The beauty of life and death can be measured with time.

But time can be an ambiguous concept to many, both beautiful and terrifying, all depending on the person’s perspective. Many children have the common wish to become older than soon as possible, while adults wish to revert in time and return to their days of youth, where they had no responsibilities weighing on their shoulders.

But for the princess Annelise, it was the former. They had denied her multiple activities for her young age, which she was very interested in. One of them being the elegance of swordsmanship, a recently piqued interest after she watched her saviour knight fight in an exhibition time, but at least they promised her that in a couple of years she could start with the basic stances. 

In the meantime, they gave her a short wood sword to practice and play, a quite strange gift for a princess whose equals would prefer pretty dresses or jewelry. Princess Annelise since that day went to the gardens to swing her practice weapon repeatedly until sweat formed under her brow as her arms became heavy. Her caretakers were always close to provide her with water and warm clothes whenever they saw she needed their help.  

She swung her wood sword downwards with both hands like a lumberjack would cut logs, but she was only cutting the air repeatedly.

She raised her weapon to strike again but met resistance, stopping her arms from moving an inch, followed by her weapon taken away from her hands.

Annelise immediately turned to face the responsible one for taking away her joy and recovering her practice weapon.

“Your Highness, that is not how you wield a sword and you shouldn’t wield one as a member of royalty.”

First there was a lot of joy when she saw her saviour again, but that was replaced, as she finally understood who was the one who stopped her from practicing. 

“Give it back!” She jumped with hands extended, hoping to reach the wooden sword. “I want to be strong! I want my name to be known across the world!”

The knight didn’t relent from his stance and his eyes shifted their attention to the approaching caretakers. “There are many other ways to let your name spread, but this path doesn’t suit her Highness’ kind nature.”

“I’ve already chosen my path. I want to wield the sword just like you!” She pointed at Alynore with a smirk.

“Me?” The young knight was initially surprised but composed himself quickly enough to keep his stern face.

The caretakers were close enough for him to hear their giggling and murmuring.

“My esteemed sister can rule this kingdom, but I shall protect it!”

He kneeled, trying to be on the same height as her. “Your highness, the path of the sword is not only filled with obstacles and challenges, is a path that only those with sufficient willpower can reach the end. You should focus on your studies on the magical arts and domestic affairs.”

“I shall not!”

Annelise shouted before snatching her wooden sword from his hands in a swift motion and ran away deeper in the gardens, leaving her knight rather surprised by the sudden outburst. Her caretakers didn’t lag behind and were already trying to catch the little princess before she tripped.

For his case, he calmly walked in the direction where the princess ran, soon reaching the pavement and following the directions. 

The caretakers were standing, looking in his direction.

He passed them and his view was greeted by the young princess, who was standing above a bench made of marble so she could see past the deck railings made of the same exquisite material, with the best view of the entire city below the castle walls.

She immediately felt the flow of nature caress her skin and play with her long hair the moment she leaned on the deck railing, enjoying for a brief moment before raising her wooden sword pointing at the sky.

“This sword shall protect the innocent and slay those who mean harm!”