Writing scenes between school work and I thought I'd share this scene with Damaris and Huck with you.
“What made you decide to protect yourself?” Huck asked.
“You mean besides my life being threatened?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“She studied Huck for a moment. He was stretched out on the couch with his right ankle resting on his left knee. Who was this man because it wasn’t the Huck she knew.
“While I was recovering in Lorvena, I was included in Edward’s studies on feudal Japan. His tutor mentioned there were female samurai warriors called onna-musha. I was so interested that I did my own studying,” she said as she leaned back against the cushions.
“The first was Empress Jingu,” he said.
“You’ve heard of them?”
“Of course, they’re warriors,” he said.
Why was she not surprised? The man was well read.
“And you study warriors.”
“Yes. I had to train women for war. I studied all I could in how women of the past fought. How they were trained. Did you know there were female ninjas called kunoichi?”
She stared at him in shock. Not at the female ninjas or that he knew about them, but his statement about training women.
“You helped the women your trained by studying the past? I don’t know what to think.”
He smiled.
“Damaris, I don’t know how the female body moves in battle. I needed to learn how to train them to be the best. I wasn’t easy on them because the enemy wouldn’t be easy. Just because they’re women doesn’t mean they got it good. They wanted to be in combat, so, I trained them for battle,” he said.
“Japan?”
“Well, Japan has had women warriors for longer than any other country. They had it figured out,” he said as he set his foot on the floor and leaned forward.
“I don’t know what to think. I would’ve thought that a macho man, such as yourself, wouldn’t want women fighting,” she said as she placed her hands on her thighs.
“I have women in the security detail of Lorvena. I don’t question if a woman wants to fight, to protect. I just demand them to be as dedicated to actually fighting and protecting as their dedication to the want or need. If a woman in the early centuries found the willpower to defy the odds, who am I to demand different,” he asked as he reached over and squeezed her hand.
“And what do you think about female commanders?”
“They better be the best person for the job,” he said. “Or it’s their birthright.”
She smiled.
“You’re not who I thought you were,” she said. “At least what I wanted you to be.”
“Damaris, if your people can’t accept you as their queen its their loss. But, I think you worry too much. I saw the interview. The people of Florine want you back. They miss their princess,” he said as he moved his hand to her cheek. “Don’t doubt that you have the love of your people.”
