2 ADALIA

Dear Diary,

Mother says I should act more like a princess and less like a gladiator. A princess is never heard, she says. She’s supposed to be delicate and as sweet as a song bird. But how could I, if I was father’s son for the first two years of my life. I watched him train with the other soldiers. Mock battles are all that I know. Besides I don’t think anyone will look past my mother’s beauty and focus on me.

Liora is beautiful and I’m sure Aphrodite couldn’t hold a candle to her. She is not only queen of the Southern Kingdom, but also of beauty. I will be queen one day but I will take a much more active duty. I understand the queen’s need to be a mother first, but I don’t understand why she had to put down her sword because of it. My father refused to let her join him in battle, but when I become Queen I will go to each and every one. I will not throw away my passion for the sake of marriage. Why, when my brother Randi can produce more heirs if needed.

Tomorrow we go to the Northern Kingdom to congratulate the royal family on the birth of their new prince. I know the visit is just a facade to cover the fact that father is going for a strategy meeting. Why else would General Conan come along? I haven’t picked a present for the prince or his parents yet. I’ll let mother take care of that for me.

The visit will allow me an insight to their military power and knowledge to what kind of help they will need from us. Diary it’s time for me to make my rounds and check on the guards. Let’s just hope that tomorrow’s visit bears fruit.

Adalia.

Adalia raised her sword to block the one coming down on her fast. The clang of metal announced the beginning of the fight. Adalia liked training with the guards. It was her way of sharpening her skills, ever since her father refused to train her. King Gabrielle wanted his daughter to be a delicate princess, a butterfly, but she wasn’t.

Adalia was as good as any of the guards and better than most. More times than her father liked it, she went out on patrol with Conan. She was well versed with the land and could easily lead her father’s army to a victorious ambush. Just to prove her point, she swiped the guard’s legs from under him. Her sword slicing the air with a loud whoosh sound, she brought it down to his chest, holding it inches away from his metal armor.

“Adalia!” Liora’s stern voice rang through the air as the guards dropped on one knee with their heads bowed. It never possessed a sweet melodic quality to it, but Adalia had never heard the hard set in her mother’s tone before.

“My queen,” Adalia gave her mother a slight bow and dropped the sword at her feet. Her face hidden, she scowled and pouted her lip. Her training was over for the day, and she wouldn’t be able to resume for the next two days.

“Come with me. Now!” Liora shuffled her ball gown as her maidens followed behind.

Adalia followed the tail of her mother’s gown into her chambers. Her commanding tone left no room for argument. She stood next to the door as her mother paced around her room. She stared at her as she moved. Liora looked as if she was floating above the ground. Her heavy dress covered her poised, graceful movements.

“Leave us,” the maidens hurried out immediately.

“Mother, why are you so angry?”

“Angry?” She gave Adalia a stern look before bursting into laughter. “When I saw you beat each and every one of your father’s guards I was proud. It reminded me of when I was your age,” she gathered her dress in her hands and plopped down on the bed laughing.

“Then why did you stop me?” Adalia was confused. She didn’t understand why her mother had pulled her away from the fight with such a stern look and here, behind closed doors, she was doubling over in laughter.

“Come here,” Liora sat up and slightly tapped on the bed, inviting her to sit next to her.

Adalia dropped her armor and clumsily walked to her mother. “Why would you give it up if you loved it so much?”

Adalia envied her mother but didn’t understand her. Liora’s jet black hair was braided and in curls cascaded down her back. Her brown eyes were filled with delicate humor and a ferociousness that only came out when she was protecting her family. But still she was the most beautiful woman in both kingdoms. And since her father had fallen in love with her on the battle field, she never understood why she never fought beside him.

“Being a wife to your father, and a mother to you and your siblings is more important. Besides your father needed to have control of one aspect of this kingdom, he is king after all,” she teased.

Her mother’s wise words were ‘always rule the kingdom but always let the king think that he’s in control’. That way you protect your husband and your family from the hyenas lurking about.

“I understand that but why couldn’t you do all three at the same time, wife, mother and Queen? I intend to.”

“There is no guarantee of coming back alive from battle. What would happen if both your father and I went out there and something happened? Your father can’t handle life without me.”

“That is true,” a booming voice echoed through the room.

Adalia looked up to find her father smiling at them. “Father how long have you been standing there?” She got up and gave him a hug.

“A while, I was just gazing at the most beautiful woman in the kingdom,” he stretched out his arm to his wife as she walked to him.

“I hope that I can find happiness like yours,” Adalia admired her parents. Ever since she was born she had never seen them fight or angry at each other. They always had this smile on their faces and the look of love in their eyes.

“You will, when you find a man you do not intimidate,” Gabrielle teased.

“Father, I see you are in your armor, are you going out to train?” her eyes shifted to the armor littered on her floor and her hand itched for the sword resting on the chair. She was going to jump up and grab them on her father’s word.

“Yes, I’m taking Randi with me. You can come and watch, but you will not fight,” Gabrielle finished his statement with a stern voice. He learnt early that being strict with her was the only way to get her to follow his orders.

“Are you telling me this as my father or my king?” Although she meant to challenge his order, she made sure she didn’t sound rude. But as her king she would have to obey. But as her father she could use her charm to convince him otherwise.

“I say this as your father first and your King second. Help your mother pick out a gift for the prince and his parents,” he gave his daughter a kiss before leaving with his wife.

Adalia strapped her armor back on and tucked her hair under a helmet. She was determined for her father to see her as she was, the next queen of the South Kingdom.

***

“Randi, hold your sword firm. Good!” Gabrielle coached his son as he fought against one of his guards.

When the king was present the guards were free to fight the prince just as they would each other when training. They tangoed around the courtyard as they blocked and charged each other. Randi was as good as Adalia when it came to combat but he had to be better considering he would be riding in place of his father.

Gabrielle watched as a new guard joined in the training and he knew very well who it was. Adalia had tried to disguise herself many times before but she could never fool her father.

“You come here,” he pointed her out from the crowd. “Randi come here, fight him,” he could see his daughter’s body stiffen and his lips curved into a devilish grin.

Randi attacked without warning but Adalia matched his powerful strikes with a few of her own. As hard as she tried she could never beat her brother in strength but she matched him in technique.

When Randi swiped Adalia’s feet from under her, and pressed the tip of his blade to her chest, he knew he had gone too far. “Stop or your mother will have my head,” Gabrielle picked Adalia up from the ground and took off her helmet. “Good girl you hold your own, but you are easily distracted.”

“Father you knew it was her,” Randi checked her body over a worried look on his face. “Mother will kill me if you have a scratch on you.”

“I’m fine Randi. How did you know?” She turned to her father as her hands thwarted off Randi’s.

“I do not allow short and petite men in my army. If you want to go unnoticed you should put on a bit more weight,” he stood up and beckoned his children to follow him.

Adalia and Randi walked at their father’s sides, a half step behind him.

“Adalia I know you want to be part of the army but the South has been in peace for years. But I will let you train with your brother on the condition that you do not get in the way.”

“Yes father,” he knew when Adalia had given in. But he also knew that her submission wouldn’t last that long.

“You two better get dressed; we leave for the North in an hour. Adalia wear a dress and leave the trousers to your brothers.”

***

Adalia got to her room and found her royal gown laid out on her bed. She never liked the puffiness or the sound it made when she moved around. She ran her fingers down her black and red laced dress. It was a ceremonial gown and she had hundreds like it for different occasions.

“Does this say marry me?” she spat out. She had the mind to grab her dagger and rip the dress to tiny shreds, but she couldn’t do that. Before she could take a self-pitying breath, the door burst open and hordes of maids rushed in with instruments of torture in their hands. Adalia sat down on her chair waiting to be pulled and prodded in millions of different directions.