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“Fergus! That’s fair!” Persephone shrieked, stomping her foot as she looked up at her brother. Fergus was halfway up a tree in the courtyard, holding the two practice swords up in the branches with him.
“Am too! I could climb trees when I was your age,” Fergus shouted back, climbing further into the tree.
“Could not!”
“Well I’m not giving you back your sword unless you climb up here and get it.”
Persephone stomped her feet and looked around the courtyard. No Mama, no Papa, no nearby guards, she had to figure this out by herself. She knew she was small for her age, but she would not let Fergus get away with not teaching her to fight. Papa said she was too young, but Persephone wouldn’t accept that.
With a huff, Persephone moved below the lowest branch and jumped. Then jumped again. And then jumped again. Finally, she grabbed onto the lowest branch and tried to heave herself up into the tree. Legs kicking, arms straining, Persephone tried to pull herself up onto the branch. She could feel her fingers slipping as Fergus laughed above her. He was so mean and thought he was so much cooler and smarter just because he was eleven to Persephone’s four.
Persephone’s fingers slid from the flimsy branch, and she screamed, feet slipping out from under her as she landed on her ass. Fergus cackled from the upper branches as he looked down at his baby sister. Her lip quivered as she stared down at the grass. Falling hurt while her brother, who was so much cooler and smarter than she was, laughed at her.
“That was so stupid, that’s not how you climb a tree,” Fergus laughed from his perch. He was bigger and stronger and knew how to climb a tree. Everything Persephone wasn’t.
“I hate you! I hate you, Fergus!” Persephone screamed as she got up, crying. “Jerk!”
Trying to hide her sobs from Fergus, Persephone raced inside the castle. She would find Mama, and everything would be okay. Mama was nice, she wasn’t a jerk like Fergus was.
Wooden training swords clack together as Persephone and Fergus train. Persephone had instructors, but she preferred training with Fergus. He didn’t take things easy on her, so her victories felt more earned, and he was upfront about what she was doing wrong. It made her feel like an adult, like she was actually respected. Not the faux respect of the people her father hired and thought it was demonstrated through from attempting to stroke her ego. So she trained with Fergus. Of course, this often led to her getting her ass kicked.
Now was a good example. Persephone was no longer on the small side, but was still rather slender and leaned towards being quick. Fergus, meanwhile, at twenty had gone in on strength and force. It was best demonstrated when Persephone tried to dart in and land a hit on Fergus’ side, only for his shield to swing in and smack her hand aside. Her sword went flying and it a heartbeat, Fergus’ was at her throat.
“Stupid move,” he said, dropping his sword and letting Persephone retrieve hers.
“Well, if you weren’t such a jerk my sword wouldn’t have gone flying across the courtyard,” Persephone said, voice clipped as she walked back to Fergus, sword in hand.
“You should have tricked me into opening my guard a bit more. Feinting might have been smart. Besides, in a real fight your opponent won’t take it easy on you.”
“Well…” Persephone trailed off, not entirely sure where to take her argument. “You’re still a jerk.”
Fergus laughed, ruffling her hair. “Do you want to be done for today? Besides, you should probably get ready to meet Oriana. She should be arriving in a couple hours.”
Persephone groaned, tipped her head back as she trudged towards the castle. Fergus laughed at her side as they stepped from the sunny courtyard to the dim interior of the castle. They continued down the corridor towards their rooms to stow their practice blades.
“I hate getting all dressed up and fancy. Besides, meeting Oriana means your closer to getting married and being old and boring,” Persephone grumbled.
“Are you… going to miss spending so much time with me, Persephone?”
“Where would you get a stupid idea like that?”
“Ah, right, of course. I forgot you’re heartless and don’t care about me at all,” Fergus said, bumping shoulders with Persephone.
“Obviously, why would I like a jerk like you?” she asked, though there was no venom in her voice. Fergus laughed, ruffling Persephone’s hair again before heading down the corridor ahead of her.
Maybe Persephone did care about her older brother. Just maybe. And maybe that’s why she picked up speed to keep pace with him. Even if her cover would be bullying him about his bride-to-be