The Warlord's Daughter - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Adira hummed as she collected eggs from the many chickens her new family owned. It had been over a month since the ambush, and she felt fairly safe that no one would come looking for her. The relief was nearly overwhelming!

I just need to be certain that I can actually beat the giant who killed my father, and then I can leave here to hunt him down.

As she carried the basket full of eggs toward the house, she noticed that Jomin was leading his boys through staff exercises. They looked decently skilled, and could make valuable additions to the King's army if trained. Her brow furrowed from her thoughts.

“Something wrong?” Hemi asked.

They had mentioned the war a couple of times, all grateful that it was halted for now, so she felt comfortable asking her most burning question. “Why have none of you enlisted in the army? Why were none of you conscripted?”

Immediately, they all looked sad. Natan cleared his throat. “We're all orphans from the war. We've all had fathers and even brothers die in action. The King himself decreed that war orphans do not need to enlist and will not be conscripted unless our country faces a dire emergency.”

“Oh...” Adira murmured. She'd known they were all adopted, but she hadn't ever thought about why. A new thought occurred to her. “But don't you want to enlist so that you can help defeat those who orphaned you?”

“No,” Dael answered with a shake of his head. “We'd all much rather support the troops by ensuring that they have plenty of food to eat. Our farm is one of several that hold a contract with the King. So long as the war continues, we will never have to worry about a buyer for the livestock we raise.”

“I see...” Adira muttered, conflicted about their answer. The warrior in her strongly felt that they should all enlist tomorrow, but she had long been drilled in strategy and the logistics of keeping the soldiers well fed and strong. What they said made total sense from a logistics point of view.

Jomin smiled at her. “How about you? Would you like to learn to use a staff. Maybe knowing how to defend yourself will keep you safe should you ever find yourself in such a terrible situation in the future.”

Adira bit her lip in indecision. If she trained with them, they might realize that she was more skilled than even Jomin, but if she didn't train, her skills might get rusty. “Um... just let me put these eggs in the pantry, and then I'll give it a try.”

A few minutes later, she was breathing carefully as a reminder not to let her true skills show. Ironically, her time training in new recruits helped her know how to pretend that she had no idea what she was doing. Jomin adjusted her grip and stance, and then led her through some basic blocks.

She repeated the blocks for several minutes, and then her mind wandered.

“You're three today, Adira! Practically a full grown warrior! Stop swinging your staff around wildly and start blocking my blows! Or do you like getting your hands whacked?”

“Father,” Adira whispered softly, and then shook her head to discourage the tear that wanted to fall.

Jomin hadn't heard her, but he suspected that she was suddenly depressed. He smiled in an effort to cheer her up. “Hey... if you learn enough to defend against wolves and other wild creatures, I might let you take turns herding the sheep.”

Jomin owned several square miles of land, and they all took turns bringing the flock out to new pasture for a week or so at a time so that the grass in the closer paddocks had time to grow between grazing. Adira grinned. “I'd like that!”

Later that night, she pulled the curtain across her part of the loft, and sat quietly thinking until everyone else fell asleep. If I want to keep my skills in top condition, I am going to need much more serious training than simply waving a staff around...

Now that her body was healed, she had reverted to her normal sleep routine. She rarely got more than 6 hours of sleep. Most days, she'd gone to bed well after sunset – her duties required her to do so many things that often midnight arrived before she crawled into bed! Then, she nearly always woke up before the sun did, and trained intensely for hours until breakfast was served.

These days she may well have gotten more sleep, but nightmares kept waking her up. She'd learned not to cry out as much, but still... sleeping was a chore she'd rather avoid. Besides, training hard before going to sleep always helped calm her mind.

The deep and even breathing of her adopted brothers made her smile fondly. They really would make excellent soldiers, and she longed to make them part of her army. Yet, they were so very happy here, and she was reluctant to disrupt their idyllic lives.

Deciding that the time was right, she slipped out the window, and climbed onto the roof. She took great care not to make a sound as she moved through her many exercises. The roof was slanted on either side to keep rain drops from pooling together on it, and was tiled with special tiles made from baked clay.

These two factors combined to keep her on her toes, but she relished in the challenge presented. A few hours later, her muscles were warm, and her body felt fluid.

I still have all my skills! I didn't forget or lose anything! This almost caused her to jump for joy, but she refrained lest she accidentally wake her brothers.

She lowered herself back into the loft, and fell asleep almost instantly. For the first time since she'd been beaten nearly to death, she felt like herself.

*******

“Good Job, Adira!” Jomin praised. “You're learning the staff surprisingly quickly.”

Adira laughed. “What's so hard about this? You just keep repeating the same moves over and over until you can do them in your sleep. Then you let your body react.” This was exactly why she could never understand why new recruits had a hard time learning the basics. The basics were so easy even a baby could do them!

Jomin laughed. “You can say that because it comes easily to you. Many others have to struggle for years to learn what you've learned in the past three months. I think it's time you learned how to herd the sheep. I think Dael would be the best one to teach you.”

Adira nodded, already knowing that Dael was gifted when it came to handling animals. Dael handed her a small bow with a quiver of arrows. She was used to using a much bigger bow, but one look at Hemi's face made her push her disappointment to the back of her mind.

“Did you make this for me?” She asked her youngest adopted brother; the only one actually younger than her. Hemi nodded with a pleased grin.

“Thank you!” Adira gushed, hugging him.

“No problem,” he grumbled, his cheeks flushed from embarrassment.

Adira did not want to have to pretend that she knew nothing about a bow. Pretending to learn how to use it would take far too long. Court Ladies often hunted with their men for entertainment, and they assumed that she was a Lady of some sort, so she examined the bow carefully.

“This feels... familiar...” she murmured. “Hmm...” Taking careful aim at a fence post, she released an arrow and watched it hit her target exactly where she wanted it to. She looked around for another suitable target. There was an old tree that the boys often practiced their archery on. It was dead, and a permanent circular target had been carved into it. She had 5 arrows left, but three should be more than plenty to prove that she knew what she was doing.

“I feel like I've done this before...” She mumbled vaguely just as she shot the first of the three arrows at the target. She aimed them so that they all landed in the bullseye, but separated a tiny bit so that they didn't damage each other.

“Wow!” Hemi gaped in astonishment. “I'd say you must have done this before!”

“Hemi...” Adira paused as if considering her words. “Something feels strange. This bow isn't big enough. I think it's supposed to be much bigger.”

Hemi nodded. “I can make you a bigger bow while you're out with Dael.

Adira grinned. “Thank you!”

Amin cast Adira a mildly suspicious look, and then glanced at Jomin. Jomin simply shook his head as if saying that Amin was imagining things.

*******

Adira had never learned how to herd sheep before, even so, she absorbed the knowledge Dael gave her like she was born to it. She liked shepherding; the quiet was soothing. If only Dael weren't with her, she'd be able to really push herself in her training.

As night fell, they started a fire to keep them warm, and then set up their blankets. It was nearing fall – the time of year when most of the sheep were sent to the King to be slaughtered, preserved, and set aside until needed to feed the troops – so the nights grew surprisingly cold.

Adira had flirted with all of her new brothers equally in an effort to make them care for her, but she'd never had such an excellent opportunity as this. She made a noise that announced that she was cold.

“Dael... Can I snuggle up to you? I'm freezing!”

Dael suppressed a groan. “Sure.”

Adira wasted no time merging their blankets together and pressing her body into his warmth. “Thank you,” she whispered before lightly kissing him on the lips. “I feel so much better knowing that you're protecting me from the cold. Ever since... well, the cold has really bothered me...”

“I understand,” Dael replied, forcing himself not to think of her in anyway except as his sister.

This flirting stuff is fun! Adira informed herself and she pretended to fall asleep.

The fire usually kept the wolves away, and the sheep knew it. They instinctively huddled close enough to the fire that they were safe from predators, but not so close that the smoke and the smell bothered them.

As soon as Dael was asleep, Adira crawled out of their blankets, disappeared into the woods, and then practiced her skills to her heart's content. Dael woke slightly as she returned.

“Where did you go?” He asked sleepily.

“Just behind the tree,” Adira assured him, which was code for emptying her bladder, which technically she had done.

“Oh...”

“Go back to sleep,” Adira whispered, kissing him lightly once more.

Dael moaned. “You shouldn't do that.”

“Why not?” Adira asked innocently. “Don't sisters normally kiss their brothers?”

“Yes,” Dael answered, but refused to explain any further. “You go back to sleep.”

Adira nodded, and followed his advice.

In the morning, Adira woke up to find that it was strangely hard to breathe. She opened her eyes to find Dael sleeping on top of her. A smile stretched her lips.

Aww... he looks so sweet when he sleeps!

She shook him. “Dael, wake up!”

“'S somethin' wrong?” He slurred as his brain struggled to wake up. “The sun's not even up yet,” he said even before he cracked open an eye to check whether or not it was true.

“Nothing's wrong per se, it's just that you're heavy!” Adira insisted.

Dael forced his eyes to focus on her, and then gasped. “I'm so sorry!” He scrambled to sit up, embarrassed that he was literally laying on top of her. His hands had even been places they shouldn't be, such as resting on her small breast and cupping her firm buttocks.

Adira stretched happily, glad to have his weight off her. She yawned loudly. “So... should I start making breakfast, or should I go look for more firewood?”

“You can start on breakfast, I'll go take care of my wood. I mean get rid of some wood! I mean find some firewood!” Dael practically shouted the last sentence as he rushed off to complete his chore.

Adira was no stranger to men – her soldiers often described such things when they didn't think she was listening – so she had a pretty good idea what Dael was thinking. She quietly giggled to herself as she located the pack of salted pork that they'd brought with them. She needed to slice off any parts that had gone bad, and then slice the rest into thick slabs to fry up.

Adira had to wait a bit longer than she considered adequate for fetching firewood, but she had woken him up probably an hour before he wanted to, so she figured that it balanced in the end. Finally, Dael returned. He quickly woke up the sleeping fire, and soon breakfast was sizzling away.

After they ate, the silence got to Dael. He was used to the silence when he was shepherding alone, but this felt unnatural to him.

“We will stay here for the entire week, unless the sheep run out of grass. The sheep range out quite a bit, but return to the fire each night, so the job's easy enough. Until the wolves get desperate...”

Adira nodded, smiling at him sweetly. Would my mother and sister be proud of me for manipulating these men so easily with my feminine wiles, or would they think I am overdoing it? This thought gave her pause. She didn't have any prior practice to compare it to. Just what she'd watched her mother and sister do.

“In the meantime,” Dael added. “If you want to practice your staff lessons, or maybe hunt a bit...”

“Staff lessons,” Adira decided.

Two days passed with them watching over the flock and sparring. Adira felt that life was officially perfect. If she didn't have a pressing desire to get revenge for her father's murder at some point, she would almost be willing to truly forget her entire life up 'til now.

An eerie scream shattered to tranquility. Dael rushed investigate the sound, Adira just one step behind him. Panic coursed through her veins as she wondered if perhaps enemy soldiers had found her after all, and were attacking someone nearby.

Dael assured her that nothing was seriously wrong. One of the sheep had inadvertently stepped in small snake hole, and broke a leg.

“This one is considered a cull now. Until it's leg mends, it won't eat as much as it should nor gain enough weight. That means that this sheep is destined for our larder. However, we won't kill it now,” Dael explained, wrapping the broken leg in a splint.

“That scream sounded so human,” Adira murmured, her heart finally ceasing it's thunderous beating.

“I'm of the opinion that all creatures sound the same when in pain,” Dael stated.

When it was time to return to the farm with the flock, Dael carried the injured sheep in his arms. Adira cast him a puzzled look.

“Isn't it heavy?”

Dael shrugged. “I'm used to it. Sheep get injured surprisingly often... about once every other time they are taken out. I'm usually called in to help get the unlucky sheep back home.”

“Aww... How sweet!” Adira teased goodnaturedly.

“Yeah yeah! I'm a big softie!” Dael responded to the teasing gracefully.

The moment they walked through the door, Amin asked to see Adira. He wanted to make sure she hadn't overexerted herself so soon after healing from her injuries. Adira let him fuss over her, surprised to realize that she was very fond of Amin.

He had healed her. More than that, he had cared for her; helping her when she couldn't help herself. She silently vowed that after her inevitable battle with the giant, if she was injured, she would trust no one to heal her but Amin.

He sighed in relief. “I was so worried that you would re-injure yourself. Thankfully, you seem to be in perfect health.”

Dael chuckled. “You should have seen her! It's like she was born to herd sheep!”

Amin smiled at Dael. “Do you need me to take a look at that injured sheep?”

Dael shook his head, bristling slightly. Animals were his specialty, and he didn't need help caring for them. “Nah... I'm about to go settle her in a stall and give her a bundle of hay. She should be fine. She just needs her bone to heal.”

Amin nodded in understanding, and Dael left. Everyone else was out of the house doing chores, except Marek. He was busy cooking their dinner – which was coming up soon.

Amin brushed Adira's cheek. “I'm glad you're fine.”

Oh... Adira suddenly realized that he didn't just care for her, he cared for her! “Thank you for your concern, but I'm fine.” She smiled reassuringly, and then kissed him softly. “No need to worry about me.”

Amin watched her walk away. His heart was beating faster than normal, and he was inexplicably confused. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. “She's my sister... just my sister!” He muttered to himself fervently under his breath.

Go To Chapter 4 

The Warlord's Daughter - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Adira started struggling again when the fever returned. Pain made her clench her fists, and she imagined that she was killing her attackers.

“Amin, help!”

“What's the matter?” Amin asked as he rushed to his brother's aid. As a healer, he had made it his duty to stay near their patient as much as possible over the past two days.

“She's hurting me! She's got my balls in a death grip!”

Amin placed a hand on her forehead. “She's feverish again. I think it's safe to leave her alone for a while.”

“Gladly! Make her let me go!”

Amin held back laughter, but couldn't suppress a smirk as he uncovered his second youngest brother, and helped extricate him from her grasp.

“Maybe she thinks you're one of her rapists, and she's trying to take her revenge,” the cook heckled his unfortunate brother. “Lucky for you you're wearing something, or I'm sure you'd really be in trouble!”

A minute later, he was free from her clenched fist; sighing in relief as he scrambled from the bed. Amin placed a cool cloth on her forehead, and shushed her soothingly until she fell back into a more peaceful slumber.

An hour later, their father returned home. “What's going on?” He wondered curiously. Their house was small, consisting of a main room and a bedroom on the first floor, and a loft at the top of a ladder where all the boys slept. The door to the bedroom was open, and all the boys hovered over someone in his bed.

“We found a girl at death's door,” the youngest murmured.

“We think she's going to live,” the second youngest added, grimacing as he unconsciously rubbed his still tender groin.

Amin beckoned their father closer. “She's peaceful now, but she's alternated between freezing and feverish for the past couple of days. Her dreams must be full of anguish because she thrashes about and calls out in delirium. … We think she was brutally raped by however many men it took to kill the men that escorted her.

Adira heard them as she slowly regained consciousness.

“Why?” Their father wondered.

Six shrugs answered him. “We have no idea. All we know is that she alone survived a gruesome slaughter. There were piles of bodies, as if a fierce battle had taken place.”

The oldest took over the story. “I cannot begin to guess why such a battle would have occurred so far from the front lines, so I can only assume that she is an important Lady of some sort that was being escorted to the King. Maybe someone tried to kidnap her to hold for ransom.”

“But then why rape her and leave her for dead?” The second oldest – the cook – questioned.

No one knew the answers.

Hmm... Adira thought to herself. They have no idea who I am. I could be safe here until I am strong enough to go after the bastard that murdered my father!

She desperately longed to shift onto her side and go back to sleep, but the smallest movement caused her pain. The pain was dull enough by now that she could handle it, but even so, a groan escaped her lips.

A hand felt her forehead. “Her fever's broken. I think she might finally be waking up.”

Adira opened her eyes, and looked around warily. The one with his hand on her head smiled at her gently.

“Don't try to talk yet. I'm sure you must still be in a great deal of pain. I would like to help you sit up and then get a little broth in your stomach.”

Adira tried to nod, but then winced. Talking was definitely easier than moving. “Yes, please.”

Amin carefully helped her sit up, propping her up with pillows. No matter how gentle he was, every little movement hurt, but Adira was used to coping with pain. She clenched her teeth, and ignored the pain as much as possible.

After a second man helped her drink some broth, she felt a little better. She looked around at all the men in the room. From what she could tell, this was a father and his sons. The sons all ranged in age from 14 to 20, and every single one of them exuded concern for her.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Their father asked.

I need to come up with a story that will make them want to keep me safe... I need to tell them something that elicits the most sympathy possible...

“I … I don't know...” she replied when she couldn't think of a good story to tell them. If she told them the truth, they would probably send word to the King, and for now, that was a bad idea.

“I understand if you don't want to talk about it,” the father stated in a soothing tone of voice. “What about your name? Can you at least tell us your name?”

Adira hesitated. She wasn't sure she could trust them, and if they talked about her, the tall man might discover that she hadn't died after all.

“Don't you even know your name?”

“Maybe she has amnesia,” Amin suggested.

Amnesia! Adira mentally cheered. That's the perfect story!

Another good look at all the honest faces around her made her decide to trust them... but only a little.

“I can't remember anything. I don't even remember my name, but one word keeps circling around and around inside my head... Adira. … Who's Adira?”

Amin smiled at her. “Maybe you're Adira. It's a pretty name, and seems to suit you.” He pointed at his chest. “I'm Amin, and these are my brothers; Natan is the oldest. Marek is second oldest, and loves to cook. I'm the third oldest. Dael is fourth, Tobin is 5^th, and Hemi is the youngest.”

“But... you all look nearly the same age...” Adira protested in confusion.

“Yes, since we're all adopted, we are all close in age. Natan is 20, Marek is almost 19, I'm 18, Dael just turned 18, Tobin is 16, and Hemi is 14,” Amin informed her.

“Adopted? Then where are all the girls?” Adira wondered, oddly fascinated by this unique family.

Their father cleared his throat. “I decided that it would be inappropriate to adopt both boys and girls. … I'm Jomin, and I would be honored to add you to my family until we can find yours. Hopefully someone will come looking for you, eventually.”

Adira had a hundred questions – such as why weren't any of these boys enlisted in the King's army – but she couldn't ask them yet without revealing that she actually did remember everything. “Thank you,” she murmured gratefully.

Jomin blushed as he realized that she had nothing but a thick layer of bandages – plus a blanket – covering her body. “Looks like someone is going to have to go into town to buy our little lady some clothes.”

“I can do that,” Tobin volunteered. None of his brothers were surprised in the slightest since Tobin's hobby was making and mending clothes.

“I'll go with you,” Hemi offered. “I want to see how well that new harness I made works.” By this, he referred to a special harness he had made for the local shopkeeper about a month ago. The shopkeeper had expressed a desire for a harness for his horse that could easily be loaded up with wares when he didn't have enough to require a cart, but too many to carry without help.

Their father nodded permission, and then reminded Dael that he'd brought the sheep in to be sheered. Dael nodded, tapping both Natan and Marek on the arm in a silent query for help.

That left Adira alone with Amin and his father.

“If you feel up to it, I'd like to change your bandages. Better yet, another bath might be a good idea to see how well you're healing,” Amin suggested.

Adira shrugged, winced at the pain, and then nodded. She had maintained basic modesty while fighting alongside her father's soldiers, but even so, after a long hard day of fighting, bathing in the river with the men was far quicker than waiting for a bath to be prepared for her. As a result, she wasn't shy about letting him help her.

Besides, the way her body hurt, she doubted that she'd be able to bathe herself anyway.

Amin looked towards his father. “We have plenty of water heated in anticipation that we'd have to give her another bath soon. Will you help me fill the tub?”

Jomin nodded. Together, they brought the wooden tub – called a hip bath because it was designed for these decently tall men (who were all nearing, but not quite 6 feet tall) to sit in and the water would cover their hips – into the room, and filled it with water. At a hair shy of 5 feet tall, Adira actually had room to relax a bit as Amin bathed her.

No matter how much she tried to bite back the gasps of pain, she sounded like bacon sizzling over a hot flame. Amin rubbed her muscles to promote healing as he washed off the ointment and herbs he had previously covered her in.

“Sacred Mother!” Jomin gasped at the sight of her bruises.

Amin nodded sadly. “Believe it or not, she looks much better than she did when we first found her. She's healing well. Most of these wounds may not even scar.”

Adira examined her body thoroughly. Yep, that's pretty much how I feel, ugh... Thank the Gods that I was drugged and didn't feel most of this!

“Do you want something for the pain?” Amin asked. “I'm amazed that you're not screaming in agony!”

“No,” Adira shook her head. There was a small chance that the enemy would realize that she had survived and come after her. She needed to be fully aware, and anything that dulled the pain would also dull her senses and reflexes.

“Are you sure?”

Adira nodded. “Though I am a bit hungry again.”

Amin nodded. “Just let me put some ointment on you, and then I'll bandage you up. After that, you can eat some of the stew Marek made.”

It took some time, but soon, Adira was bandaged and resting in Jomin's bed once more. Amin fretted over the continual bleeding between her legs, but took it as a sign that they hadn't impregnated her. He handed her a bowl of stew, and though it hurt more than she thought possible, she ate it without help from anyone.

I'm amazed that they didn't break anything! The only good thing about the whole situation was that none of her bones were broken. It felt like many of her internal organs were damaged, but they were healing just like the rest of her. She did find it ironic that she also had her monthly, but at least all the other pain made the normal cramps impossible to feel.

After eating as much as she could, she fell back to sleep. This time, her rest was calm and peaceful. Shortly after Marek started making breakfast the next morning, Adira started dreaming about the ambush. She moaned and thrashed about, inadvertently waking the rest of the house.

“Father no! Don't die!” She screamed.”Kill him! Kill that – !” Adira sat up so quickly that she squealed from the unexpected pain of moving, which woke her up.

“Adira,” Jomin whispered urgently. He'd been sleeping on the floor, but now gently wrapped one arm around her to calm her down.

Adira felt like burying her face in his shoulder and sobbing until there were no tears left in the world, but she couldn't allow such a weak display of emotion. She took a few deep breaths, slowly gaining control over her erratic breathing.

“I'm sorry,” she whispered.

“You have nothing to be sorry for. They were the ones that hurt you,” Jomin assured her. “Did your dream trigger a memory?”

Adira shook her head. “If it did, I don't remember it now.”

Natan now leaned against the open doorway. His brothers grumbling sleepily as they arranged themselves around the large, rectangular table in the main room. “It's entirely possibly that your nightmare was about what happened to you. You cried out for your father not to die. There were more bodies than I wanted to count where we found you, so your father was probably one of the men who died protecting you.”

Adira shrugged, thankful that doing so no longer sent sharp pains racing across her body. She pushed herself free from Jomin's fatherly embrace. The longer he held her, the more she wanted to break down and cry.

“Uh... Amin? Can you help me attend to some basic needs?” Adira asked as she scooted to the edge of the bed. Even if she was able to walk – which she doubted that she could do on her own – she'd still need the healer's help to remove the bandages around her waist.

“Certainly,” Amin agreed.

He decided that since he had to unwrap her anyway, it was time to sponge her off and reapply the ointment – after she'd emptied her bladder. The good news was that most of her wounds – even the blood between her legs – were healing well enough that she could wear smaller bandages. This left her with inadequate covering until Tobin remembered that he'd gone shopping for her.

“I think I found the right size, but you must understand that there was very little selection,” he said as a way of apologizing when he showed her the plain brown rough-spun dress. “At least it matches your hair and eyes... a little...”

Adira smiled faintly, and allowed him to dress her like a doll because moving on her own made the pain return much more fiercely than letting him move her. He took a moment to check the fit when he was done, and grumbled as he made mental notes.

“I also bought fabric so that I can make you a better dress when I have time.”

“Thank you, Tobin,” she smiled at him gratefully. She wasn't used to wearing dresses, but this actually suited her perfectly at the moment.

​That's right... my mother always told me that it was easier to be sweet to a man. If I pretend to be the Lady they think I am, I'll soon have them willing to protect me with their lives, if need be.

Now that she had some clothes on, Adira gritted her teeth, and forced herself to eat her breakfast at the table with the rest of them.

Amin cast his father a concerned look that clearly wondered, how is she able to cope with all that pain? Aside from a hastily erased grimace here and there, Adira never once admitted that she felt any discomfort at all! Though they kept it to themselves, both Amin and his father suspected that there was more to their newest family member than she let on.

Go To Chapter 3 

The Warlord's Daughter - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“Where is my son?”

“Adira is training with the new soldiers, sir!” His aide immediately informed the Warlord.

“Why on Earth is she doing that? She's far more advanced than they are,” he wondered in confusion.

“You misunderstand, she's in charge of the training. The drill sergeant fell ill this morning,” the aide clarified.

“Is she?” Taking advantage of the fact that no one could see his face – they were alone in his tent and his back was to his aide – the Warlord grinned in pride. Even so, his aide sensed the emotion, and covered an amused smile.

Just then, one of the guards outside the Warlord's tent announced the arrival of visitors. “Enter!” He commanded.

The two men continued to chuckle as they entered the tent. They were Generals under the Warlord's command, but hadn't had to report directly to him in years. He crinkled his brow in a curious frown.

“Are you celebrating the temporary break in fighting by allowing a spectacle for the men, my Prince?” One of the Generals asked. “There's a small boy apparently in charge of this morning's training exercises.”

“That's my son,” the Warlord stated.

“You're joking!” Both Generals burst out.

“There's no way any son of yours could be so short!”

“What is he... 10 years old?”

“Adira is 15.”

Before either General could respond to the confusing statement, the tent flap was flung aside. Adira strode in as if she owned the place. “There's not one new recruit worth his breakfast! I was tempted to beat them all within an inch of their lives!”

She gestured for the attendant following her to set the platter of food on the table and then leave.

“Adira, you must be patient with the new soldiers. Of course they don't know how to defend themselves yet. A good drill sergeant pushes them to learn without pushing them too far.”

“If you say so father, but I'm telling you, I'll be shocked if any of them learn a spit's worth of skill! Anyway, it's time for breakfast, we should eat before something disastrous happens.” Adira gestured for the two visiting Generals to have a seat and join them as she waited for her father to take his seat.

“Adira, I believe I heard these two mention something about a temporary break in the fighting,” the Warlord informed her, piling an enormous amount of food from the platter onto his plate.

“A break in the fighting? Now?” Adira questioned, startled enough that she almost forgot to fill her plate.

“Uh... yes, my Prince,” the older of the two generals confirmed for the Warlord. He was slightly quicker at recovering his composure. Neither of them had expected the Warlord's son to be a girl! “We thought you knew, but the war is temporarily halted. We've conquered our way far enough south that our enemies hope to find a way to negotiate with us before we conquer them completely.”

“Good luck to them!” The Warlord snorted in disbelief. “My brother will never stop until he has conquered the entire continent!”

The older General smirked. “Be that as it may, they've managed to talk our King into taking a break while they negotiate.”

The second General smiled. “Some of the soldiers are being allowed to go home, and you've been summoned to the palace.”

“I see,” the Warlord acknowledged, suppressing his joy at seeing his wife once more. His oldest daughter – at 19 – was already beyond the ideal age of marriage, so she was likely at court waiting for the King to arrange a match for her. If she was at court, then her mother was sure to be there too.

Adira groaned. “Go home?! How pointless! We're nearly at the enemy capitol! By this time next year, the war will be won; then we can go home!”

“Adira... we cannot disobey our King,” her father reminded her.

“Yes father,” she agreed with a frustrated sigh. She pushed away her empty plate, having already eaten her fill. “I'm going to go train the new recruits until they drop from exhaustion. Before we leave, I wish to make it absolutely clear that they will not slack off in our absence.”

The Warlord could not contain an amused smirk. “Have fun, Adira.” He waited until she was gone before talking to the visiting Generals. “She may be short, but she is strong and skilled enough to equal 10 soldiers. No man could ask for a finer son!”

“But... she's a girl...” the younger General pointed out, as if this fact had somehow escaped the Warlord's attention. Women were generally not allowed to be soldiers.

“So?” The Warlord asked with a challenging glare. Both Generals decided that it was in their best interest to drop the matter, and shook their heads.

*******

Adira felt inexplicably agitated and nervous. She rode at her father's side in silence, but kept looking around. Something just didn't feel right. None of their men – not even her father – sensed danger, so Adira forced herself to relax.

The next thing she knew, they were surrounded by 100 men led by a man even taller than her father. He must be at least 7 and a half feet tall! Adira calculated their odds. At 10 enemies for each of them, the fight would be hard, but she was certain they would win.

“Surrender!” The enemy leader commanded.

“Never!” Her father shouted stubbornly, and Adira responded by rapidly shooting as many men with her bow and arrows as she could. These men were relying on numbers and their swords to win this battle, but Adira knew that – for her at least – a halberd would give her a much longer reach, and make it impossible for anyone to get inside her defenses.

But first, she planned to take out as many enemies with her bow as possible. Their men followed suit, which made the enemies have to work twice as carefully. Adira didn't realize it at first, but the enemy commander had a plan. He silently challenged her father to a one-on-one fight while his soldiers slowly whittled away at their men.

His plan won't work! Father will make short work of him while I help the men take care of the rest!

Just as she and her three surviving men managed to kill the last of their ambushers, a new crowd of 100 enemy soldiers appeared. They were fresh while she was running low on energy. She looked to her father, who was still battling the enemy commander. Both men seemed evenly matched, and their fight was growing ever more vicious as each was determined to win.

One look at her men was enough to see that they were growing weary, so Adira knew that it was up to her to kill as many enemies as it took until her father won his fight and the rest of the ambushers fled. She held her halberd at the ready, and shouted a war cry as she rushed towards the new attackers.

Suddenly, she felt a stinging in the side of her neck. The world grew blurry, but despite her sudden lethargy, she clearly saw her father shake his head in confusion, and then fall to the ground. The gigantic enemy commander wasted no time in separating her father's head from his shoulders.

“No!” She cried out as too many soldiers to count surrounded her. They knocked her weapon from her hands, and beat her to death. They felt that a quick death was too good for someone who had killed so many of their brethren. Thankfully, she passed out long before they finished brutalizing her.

“Enough!” The enemy commander called out eventually. “The Warlord and his son are dead! It's time to go; leave them to rot!”

His men nodded in reluctant acceptance, but obeyed.

*******

For nearly two days, Adira fought to stay alive. Her body hurt, and whatever they had managed to inject her with caused her to remain in a delirious sleep. She alternated between freezing and feeling like she was roasting over a huge bonfire. Her clothes were unbearable, so she tore them off, tearing most of her short nails in the process.

Her many wounds filled with dirt as she squirmed around seeking relief from the pain, the heat, the cold, and then – just when a fever raged throughout her body – a rain came that chilled her to her very core. Even in her restless unconscious state, she longed for death to finally bring her relief.

“What happened over there?” A young man asked as he pointed out what looked like a massacre a hundred or so feet in front of them. His five brothers fell silent as they each suddenly wondered the same thing.

The oldest finally made a decision. “We should take a look and help out if there are any survivors.” His brothers nodded in solemn agreement.

Together, the brothers checked for signs of life, but found only one.

“She's alive, but just barely.”

One of the brothers volunteered to clean her up, but it was hard to remove the thick layer of mud without any water. As he worked, the others dug the best grave the could under the circumstances, and then carefully laid the dead bodies to rest. They only took anything that might identify the men so that when the girl woke up – if she lived – she could inform their families about what had happened.

Once the girl was wrapped in a blanket to cover her dirt-laden nudity, the brothers resumed their journey home. The one who had cleaned her sat in the wagon holding her in hopes that he could warm her up.

“She's still as cold as death!” A different brother remarked, placing a hand on her forehead.

It was normally only an hour to their farm from here, but the brothers decided to go as fast as possible. Even a minute could be the difference between life and death for her.

The moment they arrived at their house, the oldest brother asked the two youngest to help him fill the tub with mildly hot water. Another brother busied himself gathering herbs and ointments to treat her wounds. The one holding her – keeping her warm – continued to do so until the bath was ready. Which left the last brother with nothing to do, so he did what did best; cook. He figured a nourishing broth would be the best thing for her, and set about boiling up a powerful concoction.

Finally, the bath was ready, and all the brothers carefully helped wash away the dried blood. They prayed that most of it wasn't hers, but judging by the cuts, bruises, and wounds, the blood almost certainly belonged to her.

“Who could do such a thing to such a young girl?” They couldn't tell her exact age, but based on her height, they guess that she was probably 10 or 12.

“Why would anyone do this to her?”

The brothers shook their heads in concern, but no answers provided themselves.

It seemed like the very moment she was clean, she started thrashing about in the tub. “Hot,” she murmured.

They took this as their cue to get her out of the now filthy water. She struggled, fighting them in her sleep.

“Look,” the oldest brother pointed out to the one that was handy with herbs and medicines. “She's bleeding between her legs. They must have raped her.”

“No wonder she's fighting us,” he replied sadly. “If you all can just hold her down for a few moments, I'll slather her with ointment and bandage her up the best I can.”

It took them some time, but finally, they had her slathered and bandaged up so that she resembled a mummified corpse. She'd stopped fighting them well before they'd finished.

“She's practically freezing again!” The healer exclaimed, and then sighed. “We'll take turns keeping her warm. That way we can all get our chores done and still make sure she's cared for.”

The one that had kept her warm the entire ride home shook his head. “I have to go milk the cows. I can't take another turn just yet.”

The brother who was good at cooking shrugged. “The broth is simmering now, so I've got some time before I need to check on it.”

“Good, I'll make some more ointment and then take a turn,” the healer stated. Everyone nodded in agreement, and then helped tuck her into their father's bed before they went off to do their chores.

The oldest stayed with the healer and the cook for a moment longer than the others. “I'll clean out and reorganize the loft to make room for her. Father might be disappointed in us...”

“For saving her life?!” The healer asked incredulously.

The oldest shrugged. “He has a strict rule against adopting girls.”

The cook chuckled. “We haven't adopted her. The moment she's healed enough to go home, we'll return her to her folks.”

With a nod, the oldest left.

I know some readers hate when new characters aren't introduced immediately, but the reason for this lack of introduction is that they are about to introduce themselves to Adira, and had I already done so, I believe that it would have just been repetitive and confusing. When rereading and editing this, I tried to figure out how to add their names conversationally, but it seemed even more awkward when I did, so just take comfort in the fact that they will all have names in the next chapter, lol!

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