Unbreakable - Book 1 in 'Unbreakable' Series

Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWOSAGE

I sat by the edge of the pebbled shore, dabbling my feet in the water. Our Island was shaped by the ebb and flow of the ocean water that surrounded it. Here, I was sitting, at the very spot where dozens of our people piled onto boats and set out on raids to invade other places. It was also where I sat and sulked about how I never got to go with them. I practised day in and day out, and my fighting skills were undoubtedly better than anyone my age, males included--yet I was never allowed to go on raids. I kicked a rock in frustration and watched as it flew into the water.

My mother had encouraged me as a child to take up fighting. "You must always be prepared, for one day, you will need to fight... and when you win that fight, you will rule." My father would call her crazy, and tell me that all I needed to do in life was marry well, bare children, and look after my husband. What did he know? He was a lazy drunk. My mother's advice always sat better with me, and I held it close after she was gone, leaving me in my father's care.

As I grew older and reflected upon my childhood, I would remember little pieces of wisdom that my mother gave me. Now, at the age of seventeen, her revelations began to make a lot more sense.

"Sage." I heard my name being called from a short distance and immediately turned to see Helga. She was a nice girl, slightly older than me, and in charge of the women's chores in our village. She had no interest in fighting or going on raids; she was more of a simple girl--the kind my father wanted me to be.

"Yes?" I looked her way, flicking my feet against the stones to dry off the water.

"We need your help in making the next meal. Our men should arrive home shortly, and it's all hands on deck, I'm afraid." She gave me a kind smile. She was understanding and sweet, unlike some of the other women here who treated me badly because I was different, always trying to fix me by giving unwanted advice or trying to tidy my unruly white hair.

"Sure." I smiled at her, standing to follow her into the communal hut. The communal hut was where the women prepared all the food, as well as mended broken garments for their children, husbands, and other men of our community.

As I prepared the meat, slapping its heaviness onto the table in order to get rid of any toughness, I heard snickers. Keeping my head down, I cast my eyes in the direction of the noise. As usual, it was Frida and Bodil. Bitches. I moved onto the next food item, bread. I stirred the ingredients together to make the dough and proceeded to knead it. More snickers.

"Did you hear what Sage did in the food tent this morning?" one whispered to the other. I felt anger rise, boiling to the surface. I usually contained it, but today I was not in the mood to keep it inside.

I threw the dough onto the table hard enough to make a loud bang that attracted looks from the other women. I glared at Frida and Bodil; both sets of shrewd, beady eyes were now on mine. I cocked my head to the side, ready to take them both on if they chose to take it further. They stood back slightly and looked at each other, erupting in laughter when I didn't make a move. With that, I launched myself at them both, pushing Frida to the floor. Hard.

"Hey!" Bodil glared, her arms crossed. "You can't treat us like that!"

"Ha, you're next." I charged at her, grabbing her clumpy brown hair. She used the same tactic, so I kicked her to the ground and held her there with my foot.

"Back off, bitch!" she roared, attempting to kick me off, but I was stronger.

Laughter erupted from my stomach, "You should have taken fighting lessons."

She scoffed at me, her thick eyebrows knitted together. "Get off me!" she yelled, as Frida came up behind me, ripping a large chunk of my hair from my head. Luckily, I had inherited my mother's thick hair and not my fathers receding hairline. I felt the burn go through my scalp, but my anger overtook it. Seeing her with a large clump of my blonde locks in her palm only fueled me to keep going. "No need for fighting lessons when you're naturally talented." She looked at Bodil and they continued to laugh. I hated their screeching voices.