Chapter 2: No Women of War

Weak. Cateile had constantly had the same dream every night for five years since she was thirteen summers old. She was now the age of twenty and had not had that dream since it stopped that winter she turned eighteen. Two years she had been free of the compelling fear that lingered whenever she closed her eyes. Two years she had awakened without crying or the overwhelming need to break free. Until last night. She was not sure why the dream reoccurred, but every time it felt more like memories to her instead of imagination. Weak. Every time she awakened all she could remember was the man and how weak she had been. Whether it was dream or reality, her fate would not be to become that weak little girl.

"Cat! Focus!"

Cateile snapped her attention back to the courtyard where she had been practicing her bowman ship. Realizing that the arrow was no longer resting in her hand along the string of the bow, her eyes traveled towards the courtyard columns a few feet away from the target. The arrow stuck out from the limestone columns that supported the veil of the nearby walkway. Kilik's bronzed hand reached out to extract the arrow that was lodged in between the stone. Immediately straightening at attention, Cateile's eyes connected with a very familiar set of eyes, harshly glaring back at her. Her father was standing next to Kilik, a mere few feet away from where the arrow had struck off into the stone column.

"Heliar!" Nara had rushed to her father's side from where she stood next to Cateile in the center of the courtyard. Nara had secretly invited Cateile to practice her bowman ship despite her father's disapproval of the two learning the art of war.

The courtyard that they had been practicing at was rarely traveled, save for a few servants passing through to the center of the palace. It was located at the eastern wing, next to the servants' quarters and the stables. Crosswalks branched out from all four sides of the courtyard and flower beds surrounded the outskirts of each side. Tall columns spread ten feet apart supported the overpass that veiled travelers from the harsh conditions of the sun.

Raising his hand to silence any words coming from Nara, his gaze never faltered from Cateile's. His anger was apparent with every step he took towards her, but Cateile held her stance as he approached her.

Saith held a long spear in his right hand in which made a loud thud as he stabbed the wooden end into the ground. He stopped a few feet from her. His tall physique towered over his petite daughter, shading her entirely from the sun. He adorned a black long sleeve tunic that was topped by his hunting vest. His hunting vest was brightly colored, with hues of blue, red, and yellow mix. It was deeply padded inside with thick layers of sheep's wool to help slow the impact of stray arrows. A lone knife, which stuck out of the opening of his vest was secured by a strap straddling across his midriff supporting the basket of arrows at his back.

"Heliar, we were only practicing out of boredom, not to engage in..." Nara trailed behind her father, being slightly taller than Cateile she met her father's shoulder. Her beautiful golden-brown hair was pulled back in a braided fashion, similar to Cateile's.

Before Cateile could open her mouth to add to Nara's lie, Saith reached his hand out to the bow in her hand and snatched it from her grasp. His glare increased as she fixed her lips to combat, but instead froze at the sight of the anger they held. Saith reached his arm out to place the bow in Kilik's grasp and turned back towards the stable. Not uttering a single word, Cateile felt every emotion that her father wanted to relay. His gaze told it all. She didn't have a chance for rebuttal and even if she did, she knew she wouldn't win. His eyes told her of his disappointment in her blatant disregard for his orders.

When Cateile had first come to her father on the first morning after her dream, she was instantly shut down. Her father and mother had never refused the training of women and even acquired several fierce warriors among them. However, their dream of building Kajor to become a powerful kingdom obviously did not include their daughters. She had never seen her father more upset than at that moment when she had proposed training for the art of war. She couldn't understand why and neither did she ever get an answer to it. She had stated many times for the reasoning of her wanting to be able to protect her kingdom and the nightmares that she insisted on overcoming. However, her mother and father merely told that her nightmares were from her curiosity to engage in the art of war and thus should not be indulged. The Heliar's only argument was to separate them from war in order to prevent the dreams from becoming reality.

The dreams aren't real, he would assure her. No matter how vivid and detailed they were to her, Saith would continue to turn her down. There's no one coming to destroy Kajor, nor powerful enough to wage war against them. The Heliar's words were final and that was that.

Cateile watched as Kilik and her father mounted two black stallions and dashed out of the stable's gates. Outside of the palace's walls would wait a personal army of one hundred men to protect her father while they were on their hunt. It was the time of the Moon Festival and every man would leave the palace for three days to hunt and scavenge for their families. While the men were away, the women and children would prepare the streets for festivities, games, and entertainment. When the men reunited with their families, they would adorn their traditional attire and flock the streets. It was a joyous time every year that Cateile always looked forward to. But this year was different. This year, Cateile turned twenty years old and as a princess of Kajor, she will be able to choose her guardian. Like her sister and brother before her, she must be wise in her choice.

"Cat! I told you we shouldn't have been here!" Nara stood a few inches taller than Cat's own petite size, but her bravery was much lower. Nara's strides grew quicker as she raced away from the courtyard towards the Great Hall.

"I'll just try again tomorrow." With a shrug and slight chuckle, Cat chased behind her swatting at the flowers lined along the pathways.

"It's not funny! Do you like getting guarded in your tower? Unable to leave? Well, I don't! I prefer freedom, so next time don't come running to.... Cat! Cat, are you listening?"

Cateile stood in her tracks staring out into the distance. Her insides roared with voices, clouding out her sister's words. Nausea and dizziness rushed through her as she slightly rocked back. Grabbing hold of a nearby pillar, her vision went blank for a split moment. Nara made it to her side to steady her. She was shaking her, but Cat couldn't hear a word she was saying. Everything was muffled. Only a sharp ringing sound began to crescendo in her ears as though an explosion had gone off. A feeling of fear washed over her. A bad feeling that something was going to happen, but she couldn't tell just what it was. It was happening again.

"Cat! What's wrong?" Nara's voice slowly broke through the roars in her head. Slightly shaking, Cat straightened up and fixed her eyes on Nara, her vision coming back slowly. "What just happened? Are you alright?"

"Yes...I... I'm fine, Nara. Just a little hungry I suppose."

"That didn't just seem like hunger to me...tell me what happened?"

"Nara! I'm fine!" In sudden anger, Cat swatted away Nara's worrying hands. She too didn't understand why her mood changed. All Cat knew was that she feared what was happening to her.

"Fine! Let's go." They began their journey back through the palace towards the Great Hall.

For several weeks, Cat had been having these severe cases. Her body will suddenly become paralyzed, her vision blank, and her body would be overcome with a sense of fear. It was as though her body was sure that there was danger lurking nearby. Or in the near future.

"Xilu! Xilias!" The Helias emerged from the Great Hall. Slowly descending the steps, the two daughters bowed, their traditional greeting for their mother. Their mother was elegantly dressed in a gold and white gown. Her beautiful curls were braided in a halo surrounding her face and flower wreaths adorned the top of her head. Beautiful wasn't the word to describe their mother. She was dressed as though she were about to attend a most important engagement. Important engagement?

Cat gasped aloud as she whipped around to look at Nara. Staring back at her with an all knowing smug, Nara stood with her arms crossed over her chest. Her feet slightly tapped the pavement as she waited for her younger sister to understand. Today was the day for Cat to choose her guardian! She had completely forgotten!

"Where have you been? The carriages are waiting for us at the palace gates!" Ifira reached the bottom of the stairs elegantly and dismissed the guards that were in a constant bow to greet her. Slightly ushering her daughters along, they descended the second flight of stairs towards the palace gates. Carriages waited at the bottom to escort them to their destination. A line of guards trailed behind the carriage and bowed as the family approached.

Guards assisted the women into the carriage and they slowly made their way to the city.