me' she said boldly and he shook his head and spoke firmly' Amina i won't let you fight, do you know who you are? 'father please, please i can be great at this, all i need is a little bit more practice...i only got injured because i was training at night but if you pass a decree, father approve of me training in the day time with your army, i promise i wont let you down,father please' she said kissing his fingers 'Amina stop this now!! her father said raising his voice at her 'stop making promises for a dream i have no intentions of letting you achieve' he said walking angrily to the door 'and why father? because i got injured....but this is only the first round, i thought sire Linus had four more rounds? she said stopping him in his tracks,he stood for a few minutes,speechless and then walked out.

Hannah knocked on Amina's door twice and walked in with Ariston following closely 'is my princess asleep? she said lightly and Amina stirred, smiling at the sight of Ariston's face. They both looked tensed and worried 'yea, come in, come in' they nodded and walked to her 'Ariston wanted to come so badly and the Queen approved of it' 'it's OK Hannah, how are you Ariston? 'i'm fine, i brought you a flower' he said taking out the rose from his pocket 'sorry it's a bit withered' 'it's OK' Amina said with a smile and accepted it. 'how are you feeling? Hannah asked sitting beside her 'tired,but i'm better'  she said as she sat up 'Amina, why did you really do that? 'Hannah i just, i just wanted to try it' 'hmm' 'i just wanna prove that women, our women can do much more than marry enviable husbands' 'Amina, but in life sometimes we just have to accept that we play different roles' 'yes i understand but also in life, Hannah there are no limitations, we only make them for ourselves' Hannah sighed 'i guess we all have to accept that you are growing older and becoming more intelligent' Amina smiled and turned to Ariston 'sorry we bore you, wanna play a game? 'sure, what game? Ariston said excitedly and Amina pulled out a knife from her leg strap and threw it to the dart on the wall 'oh my! oh my goodness! Hannah said quite startled 'cool! let me try, let me try' Ariston said and Amina pointed underneath her bed where he picked out knives from, as Hannah stared on horrified.

Amina spent the next few weeks in her room recovering, she'd spent some days at the window, watching the men train, trying to imagine more defense moves in her head. One hundred ways to avoid getting hit in the head. She sighed, she had to get better...faster, at least before the battle. Amina walked downstairs and took her seat beside her sisters at the dining 'good to have you here, sister dearest' Estelle said patting her gently 'thank you dear' she returned with a smile, avoiding her mother's looks 'here, have more vegetables' her mother offered and Amina nodded gratefully.

She laid on her bed unable to sleep and stood up restlessly to pick up her mask. She opened her door and found Asher standing there 'my princess' 'Asher, I would that you let me step down for a bit' 'my princess, it's late' 'i'm not going anywhere, just within the premises, you can come with me if you so desire it' He let out a deep breath and followed her. They walked down to the open field and he sat quietly as Amina trained with her sword, he admired her secretly but didn't dare to utter a word of encouragement. Amina struggled on for the entire month, training herself regardless of what her mother said ,she wasn't breaking any rules, training by herself she thought. Her body ached but she was not gonna give up, she was gonna prove something. While she rehearsed one day, her father walked out to meet her 'you don't hold it that way' he said and Amina turned around in surprise 'father' he got closer to her and placed his hand over hers 'bend it slightly and make sure your grip is firm' he said with a smile and she bowed 'thank you' 'Amina, i knew the moment your mother gave birth to you, that you were a stubborn child, heck you came out kicking and troubling everyone' he said and Amina chuckled. 'i love you very much Amina, and my heart will break to see you hurt, but i see passion in your eyes and if the gods have decided on your destiny who am i to refrain you from it? he paused and swallowed 'you have your second round, do me proud, your star's shining already as foretold by the gods' he finished off and Amina gasped hugging him 'do i really? what of mother? 'i'll talk to her,just be careful' he kissed her on her fore-head and walked back in.

That was the beginning of greatness, Amina remembered. She had been shown no favoritism and was thrown straight into the war front to prove herself,earning respect from the soldiers after she won a fatal four way brawl. Her mother had given up on her, named her the child that was not meant to stay as she felt Amina was only trying to kill herself. She participated in two major confrontations with neighboring kingdoms, earning the nick name 'the warrior princess' from the villagers. No one had seen her face but neighboring kingdoms had of course heard of the masked Princess. Due to her brave act, women were no longer limited in their thoughts as some young girls were quoted as saying, they want to be warriors, like princess Amina. She had no desire to be married, although her father had told her clearly that when he finds someone eligible for her, she would have to. I don't see that happening now though, she thought with a sigh, not as a slave though, she shook her head as she looked around regrettably.

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