Chapter 3 : I harbor feelings for you

Swoosh... bang!

"Another bullseye!" Richard exclaimed excitedly as he patted Guinevere on the back. "At this rate, the student will surpass the teacher."

"Oh don't be coy father, admit it, I'm already better than you." The girl responded with a smirk. She placed another arrow on her bow and launched it towards the target, striking another bullseye.

"Don't get too cocky Guine, your old man's still got it."

Richard grabbed an arrow from his quiver and placed it on his bow, he closed one eye and aimed at his target.

"Richard!"

The man startled and released the arrow abruptly, missing the target entirely. He turned around and saw his wife glaring at him.

"Hello honey." The man spoke sheepishly.

"How many times have I told you to keep your weapons away from our daughter?! She would lose an eye for heaven's sake."

"But mom I'm more careful now." Guinevere responded. "Father and I have been practicing everyday and..."

"Everyday?!"

Richard elbowed his daughter, "Ixnay on the practice ey."

Guinevere was now thirteen years old and had grown in a beautiful young lady. Her orange-brown hair was now waist length and her feminine figure was setting in, much to her mother's pleasure.

Having a daughter as pretty as Guinevere meant that she could buy her beautiful dresses, teach her how to carry herself and hopefully, eventually a young handsome suitor would come along and sweep her off her feet.

But day by day, Gezelle's perfect little picture was crumbling. Her beautiful daughter took no interest in dresses or shopping or suitors. Instead, she would accompany her father to hunt, she would sword fight with the boys in their village and win, and loved wearing barbaric clothing that wasn't fit for any woman.

Gezelle walked towards her daughter and husband and sighed heavily. "Jillian is coming over, he says he wants to see you, he sounded like it was pretty important."

She turned to her daughter and gave her a serious look. "Can you please be on your best behavior? For me?"

Jillian and Guinevere had grown rather close over the past years, they did almost everything together. Gezelle could see that the young man had a bit of a crush on her daughter, but Guinevere.. well.. it's either she was aware of Jillian's feelings and ignored them or she was clueless.

"And please wear something-" Gezelle looked at the slitted dress matched with leather tights and a dagger on her waist. "-A bit more flattering."

Guinevere looked down at her outfit.

[what's wrong with my clothes? I think I look pretty badass]

"I've picked out a lovely dress for you." Gezelle spoke, placing her hand on her daughter's shoulders. "Jillian is a handsome and well mannered boy, who knows, maybe you two can blossom into lovers."

"Eww mother no!" Guinevere shrieked. "Jillian is just my friend."

Gezelle took her daughter's hand and looked up at her husband with a 'I'll deal with you later' look in her eyes and dragged Guinevere away.

*

Knock knock

Gezelle opened the door and smiled at the young man who was standing in the doorway. "Jillian welcome, please, do come in."

Jillian had grown into a handsome young man with deep brown eyes and matching hair. He was very tall for his age and had a well toned body from all the hunting and swordsmanship he had been doing.

"Thank you Mrs Strongbow." The boy spoke. He then handed the woman a small sack of meat and smiled. "This is for you, freshly killed this morning."

"Oh thank you Jillian."

"Is Guinevere here?"

"She is." Gezelle responded. "Take a seat, let me get her for you."

Jillian nodded his head and settled down on a chair. He took a deep breath as he waited for Guinevere to join him, his heart was racing and he was sweating even though it was deep into the fall.

Moments later, Guinevere walked into the living room and Jillian stood up to greet her. The boy gulped when he saw the beautiful girl walk towards him.

She was wearing a light blue dress that matched her eyes, her hair was let down and she was wearing light makeup. She looked like an elven princess from a fairytale.

"Guine.." the boy muttered, "hi."

"Hello Jillian, mother tells me you wish to speak with me?"

"Uh yes, yes I do." Jillian responded nervously.

The blue eyed girl settled down on a chair and looked up at her friend. "Well, what's going on?"

Jillian sat down and took a deep breath.

In this timeline, when a girl turned thirteen she was considered old enough to be pursued by worthy suitors. By tradition, a young man could approach an eligible young lady and make his intentions known. If the feelings were reciprocated, the two would court until the girl turned sixteen, after which if they agreed upon it, they would marry.

Jillian had realized his feelings for the beautiful Guinevere at a fairly young age, it was not just her beauty he was attracted to, but the fact that she was different from other girls he knew.

Guinevere was great with a sword, a bow and arrow, and was so adventurous. Everything about her intrigued him, and today, he was going to make his feelings known.

"Guinevere you and I have been friends for a very long time." Jillian began to speak. "And umm, well you're now thirteen. And I ... well the timing seems appropriate."

The boy was practically shaking in his boots. "You're different from other girls, and you're at that age you know."

Guinevere was confused, what on earth was Jillian trying to say? He made no sense at all. "At that age? Jillian what are you trying to say?"

Jillian took another deep breath and took Guinevere's hands in his, making the girl's eyes widen with shock. This was her first informal contact with a male other than her father.

"Guinevere I harbor feelings for you." Jillian spoke sternly. " I have been for a long time, and I think it's high time you knew. I think you're really great, and I'm hoping you think I'm great too."

Guinevere's heart skipped several beats

[crap.. crap.. crap.. crap. I totally forgot about this love nonsense.]

Having lived many lifetimes, Guinevere always avoided getting attached to people, especially romantically. Because she knew that when she died and was reborn in another life, she would remember all the people she was attached to but could never be with them again. She had to guard her heart.

"Jillian I-"

The girl swallowed hard, Jillian had feelings for her? How could she not have noticed it? If she'd known earlier, she would have strategically put him in the friend zone over the years so this moment would never happen.

Guinevere looked into Jillian's hopeful eyes and sighed. This was her friend, they had literally grown up together, she couldn't break his heart, could she?

[I know I'm going to regret this]

"Jillian, I think you're pretty great too."

Jillian's eyes lit up, did that mean-

"Yes it means your feelings are reciprocated" Guinevere spoke, as if reading his mind.

The boy rushed towards Guinevere and hugged her, making the girl freeze. This was her second informal contact with a male other than her father.

"Thank you." Jillian spoke softly

Guinevere hesitantly wrapped her arms around the boy's back and returned the hug.

She smiled awkwardly and patted his back. "Don't mention it."

[really.. please don't mention it]

Meanwhile outside, behind the house, Gezelle who had been watching everything through the window squeezed her chest that felt like it was about to burst with joy.

"Oh my little Guinevere."

Finally her daughter could have a beautiful normal life.