1 Chapter 1

Currency: Gold coin = $400, Silver coin = $200, Bronze coin = $100, Copper coin = $10

"Lucille, I have told you many times that the battlefield is no place for a child." You were currently being told off by your father for coming to watch him and the soldiers training for the war that was coming. "Father, I know that you still think I am a child, but I am sixteen now. All the boys get to go and join the army, so why can't I?" Your father's face held a look of worry and you frowned. "You think I can't do it?" Your father looked at you with shock and was about to disagree with you but you grabbed his sword. "I will prove to you that I am no longer a child that needs to be protected, and I will do it with your sword." You walked over to some of the soldiers and drew your father's sword to them. They looked towards your father to see if they could fight back, but you swung and cut one of their cheeks. "Looking away from the enemy is never a good idea. Are you trying to get yourself killed?" They looked at you in shock when they heard what you said. Your father would tell them that if they ever got distracted by something else while training against one another.

"Lucille… Please just stop right now. I will allow you to train with us, but if you show no promise by the time the war is a few days away then I won't allow you to join us on the battlefield." You looked at your father with a shocked face and grinned. "Really?! Oh my gosh!!! Thank you, Father!!!" You ran inside with his sword still in hand which when he realized you had done so he chased after you. Once you got to your mother's room you beamed at her and showed her your father's sword. "Father is going to let me join them in battle if I can prove I am worthy!" Your mother dropped her teacup and it shattered all over the floor. You flinched at the sound and looked up to your mother. She looked livid.

"RICHARD GET OVER HERE!" Your father soon ran into the room and kneeled in front of your mother. "I am so sorry dear. She said some reasonable things to me in the training field. She even drew my sword and held it high to two soldiers. She cut one's cheek when he wasn't paying attention to her. I believe she would do well, but if she doesn't I won't let her even think about going into the training field for the rest of her life. Please dear, just let her try to prove herself worthy of going to battle with me." Your mother glared at your father and looked at you. "Sweetie, did you do as your father has said?" You nodded and walked up to her. "All the boys get to choose to go into the army at sixteen so I don't see why I can't do the same." Your mother sighed and took your hand. "You are a girl. We don't do such things. We stay home and-" You pulled your hand from your mother and shook your head violently. "Absolutely not! I will not stay at home as an accessory for men! I want to go to war and conquer the other side! I will prove I am worthy of this sword and show you that you are wrong!" You ran out of the room and ran outside and kept running until you had to stop from being tired.

You looked around and saw a castle just up ahead and you walked into the town. "Where am I?" Someone seemed to have heard you and grabbed you by the arm. "Welcome to Cabot. You can't just carry that sword around like that though… The royal guards might think you are trying to threaten the first prince. I will give you a sheath for it." You followed the man to his shop and you looked around at all the sheaths. You stopped at one of them and picked it up. "Can I get this one?" The man looked at the sheath and grinned. "You have good taste, However, that is the most expensive one in the store." You put your hands in your pockets and froze. "U-Ummm… I am so sorry for wasting your time! I ran away so fast I forgot to bring money…" You man sighed and pulled it off of the display. "Take it free of charge. If you don't even ask me about the price I'm sure you could afford it, or you are just worried about the price. I can't have a young lady such as yourself be killed for a misunderstanding. Enjoy it." You looked at the man and shook your head. "There is no way I could just take this…" The man handed it to you and smiled. "Please just take it. I don't think anyone would buy this one anyway. I like to think that you will use it well. Take care now." You looked at the sheath and back at the man. "Thank you, sir. I will use it well. I will take it to war with me and show my father I am worthy of the sword." The man smiled and waved goodbye to you as you walked out of the shop.

You looked around the town and smelled a bakery near. You sighed and ignored the grumbling of your stomach. While you walked through the town you heard a man calling after someone. You turned and all of a sudden you knocked into someone. "Ah! I'm so sorry miss!" You looked at the man and noticed his eyes before anything else. "GIO!!! YOU MUST COME BACK!!" The man looked back and groaned. "Come with me!" You were then grabbed by the hand and ran away from the person calling for this person. "Are you in trouble or something?" You man smiled at you and continued running. "Something like that. I am running away from duties." You dug your heels in the ground, which stopped him. "Not doing your duties is wrong. Just because royals make you do annoying and tedious things it isn't like we mean to. We do even more tedious things every day. I will not help you with your escape if you are just trying to get away from the normal things you have to do." The man looked at you surprised but sighed. "I can't tell you why I am running, but it is not because I don't want to do my duties. I just need fresh air." You furrowed your eyebrows at the man and turned to see the butler looking man running towards you. "Please just let me go if you don't wish to help me." You kept looking at the butler and then you ran into the trees with the man's hand in yours.

You kept dodging all the trees and twigs while quickly running through the forest. When you got to the fort within the forest you stopped. "Where are we?" You glanced at the man and smiled. "This is where I go when I need to get away from my family." The man looked at you and raised an eyebrow. "Why did you bring me here?" You sighed and walked into the fort. "Honestly, I just ran from home to get space. I ended up in your town and ran into you. I needed some fresh air myself. I'm not running from duties though… I am trying to prove I am worthy of the sword. My mother and father don't think I will be able to handle war. I want to show them I am not a child that cries when they don't get what they want. I will prove I am worthy and show them I can handle some blood." You turned to the man when he laughed. "What is so funny?" He looked at you and grinned. "I didn't expect to hear this from you. Normally girls don't want to have anything to do with war." You sighed. "I have secretly watched my father during training and when he would talk to the soldiers. I even got to see as some of the soldiers I knew well vanished from training. I want to be in my father's army so I can help and so when my father is no longer here I can take his place." The boy whistled which caught your attention. "Are you a royalty or something? Only royals can become the general of an army." You sighed and looked at your father's sword. "It's true. I am royalty, but I don't think it is all that great. If you work as a butler or something you should go back. My mother would be furious if any butler or maid was late. I got to watch her punish them when they did wrong and I do not wish to live like her." You stood up and looked around. "I want to see the world and see people in their vulnerable states on the battlefield. I want to be able to feel what victory is like." The man smiled and stood up next to you.

"I'm sure it feels great." You smiled at him and then looked at him. "Do you work for the first prince? If so you better get back to the castle. I have heard he is harsh on those who don't follow orders. If you had someone chasing you then you must be linked to the first prince somehow…" The man smiled and sighed. "Maybe I should get going… Before I go through, what is your name?" You looked at him for a moment then smiled. "Lucille Winters. I am the first and only Princess of Wisdell castle. How about you?" He smiled and seemed to think about it for a second as if he had forgotten his name. "My name is Gio. I wasn't given the last name since I am a peasant. Do you think we could meet here again?" You nodded at him and smiled. "I will be here every day until I can figure out how to prove I am worthy of my father's sword." The man looked at you confused. "Oh! I pulled my father's sword from his sheath and challenged two soldiers. I didn't have a sheath for it when I came here and a nice man brought me to his shop and gave me this." You showed him the sheath and frowned. "I don't have any money on me though… He said it was in the house, but I will come back tomorrow and pay him back." Gio smiled. "You are very kind and considerate, for a royal. It is honestly refreshing." You smiled at him. "Thank you. I try to be. Well, I should head back to get the money. Bye Gio~" You hugged him and ran out to get home.

When you got home you snuck in through your window and got your pouch of gold coins. You put blankets, pillows, and clothes, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and towels and put them in a backpack. You hopped out your window and ran back to the fort in the forest. You put the pillows and blankets on the raised bed-like area and took off your shoes before laying down to go to sleep.

When you woke up it was bright and early in the morning. You took your cleaning products and ran over to the lake nearby. You took off your clothes when you saw no one around and began to quickly wash. Once you finished you dried yourself and put on your clothes. You brush your teeth with the water and take your things and head back to the fort. Once you got back you put your thing on another raised area by the door. You grabbed your father's sword and your sheath and put them on your waist. You also grabbed your pouch of money and headed into town to get something to eat.

You first stopped by the shop that you got your sheath from and you walked in. "Welcome to my- Oh! Welcome miss. Do you need anything?" You shook your head. "How much did this sheath cost?" The man smiled. "It was roughly 900 gold coins. ($1,440,000) You nodded and pulled out your pouch of coins and began counting, but the man stopped you. "A young man came by and already paid the cost. He said his name was… Gio?" You looked up to him in shock. "He did? How?" The man shrugged and smiled. "Just keep the money. It was already paid. Focus on feeding yourself." You nodded and smiled. "Bye, sir. Have a nice day." You waved while you were leaving and sighed. You looked around and saw the bakery from yesterday. You walked in and smiled at the smell of bread and pastries. "Welcome miss. What would you like?" You looked at the chalkboard and hummed. "Ten loaves of bread please." The woman smiled and pulled out ten freshly baked bread. "One bronze coin please. ($100)" You gave her a gold coin and her eyes widened. "Keep the change, ma'am." You took the bread and went back to your fort. You put your bread in the small brown basket and walked outside. Once you got outside you saw Gio with a bunch of papers, ink, and a quill.

"Hi." You smiled and opened the door. "You can do your work inside if you want, or you can do it at the small table right there." You put your pouch of coins in the fort, under your pillow, and walked out. You took the sheath off of your waist and pulled out the sword. "I will try to understand how to properly use the sword and then I will show my father I am worthy, so please ignore my beginner level. Gio nodded and put his papers on the small table before leaving. You were confused about why he left, but you ignored that and began to get the perfect posture your father always talked about. You then began to do the moves your fathers always demonstrated for the other soldiers. While you were doing a certain swing you heard a twig snap and you turned and pointed your father's sword at whoever it was. Your eyes widened when you saw Gio. "I'm so sorry!" Gio grinned. "It's alright. I probably would've done the same thing. You have good skills with the sword already. The sword you have does seem to be a little too big for you though. Maybe you should get lighter-" You grabbed Gio's sword from his sheath and frowned. "I will use my father's sword. Yours is lighter and probably more convenient, but I prefer to have my father's sword." Gio nodded and held his hand out waiting for you to give him back his sword.

You handed Gio his sword and put your father's sword back in your sheath. "So what are all those papers for?" You walked closer and Gio blocked you. You looked at him confused and he sighed. "They are personal." You nodded and stepped back. "Sorry… I am a bit nosy, huh?" Gio grinned and sat down in the chair by the table. "The war is in a week isn't it?" You sighed and nodded. "I have to be ready by then." Gio looked at you and smiled. "You are ready. I believe you are ready and that you are worthy of the sword. Head back to the castle and practice with the soldiers. Maybe your family is worried." You sighed once more and looked up at the sky. "Maybe I should…" You looked at Gio and saw him hard at work. "You know, you look a lot like the first prince." Gio paused and looked up at you. "Please don't say that." You were taken aback by his cold tone, but you nodded. "I'll just head home and practice there. I can come here still. Feels free to use this fort to sleep if you would like. There are ten loaves of bread inside. I will come back the day before the war. If you come by it would be great. Bye Gio." Gio nodded and you frowned at his coldness towards you. You sighed and headed back to the castle.