THIS WILL TAKE 1 MINUTE OF YOUR TIME: Hello and thanks for reading this. I was fairly young and uneducated in history at the time I first thought up this story so I assumed noble girls in the Middle Ages were not allowed to read. This, if you didn't know, is not true as some girls were allowed to read but nothing beyond that and 'womanly' skills. So please look upon this story as one of fantasy as there are aspects from different time periods and practices that contain that ambiguity of realism. Thank you again for reading :)

Chapter 1

This was where it all started. The day that everything changed.

"Marian!" A blood chilling scream echoed all throughout the damp yet otherwise energetic halls of Fritzwalter Castle.

It was a marvelous edifice, full of pleasant peoples and singing chambermaids. Though there were many kinds of individuals in this humble, bustling castle, one in particular stood out more than some- at least to Marian: The teacher, advisor, friend and tyrant, Miss Herdreth Nore.

"I can't believe you, child! Sleeping through breakfast"

Marian groaned waking up to the sweet voice of her Governess.

A Governess, like Herdreth, was in charge of training young nobles for their life of luxury once they, at the appropriate age, will inherit their parent's lands and fortune. But in Marian's point of view a governess was to train the nobles how to look down on people like peasants while horribly annoying the nobles to death while they were at it.

Marian groaned again in a expressively louder volume, "You must be silent or you'll wake the dead!"

A thump was heard outside Marian's door.

"Don't give me that, Marian. I thought I sent you to bed early last night," Herdreth's sharp and scolding voice pronounced as her footsteps were heard thundering towards Marian's bedside.

And just when Marian thought the event couldn't remotely get worse, the tutor began babbling about the importance of using every available minute and second of the day; of how a wasted unit of time reflects upon the person's very own ungrateful character.

The poor girl tried drowning out the uninteresting lecture by tugging a feathered pillow above her ears. However, due to the consistency of tone and the bare and pointed voice her governess was cursed with, the light and comfortable sleeping companions were not at all any sort of help.

"Herdreth! If you would quiet down I will gladly explain the reason why I woke up late!"

Or at least try, Marian thought.

For last night, she had been at the castle library reading about weapons and the penalties of all sorts of crimes. This interested her very much. But to other folks, especially Herdreth, her ventures into the factual dimension of gore and weaponry would have been considered a unforgivable criminal offense far horrid than those she had read of. And this was not mentioning her knowing how to read and write.

Marian could just imagine the disgusted look on Herdreth's face and her terrifying speech: "My lady, you are the most degrading pupil I have ever had. Shame. On. You"

This may not seem much to many a nonchalant persons who put to mind no one's opinion but to an aristocratic child, much energy was devoted to thinking about what others were thinking.

Marian's sleepy thoughts were utterly interrupted by Herdreth's taunting voice .

"No need Marian, I already knew you were at the castle library reading all night. You probably don't remember me carrying you up to your room. I was in momentary shock due to the topics of the books you were reading. You weren't plotting against someone here in the castle now were you, I trust you weren't"

Marian groaned again. "If you knew all along then what was that bloody speech all about?"

Herdreth gave a smirk and there was not even an ounce of effort devoted in trying to conceal it.

"I knew it would annoy you awake and so I thought why not, you only deserve it. You know, you aren't supposed to be reading at all. If It were one of the maids and not I you would be in a lot of trouble young lady. So be thankful it was I who ventured in the library last night finding a extinguished candle a sleeping princess slobbering all over the pages of a ethereally gruesome book and so begrudgingly decided to carry her back to her mattress"

Marian's head cleared in a flash from all thoughts of sleep and she sat upright. Herdreth knew she could read! And now that Marian thought about it, she didn't remember coming back up to her room before dawn like she always managed to.

Shite! What now? Will I be sent to one of those reformatory schools?

Herdeth chuckled, "Don't fret, Miss Marian. Your mother told me about it. After all, what good a governess would I be, not knowing about her pupil's hobby. I don't repress or faint at the thought of a woman's literacy at all so don't be shaken"

Marian, amazed at Herdreth's sudden defense of the rights of women when only yesterday she was disgusted by the idea of female literacy, sat on her bed with a dumbstruck face.

"What are you talking about!"She yelled like a crazed woman, the plush feathered cushion was thrown and landed flat and deflated onto the wooden floor. "Only the other day you were babbling about how women were not fit to read and how it corrupted their minds-made them insane and all!"

At Marian's shocked face Herdreth surprisingly started laughing, "So you were paying attention. I was hoping you weren't. I was trying to convince myself that what I was saying were the right things rather than teaching my pupil." Herdreth sighed before proceeding "You see, I was personally asked by your father to deliver such a lesson and so I did. Men don't want the women's minds corrupted, isn't that what I told you?" Herdreth asked looking up at Marian. She waited before Marian gave her a nod.

"Well Marian... you see I am jealous of you reading at this age. To think, Eight! You learned how to read and write when you were six, If I remember your deceased mother's words correctly. That number is a good distance from eighteen. As I said, yesterday's lecture was quite customary to give it to you. I myself can read and to...to say those words...just know they were not meant"

Herdreth could read too, She thought in awe.

Now Marian laughed. She was glad to hear that her Governess didn't think knowing how to read and write was such a curse but the fact itself made her thought just minutes ago of Herdreth shrieking about it hilarious.

Herdreth, taken aback by her sudden burst of laughter cleared her throat, hoping to gain the attention of her student once again as well as try to hide the sympathy she rarely showed. But Marian continued her laughter, that was until she noticed the glare of pure fire Herdreth was giving her.

Then the tutor continued with her irritatingly formal language.

"You may look down on me Marian and it might as well be my fault for telling you about it but still as your Governess I suggest you learn how to hold your tongue when needed. Never look down on people. Like most men do to women"

Marian remained silent waiting for an explanation to follow but none ever did. She looked up to see Herdreth's face and found her governess to be considerably loss in a void of incomprehensible thought. Hence, Marian decided to continue for her.

"They want to make it seem that they are smarter and stronger than women. So they forbid us from any source of knowledge?" Marian asked in her childlike manner, hopefully wishing she had impressed Herdreth by her observation and that she forgave her sudden burst of laughter. She may hate Herdreth but only did so out of melancholy and loneliness.

Herdreth smiled and looked up at her.

"Yes indeed," Marian continued, "those bloody scoundrels! I hate it when they say women can't fight. Just give me a sword and a fortnight to practice and I believe I could kill a man or two!" Marian then got up and grabbed an imaginary sword. She was mere inches away from Herdreth now, her unruly and uncombed hair dangling playfully by her shoulders.

This was when Herdreth stopped smiling. Marian saw this and her imaginary sword would have vanished (except there wasn't really anything there), at Herdreth's next words. For a few minutes they stared at each other. Herdreth looking seriously up and down at Marian,surveying her. Herdreth circled Marian again and again. Marian looking questioningly at Herdreth but in fear of speaking. Finally Herdreth gave a small sigh and walked over to Marian's bed. Herdreth sat down on the mattress and motioned for Marian to do the same. She sat beside her governess, unsure if she had done something wrong. She always did wrong things unknowingly.

"Marian..."Herdreth started. Marian faced her governess. Herdreth in turn stared into Marian's hazle brown eyes, her dark grey orbs boring into Marian's soul. At this Marian knew Herdreth was about to say something incredibly unlike herself and thus something incredibly important.

"Marian..." Herdreth starting tiredly again,"Have you ever wondered where governess and governors are trained? Marian looked down at her feet. She haven't thought about it. Marian didn't want to think about Herdreth at all. She wanted to think little about her as possible but of course lessons made that impossible.

Before Herdreth showed up when she was eight years old , she was free. Marian did everything she wanted to do. She and her mother would get together in her father's study and they would read to each other all day. Marian even got to explore Sherwood Forest when everyone was too busy in the castle to check on her. She deemed it the most peaceful place in the whole of corrupted England. She wondered how long it had been since she had been in the forest's freedom. A good two years, she estimated. But Marian could still remember the sounds of the forest, the safe feeling she had when she was devoured into the greenery of its trees and plants. Herdreth and her lectures, her loud mouth and her unsympathetic way of talking to her took the little liberties Marian had.

Marian forced her self into reality and turned to confront Herdreth. "No,"she said in a guilty voice.

Herdreth who was not surprised by this answer continued.

"Well, we are trained in what we call Ranks. Ranks are the group upon you are placed based upon skill. In the Ranks we are trained by a Savanah and a Serial. Savanahs were men and women who taught us about weapons, teaching us how to use it and taught us to always be on the look out for any danger surrounding our assigned nobles. We were treated equally, we were also taught how to read and write, speak different languages as well as their alphabet, I am even fluent in Greek."

Now Marian was confused and bewildered as ever! What was Herdreth talking about? What was Greek? Also danger and weapons were not for governors and governesses; so were reading and writing. All they have ever do to nobles is annoy and making drastic comments such as: "Sit up straight you look like you were raised by a twisted spider!" and "Very unlady like!"

When was it that they tried to protect said nobles?

Herdreth noticed the look of bewilderment on Marian's eyes.

"Marian you didn't think we were trained just to rebuff and be rude to the aristocrats, did you? Some of us are made governors and governess to prepare you to be leaders of your loyal subjects and to protect you till then. You do know there have been cases where nobles die because of rivalry with others. We try to look ahead on what's good for you. And for the good of England. For example while eating we tell you not to rush or eat like a pig so we may have time to examine your food by its appearance. All governors and governess learned how to spot poisoned food. We also tell you sit up straight so you may breath properly and also to insure your full growth in length. But those are just small mere things we do."

Marian grew silent, thinking that perhaps aside from being trained in whatever art of attack or defense, her governess might also be a seer as she had completely hit home on Marian's thoughts.

But Herdreth was not yet finished and suddenly she took out the pin that was holding her hair in a tight bun. Herdreth's long black hair bounced down but she didn't mind. Herdreth held the pin in front of Marian and Marian could see the pointed end of the pin gleaming slightly and in an almost seductive manner. Marian gasped.

The governess merely chuckled, "I keep it close to me just in case my dear. For self protection, I should say." Herdreth then stood up pulling up her skirts and revealing three thin daggers and a small knife strapped around her right ebony thigh with a rich brown leather cloth covering the sharp ends of the enticing weapons.

"These I have to wear frequently, especially when you never know when danger might strike. I also wear it every time the Sheriff of Nottingham and his nephew Guy pays a visit to collect the taxes. You know dear, the hard part about that is actually keeping my mind from the idea of assassinating him." The tutor said these words in a most confident and novel way that Marian could not utter a word of opposition.

Marian stared astonished at her governess who for two years whom she thought of as impudent, rude and bossy, but all along she had been her secret defender, her unknown guardian.

The newfound information finally transitioned fully into the child's mind.

"Marian, I'm sorry I never told you about such things before. I couldn't tell you- or anyone for that matter" Herdreth, for once sounded very sincere and almost guilty "That is the first and far most important rule of the governors and governess. That's why no one knows about the part of being trained by a Savanah. Everyone else knows we are trained by a Serial, the person who teaches us what to teach you nobles, and that's pretty much all I have to confess to you for now." Marian stared long and hard at her governess before asking the question that she had been pondering in her mind.

What is Greek? No, that can wait!

"Why did you tell me if it was a such an important rule?" Marian asked, her voice brave with the naivety and fear of a hapless child. She knew she would never look at Herdreth the way she did before. She now knew that any second Herdreth could use one of her deadly weapons at her if she was too much of a pain.

The way Marian sounded made Herdreth laugh.

"Before I answer your question I would like to point out that one of the reasons I am here is to protect you not to assassinate you, dear"

Marian visibly settled down but Herdreth still wore a disturbing smile on her face, as if thinking twice about what she said.

"This is exactly the reason we were told not to tell anyone especially the nobles. They won't trust us anymore than they trust a murderer not to kill. But Marian, dear, you are different from other nobles."

Different? How was I any different? Marian thought. Was I the only one who resisted my governess? Despised her? And as if reading her mind once again, Herdreth frowned.

"First of all dear I would like you to know that compared to other nobles you are the most hard headed. There are many nobles who hate their governors or governess but not with such a passion as you do" the tutor expressed with an arch almost as pointed as an arrow.

Marian couldn't help but smile in recollection at her past devilish tricks on Herdreth. A frog in her hat, rotten eggs ending up at her breakfast plate and her biggest trick: Herdreth's undergarments ending up in the stables. The stable boy now blushes when he sees Herdreth even when a year has passed since the ghastly strew of clothing hung on the rafters of the wood frames and her frilly night gowns lain upon the straw.

"Why thank you governess Herdreth for your very flattering compliment!" Marian said with a mock curtsy, "But what makes me different?" Marian asked craving for the answer.

"You are different because you seek adventure." Herdreth said with a knowing smile. The girl's eyes widened to the size of that of an egg.

"What's wrong Marian? You didn't think I knew about your trips to Sherwood Forest before I came to be in this castle? Or maybe your interest in weapons?" Again, the protruding dark eyebrow made it's entrance and Marian would have been fixated by it if the cogs of her young mind would have stopped going through the different scenarios of trouble she would experience. Herdreth continued, ignoring the girl's anxious state and essentially breaking it with the mere statement of: " I would like to teach you all I know"

That hit just the right note.

"Teach me all you know!" Marian said, pure excitement plastered in her face and the tone of her voice. Her very feet left the redwood floors of the Castle for but a moment.

"Yes all that might help you some day, after all I won't be there to protect you all the time, Marian" Herdreth says softly, "Since today is wasted you will start tomorrow"

"What! No, no, no. The day is still a young, can't we start now?" Marian asks, on her knees pleading.

"No, today is wasted and I don't feel like teaching you how to embroider or sew, so you may do as you please for the rest of the day" the tutor replied lackadaisically.

Marian couldn't believe her ears! She was getting a day off from doing idiotic embroidery and painstaking sewing. Marian had been dreaming of this day every time the needle had pricked her finger and every time her fingers got tangled in the embroidery itself!

Marian quickly ran to her closet and swiftly grabbed a black hood and brown puffy pants she had been stowing away behind all her other, 'luxurious' clothes.

Herdreth, still in Marian's room had recovered from all the confessing and was again utterly ANNOYING.

"Good heavens Marian what were clothes like those doing in your closet!" Herdreth said, half shrieking and was already biting her fist as if trying hard not to shout a curse at Marian.

"First of all," Herdreth, began after putting aside her fist, "They bear the colors only peasants would wear, black and brown!. Second of all, those clothes are for men! What in heaven's name are you planning on doing, child"

Marian made a silly face at Herdreth. Then did a very precise mimic of Herdreth's voice. "First of all, the colors black and brown will suit me just fine in the place I am going. Second of, all I am going to Sherwood Forest where I might run into some people who would want to harm a rich noble's daughter if I were dressed as a girl so as a boy in peasants clothes I would most likely not pass their requirements, Miss Herdreth"

Marian looked at Herdreth who seemed amazed at Marian's mimic of her. Marian was amazed herself when she heard the exact voice of her governess fly out of her very own lips.

Herdreth recovered from the shock after a blink of an eye and told Marian that she may go and that she will not tell anyone about her trip into the forest if she kept what she confessed to her a secret. Before Marian left, Herdreth gave her two leather bound books in addition to her favorite book, "The art of archery" and her midday meal, as well as her breakfast.

Herdreth told her to take a look at some of the weapons in the books because they would be practicing some of them tomorrow. Herdreth also handed Marian a hatchet and a wooden whistle attached securely to a piece of soft green silk.

"The Hatchet is just in case you meet anyone who would still like to harm a little urchin like you," Herdreth said with a taunting voice "not that I don't believe your puny hands could do a little damage" she added almost teasingly.

"What's the whistle for?" Marian asked as she fingered the delicately carved wood instrument. It was a bright brown, as if it was tinted with something and yet the wood was soft and the delicate vines carved onto it were so lovingly done that each stem and shape seemed only an echelon down from the real thing.

Herdreth sighed quietly and looked into Marian's brown orbs with an emotion the girl's mind couldn't yet decipher, "You'll see what it's for Marian. But remember, if anyone troubles you and you can't do anything about it, blow into the whistle and you'll be just fine"

Then Marian began her short walk to Sherwood forest, the forest she was told never to go near. But she snuck out a lot of times anyway and was never caught.

This was the first time she was ever permitted to go. Marian didn't mind being given extra books to read rather than her own. She was just glad to be in the forest. Her forest. Where she felt truly free. But as Marian made her very first step on the forest floor since the two years she was banned from its sanctuary, she felt a slight yet strange feeling. It was if the wind had a different composition of air and the trees a different shade of green. Certain details of her old route had changed and her feelings of the forest too were altered in a slight yet almost unreasonable way.

"It's just because of those books from last night, Marian", the girl whispers under her breath, "Get a hold of your knickers"

And off she went down a road she only saw, heading towards the secret the forest had gifted her. However, secrets can be shared and humans can take natures gifts.

I'm back and I'm older and...more knowledgeable in grammar and writing sooo... Yeah. I will be going over a couple of chapters each week, finish this story in the summer and just get this whole thing over with! So I look forward to rediscovering this old story and I just hope there are still people willing to read this and accommodate me but either way, really, I just want to finish what I started.