The Damsel and her Knight

6th ☾ Of Will and Determination

Sing to me the songs of the wind,

And I will give you the melody of my heart.

6th ☾

Of Will and Determination

Two years later

Persistent.

That was how I defined him. I was half-awake, weary, and all I was asking was a few more minutes of undisturbed rest. I didn't budge, but the constant shaking on my right shoulder wouldn't stop. Dead tired, I ignored it and pulled the blanket over my face.

But whoever that was hadn't given up. Instead, he shook me even more. "Miles."

Maybe if I wouldn't answer, he would leave me alone.

"Miles," he called again.

"Alright! I get it!" I hurriedly got up. Opening my eyes, I didn't even need to breathe twice to realize who was disturbing me.

"Hey." Of course, it was Wilson. Who else could it be? Who would dare wake me up before daylight, except him?

"What now?" I furiously asked. If there was one thing that I really hated nowadays, that was someone bothering my precious sleeping time. I needed to train every single day. And it was horrifying, tiring, and annoying. The only time that I got the chance to rest was during the night, after all my chores were done, and for only a span of five to six hours. And here he was, Wilson, disturbing me once more.

"You need to see this," said Wilson, having another surprise for me. This had been going on for a more than a week now. Same excitement. Same wide-eyed gaze.

"I've finally figured out how to make the fake moustache, and I made several of them. See this one? It's much thinner compared to the others. So you just have to change every day, like you're actually growing it," Wilson said, smiling wildly with his uneven set of teeth. "Or you can only wear it when you like. Just so they would believe you're actually growing one."

I raised an eyebrow.

He was into making the perfect disguise for me. The reason for it? Bryce was finally letting me out today, and that bothered Wilson. But aside from that, he also said that I already hit puberty, and the newcomers might eventually notice that I hadn't been able to grow a moustache or any facial hair. Yeah, well, sorry about that, but recently, I had been growing a chest instead. And they had no idea how bothersome it was to flatten it out with a cloth and feel suffocated all day.

For the last two years, I'd been kept hidden from other people. Bryce said that it was better safe than sorry. He also said I must grow a bit taller and look more matured before he'd let me out. And today was that day, but Wilson wouldn't let me off that easy. He'd bare-handedly kill bears in order to make a moustache.

The other day, Wilson forced me to put more hairs on my arms and legs, which was a mess. It took me all day before I was able to remove them. And it was very painful, like my skin was peeled off in the process. My arms and legs were still red and swollen from all the scrubbing, and now Wilson was up to another one already.

I gave up on being a girl, but he didn't have to turn me into a beast or anything of the like. And I was just going to the marketplace for the first time in years, not to mention that there were only several town guards patrolling the area. And yes, I looked different now... much different from before.