A Destined Warrior

8/9/2019 A Destined Warrior

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6 years before

Rim, son of Damson, brother to Damon,pillium, Ralf and Runa knelt in front ofthe altar besides his brothers.Prince Rim, son of King Damson, therewere echoes of All hale king Damson,then the priest continued. I now bestowyou, a warrior among our people. Repeatafter me, my prince, I, Prince ofVoltam, Rim repeated. Will uphold myallegiances to the king, pause. Andthe kingdom,My people, I now pronounce myyoungest son, Prince Rim, warrior of

Voltam! cheers exploded around himand as one, the four princes rose.My sons, the king came forward withhis daughter and embraced Rim. All ofhis family showed great pride on theirface as they gave comforting words of

congratulations and pats on the back toRim.Im so proud of you, Rims father saidand squeezed the back of Rims neck inassurance.Now I have to prove myself, Runa said.Rim ruffled his younger sisters hair and

kissed her head.


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You dont have to prove anything. Rimsaid and Runa just shook her head.Now we can assure ourselves protection

against the other lands. This secures ofvictory! Rims eldest brother announced,followed by a loud cheer from the kingsarmy.

* * *

You will never be a fighter, Aster! herfather said and slapped her across theface, sending her to the ground.Fighting is not for women. Let yourbrothers be in the battles. It is there jobto defend the kingdom, not yours.

But father a warning glare fromAsters oldest brother, Brim shut her up.Enough, Aster. Her father King Thorcommanded, waving a hand to dismissher. Go to your mother in the kitchenand help the maids prepare dinner.Warriors are always hungry.She narrowed my eyes and as she wasabout to let her mouth get the better ofher, Brim interrupted.Go, Aster. He demanded and shecomplied. She always listened to hereldest brother.

She stumbled into a standing position,


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and then limped her way to her chamberwhere she discarded all her battleclothes and headed down to the kitchen.

She could hear her father muttering toher brothers. Such a stupid girl, its ashame I produced her in your mothersbelly.Father, you shouldnt be so harsh onher .she just wants to know how to

defend herself. Brim said.She shouldnt want to. She should berelying on you to do that for her.I dont think its such a bad idea, herother brother, Kyron said.Dont be so daft my son. Women arestupid. When you get your own, youwould do well to teach the right ways.Aster left after that. She couldnt bebothered to hear her father banter onabout what women should do. Shedheard it all before. Her mother had beenwhipped for defending Aster against her

father, and now she had a reminder onthe side of her face.Aster! her mother exclaimed as sheentered the underground kitchen. Whathappened?Nothing mother,

You havent been fighting in the court


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yard, have you? When Aster didntanswer, her mother gasped. Are youidiotic, my child? she was almost

yelling. You couldve been hurt.But I wasnt. The warriors that we havearent very strong. I bet four of them.Aster said proudly.I do not care, Aster. It is against yourfathers law for a woman to fight. Do not

be so careless, child. Her mothersmoother her hair out and straightenedout her apron. Now get cleaned up. Wewill dine at dusk.Aster went to her chamber, sulkily, andstarted to bathe herself. She wassupposed to have her own maids do itfor her, but she didnt trust them, andshe liked to keep to herself.She hated her kingdom and its ways.She wanted to know about the otherkingdoms, the ones her kingdom was atwar with. Her father always told stories

about how bad and awful they were, butAster always thought that no kingdomcould be worse than this place she wasforced to call home.

Present


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It is the only way. Thor, King of Anthorsaid to his daughter and his people. Tohelp our Kingdoms survival, this is whatwe must do. We need to ally ourselveswith the other kingdoms to ensure oursafety. Giving up my most preciousdaughter is the only way.Yeah, right, Aster thought sourly, his

most precious daughter.Please, my lord, Asters motherbegged. Please dont do this, histurned around sharply and bought hishand down upon her face. She gaspedand her head whipped to the side.

Hush, woman, this is not yourbusiness. He snarled. This is whatmust happen.Forty minutes later, Aster was wrappedin some old blankets in a carriage byherself with twenty soldiers around. Sheknew she didnt need them. She couldbeat any of them in a fair fight. Ofcourse, under the blankets, she kept hermost prised dagger strapped to her leg,just where the material stopped at herleg. And the chopsticks in her hair wereanother one of her weapons. They

carried the venom of one of her favourite


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serpents, one jab and they becameparalysed for 4 hours, another and thevictim dies. It was quite a weapon and

she loved using them in her hair.Of course, it was one of her brothers thatgave her the hair pins, and the dagger.Her two eldest brothers taught her howto fight after her father gave the orderthat all women were to stay in the home

and behave themselves. She trainedwith both of them when they ad sparetime, showing her all the right ways todo thing s and how to defend herself.But then, when her eldest brother Brimtold her that that was all that they weregoing to teach her, she became irritated.He was a loving brother, but he didntunderstand her.She decided to try and teach herself,watching the warriors fight and trying tocopy them. Recently she had gottencaught, and her father had whipped her.

She still had the fleshy marks on herback, but it didnt hurt that much. Sheher father had forgotten about thembecause he would never had sent heraway to Klamath to serve the king. Heknew the king would probably discard

her if she was used or otherwise


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damaged. Aster was hoping the newking she was going to wouldnt punishher too badly for the marks on her back,

but she didnt know. She had never beentaught about the other kingdoms, so shedidnt know what to expect. Her brothersnever said anything about them either,so she was uneasy about going away.She always wanted to run away from her

kingdom, but actually being out of it wasunsettling.The carriage she was in went over abump and she popped her head out ofthe flap, letting the light snow hit herface.Do you mind? she said firmly, and theguards on the horses barely gave her agrunt. Youre making me feel ill.Hush up, woman, the guard to her leftsaid.Be careful how you speak to me, Astersaid with narrowed eyes.

Or what, princess of Anthor? the guardsaid, making the others chuckle.Ill teach you how to treat a royal, shewarned and the guard looked straightahead.We could leave you hear if we felt like

it, princess. He said. Be careful on how


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you treat Me.grumbling, she went back into the tentand lay back against the cushions that

the servants provided her with. It wasgoing to be a long ten days.


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Chapter 2

The winds had picked up over the lastcouple of days Aster had been in the

carriage. The guards were moving a lotslower as well. In the middle of winterwas the worst possible choice the kingcould have chosen for his daughter toride out on.So far this day, the guards had stopped

five times to rest, and that made it evenslower. They didnt care what happened,and they wouldnt listen to her. Frankly,she didnt care if they all died, but sheneeded to get under shelter soon if shewanted to survive the weather, and theblankets her kingdom had provided herwith didnt give her much warmth.You are not dead in there, are youmistress? The main guard asked withsnide humour.Go to hell, Aster snarled, her replysilence.

Suddenly everything went silent. All she


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could hear was the ferocious wind hittingthe carriage. An unsettling feelingsettled in her stomach and she knew

what was about to happen. She hadlearnt to use her senses, other than hereye sight.Unwrapping herself from the blankets,she unsheathed her dagger, she waited.The wind hit her, but she was still

wearing a cloak with a hood that keptthe wind away.She knew before the Warrior criesechoed around them that they weregetting ambushed. She heard multipleoh no, and were not getting out ofhere alive, she didnt feel sorry forthem; if they knew how to fight, theywouldnt feel so scared. They were soweak.She peaked outside, and even though itwas dark, she could see the massiveshadows that were ambushing them.

They were huge! She even felt a littleintimidated.Waiting until the men were off thehorses that were carrying the carriage,and waiting so that the ambusherswerent watching, Aster cut the ropes

connecting one of the horses to the


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carriage. She put the dagger in hermouth and jumped on the horse, makingit jump and make loud noises. Aster

thought she could have made it moresilent, but she was in a hurry. She justhoped no one would catch her. Reining itbackwards, she manoeuvred the horseand started cantering away.Loud shouts echoed behind her, and she

cursed, and then tried to make the horsego faster. She could hear gaining horses,and swords being unsheathed from nottoo far behind her.It was all too fast for her to think, butsomething hit her hard, and then shewas knocked off the horse, hitting theground on her back, knocking the breathout of her for a second before the sharppain started throbbing at her back.Rolling over, she grabbed the daggerfrom her mouth and did a quicksurveillance. A man was dismounting his

horse, staring directly at Aster. Well shethought it was a man. She had neverseen a woman that tall and big.Grabbing her dagger firmly, Asterbacked up as the warrior came forward,putting his sword up, ready for a fight.


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When he was close enough, Aster tookher chance and striked, leaping on himand taking him to the ground.

He grunted in surprise, but manoeuvredthe movement, rolling over and pinningher on the ground. She didnt think hecould see her face, because the hoodwas still on her head. Using her knees,Aster brought them forward, knocking in

the villains bottom which caused him tofall forward and roll over her. She tookthe advantage and kicked in his malepart just as he went over the top of her.Aster heard a shout of surprise and thena grunt as he hit the ground.She got up and made her way as quickly

as she could to her horse. She justwanted to get away from these men.Maybe she could make her ownkingdom, or try and join another.She got tackled from behind, and as shehit the ground, the dagger that she held

fell out of her hand some seven feetaway from her.Come here, the warrior grunted, andpulled the hood off her face. Whatthe? Aster head butted him before hehad enough time to finish the sentence.

Dragging one of her poisonous pins out


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from her hair, she attacked him.Somehow he was ready, and she onlyskimmed his shirt. She couldnt see him

properly, because of the heavy snow,but she knew she had drawn bloodbecause he gasped and she could smellit.He came towards her, and she couldmake out some of his features. When he

was in range, she stepped back andreadied her stance.Suddenly, all the muscles in his bodychanged, his stance going out of attack.He stepped forward with a handstretched reaching for her.No, Ralf! he shouted. Aster was sofocussed on the towering warrior thatshe didnt check her surroundings likeher brother taught her. As she wasturning her head, she saw the tilt of asword before it was brought down on herhead, taking most of the hit in between

her neck and shoulder.Clutching her shoulder she fell to theground immediately, her body goinglimp.The last thing she heard was thetowering, intimidating warrior yelling,


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and then a gentle hand on her shoulder,turning her over.

Rim put his hand on the womansshoulder and turned her over, but shewas out cold, her hand still on hershoulder.Are you crazy? Rim yelled at hisbrother.

Shes Ralf couldnt finish thesentence.What is the problem, brothers? Damonsaid, putting his sword away and lookingover Ralfs shoulder.Who hurt the little lady?Ralf, Rim said accusingly.Ralf. Damon said in tone thateveryone knew he disapproved.Brother, dont give me that tone .I wasjust helping Rim out. That, he pointedto the unconscious woman. Is nowoman. She was beating Rim. With her

hair tied back I thought Rim neededsome help,Damon looked back to Rim. And you?Fighting a woman?Brother. I didnt know until I pulled herhood off, and then she was attacking

me. By the time I saw Ralf behind her it


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was too late.Damon knelt down and examined her.She sure looks all woman, he grinned

in the darkness.My lords? one of their guards shoutedinto the darkness.Over here! Ralf shouted back and in amatter of seconds torches flared aroundthem.

Everything is stabilized.Are any of our soldiers harmed orotherwise? Ralf asked.Nay, none were harmed. Most of theintruders are dead though. A fewremained for questioning.Good work. Where is our brother?Hes ransacking the carriage, my lord.Alright, well go see him. Rim, tie her upand take her with us. Shes your problemnow. We can not leave here to freeze todeath. And I do not want a womansdeath on my conscious, Damon said.

Well meet you there,It shouldnt be too hard to find, therellbe flames around it. Your horse is overthere, Rim. Ralf patted his brothersback and walked away to his horse whileDamon went back to his.


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Rim put his fingers to his mouth, andwhistled softly, and a couple of secondslater, his black war horse galloped

towards him.Good girl, Rim stroked his horsesmane a couple of times before reachinginto his bag and taking out two lengthsof rope.Rim felt bad for tying up a woman. He

didnt know why, but somehow he did.She did try to kill him, though, whichmade him feel embarrassed. Heshouldnt be trying to beat a girl, andfailing. It just wasnt right. Sure, womenat his kingdom fought, but none were asequally matched as this mystery woman.Once Rim had secured the restraints onthe womans hands and feet, he put therest of the rope back in the bag. Andthen looking around where they fought,he collected up her dagger, and the bighair pin that she took out of her hair to

defend herself with and put in the bag aswell. And just for extra precaution, hetook the other one out of her hair, lettingit flow over her shoulders.Even if couldnt see her properly, shestill looked beautiful.


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He gathered her up in his arms and thenproceeded to get on his horse. Rimshorse didnt like the extra weight, and

snorted in protest, but didnt buck like itused to when it was younger.When Rim and his brother got a tip offabout intruders invading their lands,they couldnt resist. Even though it tookthem three or four days to there, they

were pumped. They always had acompetition to see how many kills theycould get each. Rim had won twice, butwas coming second next to his elderbrother Damon, who normally wonregardless.It didnt really matter who it was, if theyfought back, it was their fault whatbecame of them.As soon as they ambushed them, Rimwas the one who saw the woman ridingaway with the horse. It was his chance.They also had points; the most important

find got you more points, the averageguards were 1 point, the main/personalguards were 3.Rim thought he had hit a good one, butinstead he had tackled a woman. Awoman. He felt so ashamed. Even

though she had tried to kill him.


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Rim followed the torches to theabandoned carriage and stopped wherethe other soldiers were holding his

brothers horses.Rhage! Rim commanded and a guardcame by him. Rim trusted Rhage with hislife. He was like a fifth brother. Rim knewRhage would never fail him.Yes, my lord? he said.

Could you do me a favour?There was humour in his voice. Ofcourse I can, Rim.Rim actually smiled. Could you lookafter her while I go in with my brothers?Another guard can hold m horse, but Idlike you to look after her for a minute,Of course, Rim. Rim passed thewoman down to Rhage, who cradled herto his chest.I shall only be a minute, Rim said inhaste as he entered the carriage.Glad you could join us, brother. Pillium

said with a knowing smile. I hope youdidnt have much trouble tying thewoman up.What do we have? Rim askedimpatiently, making his other brotherschuckle at him.

Not much; there isnt much food, only a


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few rations of bread, the cloth that keptthe woman warm was thin, and I doubt itdid her any good. Rim felt sick to his

stomach at the scene. By the looks of it,she looked to be just a slave, but no onein their right mind would send a slaveaway with twenty men.I found this amulet that seemed to havefallen off her, Pillium handed the

necklace to Damon, who studied it for alittle while, and then with an amusedsmile threw it to Brim.She is an Anthor woman, Damon saidto his brothers. And a pretty importantone by the looks of how big those gemsare.Rim studied the necklace for a littlewhile before putting it in his pocket.Because the woman was hisresponsibility, everything that had to dowith her went straight to him.Lets start heading home, weve got a

long way to go, Pillium said.Aye lets. When we stop for a rest,brother, I need you to look at my back.Im afraid Anna gave me some prettydeep scratches, Ralf said.Damon and Rim looked at each other

and grinned, while Pillium gave a dear


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lord,Of course, Ralf. Just please tell Anna tonot be so rough, Pillium said

uncomfortably.But thats how I like her, brother, Ralfsaid with a mischievous grin.Once all the brothers had mounted theirhorses again, Damon gave out theinstructions. Before he had gone into the

carriage, he had sent a quarter of hismen to go on ahead with the prisonersand try and return as quickly to thekingdom as possible. All of the kingswarriors were trustworthy, and theydidnt need supervision, so the fourprinces gave them duties that they couldprove their loyalty.Squadron 2, I want you to abandon thecarriage-somewhere not on our land.Make sure you leave no trail, and thencome home as soon as possible. Therewere loud Yes, sir,

Alright, lets go men. Damon said.Im freezing my loins off, here, Ralfexclaimed and all the warriors laughed.Rim brought the hood that belonged tothe woman over her head, and leanedher into him, trying to give her warmth.


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Here, Rim. I brought an extra. Pilliumsaid and handed Rim a white woollencloak. They were weather proof and

quite warm as well, and it also helpedwith the camouflage.Her guards can freeze. Rim mirroredhis brothers grin, while he guided hishorse next to Rims. He held onto thewomans back and supported her while

Rim brought the cloak over her head.The cloak also covered most of her legs,which was good so that she didnt get arash from the horse. Rim got a rash onhis legs when he was little, and they gotso bad that the physician had tobandage his legs, and made him bed-prone for a week. It was awful times, andRim cringed at the memory.A soft mumble caused Rim to look downat his woman and feel her head to makesure she wasnt frozen.He froze. His woman.

Well, he meant the unknown woman thathe was responsible for. Yeah, that was it.But even in the dim light of the flamessurroundings him, he knew she wasbeautiful. And soft. And warm. Well aswarm you could be in a snow storm.


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The trip was slow, but the pace wassteady. Rim felt the need for someprivacy, and decided to stay at the end

of the group to look from the rear forambushers, and other dangers that werepresent.

A blinding headache hit Aster when shecame to. She tried to reach up to rub her

temples, but she couldnt move herarms.She froze.She was moving. And on horseback.Panicking fear hit her as she realizedboth her hands and feet were tiedtogether, as well as a gag around hermouth.Then everything came back. They wereambushed, and someone had hit herover the head. Hard.At least she knew why her head hurt sobadly.

But she still didnt know why she wasbeing moved around. Or why they hadtaken her.She couldnt see anything, because herhead was turned into something warmand hard, and after a while she realized


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it was a males chest, and a woollenhood was over her head.She lay as still as she could, and tried to

even out her breathing so the warriorthought she was still sleeping.She had fallen asleep again, and wasonly woken when she felt her hair getbunched up and dragged backwards,sending her head back and her

headache increased.Hows ye little warrior lass, then? amale voice came from beside her, andshe tried her hardest not to groan.Suddenly her head hit her warriorschest again, and then a gentle handpressed her head into him; she found it alittle comforting.Shes still a woman, Ralf. The warriorsnarled and she squeezed her eyes shut.She hasnt woken as of yet. You hit herhard, brother,Its your fault. If you werent losing, I

wouldnt have had to intervene. Tiscertain she inst dead yet?There was a silence, and then Asterflinched when she felt warm finger go toher neck.Aye, she lives.


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Thank the lord. Never killed a womanbefore, the warrior Ralf said. Damonscalling me, Ill come back later, aye?

Aye, brother.His fingers stayed at Asters neck for along time, and then he moved andtouched Asters mouth. Just out of reflex,she moved her bound hands down towhat she felt were his loins, and grabbed

hold. She knew she had hit the target,because she felt him stiffen, and thehorse loose track of the path.

Rim felt his loins being grabbed and hestiffened, making his horse loose track ofthe path. He removed her bound handsfrom his part, and then he lowered hismouth to her ear.Do that again, and Ill make you walk.Rim didnt have to be that harsh on thepoor lass, but he couldnt help himself. Itjust came out. He knew he had scared

her by the way she stiffened. Hesoftened his voice. I suggest you getsome rest, woman. Weve got a long waybefore we decide to setup for camp.He didnt wait for a response because hehad gagged her when Damon told him

to. It still didnt feel right, but he had to


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abide by his older brothers wishes. Itwas disrespectful.He heard a puff and knew he had

succeeded when she burrowed closerinto him, which made himself feel prettygood. He wrapped one of his free armsaround her and brought her as close aspossible into him so he could share someof his warmth, that she reluctantly

acceptable.It took a while, but slowly the womanrelaxed against him, and passed out.How is your woman? Rims oldestbrother Damon asked, riding up next tohim. Rim put a possessive hand on herhead and placed it in the ridge of hisneck.She is exhausted, brother. If Ralf hadntof dragged her by the hair before, shewouldnt have woken up,Aye, tis awake?Nay, brother. She has passed herself

out, Rim said and Damon nodded.camp is only an hour ahead of here,Ralf, Pillum and a quarter of the men aregoing on ahead to set up.Rim nodded. What do we plan to dowith her once we get back to the

palace?


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Damon grinned. Whatever you think.Find out who she is and what she wasdoing and then well go on from there,

Rim bowed his head and nodded. Heknew this was going to take a while, buthe thought he could just send her on herway once they got back. Or something.He didnt want the responsibility.Everyone who knew him knew he hated

responsibility.You need some responsibility forchange, little brother, Damon saidquietly, as thinking of his wordscarefully.I didnt want this sort of responsibility,Rim protested at the same tone so hewouldnt wake the lass clinging to him.Well, twill be good for you. Father hasbeen trying to teach you someresponsibility and since he has failed so,that lesson lies with me. Your brothersand I will help you, but not give you any

simple answers. Damon said and Rimheaved a big sigh.Great, he thought, thats all he needed,a lesson that was a woman.Youll make us proud, Rim, I know youwill. Damon patted his brothers


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shoulder in assurance, and the rode offto the front line.

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A Destined Warrior

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