Their Thirst For Pride

River Cadman - 9 Years Ago

Getting to where I am today wasn't exactly easy. Let me set the scene for you, it was a breezy afternoon the day I realized I wanted to get into sword fighting, and I was sitting in the front stands of an arena watching my older brother battle an older man. I've always looked up to Aaron. He's the oldest and I always wanted to be interested in the cool things he did. Unfortunately, he didn't think I was good enough but he wouldn't be the first. I remember feeling the warm breeze brush across my face and hair when my brother won his first tournament. I was so fascinated by the way he wielded a sword with no problem at all. I wanted that too.

I walked through the house sleepily, my socks brushing across the ground. It was one of those days, where I had nothing much to do. Bored out of my mind, I decided to take to learning about fencing. After watching the tournament I craved to do something like that. And with my own brother winning, I decided I'd talk to him.
I knocked on his door, waiting for an answer but didn't end up getting one. I shrugged and opened the door, finding an empty room. He must have left earlier. The shine of his trophies caught my eye. I walked up to the dresser holding all of the awards and gazed at them, fascinated. Next to that was a sword leaning against a desk. It had a gold cover over the blade. It hit me that my brother of all people owned this stuff and I was in awe. Such nice things for being something I aspired to be.
Footsteps entered behind me and I turned around to find Aaron glaring at me from the doorway.
"What are you doing?" He asked, stepping farther into the room to see if he could find any damage to blame me for. "I don't want you messing with my stuff."
"Nothing. I was just interested in your fencing things. I'm happy you won the tournament."
He sighed, kicking the bottom drawer of his dresser closed, causing a trophy to wobble, "Thanks, River. Stay out of my room."
I nodded and left, conjuring up what I'd do. I needed to figure out how I was going to get into fencing. I had to say something to my father, but what? He'd never approve. I knew I wanted to get where my brother was but who was going to allow me to? I'd hardly ever seen a female sword fighter. Ever.

I closed my eyes and breathed in as I took a bite of cranberries, taking in their tangy flavor. That day was full of excitement and anxiety. I kept thinking of what I would say to my father, only half expecting him to allow me to do anything. I must've been insane having any hope at all. It only hurt me.
After dinner, I found my parents in their room. My father was busy talking about his job and writing things down while my mother listened to him ramble on intently, holding a sleeping child in her arms. Barrett.
"What do you need, River? You should be getting ready for bed right now." My father said, his eyes still focused on pen and paper.
"I just had a question."
"Go on."
"I was wondering if I could do what Aaron does. You know, get into sword fighting?"
My father laughed. My face flushed with embarrassment as I watched him finally take a second to look at me. None of this went how I wanted it to. I barely expected it to.
"I'm being serious." I reiterated.
He stopped, regaining a straight face, and looked me in the eyes. "What makes you think you'd make it in that field? You're a fourteen year old girl! No one would ever take you, I don't want to go though finding you an instructor for nothing."
I stood in silence, not sure what to do.
"You'd never make it, River."
"Adrian." My mother chimed in.
"Please, let me try." I begged.
"My answer is no and if you can't accept that then get out. You'd be nothing but an embarrassment to this family anyway."
Tears filled my eyes and I turned to walk away. I could hear the quiet complaints of Barrett as my mother laid him onto the bed in the room and followed after me.

A few days after I had first asked my father the question, he brought up an offer to me. I was sitting outside when he came out to the garden and sat down next to me on a bench. At first, we just sat there for a bit, saying nothing to each other until he finally introduced the offer.
"River," He looked at me with his sad, deceiving eyes.
"Yes?"
"I was thinking about what you asked the other day, how you wanted to become a sword fighter. Your mother talked to me and I came up with a compromise.
I smiled, waiting for him to explain further.
"I talked to Aaron and he agreed to duel with you. I'll let you start fencing if you win. Is that okay?"
My smile faded. I barely had any expierience with this kind of thing and he was going to make me fight my brother, one of the best sword fighters in the kingdom? Was he serious? Even though it was stupid, I still took the offer.
Eventually, the time inevitably came to fight my brother. I had made sure to attempt to prepare myself in the short time I had but there wasn't much I could do but mentally prepare myself and think back to the moves I'd seen in countless competitions. I stood in the small courtyard located in the middle of our home across from Aaron, holding a blade. I gripped the hilt of the sword as we came toward each other and began to make random, pointless movements. He was going to beat me before a minute even passed. I kept pushing, fighting to win for a while until I felt a sharp stinging pain on the side of my face. I fell to the ground, nearly sobbing and holding the cut in my face. My brother smirked and walked away as I cried. I was a fool. I never let anything like that happen again. I made sure I did this myself and ignored all the laughs I got from anyone, even if they were from my own father.