When Steel Meets Flesh

Ch. 1

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young girl, Cessa. Here young, shimmering eyes were the colour of the mossy rocks she played on. Her hair the same shade as the earth flecked upon her dress. She was young and carefree and spent her days running through forests and splashing in rivers. She had a friend who ran with her; her name was Annika. They would play and run and shout and dream, until one day their father's called them inside earlier and Annika became less interested in the spirit of the trees and more so in the newest bouquet of flowers on her doorstep. But she never was interested in them.
She knew that she wanted to get married and have a family but she was only thirteen what was the point of thinking about it yet.
"Cessa come now; it's getting late. You'll catch a cold out there in your dress."

"But Papa if only you let me wear your tunic, I wouldn't get so cold!" She ran into her father's arms and he picked her up.

"Now Cessa, what have I said about the tunics?" She frowned and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"It's not lady-like." Her father had been insistent every time she asked the question.

"Very good! Now go ask Charlize to run you a nice hot bath and get you into some nice new clothes. The Duke of Vancour and his son are coming for dinner." He beamed down at her but even at her young age of thirteen, she hated the idea of making awkward conversation with the Duke's son, Hugo.

"But Papa! Hugo is so boring.' She whined.

"You will say no such thing of the Duke's son. Now go get ready."

And that was that. Cess lived her life sneaking into the forest while she was meant to be leaning to be a good lady. Once or twice, when she was about thirteen, she would sneak one of her father's bows out and would run into a dryad who would help her shoot. If ever she managed to actually shoot something down, she would deliver it to her father's doorstep under the alias of an anonymous suitor.
She would see Annika every once in a while. But Cess hated it. The only thing Annika would ever talk about was the town or even kingdom gossip.
Cess didn't know much about The Continent's kingdoms. She knew that there were five and that before that there were four: Lavora (where she lived), Luthinda, Lehm and North and South Närheár which split after a war over mining rights. Each kingdom had its own role to play in the way The Continent worked, but she only knew Lavora's role, agriculture.
But Annika never talked about the state of the economy or if the trade routes with Luthinda were still strong. No, Annika only talked about the Duke's son or the prince or the latest fashion statement at balls. It wasn't that Cessa hated going to balls and all that; it was just boring. She found so much more joy in running through the forest or sneaking out at night to watch the stars.
But as she grew she realised that when the Sisters of Fate had weaved her tapestry, they had not been kind.