He fell to his knees before me. I raised my sword to take the final blow when he burst out laughing. Unexpected.
"You should have seen your face. It was all serious like you were actually going to take my life." My brother laughed out between fits.
I just glared at him and turned on my heels to march back to the house. My mother wouldn't have approved of my fencing with Moar. According to her, the reason that I hadn't found a man to court me yet was because I didn't take pride in tasks such as sewing and cooking like my younger sister Serile. She didn't of course mention the other reason.
"Oh come on Serdif! Don't be like that! I was just playing," I glared over my shoulder. "Oh, I forgot. Your afraid that our mother will send you away to the castle to work as a maid because your to much like a boy.
By this time I had reached the house and was slamming the door behind me. I would deal with my lovely older brother later. The scent of freshly baked bread floated to me on my way to one of the two bedrooms in our tiny house. My heart raced with fear. What if she is already home! What if she sends me away!
Turns out, it was just perfect little Serile. The daughter who was already being courted by a nobleman.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm the good daughter remember?" She sneered at me. Like mother like daughter. I took a threatening step toward her. She took a step back because she knew full well that I wasn't against hitting my little sister. "I won't saying anything. I never do. I just don't see why you can't be like a normal person. Anyone else wouldn't be effected by what happened like you., but no, you have to play little miss tough guy and beat our older brother in sparring every other day."
I had her head under my arm in seconds. She hadn't even had time to react. I debated whether I would hit her in the stomach or slug her in the face where our mother could see the bruise and Serile would have to come up with some lie about her jealous rivals who wanted to be courted by her lover. I decided upon the first of the two just in case she decided not to lie when I heard our mothers voice in the front yard greeting my brother. I released Serile and ducked into my room, closing the door behind me.
"Hello there Darling," My mother greeted my sister. In a lower tone of voice she added, "She hasn't been fighting today has she." My sister, the queen of lying when it saved herself smoothly replied.
"Of course not mother. Serdif has been a proper lady ever since the last incident when you told her what you would do if she didn't shape up. Today she even helped me bake a loaf of bread."
"Perfect. Nice to know that my little angel is having such a great affect on her." Favorite child.
I listened as my mothers footsteps faded down the hall towards the kitchen. My sister followed after a few seconds. She paused just long enough to make sure that I heard her sniff of disapproval. As if that's ever worked before, Serile. I sat in my room for some time. I knew that eventually my mother would come in and tell me to come eat so I thought that maybe I would actually try to please her for once. I retrieved some of Serile's yarn and knitting shears and began to knit. I wasn't the best knitter in the world, but I had some skill in the art. After the first few rows my memories of knitting designs when I was a child surfaced and I attempted to knit a design into the scarf. I worked like this for some hours. Loosing myself in trying to do a good job. I was never one to like to knit, but when I had my heart set on something I was hard pressed to back down.
The sun had long since set and the candles had been lit when my mother came for me.
"Time to eat." I got up and followed her, my half finished scarf clutched in my hand. "Oh Serdif, leave that ratty old rag here. I do not want it at the dinner table." I can never make you happy can I? I dropped my knitting on the ground and let the disappointment rush through my mind and body. You shouldn't even feel disappointed. You should have seen this coming. I closed my bedroom door behind me and joined my family for dinner.
"Wow Serdif. We sure are quiet tonight." I kicked my brother under the table. I hated when he made comments about my being mute.
Dear readers,
Yes, I have changed my story. I was unsatisfied with how quickly it was advancing so I decided to start anew. I plan to take the story line slower, writing it better because I am really a better writer than this. I'm going to be adding more chapters, so it would be better to re-read the entire story as I update it. Thank you, those who are still reading, for being patient during my writing hiatus. I was a little discouraged for a while and then school started and I was really busy adjusting to my new school, being a freshman and all. The story may come along very slowly, but I'll write updates when I can. Thank you everyone.
~Gwyn