Once Maruka was done instructing the new recruits on how to fight the doppelgangers, it was nearly dark out, and Maruka told them all to eat dinner, wash up, and then go straight to bed.
All of the recruits were sore and tired at the end of the day.
Maruka had them all fight each other one-on-one at least once, and he wouldn’t let them rest for a minute until it was time to eat.
Pollyanna was used to such exercises, however, and relished being active after being cooped up in the caravan for so long.
The old woman beat every other recruit she was matched with effortlessly; even if she weren’t invincible, she would have had no problems winning. She had hundreds of years of experience on the other recruits.
And she relished the fight.
Her blood pumped as she swept an elf’s legs out from under them; her muscles tensed as she jerked her head to the side to avoid a wooden stick being thrust at her—her mouth bent upward in a smirk as she jabbed her wooden stick into a dwarf’s belly and knocked the air out of him.
There’s nothing like a good fight!
She thought to herself.
Nothing like…
Nothing like…
She managed to stay focused on the fight for many moments longer until she shoved a woman who stumbled backwards with a grunt and suddenly, her mind would let her think of nothing else but the past.
__
Pollyanna, as a black-haired young girl, watched a group of boys getting into a tousle from the stoop on her house nearby.
It was long ago—long before the fairies had even taken over Maribel and the kingdom belonged entirely to humans.
Pollyanna lived on the outskirts of the kingdom in a little town with her mother and father. It was a dusty place with very little greens and even less money.
Pollyanna was bored while her mother was sewing indoors—an activity she never cared for and didn’t care to learn.
Her father wasn't home. He was working as a butcher in a shop nearby.
She glanced indoors and saw her mother busily stitching up a pair of breeches.
Since she was sure her mother wasn't watching, Pollyanna launched herself to her feet and joined the boys who, even at her young age, were much shorter than her.
When they saw her stomping their way, one of the boys cried, “it’s a troll! A giant, hideous, ugly troll! Run!”
Pollyanna tackled one of the boys with a fierce grin on her face and wrestled with him until he was in tears. “Damn right I am hideous! I shall feast on your flesh and use your skulls as goblets!”
“I shall fight you, beast!” Cried another one of the boys.
Pollyanna shoved the boy she had been fighting to the side. “Are you mad, young hero? Do you truly think you can best the hideous troll, Pollyanna!”
“There’s nothing like a good fight!” The boy replied fearlessly.
“Very well,” Pollyanna replied, dusting off her dress. “Come fight me, then!”
The boy dove at her with shocking strength for being considerably shorter than her. He slammed his fist into her face as they crumpled to the ground. “You’ll pay for killing my first mate, beast!”
Her face was swollen and pulsed with pain, but she was still smirking. “I think not! You will never defeat me, fool!”
Her nose was bleeding, but she shoved the boy off her with a kick and returned his punch with one of her own.
A crowd was gathering and murmuring their shock at a girl roughhousing with the boys, but Pollyanna was having so much fun that she hardly heard them.
She wrestled the boy until her mother’s stern, startled voice cut through the commotion. “
Pollyanna
!”
Pollyanna lifted her head. She looked toward her house where her mother was standing with a hand clapped to her mouth. “What on Yharos are you
doing
!”
“I’m playing with my friends!” Pollyanna exclaimed, sweeping her hair out of her eyes.
The crowd whispered of her poor manners and what a human girl was expected to do and not to do. They were appalled.
Pollyanna’s mother was severely embarrassed and looked as if she might faint from all the judgmental eyes upon her.
“Come here, Pollyanna! Right now!” Pollyanna frowned and glanced at the male children who had worried looks adorning their faces; they knew Pollyanna was in trouble.
Sullenly, Pollyanna marched to her mother’s side. She recognized the look on her mother’s face.
She was looking down her nose at her daughter—her blue eyes cold and discerning.
She seized her daughter’s wrist and dragged her inside.
Pollyanna’s mother shook with anger as she dragged her out-of-view of the crowd outside.
Silence hung in the air as Pollyanna looked down at her feet.
Impulsively, her mother slapped her across her cheeks several times. Each slap seemed to get harder and harder until they stung.
Pollyanna threw her hands up and screeched in terror—trying to protect her face.
“Why can’t you act like a proper young lady! People will think you a whore the way you roll around with boys!” Her words dripped with hushed vitriol in every syllable. “You have no talents as a woman!
None
!”
“Mommy, please!” Pollyanna begged her as her mother reached for a nearby comb set on the dresser.
__
She came back to the present in full force as the woman she was fighting managed to ram the wooden stick she was wielding into Pollyanna’s side.
Enraged, Pollyanna grabbed the stick and pulled the woman toward her—knocking the air out of her as the old warrior-maiden slammed her fist into the other woman’s stomach.
After a few more fights Maruka finally held up a hand and called it quits for the day.
“Time for dinner and then straight to bed.” Maruka said as all the recruits put their weapons back.
Pollyanna was reflective as she looked for a place to sit in the noisy mess hall.
She looked around for Eory, but he was nowhere to be found—nor was the entity, Taylor, who had currently taken over his body.
She sighed.
It’s for the best. I can’t coddle him like I would a young girl.
Pollyanna walked beside one of the tables in the mess hall—looking for an open seat.
There was one beside Them and his obnoxious wisp friend.
Pollyanna, carrying a plate of food, stopped behind the pair and listened to them talk for a moment. “I have to go see her after this—make sure she’s caught up and knows how to kill the doppelgangers.”
Pollyanna scowled.
She scooted the chair next to Them’s out and then slammed her food on the table—making a scene and making everyone around her who now recognized her as the Arrozan Sword, jump.
“What are you planning?” Pollyanna demanded in a hushed voice. “You better stay away from Eory.”
Them raised an eyebrow—apparently unafraid. “She’s my… Friend. I want to help her and be there for her. Why won’t you do the same? You were supposed to protect her earlier...”
Pollyanna’s fingers tensed on the table—her nails nearly digging into the wood.
It would be very easy to choke him to death…
She thought to herself. But she thought of how Eory would feel about that and an unexpected tear rolled down her cheek.
She managed to resist.
Them looked truly shocked and disturbed at the single tear, but decided it was best not to comment on it for his own safety.
She retreated into her thoughts.
I have to make sure this stupid waif and I are on the same page. I have to bring him to my side.
“Them,” Pollyanna said steadily. “Eory is very unhappy right now—surely you understand this—that’s why this… Vain, ugly creature, Taylor, has taken over his body. You want Eory to be happy, don’t you?”
Them cocked his head to the side—wondering what the old woman was going on about.
“Of course I want her to be happy! She’s brought me nothing but joy!” Them said gaily as he chomped a piece of steak on his plate. “But I want
her
to be happy—not Eory.”
Pollyanna resisted the urge to become enraged and throw a punch at the tiny waif.
She had to be smart about this.
“Them, Eory has been in her body for twelve of the eighteen years they have lived. Don’t you think that makes it more of his body—his life? And, I’m not sure how well you know Taylor, but surely you realize how… Unstable she seems to be and why her parents decided she’d do better as a boy. Wouldn’t you rather have someone kind and…” Pollyanna stared forward blankly for a moment when she remembered Eory giving up his freedom for her. “And sweet be in that body?”
Them gave her a surprised, sidelong glance and cleared his throat. “It seems like you’re very fond of him… To be honest, I don’t really understand all this fairy stuff, but I do know that I definitely want Taylor around—and she doesn’t seem to like Eory very much! But…"
Them felt bad when he saw his upset and disgruntled Pollyanna was.
"If you miss Eory so much, I’m willing to help bring him out so you can talk to him--so long as it doesn’t hurt Taylor in any way. Should I ask her to help bring him to the surface?” Them asked. “So you can talk to him?”
Pollyanna hastily shook her head. “No, don’t do that. You’ll anger her. If you truly want to help me, which I would greatly appreciate, I need you to treat Taylor like you would a man. That will bring him back out.”
Them stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Taylor said she might go away forever if we treat her like a man, though…”
“Don’t worry,” Pollyanna assured him. “So long as we don’t always treat him like a man, we can always bring Taylor back out, too.”
Them’s wisp friend, Pete, chimed in in its language that Pollyanna could not understand, and Them nodded slowly.
“We’ll think about it. How does that sound?” Them finally replied.
Pollyanna nodded slowly.
It’s a good start. Just have to bring him the rest of the way around.
Aloud she said, “I can’t imagine Taylor is the kindest of women to romance. She was on the verge of killing you during training. Was she that violent toward you on the dream plains?—that is where you said you first met her, correct?”
Them frowned deeply as he took a sip of water. “She isn’t always amiable, but she has her reasons.”
Pollyanna knew how to play him when he admitted that.
Taylor is clearly mad. I need to show him just how mad she can be.