Stories

It was a lazy day in late summer, the type of day in which the musty breath of autumn could be smelled, and the sun, which was once unrelentingly hot and burning was now replaced with a warm and hazy one. Now, the shadows from a tree in the distance had lengthened, and the sun was on its way to setting.

A woman was sitting under that tree. From far off, she seemed to be an ordinary lady, but approaching her I noticed the sun glinting off a piece of metal by her side. It was not a brooch, or a necklace, or a bracelet. No, it was a sword half-unsheathed as if lying in wait for some danger that might be encountered. Something else was amiss with this picture. The lady was beautiful, about ten winters of age, and she had long curly locks of rich dark brown hair, which contrasted the fair complexion slightly bronzed by the outside wind and sun. Her forearms, showing from her short sleeved dress were laced with scars, as those which fighting men commonly have. The woman's dark brown eyes, reflecting the orange setting sun in them, looked as if they had a story to match the scars.

Clarence, muttering to himself as he turned over in his bed and pulled his bearskin over him to linger in the warmth, opened his eyes, squinting at the early morning sun creeping in over the windowsill. "I don't want to go!" he said, getting up and splashing cold water on his face.

Clarence continued, "I heard father talking last night. You won't be coming with me anymore. It was fine that you helped out in the kitchen, but you are a girl and girls can't become knights."

She felt insulted by this. Clarence and her had been together in the same womb, and had never been separated before. Looking at the two, people often mistook them for twin brothers. Her boyish appearance complimented her own personality. Sarah didn't want to go and play with all the other girls, learning embroidery and such. When she had chances to go to tournaments and jousts, she imagined herself and Clarence as the ones besting all the other knights and claiming the prize together. "If only I could become a knight, how happy I would be then," she thought. Not once before now did it cross her mind that she wouldn't be able to do that, and now, her brother and best friend would be leaving her. Maybe running away would solve something. Unless...

Sarah's eyes had lit up. "I have. Come here," she said excitedly. She could hardly restrain myself from jumping up and down she was so happy. She knew her plan would work. After whispering it to him in his ear, he knew it would too. There was no way their father could make Clarence go to his lessons if Sarah didn't go with him.

* * *A few years had passed and Clarence and Sarah were both doing exceedingly well in their training. Whereas she was better than he was in hunting and archery, he was better in jousting and sword fights, and received most of the praise from their instructor because he was stronger than her.

Sarah became increasingly aware of the fact that Clarence was doing better, so she worked even harder. Every day she arrived an hour early to practice with the training equipment. Charging and searching for that correct point to place her spear, and then turning around and repeating the whole procedure again, striving for perfection each time. She stayed an hour after practice also, even though she was completely tired out from the day, improving sword strokes. Three times a week she would practice with a weighted sword to increase strength. A slash on the right, a cut on the left, and a blow from the right again. Then, the sword would switch hands to make sure both sides were equally conditioned.

All this was done in vain, however, for she could not be strong enough to be an equal match for her brother, who despite that still treated her as an equal. She became more and more despondent as the weeks passed by. About this time also, she noticed changes in her body too; she was becoming a woman.

One particular day, her instructor was being especially hard on her. She couldn't handle it anymore. Something inside her snapped. Sarah spurred her horse and rode off, afraid she might start crying any minute. She didn't know where she was going, all she knew as that she had to get away. She rode for a few hours, as the sun moved from the top of the sky toward the western horizon. It was getting late in the day, and the cool breeze that had been refreshing now came on as an icy bone chilling wind. She shivered. Looking around she discovered she had gone further than she intended. None of the surroundings were familiar. The woods enveloping her father's castle she had long since passed. Passed also was a large open stretch of heather and hills. Presently she found herself in a thick wood, the ground densely covered with bracken and big leafy ferns.

Sarah shivered again, this time not from the cold but from an uneasy feeling which suddenly came upon her, as if something was awaiting her ahead. She dressed her shield and picked up her spear from its setting. She slowed her horse down to a walk, still feeling very unnerved.

A gentle lapping of water on a shore could be heard in the distance in front of her. Up ahead was a misty clearing, and a solitary silhouette of a woman at the edge of the mist. Reaching the clearing, the lady beckoned her to come. For some reason, shaking as she was, Sarah obeyed.

Pausing for a minute, she answered. "I would like, more than anything to be knighted, and be able to compete with the rest of the men. I cannot do that now since I am a woman, be it in body only. A man's mind trapped in a woman's body. All my life I have spent training for knighthood. I live and breathe in that facet of life. I know no other way. Please, if there is a way, increase my strength so I can once again be equal to man."

The lady silently looked at Sarah with her eyes of copper, her hair glistening in the mist. Responding to her plea she said, "I can grant you what you wish, only, as there must be a limit somewhere, you cannot have the strength and stature of a man forever. You will once again become as a woman if a man sees your face after battle."

The Lady of the Lake handed her a cup she had not noticed before. She took a sip of the drink, which had an odd musky flavor to it. On giving the cup back, the Lady quickly turned and disappeared into the mist, leaving the place in a mysterious stillness. It was so still, and it had that certain timeless feeling to it, that she wondered whether the events fresh in her mind had occurred or not.

* * *King Leo had declared another tournament for the whole kingdom. All within his realm were invited to come. Clarence and Sarah, knighted at last, decided to participate. They had determined that they would take turns in the tournaments and jousts to preserve Sir Sarah's identity. If she won a prize, Clarence would claim it for Sarah as she always left the field after the game was done. This time, it chanced that it was her turn, and she was excited, for this was rumored to be the best tournament ever hosted in these lands.

Things had gone well for both Clarence and Sarah after she had come back from the sorceress. Within a week her strength was equal to that of Clarence's, and he had had to catch up to her since she had put in all that extra time earlier to improve herself. The competitive nature in both of them caused them to become two (or one, depending on which way you looked at it) of the best knights of the land.

The day arrived, and Clarence came to help her put her armour on in a wooded area not far from the castle. With one last check to see if everything was soundly in its place, he helped her up to the saddle and bade her luck. A final farewell, and she urged her horse towards the game field.

Sarah reached the field now and joined her ranks. She felt good about herself today, and that feeling carried on throughout the day, except that she also felt that she was being followed. Every knight that came up to her she threw off his horse with her lance. Alongside of her was a knight arrayed in blue who matched her strokes exactly. She thought it strange that one knight would follow her so closely. Try as she might, she could not shake him loose of following her. In the end Sarah and the Blue Knight went on to be the best knights of the tournament. As Sarah realized this, she hurried off to give Clarence notice of how she had fared, as usual. She still felt like someone was following her, but since she saw nothing nor heard anything but her own clanking armour, she cast it aside for the moment.

Clarence met up with her at the spot she left from earlier that day, unlaced her helm for her and took off on his own steed to claim the prize. Sarah shook free her long hair and let it flow by her shoulders. As she did so, she heard a gasp from the trees. Unsheathing her sword, standing ready to fight, the Blue Knight stepped out from behind some bushes.

"O fair lady knight," he said, still astonished by what he saw. "I did not realize you were a lady. I saw you ride up and admired your ease at which you rode, and the way you carried yourself, so I deemed I should follow you to do battle with you. When you left the field in such a hurry after performing so marvelously I had to come to see your purpose. Now I see."

Yes, you see," she replied bitterly, "and never shall again. I am Lady Sarah, sister to Sir Clarence, who was, by a gift from the Sorceress of Wishes able to fight as any man could. But, since you have followed me and seen my true self after battle, I shall lose my strength and become weak like other ladies."

"Ah, but there you are mistaken. You also have strength in beauty. You are the most beautiful damsel I have ever laid eyes upon, and if you will, I should like to marry you."

Now the sun was almost gone. The sky glowed red for a few minutes, and then the sun disappeared. The lady that was sitting under the tree that whistled shrilly and presently the thundering of a horse's hooves could be heard coming closer, until it was beside her. She mounted the horse with ease, and smiled to her soon to be husband. The two warriors rode off in the west until all that could be seen where two shadows, and then nothing at all.