Prologue

December 10, 1336.

Outskirts of Bandos,

The Kingdom of Myknos.

Lady Odeya Katarina Black

The early winter chill rattled the girl's bones as she stood clad in only a light plate armor that followed the contours of her slim frame and allowed her a free range of movement. This was essential since her fighting style relied on speed, not power.

She stood firm and focused as she eyed the opponent before her who had more experience on the battle field.

Lord Egerton was one of her father's men from one of the recently destroyed hill clans and he rarely spoke but to a select few that had earned his respect.

It had been a year since she had started her training and she had felt that it was unfair for her to face a man who had used a sword for more years than she had been alive.

She looked up and sent a firm nod to the man sitting in the balcony overlooking the training ground. He gave her a blank stare and she focused her attention on the man in front of her.

She weighed her chances of victory and they seemed very slim; she was just nine summers old and he was much older, old enough to be her father, and he outweighed her by many stones.

He was right handed and he also was very precise but she was quicker and more nimble since she wasn't wearing bulky armour and she would use that to her advantage. Her father gave the signal and the battle began.

He stalked towards her dangerously and she could see, through his visor, that his green eyes glowed with humor. She cleared all anger out of her mind and waited for him to strike the first blow. He was waiting for her too but when she didn't, he sent a thrust to her left side and she deflected it with the flat of her blade. He struck again, this time he feinted to the left but sent the slash to her right, landing a cut on her arm.

She saw her blood flow out of her arm and the pain was almost blinding but she couldn't yield. Not when her father gave her that disappointed look. She stood and attacked this time with speed and precision. He was shocked at the strength of her strikes.

Father had made her carry pigs up hill for three months to work on her strength and he had made her do over fifty pull ups and was never satisfied if she gave up. They parried for a while and it looked like she was never going to be able to land a blow on him.

She saw an opening on one side as he struck but didn't go for it as he had expected and as he moved to block the strike she had feigned she cut him on the exposed part of his arm between his vambrace and gard brace. He looked down at her with shock and for a brief moment she saw a shadow of a smile on her Father's face.

But she didn't dwell on small victories she still had to disarm him. They engaged in a fiercer battle of sword play and all her years of playing in the forest helped her; she was light on her feet and was quick to veer away from his strikes.

Finally, she caught his forward thrust with a thrust of her own and twisted her hand then drew her hands in one forceful motion upward. The sword flew out of his hand and landed on the cold stone floor behind her. He looked shocked and put his palms up.

"Do you yield?" She asked.

He only smiled but when she placed the tip of her sword on his Adam's apple, his smile faltered.

"I yield." He said.

She forced her sword slightly into his throat so that she would draw blood but not kill him then walked away to his fallen sword. She admired the fox head and forest motif on the blade.

"You can keep it." He said walking behind her.

"What?" She asked the soldier coming behind her.

"The blade. Its yours. God knows you bloody well earned it." He said with a laugh.

"My apologies sir."

"Its nothing. I have had worse."

She laughed then ran into the manor. Her mother hugged her first and planted a kiss on her head. Her black soft hair that always smelled like daisies tickled her forehead and she smiled. She walked out through the glass double doors onto the balcony where her father sat and met him there with a proud look on his face then his smile changed into that of evil glee.

"You will make me very proud someday." He said.

And she held that word in her heart for a very long time to come.