2 Wooden Sword

In front of a two-story house with a beautiful garden, Esme hid behind the soldier. Her heart was pumping. Multiple scenarios of the meeting played in her mind, causing her confidence to fall even further.

The soldier opened the house's door and called over the two adopted children. A girl and a boy. This was then she realized something. All of the three of them had blonde hair and green eyes. A painting by the stairs explained the situation. It was of a woman with green eyes and blonde hair, smiling beside Jonathan, who's wearing a bright smile as well. Both looked very lovely, seemingly at the best time of their life.

"Esme, meet Claire and Favian. Favian and Claire, this is Esme, your new younger sister. Commander is still at war, so he can't come to introduce all of you personally."

Polite words spewed, and finally, Esme was shown her room. The other two are both older, with Claire being the oldest amongst the three of them. They seemed awkward but tried their best to appear welcoming towards her. While a maid passed by them introducing themselves, Esme noticed the glare they received. It was of disdain and disgust. She knew exactly the reason, and it seems the two do as well. It was a glare of somebody mocking and seeing them as disgusting peasants.

Two years later and new of the war had spread as quickly as fire. Whispers everywhere could be heard. Naturally, the three siblings know this. A letter had just arrived from their father. Stating that they had won the war. With an ambush by a mountainous region, they killed about a third of the enemy soldiers and then wounded more than half. It was a great battle of swords and ruses.

The three adopted children wore their best clothing and waited by the gate of their small mansion.

"Why are they taking so long?" Esme asked Claire. She is now 13 years old this year, Claire is 15, and Favian just turned 14 a month ago.

Claire smiled bitterly without uttering a single word. Two hours passed, and finally, they saw a horse stop in front of the gate. It was Jonathan. "I'm sorry, I had to go visit Melinda."

Two years of staying in the Dharl household had given her enough time to figure out who the woman in the painting was. Melinda, a relative of a noble, but unfortunately, before they could become mary officially, Melinda passed away, leaving Jonathan mourning. The marriage commenced on the third day she had died. With a smile on his face and friends as guests, he married Melinda legally. He had Melinda's parents sign the documents, but Melinda is gone. There is no point in that marriage. He is stricken by remorse.

That was when Claire came in. Claire stated, she was sitting down, dazed and daydreaming as she awaits for somebody to give her change. Claire was a beggar with only a mother, but her mother is sick, unable to take care of Claire. Claire took it upon herself to earn food, but she could do nothing but beg. She was 7 years old. That was when Jonathan entered her life. Riding his tall horse in a patrol, he pulled the reins and gave her a distant glance. It was longing. He saw his wife, him, and a child.

He picked up the child and allowed himself to be lead to the mother's place. It was stinky, the air was heavy. Despite that, he entered and politely introduced himself. He gave her a pouch of money and sent her to a nearby hospital. That was the last time Claire saw her mother, but as she grew older, she understood what that money meant. Claire was taken back to the small manor and taken care of. She was satisfied, although there were some sharp eyes.

Moments of their bondings soon decreased since she was getting older, and there is a new child. Eventually, he was called to join the war.

Both Claire and Esme are commoners, but Favian is not. He has noble blood circulating through him. A son conceived by Esme's sister. A bastard son of an Earl. The details aren't much since they've only heard that from the maids who loved gossiping.

The three smiled and followed him back inside. "How have the three of you been?" He asked with a laugh. "I hope that you get along."

"We have," muttered Favian. "Just that, when would you stop adopting. Would this household turn into an orphanage later on?" He rolled his eyes.

"Who knows, haha." Jonathan patted the three's heads and took off his armor. In an instant, Favian and Esme took them away and tried them on. It was cumbersome.

Claire poured him a cup of tea. "How was the war? Is it settled?"

Their father's face turned dark. "No, not likely. This is presumably the calm before the storm. It was too easy." He looked at Favian in the eye. "Military training will be done to prepare for another war. Don't shame our household."

Favian's smile disappeared and switched to a serious expression. "Worry not, father."

Jonathan nodded, and their expression relaxed, but the thought was still on their minds. That night, they had a small feast and listened to the stories until close to dawn.

When Esme woke up, she heard clashings of swords. The dialogue last night reminded her. They're practicing so early? She washed up then changed into horse riding attire, ready for battle. Living in the barracks for a year, she caught interest in swords and fights. Just like the great knights, she wants to protect her countrymen and banish evil from the land. That's also a legal way to kill people. Sinners. A slight smile appeared on her face, her eyes emotionless.

Esme hurried down to not miss out on the training. She yelled, "What about me?!" There were three people in the practice field.

All three turned around, sweaty. The man and two teens all raised their eyebrows, asking what she wants. "Why did no one wake me up?"

"Oh, you don't need to learn at such an early age. I'm just teaching Claire and Favian safe defense." Her father explained. Esme didn't accept that and pouted, hurt.

"Esme, don't be difficult. It is unacceptable for a woman to train."

"But-"

"Claire needs it to protect herself and in case of unexpected events. And you have learned enough from the soldiers already. If you want, you could practice them here as well." Jonathan explained and yelled for a maid to bring a wooden sword.

A child's insistence, she eventually joined. Esme battled Claire while Favian attempted to beat Jonathan.