Curse of Ash

Chapter 1

It wasn't difficult telling her brother she wanted to fight just like him.

She was young at the time. Young enough to know her place as a blossoming woman, yet old enough to know what she truly wanted instead. And instead, she wanted to fight like the boys, eat like the boys, play like the boys, be like the boys in all those senses, while still maintaining the perfect beauty expected of her. She wanted to fit in anywhere she went, and with anyone she met.

She wanted to belong.

Alyvia huffed out a breath, sweat dripping down the sides of her temples and spine. The muscles in her arms and back becoming tight with exhaustion. Even her legs started to shake. The sun had started its descent behind the fence lining the yard, yet it still hit her right in the eyes as she pivoted, raising her sword against the other.

Across from her, Jenner smirked. He knew his sister was becoming tired, therefore getting clumsy and sloppy. Alyvia knew he was close to opening his mouth to reprimand or mock her as he came at her again, but she used his momentum to twirl away, push him to the ground, and kick his sword out of his hand. Jenner watched from the ground as it went flying through the air to the other side of the yard.

There was a quiet laugh from behind them and Alyvia turned to see Reeves, a flash of a smile before it was gone again. He leaned against the backdoor of the house as he nodded to Alyvia.

She turned and looked down at Jenner who was pushing his hair out of his face, the pale golden locks getting stuck between his fingers. "That goes to show you shouldn't underestimate me," she mused, finally accepting an air of cockiness that was so reserved for her brother.

"She's right, brother," Reeves called from the doorway, eyes on his two younger siblings, watching like the mother-hen he is. He straightened suddenly. "Dinner will be ready soon. I suggest you both wash up before then."

Once he disappeared back into the house, Alyvia turned and helped Jenner from the ground. He brushed the dirt off his slacks, re-tucked his tunic as best he could before he shrugged to himself.

"You're getting better," Jenner mused, going to retrieve his sword. "Just have to work on your stamina now."

Alyvia groaned. "That means I have to do more cardio. I hate cardio."

Her brother gave her a look. "Well if you want to be the best woman with a sword, you have to do cardio."

"I never said I wanted to be the best."

Jenner flipped his sword around, shrugging. "I'm taking liberties with my assumptions."

Alyvia hummed as they walked through the back door and into the hallway. The front door was just straight ahead, a view of the street beyond visible through the small window. People walking past on their way home from work, or to another's lodging, or to the town square just down the street where the bars would begin to thrive with nightlife.

To the right of the backdoor was the kitchen. The left, the abandoned dining room still full of long gone memories and daily cobwebs.

It was quaint and cozy, their townhouse in Freyhaven. Paid for in full by their father as a last departing gift before he left on one of his excursions four years ago. They hadn't heard from him since, only through a few sporadic letters, usually all addressed to Reeves, the eldest. Mostly, Alyvia thought, just to make sure they knew he was still alive, and they to him.

Just because they lived in one of the lovely townhouses in the city, it was well known they stuck out like a sore thumb. The most poor family on the block, in their corner of Freyhaven, and all of it was paid for by their father. Alyvia was grateful for what they were given, to have a roof over their heads, but it would never sit well with her.