The forbidden female warrior

Chapter 1

The sound of a rooster crowing is all that can be heard as my eyes open wide, I scratch my head running my hands through my long messy red curls. I stretch my body moaning as I'm about to get up out of bed, I look to see if my sisters are awake, I share my room with my older sister Francis and younger sister Bernadette.

When my toes hit the cold hard wood floor a shiver is sent up my spine

"Uh" an involuntary noise escapes from my lips

Francis wakes up,

"Morning Charlotte" she smiles at me

"Your both to loud" Bernadette snaps

" careful Fran, we mustn't upset the princess"

Francis and I both laugh

Bernadette stands up rolling her blue eyes, she runs her fingers through her smooth golden hair, her head turns to the side showing a profile women would kill for. It's honestly no wonder men come from far and wide seeking her hand in marriage, even at the first light of day she's simply stunning.

"I'm going to take a bath, I can't be bothered by you two so early in the morning." She walks out of the room

At this point I know Mary Margaret has already bathed, I know my father and my nephew Daniel has as well. I know myself and I'm going to let Francis bath before me, but I'll be damned if I'm stuck with cold dirty water again, no I am not going to clean the bucket again.

I race out of my room

"Don't you dare" I shout out to Bernadette

She's smiling as she's closing the door " perhaps if you had a longer legs you could make it here before me." She slams the bathroom door shut and I can hear her laughing

Bernadette constantly jokes about my height her and Mary Margaret got my fathers height, while Francis and I we're gifted with my mother shortness.

It's simply unfair for me to be the one to clean out the bathing bucket every time, so I march towards the bathroom door.

" Open up" I say banging on the door

She simply ignores me

"Open up!" I shout

And still nothing

"Open the bloody door, you raging arse hole!"

"Daughter" I turn to see my father standing behind me

Oh shite I think to myself

"Um, how much of that did you just hear?"

"Enough" he walks closer, he places his hand atop my head, he rubs his fingers on my scalp " That temper of yours will get you in trouble, trust me I know it was mine first."

I look up into my father's steel blue eyes, eyes that have seen so much pain, blood shed and loss, I look at his left arm or what's left of it anyhow.

When my father was in battle fighting against the mermaids, fighting for our king he lost his left arm from the elbow down. It makes me so mad to think about, it wasn't my father's fight yet he lost some thing while the king only gained more obedience from the mermaids.

My father is a good man the best man in my eyes he truly is like a hero from a fairytale, a knight in shining armor sent here to protect the Stonbroth girls. He would do anything in his power for us, he kills himself to keep up this farm, to keep this hilltop land that we can't afford, but somehow he manages to keep us going.

" I know I have to control my temper father, but I don't understand why, it only makes me stronger. You know you could always teach me how to fight I know I would be good at it."

"We've had this conversation before lass, you and I both know the last thing this world needs is you to become a trained fighter. Why you'd kill us all" He laughs pulling his hand back

I grunt "fine, i'll be a simple farm girl who's good for nothing except to feed the pigs and milk the cows I suppose."

"That's the spirit" I can't tell if he's being serious or sarcastic as he walks down are rickety old staircase

{~~~}

After both Bernadette and Francis have showered I take my turn

I slip off my nightwear and get into the mucky cold water, the entire household has bathed in here and it shows.

I wash off quickly having no desire to be in this water longer than necessary.

Once I'm finished I put on my green dress, I only have two dresses and both are different shades of green so luckily for me that's my favorite color.

Once I'm clothed I begin pulling my unruly dark red hair into a braid, a few stray curls manage to escape.

I stop for a moment as I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, I began starting deeply into my eyes looking beyond there green color.

To anyone looking I'd seem extremely vain, but I wasn't looking at my outside, no I was trying to see within.

On the outside I'm small and frail by looking at me you'd think I was living the life I'm meant to, you'd say such a cute lass she'll make an excellent wife with all the chores she's use to doing. You'd think I wouldn't even complain, think I'd just be happy to marry a handsome man and bare him twelve strong sons.

But if you only took a moment to look in my eyes and see what lies within, you'd know that I was meant for so much more, I have to be.

This can't be all I'm made for

{~~~}

I begin to carry the bucket of dirty water down the stairs

"Raw!" Francis leaps out scaring me

"Ah" I gasp as water containing arse sweat splash's me in the face landing right in my mouth

Francis erupts into a fit of laughter

"Yes so funny I've drank arse water"

She now laughs harder

And I can't help myself but to laugh along, if Mary Margaret or Bernadette done this to me i'd be screaming pulling their hair out, but Francis could get away with murder in my eyes.

And she knew it too

{~~~}

After a moment of laughter with Fran I find myself outside with the bucket, my arms are shaking at this point it weighs so much so instead of walking it down to the bottom of the hill I pour the bucket out where I stand.

"What on earth are you doing?"

I already know who's nagging voice that is before I even turn around

" i'm cleaning the bucket Mary Margaret" I say

"No you're making mud puddles" she snaps at me

"I'm sorry I'll just drink it next time" I say sarcastically

" everything's just one big joke to you isn't it, hurry up and get down to the barn now" she walks off

When my mother died Mary Margaret was twelve and although she was still a child in every way on that day she became like a mother to me and my sisters.

Mary Margaret has always been stern, but there was a time when she was sweet and understanding towards me. When she got married she was twenty she had a hard time conceiving a child, but after three years she became pregnant with her son David.

Everything was happy for her for a little while occasionally we would visit in the village more so she would come see us at the hill, because my father hates to leave his home. One day Mary Margaret came home to an awful surprise her husband had met another woman, he told her the affair has been going on for most of their marriage. Mary Margaret was twenty five and distraught she couldn't believe that her husband had been cheating on her all this time. Still though she didn't leave him, no she stayed by his side, about a year later she came home and he was gone along with all of her clothes and jewelry.

He had stolen from her in every way, he stole all her money, he stole all her love, he stole her pride, he stole her entire life and now she lives here. Mary Margaret has been home for the past two years and every day she seems more miserable than the last.

I suppose I should cut her some slack, but I fear I let my temper take Control of me most of the time.

I can't help it, how could you stay with a man like that and I'm certain there are things that happened she didn't even tell us about.

Of course when I fight with her she tells me I'm jealous because I'll never leave the hill, but I know for a fact that I will and when I do my life will be nothing like hers.

{~~~}

Once I'm in the pig sty with a bucket of slop in my hands I'm about to pour it into the trot when a thick warm chunky goo runs down my legs.

"No you didn't" I turn around to see Francis smiling " don't smile too hard Fran, I'm gonna to get you"

I throw some slop at her it hits her shoulder, she screams

She throws some back at me it lands right in my face, I wipe my eyes and throw some back at her it hits her right in the chest.

She starts laughing as she hits me again this time over the top of my head, my entire body is now covered in pig slop.

The pigs swarm us eating slop from the ground and even off are body and clothes

I laugh hard and she dose the same

" what are you fools doing?" Mary Margaret asks with a look of disgust on her face

"Having fun" Francis says

I bust out laughing

" you truly are a rotten influence Charlotte"

"Calm down Mary Margaret, it's just a game we were only having fun, you should really try it sometime you might enjoy it."

" some of us here can't afford to have fun, I have a child to worry about, father has us to worry about and even Bernadette is helping out by trying to find a rich husband. Yet you spend your days fooling around and trying to turn Francis into your slave, you are absolutely useless to this family. It's no wonder I had multiple suitors as has Bernadette, while you have had none."

"I don't want a husband, don't you understand by now, I want to be free I want to go on adventures and to see this world. You of all people shouldn't be pressuring anyone and getting married" and in the second I say that I know I'm going to regret it

"How dare you" she smacks me across the face " you insignificant nothing, no one wants you here no one cares for you, if you want to leave then go." She pushes me backwards onto my bum "go off and be the foul mouthed w***e I know you're so eager to become. Do you think you'll have adventures, no you'll become a p********e because that's the only way a human woman can make money on her own."

I leap up, a rage inside of me takes over and I jump onto of her, I pull her hair and smack her face.

"Get off of me!" She shouts

I continue to hit her even harder now

"Help me!" She cries out

Francis grabs my arms and pulls me off of her

"Stop it please" Francis says

And at this moment we hear a royal trumpet from the front of the house, the three of us look over to see our father standing in front of three men on three white horses. The one to the left hands him a paper and my father bows his head down to the one in the middle.

They begin to turn around, Bernadette bursts into tears while holding David in her arms, my father walks past the two of them and into the house.

"What happened?" Francis asks me

" I don't know, but I'm going to find out" I say as I walk towards Bernadette