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9 Ward

_Ward_

Slash, slash -clink- parry. Slash, slash -clink- miss. The girl grunted as her father's wooden sword came and jabbed her in the ribs. Her wild black hair had long since slipped from its tied up style and now it was spread out, messy among her shoulders. It needed a cut, she didn't like to keep it too long. Long hair was easy to grab- and it was a pain to take care of.

Her free hand came up to cup her ribs as she grit her teeth and came after her father with her own wooden sword, slashing at him with it. Each time he only blocked or dodged out of the way. Sometimes if she was lucky and her parry missed, she could move out of the way- but her father was not slow. For such a large man he made fast, his attacks gaining momentum as he went. Even if she was not making any progress in her training, he did not slow down. Most days she went to bed with bruises but she would rather eat rotten porridge than complain about it.

It had taken her over a year to convince him to train her in swordcraft. He had always been against it, saying that the field was no place for a woman. She had then practiced with a stick for a long time, before stealing a sword from her father to use in private. He was not pleased when he found out but she stole it again and again until eventually, he let it pass. This however was just the beginning of her badgering.

She would practice with the boys of their town, befriending them and practicing with them but they were no good. How was she to get better if she was only practicing with people who were bad at it? She needed a soldier- like her father. But still, he would not have any of it. Eventually, she convinced her older brother to practice with her, but he was too soft on her.

In a fit of rage on evening, she had approached her father and asked him again. His negative answer spurred her on to challenge him. Normally, the man was clear headed but after a small victory over a dispute in the kingdom, he had been a little drunk after the celebration. So he accepted. The fight wasn't anything to gawk at, seeming as the girl had easily been defeated even with a half drunken man at the other end of the sword.

The defeat had been crushing. She was however, fully prepared to go back to practicing by herself. The girl was not about to be a sore loser in the eyes of her father. He seemed to understand her determination- or at least acknowledge it was there. So he agreed to train her- but that was its own challagne.

He went hard and relentless on her, unlike how he had been with her older brothers. She had watched them train and it had never been this hard. Throughout the pain of it, she didn't complain. She promised herself that she wouldn't ever complain. When questioned about why he went so hard on her like he did, he would only shrug it off and claim he was the same to her brothers as he was to her. The girl wasn't stupid though. She knew her father well.

He was going so hard for two reasons. The first was to discourage her from going down this path. It was a dangerous path for a woman to go down. Violence wasn't for the women- it was a man's job. The idea of that had always boiled her blood. She wanted to be just as good as they were- just as respected as them. Dresses and gowns were not things she wished to see in her future. The idea of being ladylike gave her a putrid feeling in her gut.

The second reason for him to be as tough as he was, was to benefit her in the future. When you fought someone, you put your life on the line. A man with a sword would not go easy on her just because she was a woman. She was well aware of all the dangers that men proposed to her as a woman. If she were to lose a fight, a lot more would be lost than her life.

The vile thought of men having their way with her made her hit harder against her father, a loud clunk being heard as their wooden swords connected so hard that she felt the hard vibration in its hilt, no doubt bruising her palms. She spun away from her father to adjust her grip, facing him with narrowed eyes through a mess of hair. He rushed her before she could move, and slammed her into the ground.