Disclaimer: As much as I'd like to, I don't own Joren or any other characters you can recognise *sad face* I wish I did….
I walk to my rooms. People pass me. Laughing and talking on their way off with family or friends to go celebrate midwinter day. I have no family or friends, none I want to be with.
My family scorn me for my latest attempt at getting rid of the Lump. I failed, she passed and my family says I went to far. The servant they don't care about, but they claim if Mindelan had of fallen to her death it would have brought shame to the family name. I don't care.
I am about to open my door and go inside when a need to be away from the palace and it's hordes of people hits me. I turn and I walk away. Out side I walk with no destination in mind, I don't know how long or how far. I walk till I get to a forest. It was in a forest like this that she died. My sister Alyce, when I was four. She was ten and full of dreams to be a fighter.
It was people like the Lioness and the king that killed her, people encouraging girls to fight.
***
A small Joren trots along behind his sister. She is the only one in his family he likes. He knows that his family loves him, they just don't show it. Alyce is the only one who talks to him. She turns around.
"Oh Joren, must you follow me?" She asks with a smirk. She likes having an audience. "Never mind. Just stay close, if anything scary happens I'll protect you!" She grabs a stick and starts to hit trees with it. Her long skirts getting caught on twigs.
"I'm going to fight evil when I grow up, Joren. And never marry! I'll show father I'm good for more than marrying off…"
"You want to be a knight like me? You're silly! You know girls can't fight properly."
"Anything is better than marrying one of the people father has in mind! They are so old and stuffy!" She says. "Though being a knight would be…uncomfortable. I wish there was a way I could fight but not become a knight." She laughed self mockingly "There probably is and Mother and Father are just protecting me from it!"
Joren looks at his sister, she could get some silly ideas sometimes. That was why they were in the forest, she had decided to go after she had been specifically told not to and Joren had followed her, like always.
***
I walk over and stand in front of a tree. If the Lioness hadn't been famous then Alyce wouldn't have got those ideas. Maybe if Father had wanted her to marry someone more her age. Maybe if our parents had paid more attention. Maybe if I could have got help in time or been able to fight. Maybe she would be alive.
***
Alyce was standing under a tree, doing what she jokingly called 'lady fighting.' She would flutter her eyelashes to the tree to distract it then stab it with a stick.
"Can we go home now? I'm hungry." Wines Joren.
"Soon." Joren hears a noise. He's getting tired and the forest is scaring him.
"Come on. I'm going." He says as he starts to walk away. He looks over his shoulder to see if she is following. Then something drops out of a tree and lands in front of Alyce. Joren reels back in horror, seeing a cross between a man and a spider.
His sister screams and Joren is frozen in horror. "Joren! Run! Go get help!" She yells to him. The spidren throws a string of web at her and starts to pull her towards itself. She struggles to get away. Joren is still trying to get his terrified body to move.
The spidren raises an axe and bring sit down on Alyce's head. Blood spurts everywhere. Joren screams and Alyce falls to the ground.
Joren turns and runs, running and sobbing till he gets home. He realised much later that the spidren must have thought it had enough of a catch or Joren wouldn't have made it home.
A group of soliders are sent out, they come back a couple of days later, telling how they found the spidren nest and killed all the spidren. Everyone says how sorry they are, that one so young should have had to deal with death in such a way. In his grief Joren can only think of one thing. If Alyce hadn't believed she could fight she would still be alive.
***
I blame everyone. Anyone. The Lioness, for being famous and raising false hopes. The King for making those false hopes legal. My father for betrothing her. My mother for ignoring her wishes. Myself for watching her die.
Now the Lump is encouraging more girls to fight. To pick up weapons and go after monsters. They will train, they will fight, they will take a man's place and they will die. So now it is Mindelan's fault too
Authors Note: Most of those sentences aren't proper gramma…they're all very short and broken…he he he, oh well. *thinks* Is there even a forest anywhere near the palace? I think there is. I'll have to look that up… Please press that beautiful little button down there and review! *Points at button* Thanks for reading!