That wooden blade rarely left my side. In reality, it was probably a twig that father had found on his travels that he had crafted whilst I wasn't around, but it felt special. I can remember spending hours in that field with my father. I can remember spending hours in that field without my father. Sometimes, my mother would make her way down with her proud smile and she would sit beneath the tree with eagle eyes. I would end the day with bruises, cuts and blisters on my hands and feet… But I loved it nonetheless. It was my training.
"Keep your feet shoulder-width apart." My mother snapped from her seat beneath the tree. And with the nod of my head, I took the correct position with my father facing me. His wooden blade was the same size, but he had spent the time to decorate the hilt of the blade with patterns and words that were sacred to him.
His built frame would lunge forward and I would parry his advance to the side, sometimes making my own strike at his vulnerable areas. Being the smaller, I had the speed and nimble abilities. But he had the strength, and he exercised it.
"Do you think Stelios is learning how to fight?" I remember asking. My sword had leaped forward, leaving enough of my frame open for my father to sweep my lunged leg out from beneath me. My body went tumbling till I crashed to the floor with my teeth gritting. I glanced up toward my father who was grinning down to me with gentle eyes.
"Is that how your family treats it's women?" A voice shouted. My small frame fidgeted on my ground till I sat on my knees with the blade in hand. A tall may with shaggy hair, darker than my father's, walked toward us with a grin on his lips.
"Well it's how we treat our sons, so why treat them any different?" My mother chuckled as she raised to her feet with a wide smile on her lips. The man glanced down to my frame with a half smile as he wandered closer to my mother and father. "It's good to see you, Artemis." My mother sighed as her arms slithered around the man.
My father's dark orbs glanced toward me with a sharpening face as I struggled to my feet. The blade tight within my grip as I stared toward the stranger.
"Eulalia, this is Artemis." My father muttered with fingers pointing toward the stranger. His large frame turned to me with the same smile before he slowly began to shuffle closer and closer toward my position.
"Nice to finally meet you, Eulalia. You must me, what, five?" He whispered as he lowered to my height. My head shook with silence, no words wanting to leave my lips till my mother gave me a reassuring nod.
"I'm six." I snapped with confidence, my frame rising to it's full height, which wasn't tall at all. But his head nodded as a small gasp trickled through his parted lips.
"Younger than my first son, but probably taller." Artemis laughed in a hushed voice. I could feel the smile as it slipped onto my lips. My blonde hair cascading over my shoulders as I thrust the sword toward him. "And probably a better swordsman." He added. I can still remember how those words felt like a victory to six year old me. I can remember running to my father to repeat the words that Artemis had just uttered, and then to my mother. All the while, Artemis was smiling.
"Maybe Eulalia can help your son." My mother suggested as she caught me in her arms. I felt my head begin to nod once again, my orbs moving straight to Artemis with hope dancing within them. The only people that I had to practise with were my mother and father. The other children in Sparta, especially the girls, were too busy playing to join in. But Artemis assured me that his son, Astinos wanted to learn to fight. He was six, almost seven by then, but he was ready to learn.
"How about you go with Artemis now to see him?" Father muttered as he moved closer to mother and myself. "If that is fine with Artemis, of course." Father added, but Artemis was already nodding. His smile still present upon his lips.
"Of course she may. Astinos will, no doubt, be pestering his mother." Artemis chuckled. I felt the wave of excitement wash over me as my mother lowered me to the dry earth. Her lips planting a gentle kiss upon my forehead before her arms ushered me toward the new acquaintance.
The home was very similar to our own. The stone was pale and the doorway was open. I could hear the quiet chatter from within as Artemis led me up the steps into the main room.
"Father!" I heard the voice of a young boy shout. He ran out, his dark hair bobbing with each step. He wore the normal dress for a Spartan boy and his tanned skin was already scarred on his shoulder. His knees were scrapped, probably from playing with the other Spartan children. His dark eyes eventually fell upon me. My fingers playing with the thin linen that clung to my body whilst my teeth nibbled along my lower lip.
"Astinos, this is Eulalia." Artemis muttered. His son continued to look in my direction with a mix of curiosity and confused in his eyes. "You remember Stelios?" He whispered. The young boy nodded at his father's words, glancing momentarily to him.
"Stelios' sister?" The young boy gasped with a grin spreading across his face. Artemis nodded, glancing back to me with smile. His mother appeared in the corner of the room with her arms crossed across her chest.
"Doesn't she look like Stelios." She laughed, her orbs caught on me in fascination. Meanwhile, her son had began to move, leaving his father's side till he was inches away from. With his eyes gazing at the two wooden swords in the belt that clung to my waist.
"Ariston thought you two might like to practice together." Artemis prompted, my nervous eyes connect with his before he gave a nod toward me. I allowed my thin fingers to move to the two swords, taking mine out. The blade in my hand slowly extended toward the boy in front of me. Astinos took it in the blink of an eye with the widest smile spread across his lips. The other wooden blade, my father's, found it's way into my grip. I felt my fingers slipping along the carvings of the hilt with a wave of confidence washing over me.
"Shall we go to the nymph tree?" I finally spoke with a mask of confidence. The young boy flinched at the final sound of my words, his smile spreading to stretch from ear to ear.
We ran down to the wheat field with wooden blade in hand, his speed matching mine almost perfectly. Skidding to a halt directly below the tree, his dark orbs came to fall upon me once more. The same smile still upon his lips as he gazed toward my small frame.
"Do you miss Stelios?" He questioned before he made his first swing. My wooden sword connected with his, tapping it to the side with ease. I had spent six months away from my elder brother, and I knew that Astinos was only two months away from that age. He would be leaving soon.
"I suppose that I do, you just have to keep it out of your mind." I muttered, lunging toward him. The lunge taped against his arm with a sly grin. Astinos giggled as he looked toward me in playful shock.
"Father says that I leave in two months." He mumbled with a frown. He sighed gently, dropping to the ground in front of me. "It's almost ten full years away from my home and my family." He continued. Something about his words reminded me of Stelios before he left. The sadness mixed with the excitement. Stelios didn't know how he should feel about the situation, probably because of mother.