A Dance of Swords

The air is hot and humid, just like it is every day in the Palace kitchen. The heat from the big stone oven on one of the corners of the kitchen only increases the temperature of a room crowded with people moving and chopping. The almost rhythmic thumps of vegetables being cut in wooden boards can be heard, accompanied by the singing voices of the people cutting them. Nina would be almost happy there, with her mother and sister and their singing, if she wasn’t so damn hot.

Nina swipes her forehead with her arm to prevent the sweat from falling onto the carrots she’s chopping. She looks back and sees her nephew sitting and playing with the children of other cooks. They entertain themselves using kitchen utensils, slamming with wooden spoons on cast iron pots or using the big spoons as swords and play-fighting each other. It seems so easy for them to turn a kitchen into a battle field, and Nina wishes she could do the same.

“Nina. Nina!” Her mother calls, and she looks at her, away from the children. “Get me that pan over there.”

Nina looks toward where her mother is pointing and sees a line of pans hanging on the left wall of the kitchen. The stone walls that in Winter make every other room in the Palace freezing and allow for the kitchen heat to be pleasant, and now in the Summer only retain the heat making it almost unbearable.

“Sure.” Nina tells her mother and walks over to the wall to get the pan.

While she’s coming back to the table she was and her mother still is working at, some of the children almost run into her, play-fighting.

“Christopher, settle down.” Nina’s sister tells her son.

“They’re children, Abbie, let them have fun.” Nina says.

She gives the pan to her mother and then grabs a wooden spoon from the table. She gets among the children and swings her spoon around as if it was a sword. The children giggle and play with her, as if she was one of them.

They take steps forward and backward, trying to attack each other and defend themselves as well. In this dance, that becomes more and more like a circle instead of straight back and forth lines, Nina and the children move around the kitchen and get dangerously close to the table already topped with the chopped ingredients.

One more step backward, slightly to the left, and Nine bumps into the table. Before she can turn around or even process the thought to do so, two cast iron trays fall of the table sending potatoes and leeks flying to the floor.

“Nina!” Her mother exclaims, and Nina and the children freeze.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“Why don’t you just clean that up and get back to work?” She then focuses on the children who have gone pale and silent, knowing they’re in trouble. “And you are all going to sit down, and stay very quiet and still the rest of the day.”

Nina kneels down and starts picking up the fallen food while the children walk away from her, all of them in silence.

In the afternoon, after finishing the meals at the Palace, Nina gets home with her mother. Nina’s father is already there and he can sense the tension between his wife and daughter. Before he can ask what’s going on, Nina walks down the corridor that leads to her bedroom and enters it, not speaking a word.

After they left the Palace, Nina’s mother continued to tell her that she needs to focus at work and stop playing with the children. She’s not a child anymore and needs to behave accordingly.

Nina closes her bedroom door and tumbles onto her bed forward, smashing her nose against the bed covers. It’s not most comfortable position to be in, but she doesn’t move for a while.

Minutes later, she gets up and raises her mattress. Under it there’s a key, and she grabs it. Afterwards, Nina walks to a corner of her bedroom near the window and kneels beside the big dark wooden chest there. She opens the lock with the key she took from under her mattress, and opens the chest. Inside there’s a broadsword, which has a black hilt with a swirl of dark red. That’s what all the Army broadswords look like, and Nina’s sword did come from the Palace.

Years ago, while Nina was a teenager and went to the Palace with her mother, like her young nephew goes with her sister, she sometimes wondered around the Palace. And, one day, she saw a sword just laying around in a hallway. She took it and hid it in a place she knew she would be able to get it from afterward. Then, after she and her mother had already gone home, she went back there and took the sword. And she only feels mildly ashamed and guilty about it.

Nina takes the sword from the chest, which she closes. Then, she leaves through the window, still with the sword in her hand.

She walks through roads that she knew would be empty, since she has been going through this path for years, and gets to the woods. After walking 88 steps, which she doesn’t count anymore because she recognizes all the different trees, Nina turns left and keeps walking forward for 74 steps. Then, after turning right, she gets to a clearing.

The sun is almost setting, making the twisting branches behind and around her look almost magical.

“Took you long enough.” James’s voice comes from her left.

“I had an argument with my mother.” Nina tells her friend. “Are you ready?”

“I’ve been ready for a while, waiting for you.” He raises his broadsword, which looks just like Nina’s, and she mirrors his movement. “Let’s go.”

Nina and James swing their swords at each other, while making sure they don’t actually hit one another. They have been practicing sword fighting almost every day ever since Nina got her sword. Well, to be more precise, James has been teaching her how to sword fight since she stole the sword. And he has taught her well.

Nina and James are sitting on the ground, leaning against a tree, both out of breath after practicing.

“In a few days, there’s going to be a trial for new soldiers.” James says casually. He has been a soldier for a few years, and so he knows everything that happens related to the Army.

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. The General says that the King’s relationship with some neighboring kingdoms are getting more tense and he’s afraid there might be a war. So, he wants to strengthen the Army.”

Nina has wanted to be a soldier ever since she was a child and saw them practicing at the Palace, while she walked there with her mother. She has never told anyone, because she knows she can’t be a soldier. Women can’t be soldiers. Not in her Kingdom, anyway.

But, what if they didn’t know she was a woman?

“In the trials, they lend the competitors armors, right?” Nina asks.

“Right.”

“And those armors include helmets, right?”

“Right.” James repeats and furrows his brows. “Why do you ask?”

“I want to enter the trial.” She answers casually.

“What? Nina, you can’t. They won’t let you.”

“They won’t see that I’m a woman until I’ve already showed them how good I am and become part of the Army.”

“If they’re going to give you the armor, they’re going to see you without it, genius.” James tells her.

“That’s what I have you for. You’ll give me the armor discretely, I’ll put it on and join the others.” Nina explains to her friend. “Simple.”

“There’s nothing simple about that.”

“Can you do it or not?”

“Probably. I guess.”

“Then it’s decided.”

Nina gets home after leaving the woods with James. She enters through the bedroom window she had gone through before. The sword is put back in the chest, and the key is hidden back under the mattress.

Then, she leaves her bedroom and walks to the kitchen where both her parents are.

“In a few days, I’ll enter a trial to be a soldier.” Nina informs.

Both her parents stop what they’re doing and look at her, their eyes open wide. Then, her mother laughs and shakes her head, turns around and gets back to what she was doing.

“I’m serious.” Nina says.

“Nina, stop that nonsense and help me.” Her mother tells her.

“I’m serious!” Nina repeats, raising her voice. “I’m going to be a soldier. I’ve always wanted to be a soldier.”

“What are you saying?” Her father asks her. “Where is this coming from now?”

“It’s not coming now, father. I’ve wanted to be a soldier since I was a child. I’m only know saying it because I feel ready.”

“Stop this nonsense right now!” Nina’s mother yells. “You know very well you can’t be a soldier.”

“I guess we’ll see about that in a few days.”

On the day of the trial, Nina heads to the Palace and no one takes a second look at her, because she works there anyway. She enters and finds James next to the kitchen entrance. He has brought an armor with him and, after making sure no one’s watching them, he helps Nina put it on.

“Did you bring it?” James asks.

“Yes.” Nina opens the bag she’s holding and takes her sword out of it. They will also lend swords to the competitors, but she wants to use her own. And it looks like all the other ones anyway, so no one will notice. “How do I look?” The armor is mainly black, and in the breastplate, there are thin strips of red. In a similar look, the gauntlets are black with a red strip wrapping around them.

“Like a soldier.” He smiles. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes.” Her voice sounds as confident as she wanted it to, but Nina’s heart is pounding in her chest and her palms are already sweating. “Let’s go.”

Nina and James walk toward the back of the Palace where the trial will take place. There are hundreds of people in there, competitors and members of the Army. And, of course, the Royal Family. Sitting on beautiful thrones, in the same black and red as the armors and sword hilts, are the King, the Queen and the Princess. Beside the King, standing, is the Army General.

“I have to go over there now.” James tells Nina. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.” Nina only whispers so no one will notice her feminine voice.

James walks away from Nina and joins some of the other Army soldiers, standing on the right side of the garden.

The Army General and the King are talking in quiet voices, probably discussing tactics or the trial, Nina imagines. Then, the King stands up. Everyone else in the garden stops talking in that same instant and silence falls over them.

“We’re gathered here today to choose the best of you who will have the honor of joining our Army and defend our Kingdom if need be.” The King says. “While you’re fighting your opponents, fighting to grant your place in our Army, don’t forget the honor and duty that entails.” He looks at the General and nods.

“Let the trials begin.”

We get divided into groups and will have to fight among each other. From each group, the last eight people standing will be joining the Army.

Nina looks her first opponent in the face – well, in the helmet – and tries to steady her breathing. She’s nervous, the most nervous she’s ever been in her entire life. Being part of this Army, being able to fight, is the one thing that Nina’s ever wanted in her life. It’s her passion, her goal.

They start fighting and Nina puts in practice everything she has learned from James through the years. Every move forward, backward and sideways in the precise moment. A dance – that’s how she always likes to look at it – with her opponent, waiting for them to slip up on a step.

And her opponent does. He doesn’t move back fast enough or far enough, and Nina is able to strike him. And, once she has the upper hand, victory comes easy to her.

After winning the first combat, more come Nina’s way and they do get harder. More than once she thinks she’s going to lose, but she doesn’t. She manages to move with the perfect rhythm needed for a win. And she’s one of the last eight standing in her group.

The winners of all the groups gather in front of the kind, while the other competitors leave the premises. And then, the one thing Nina was hoping wouldn’t happen, happens. The General tells them to take their helmets off so the others can see their faces.

The new members of the Army start taking off their helmets one by one, but Nina is not moving. After she had thought the stressful part was over and she could just relax and enjoy the victory, her heart starts racing again.

She feels frozen, like even if she wanted to take the helmet off, she wouldn’t be able to. Like if she wanted to run away from there and hide, which she sort of does want, she also couldn’t.

“Soldier!” The General yells, and Nina looks at him, seeing that he’s also looking at her. “I told you to take your helmet off. Now!”

Nina tries to clench her fists, but the gauntlets don’t let her do it as hard as she wanted to. Then, she moves her arms upward, slowly, and her hands reach the helmet. She takes a deep breath and removes the helmet from her head.

When her long brown hair comes out of it and falls on her back, and then her face is also exposed, hundreds of gasps are heard. She looks around, holding the helmet between her left arm and her core, and sees every single person there looking at her. Some of them look shocked, others angry, and others a mixture of both emotions.

“How did you manage to get in here?” The General asks her.

“I work in the kitchen, so I just sneaked over here. And took a sword and armor.” Nina answers, not mentioning James’s intervention in the process.

“You cannot be here. Women are not allowed to join the Army.”

“But she’s good.” The Princess stands up and says. “She won. She beat many of the men competing. She’s a good soldier, and that’s what we need. Is it not, father?” She asks the King.

“Yes, but you know this is not allowed, sweetheart.” The King replies.

“By you. You’re the King, you’re the one who makes the rules. And the one who can change them. If what we need is good soldiers, what does it matter if they are men or women? If she doesn’t join the Army, the man who joins won’t be as good as her. Because he didn’t win.”

“Your Highness…” The General starts, but the Princess raises her hand to stop him from talking.

“Father.” She looks at the King.

The King looks at his daughter for a long while, and then at Nina. Afterward, he stands up. “My daughter, the Princess, is right. What our Army needs is good soldiers, now more than ever. And I am the one who can change the rules. Therefore, you will be allowed to join us.” He looks straight at Nina. “On top of that, if you’re a good soldier, maybe other women can be too. In our next trial, anyone above the age of twenty will be able to compete for a place in the Army.”

Nina can’t believe what she’s hearing. She did it! She actually did it. She fought for it, and she achieved her life goal. And from now on, more women will.