I Challenge You [A Twisted Wonderland Fanfic]

Chapter 1

"Good morning, my dear," she said, descending the steps towards her eldest grandchild. "How are you today?" She gave her a tight squeeze, forcing Y/N to feel the tightness in her biceps and forearms, and kissed her on the temple.

"Good."

"And how did you do this morning?" She always asked how Y/N had fared in her daily sparring matches with her grandfather.

"I beat him," Y/N said, with an acceptable amount of smugness in her voice. Her grandparents did not approve of arrogance. No one in the Escrime family did. To them, arrogance would lead to stupid mistakes that would lead to defeat. And though she had once struggled with being prideful, a few bad sparring lessons with her grandfather had whipped Y/N into shape. She was still arrogant at times and often used spite as a motivator, but she had learned her lesson. She had a scar on her back to prove it.

"Good. Now run along. Eden will be waiting for you."

Y/N bowed to her grandmother and headed out of the courtyard, taking the path that the guards would take as they headed to the courtyard. She never took the path directly to her room. She liked the few moments of morning light when she could walk in peace before the chaos of the day got to her. The nip of the morning on the exposed skin of her shoulders, the warmth of her muscles keeping her from shivering, and the sound of the world waking up around her.

* * *

Y/N smirked at her reflection in the mirror. Her maid, Eden, had picked out her outfit for her today. A simple white blouse with a ruffled neck, a black vest-waistcoat, and a pair of simple tight-fitting trousers. And of course, her favourite mid-calf boots that had been a gift from her grandfather. As she stared at herself in the mirror, running her thumb over a smudge on her cheek, Eden approached and held out a small box with a velvet-lined interior. Inside was a small brass pin. The symbol of the Escrime family. Two swords, one a rapier, the other a cutlass, crossed over each other with a vine of ivy curling around the handles of each one.

Y/N took the pin from Eden. "What's the plan for today?" She pressed the brass pin through the fabric of her waistcoat over her heart and clipped it shut. Then, she picked up her brush from her vanity and started running it through her hair as she turned to Eden.

"You are to have breakfast with your parents," Eden said, pulling out a small envelope from her pocket. "You then have an hour of training with your uncle, followed by two hours of lectures, then lunch in the garden with your siblings, then another three hours of lectures, followed by two hours of free time, and finally supper with your family in the great hall. And then I believe that your grandfather wants to meet with you to discuss the upcoming trip to the Shaftlands."

"Perfect," Y/N said, setting her brush down. "Well then, shall we head down to breakfast?" She bowed slightly to Eden and extended her arm. Eden smiled and looped her arm through Y/N's, allowing the heiress to the Escrime fortune to lead her down to the great hall. But before they left, Y/N took her hat from its place on the door and placed it atop her curls. Her mother would not be pleased that she was wearing a hat to breakfast, but she was going to practice with her uncle immediately after. She had to look like an Escrime after all.

The two walked through the Escrime Manor in peaceful and comfortable silence, and as they did, Y/N took a moment to appreciate the history that seemed to bleed from the walls. For five hundred years, the Escrime family had owned the manor atop the cliff that sat above a small village in the Kingdom of Heroes. The village provided the Escrime family with all the food and textiles they could ever want, and in turn, the Escrime family brought them wealth and protection. For five hundred years the Escrime family had protected those who lived on their land, and they would continue to do so until the day their line ended.