CHAPTER 2

The following day brought challenges like none Flanna had ever imagined. The King wanted her to prove her combat skills against everyone available man in the army, as well as his two Knights, Lochlainn and Aidan. She was a little worried about fighting the two Knights, but the army she was positive that she could take care of. Actually, she knew that she could beat Lochlainn and Aidan, but something made her feel that she shouldn’t gloat about it, as much as she wanted to.
Flanna smiled to herself. The thought of gloating about beating the two men that thought a female warrior was a little odd was almost to much for her. Odd, was that the word she was searching for. Hmm..No..not odd. Maybe more like impossible. That was it. The two men that thought a female warrior was impossible. Well, she would show them. She would prove herself not only to the King, who at least had some faith in her, but also to Lochlainn and Aidan.
They stood in the courtyard of the walled Kingdom. The sun was shining and slight warm breeze blew, just ruffling her hair a little. She was reminded of her days at the academy. She used to laugh and play around. In that place, everything was good.
“Flanna, come here.” The King brought her out of her thoughts.
She approached him. “Yes, Your Majesty.” She bowed, deciding that a warrior, female or not, wouldn’t curtsey.
He explained to her that she would begin by fighting the lower ranks of the army all the way up to the captain of the guard, from there she go on to fight Lochlainn and Aidan.
When the King said that she would fight the two Knights, she became curious. “Both of them together or separately, Your Majesty.”
The King smiled, thinking he might have found a weakness in the bold warrior. “Which would you prefer, young lady?”
She thought momentarily, then said, “At the same time would be fine with me.”
She could see that the King was rather impressed by this. Flanna knew that she could take on both of them at the same time and probably beat them, at least one of them. She just hoped she could hold out till then. She hadn’t been tested in her stamina for a long time, at least 2 years. She mentally kicked herself. I should have thought of this. I should have known that I would be tested on more than just my combat skills.
The King stood and announced the beginning of the combat.Flanna and the other combatants bowed to the King and began the combat.

Many hours passed. Flanna grew weary from fighting but forced herself to continue, knowing that she had to defeat Lochlainn and Aidan. She tried to focus on her opponent, but her mind kept straying. She kept thinking back to her time at the academy. Suddenly a figure of her father came into her mind. She could see him scolding her as a child for her desires to adventure. She never understood why he didn’t want to her adventure, in fact, he didn’t particularly like it when she left the village, even to play in the forest with her friends. She had never gone far, but she had always been scolded. She had a hatred for the man who was her father when it came to that. If only you could see me now, father. Maybe you would understand. Maybe, but she doubted it. He had always favoured her brother. Mostly, she felt, because he was the only son and the oldest child. She always wanted to prove to him that she could do anything that her brother could do. Anything. Now was her chance.
The soldier in front of her jumped back, out of the reach of her sword, stunned by her sudden effort. She began to plow through the soldiers, taking them down one by one, sometimes even two at a time. Before she realized it, she had methodically defeated the King’s entire army. None of them were seriously hurt, but they had been beaten.
Flanna turned and looked at the two Knights, seeing two very astonished expressions. She smiled, knowing that they were not prepared for this fight. None of the soldiers had been prepared to fight a woman. She could tell that some of them held back in their attacks, not wanting to hurt her.
“Are you ready?” She asked Lochlainn and Aidan, still smiling.
They grinned as they drew their weapons.

Lochlainn was the first to charge at her. He came running at her, sword out in front of him. She spun on her right foot, bringing her sword clashing into his. Lochlainn fell to the side in a heap, more stunned than anything. He hadn’t expected her to be that strong.
Upon seeing this, Aidan leapt at her, sword ready. She blocked his incoming attack and dealt a blow of her own. Her blow hit with such force that Aidan stumbled backwards, momentarily losing his footing, but not falling to the ground.
By this time, Lochlainn had gotten back up and swung his sword at her, aiming for her torso. She saw his move out of the corner of her eye. She spun to face him, bringing her weapon to meet his. The sudden meeting of their weapons and the force of her attack, pushed Lochlainn’s sword down further than he would have liked.
She smiled at him and said, “Please forgive me.”
Before he got a chance to ask her what she meant, she kicked him in the stomach and wrenched his sword from his hand as he fell.
Turning toward Aidan, she laughed and spun both swords. Aidan glanced at Lochlainn who was kneeling on the ground, clutching his stomach. The dark-haired knight didn’t particularly like odds anymore. He knew that Lochlainn would get back up, but now he faced a woman with two swords. A woman who obviously knew how to use them.
This time Flanna charged at Aidan both of her swords out. Aidan defended against one, knocking it to the side. Using his other hand, he batted away the other sword by hitting her full force in the wrist. The move was so sudden, she let go of the sword.
Aidan grinned at her as he lifted his foot up and planted it firmly in the center of her chest. She flew backwards into several bales of straw.
She shook her head, sending straw flying in ever direction. As she climbed out of the straw, she noticed Lochlainn getting to his feet. She also noticed that she no longer was in possession of her sword. She took a quite glance around and saw it lying a few feet away. I don’t need it anyway, she thought.
Lochlainn and Aidan stood side by side, swords at the ready. Aidan appeared to be the closer one to her. She thought for a split second, then made her move.
With a thunderous, “AAAAIIIIIIEEEEEE!!”, Flanna ran toward Lochlainn.
The fair-headed knight raised his sword, prepared to defend himself from what he realized was an unarmed woman. At the last second he decided, instead of using his sword, he would just jump to the side. Flanna was already on her way across the courtyard toward him.
A few feet in front of him, she did something that left not only the entire crowd of spectators in awe, but also the two knights. She suddenly came to a stop, bent her knees slightly and jumped. All the two knights could do was watch as she jumped high in the air overtop of them and somersaulted a couple of times, until she landed on the ground behind them.
Completely astonished, the two knights slowly turned around to face her. Flanna stood, hands on hips, smiling at them. Lochlainn and Aidan looked at each other. That foolish move on their part gave her enough time to put an end to this combat.
She whistled loudly.
The knights turned their heads sharply to look at her. But it wasn’t her they saw. All they saw were two fists coming directly towards their faces.
Lochlainn and Aidan hit the ground with a thud. Their swords flying out of their hands. The crowd laughed and cheered.
Flanna bent to pick up the fallen knights weapons, smiling all the time. As she turned to see how badly she had hurt them, she realized that all that was wounded were their egos.

“Flanna.”
The King’s voice startled her. She turned to face the man who would shortly be the man she pledged her life to, in defense of his Kingdom.
She bowed before the King. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“You have proven your worth tenfold to this Kingdom and her people. You are a warrior. A warrior that is welcome in my Kingdom.” The King smiled at her.
She turned to face Lochlainn and Aidan, who were nursing bruised egos as well as noses. “I am sorry, both of you, if I have embarrassed you. It was not meant to be embarrassing. I was only intending to show my skill.”
The fair-haired knight smiled at her, then winced. “I am only slightly embarrassed.” He approached her, his fellow knight, grunting at his side. “You are skilled warrior. I look forward to protecting this Kingdom with you.”
Aidan nodded and said, “Yeah, me, too” Flanna could see that she had bruised his ego much more than that of Lochlainn.
She turned to face the King once more.
The King cleared his throat. He pulled from the scabbard at his side, a beautifully crafted broadsword. It was the finest weapon she had ever seen. Her meager longsword paled in comparison.
“Flanna, warrior of Kayalar, kneel before me.”
Flanna knelt before the King of Dailin.
He raised the sword before him. “You have shown this Kingdom that you are willing to risk your life for its safety and the safety of its people. For that we are most grateful. You are a true warrior, Flanna of Kayalar.” Slowly he lowered his sword, resting the flat of the blade on the top of her head.
“Do you pledge your life to this Kingdom?” The King asked.
“Yes, I do.”
“Do you pledge your life to the people of this Kingdom?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Do you pledge your life to the King of Dailin?”
“Yes, I do.”
“With this blade, I knight you.” The King then lifted the blade and sheathed it in its scabbard. “Rise and face the Kingdom you have sworn to protect.”
Flanna stood, looked at the King, then turned.
“My people, the people of the Kingdom of Dailin, I give you to you a Knight, brave and courageous, a warrior for the Kingdom. I present, Lady Flanna of Dailin, warrior of Kayalar.”
Flanna bowed and the people cheered.
She couldn’t believe it. Here she stood, in front of hundreds of cheering people, commoners and soldiers alike. She smiled as she saw Lochlainn and Aidan cheering with them. She had found a place that would accept her.