She's The Enemy (GxG)

Chapter 3- Always Believe

I open my eyes to the face of a young boy above me. His deep brown hair scuffled and strewn all over the place. I reach up and ruffle it even further as he protests,

"Emelie!" My brother moans and I stop smiling up at him. He's frowning but I reach up my hands to pull his mouth up into a smile and he begins to giggle. I pull my hands away and he envelops me in a hug,

"Happy Birthday!" He screams and I struggle to sit up under his grasp. He lets go and runs over to his side of our room and grabs something from under his pillow. Our new cottage is bigger than our old one. In there we all had to sleep in one room, mother, father, Avery and I. Noah just slept in his crib usually outside of the door closer to where mother and father slept so he wouldn't wake us up when he cried. Now he and I have a separate room to dad. It's not massive but it's enough. My bed is on the left wall closest to the door and Noah's is facing the opposite way against the right wall. We have a small bookshelf, mostly for my growing collection of books, a small toy box for all our stuff, a dresser for our clothes and a small circular carpet in the centre that just about connects both of our beds.

Noah runs over with the item in hand. I smile at the book he hands me. There's a tree sprawled across the front cover and in golden letters bellow it says, 'Under the Wishing Tree'. I turn the first page and see a note written on the first page,

To my beloved Emelie,

A reminder to always believe in the impossible.

That's my mother's handwriting- I look up at my brother in shock and then my father appears in the doorway.

"She was going to give that to you on your eighteenth birthday... I found it a couple of months ago when I was looking through her stuff," He says slowly. A tear forms in my eye and I pull my brother into another hug, squeezing him tight. He doesn't remember mother, but I can tell he still misses her. I wonder how that feels- to miss someone you've never met.

"Was she nice?" I remember him asking me once,

"Yes, she was kind, gentle and she was always there for us," I replied

"I wish I could remember her," He had mumbled and then laid his head on my lap while I ran my fingers through his hair.

I wipe away my tears, sniffling and let go of the boy. My father presents me with his gift next- it's a small knife with my initials engraved into the hilt. So, you can protect yourself. He said. Laws of the village forbade women from training to fight or even to join the Keepers Guard, but my father believed that I should be capable of defending myself. He had taught me basic moves in the security of our home and there was no law against women having possession of a weapon. I changed into a grey top and some trousers and stashed the knife in my boot.

"I'm going to get some dinner," I say to my father and he nods handing me a small bag of coins,

"I'm going to check on the new guard training in a bit, will you go pick up some water as well?" I nod and grab the bucket by the door,

"What about Noah?" I ask and my father turns toward the small boy,

"What about it squirt? You up to coming and seeing the guard today?" The boy buzzes with excitement and nods fondly already grabbing his stuff- he loves it when he gets to go to work with his dad.

"Oh, and Ari took the day off, so you will probably see him at some point today." He smiles at me. I know he wants us to be married. I think he has since the day we met. But I don't see Ari like that- he's just a good friend. I shake my head and leave the house slowly.

I finally see Ari after I leave the bakers. I bought some bread for tonight as well as a small pound cake for my birthday.

"Surprise!" The boy jumps out at me, holding a box and smiling like a clown. I step back a little in shock, grinning.

"Here!" He hands me the box enthusiastically taking the basket of bread and bucket from my hands. He puts them both on the floor beside us. I open the box and pull out a small, handmade, woodwind flute. I knew his father was a carpenter, but I never knew he had an interest in this stuff. I close my mouth which was previously gaping open in shock and examine the piece,

"Did you make this?" I ask in awe and he nods smiling,

"Asked Dad to teach me a few bits. Took me about a month since I kept getting it wrong." I pull him into a hug and as we part, he speaks,

"Is it better than what Rhiannon got you?" I smile at my two best friends' competitiveness and refuse to say anything.

"Come on! I have to beat her at something!" I just grin and we continue walking. He sighs, giving up and places his arm around me,

"So, how's your birthday been?" He asks and I tell him about the gift from my mother. I don't tell him about the knife because I know he wouldn't approve.

"Hey, remember that time when I came over and I couldn't do my shoelace and I was getting really upset. Well, your mum came over and knelt beside me, telling me that everyone has to first learn before they get good at it. Then she spent the next 10 minutes teaching me how to do it and wouldn't stop until I'd done it. I felt so damn accomplished the minute that knot turned into a perfect bow." We both smile, bathing in the memory. I miss them more than I let on. In fact, when I turned 13 everyone used to say I looked like Avery with my long, deep brown hair and freckles and I hated it so I cut my hair up to my shoulders so they would stop.

We stop at the well and I fill up my bucket. Then we continue talking as we walk around all the shops choosing what we should eat for my birthday dinner. Afterwards, we spot Rhiannon and Killian arm in arm by the clothing shop and head towards them. Anyone who can see can tell the amount of love between these two. When they are together, they are practically inseparable. One night last year, after she'd had too much to drink, she'd told me she was going to marry him. And it was only then I realised how pure their love really was. I've never been in love. I've never been expected to fall in love. Since my father was the Keeper of the Guard, I was expected to marry some rich, talented guardsman- marriage had never really felt like a choice. 

A/N

Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it and have an amazing day!