Next thing I know, I was resting in a comfortable bed and outside it was dark. My ripped dress had been replaced for a nice white gown. I looked around. I was in a white shaded bedroom. The wooden door opened and a young woman came in. Her golden hair was shoulder length and she was wearing a chemise and trousers. Trousers! No Lady should wear trousers. That is what Mother said when she saw me wearing ones lend by the cook's son. I was about nine and wanted to ride on a horse for a change, Mother thought I could only ride ponies, and I could not do it with none of my dresses, so I asked Nam to lend me some.
The stables men had already prepared Dimell, a dark brown horse, and when I got there, I seated on his back and after getting used to the sensation, I went into the private garden. First, we went really slowly, but as time passed, we got faster and faster. We entered into the forest and got to a meadow. It was wide and there we had a lot of space to run to all comers. The wind blew into my face and I felt like flying and, for the first time, really free. No one was here telling me what to do; no one was watching me, criticizing my behaviour. No one was there and I could do whatever I wanted, I was now able to. We found a lake and rested there a bit. When the sky started to turn red and dark, we went back home. At the stables, Mother awaited me. She was furious, more than furious.
"Ladies don't ride on horses when they're nine and they NEVER WEAR TROUSERS!" She shouted. "You're grounded! No more riding for you until you are sixteen and you will stay in your room for three weeks! May I ask from whom you lent the trousers?!"
"Nam lent me." I answered head down. "Mother, why can't Ladies wear trousers?" I looked her in the eyes, after a while.
"Trousers are the symbol of men, of virility, we are not men and we don't wear trousers!"
"But I saw some women working on the field and they were wearing trousers."
"They're not Ladies, they're just farmers. Now go up to your room. Immediately!"
The woman approached the bed, with a trail filled with food in her hands. She smiled at me and put the trail in front of me. Her eyes were of the most amazing blue I have ever seen. They were deep sapphire-blue shaded and calmed me down.
"Here, you have to eat something."
"Thank you." I started eating the green liquid that must have been spinach's soup. "For how long have I been asleep?"
"You slept for two days. We didn't know if you were going to wake up this whole week." Two days? We? Who is we?
"We?" I asked after a while. The woman had sat in a chair near my bed.
"We, the men and the women that live here, including me." She explained. I remembered the men that I saw training.
"Is there a war going on? Or will there be?"
The woman raised an eyebrow. "No, there isn't and let's hope there won't be. Why did you think there was going to be a war?"
"I saw men training and I thought..." I shrugged.
She laughed. "Adrian makes us train every day, even the women have to." Adrian? Was he the trainer? The women could train?
"Yes, Adrian is the trainer and why wouldn't the women be able to train?" She said. Have I said it aloud? Yes was the answer.
"Mother always said women, actually Ladies, were only able to have kids and satisfy her husband's desire. Not much more." I found absurd that Ladies could only do that and asked why it happened many times, but no one was able to explain it to me and often said that I should not ask so many questions. That is why I just ignored the rules Mother taught me. Not exactly. I always thought that somewhere these stupid, worthless rules did not exist, but played the part of honour child, mostly.
"That's absurd. You don't believe in those things, do you?" She asked. I was beginning to like her.
"I never did. But Mother only wanted to do what she thought was best for me, so I don't blame her, not anymore." I finished the soup and looked at the plate in front of me. Rice and shrimps with tomato sauce. Grabbing the fork, I ate it.
She nodded. "Tell me, why are you here?"
"I was thinking you would never ask." I said after swallowing. "I have spent the last four months in the woods and somehow I got here."
"Why would you spend four months in the forest?"
"I ran away from home. Mother wanted me to marry with my sister's lover and I just could not. However, it was not just that. She took my freedom away. She was always telling me what to do, what not to do, how Ladies should behave... I could not take it anymore, so one night, while being locked in my room, I ran away. Nam gave me food and bottles filled with water and I left. The guards ran after me, but I was faster and got deep into the woods. Four months later I found the way out of there."
"Nam?" She wanted to know.
"The cook's son." I grabbed the apple and started biting it.
"The others will be so glad to know you." She broke the silence. Will they? "Well, you need something else to wear. The clothes that were in your bag were washed and are now drying, so I will lend you something." She stood up and opened the closet that was on my right. Taking out a pair of trousers and what must have been a top of a dress, she put everything on the bed. I cleaned my hands and put the trousers on. It had been six years since I have put ones on. The feeling of freedom, of breaking the rules came through me and it felt good. She helped me with the corset and gave me some boots. I carefully looked at my feet. I imagined they should be still wounded, but surprisingly, the wounds I thought I had were now no more than thin rosy lines.
"I still don't know your name." I said when she was brushing my hair.
"I'm Shira." She was doing me a braid.
"Where exactly am I?"
"You're in the castle of Yerdoth. Daddy is the Lord." Lord of Yerdoth? He was known for being the most fair and cruel Lord of the Kingdom. He lived by the Old Rules and everyone who served him or lived under his protection and on his lands, had to live also by those rules. He came of the suburbs of Franciesse, the main town of Dawnerry, the territory that controlled all the others, besides Yerdoth. Dawnerry's influence was vast and every time someone tried to turn Yerdoth into a subordinate territory, he/she would have to deal with the Lord.
"Will I be able to meet him?" I asked.
"Of course, in fact Daddy wants to speak with you." She said. "Now, let's meet the others."