1.1 Chapter 1: The Beginning

DISCLAIMER: The usual… nothing here belongs to me except for the characters that you don't recognise.

"Father, I don't want to be a proper noble lady! Can't you at least let me be a knight if not a shang? Alanna the Lioness and Keladry of Mindelan have both been able to do it…" Liana of Rarowri complained yet again to her father, Lord Thian. It was her wish from small to become a shang, and she was six, the year when most people started training if they wanted to be a shang. Both she and her father had gone through this many times.

"No, no and no again. How many times must I tell you Liana? The nation needs proper ladies. You must learn etiquette. YOU CANNOT BE A WARRIOR!!!" Lord Thian bellowed. Defeated, Liana slunk out of her father's room back to her own room. It just didn't seem fair! Why in the world did her mother, Lady Qalindra, have to marry such an old stick? (A/N: She thinks of her father as an old stick. Her mother doesn't.) On the way back, she bumped into her mother.

"Oh sweetie, don't you realise that your father wants the best for you? He cares for you in his own way." Lady Qalindra sighed inwardly, seeing her daughter's sad face. Everyday Liana would ask, and every day Lord Thian would refuse. In actual fact, Liana showed great promise in the fighting arts. Without answering, Liana stormed past. Why oh why couldn't they let her learn shang? Watching her figure storm past, Lady Qalindra shook her head. It was just to bad that there was no chance for a shang warrior to pass by unless someone invited him… Why couldn't she do that? After all, she was the lady of the house. That very day, Lady Qalindra made up her mind. She would see to it that Liana managed to be a shang.

The next day, Liana woke up to the sounds of birds chirping. It seemed like a wonderful day, the sun was shining, the flowers were blooming, and she would be turned down yet again. Sighing, she got out of bed and washed up. She decided to wear her favourite clothes, an extremely worn down pair of breaches and an equally tortured shirt. She had just left her room when her mother came walking by. "Liana, would you spare a moment? There's someone I want you to meet." Lady Qalindra asked. Liana nodded sullenly. It was probably another priestess or one of her mother's many friends. She turned down a corner and saw something else. A young lady was standing there, but instead of a beautiful dress that noble ladies wore, she wore a shirt and breaches.

"Hello Liana!" she smiled. "Your mother has asked me to teach you. I'm the shang unicorn."