CHAPTER 4: AFTER THE SPARRING

After a while of sparring, we quit for the night. "Well, that was a nice round," Tiffany says with a satisfied smile.

"It was." I nod as I wash the bottoms of my shoes off in the nearby stream. The stickiness from the tavern floors collected dirt and leaves to my soles. The last thing I want to do is attract ants. "I'm glad we had the chance to practice."

"Me too." Standing, I fling off the water from my hands and climb up onto Xangelo. "Where to now?"

"My hut," Tiffany states as she slides her sword into the sheath on her hip. Pulling herself up onto her steed, she taps his sides, signaling for him to start walking.

By the time we leave the forest, complete nightfall has descended on us. Thanks to our enhanced vision, we can more easily see at night compared to humans. The village has fallen silent as people have returned to their homes. Campfire smoke lingers in the air from the smothered-out flames.

Tiffany's residence is a small yet cozy rectangular hut within the Landry Kingdom. The hut, like the others in the village, is made of wood, straw, and stone. I admire her hut with its wooden walls and straw thatched roofing. 

She opens the wooden door at the front rather than the side and offers me into her humble abode.

Upon entering, I look around. Her hut is a single room with most of the necessities for daily living. Oftentimes, when you are a commoner or peasant, you use your single-roomed home to entertain, cook, eat, and sleep. Everything. 

Tiffany walks across the wooden flooring and approaches a stone hearth at the far end of the hut. She removes logs off a woodpile beside the hearth and places them within, beneath a hanging metal pot.

As she works on starting a fire, I hang my cloak up on nails that's been impaled to the wooden walls. I notice she has a variety of items hanging on the walls as well, anything from clothing and animal supplies.

On the far end where the hearth stands, metal pots and pans hang on nails as well as dried meat and herbs tied to string. Some dried herbs and flowers even hang from wooden beams overhead.

She turns to me, holding her hand out toward the wooden table and chairs. "Want to rest your feet?"

Nodding, I make my way over to the table and sit opposite of her as her chair's feet scrape against the wooden floors. After we're both seated, I take note that all her furniture is made of wood. Everything from her bed frame, dowry chest, to her wardrobe. Even her woven baskets across the room are made of wood. 

"How do you like my home?" Tiffany asks, propping her head on her hand with her elbow on the table.

"I like it. Cozy." I tell her honestly as I recline in my chair as exhaustion starts to wash over me.

"Thank you," she beams.

"You're welcome."

"This is one of the better huts in the village. I was lucky to have been able to obtain it. I've been here for a few years, before more villagers settled."

Nodding, my eyes lift up to the loft above the front entrance. "I was about to ask where you store your goods and provisions."

She pivots in her seat to look up at the open wooden loft where woven baskets, buckets, and burlap bags tied with twine sit among some handmade blankets. "I keep some supplies in here, but also in the storage hut outside with the animals. Come on." She stands and waves me forward.

"Animals? What kind do you have, if I may ask?" ask I push to my feet.

"A dairy cow, a bull, some chickens, a few sheep, and a horse." She grabs a lantern and leads me to an even smaller hut, right outside her living quarters.

Not many villagers have their own private huts for storage, it is usually for the rich. If you are on the richer side of a commoner, you would have a larger hut and or storage in a separate hut like how farmers own barns, leaving more room for living and entertaining.

Most villagers keep their provisions in their main hut in a designated area or up in an attic-like structure. They also keep their animals in their homes or outside on their property.

Within the smaller hut, I see where she keeps her livestock and preserves in baskets and pottery. "How did you come by the storage hut?"

She gestures around to the room, holding up the lantern to illuminate the area. "He made it for me as a gesture of love."

"He?"

She eyes me over her shoulder with a coy smirk playing on her lips. "Okay, a suitor, lover, fiancé, what-have-you." Her face then falls a moment later. "But he died."

"Is this the same lover who was killed?" I ask for clarification as a pang enters my heart.

She nods, her eyes glinting in the candlelight from her lantern. "It is."

"This is one of the reasons you want to fight, correct? To avenge him and his family?"

"Yes, Makenzi. It is not right. Why should all these people, not just my lover and his family, but dozens of families be destroyed at the hands of ruthlessness? And for what means? It only causes disaster, damage, destruction, and dismay. I need to fight to bring hope to the people, to let them know that someone is fighting for them."

I let out a sigh as I realize how much this cause means to her.

If I refuse to help, she will go alone regardless. If I go with her, it will give her assistance and reduce the risk of her dying at the hands of these men. I must help. 

"I am sorry to hear about your lover and his family, truly. But if you insist on going to battle, I will join you. Two is better than one," I tell her.

A large smile reappears on her lips at this. She looks up at me with hopeful eyes before embracing me tightly. "I cannot thank you enough, Makenzi!"

I laugh joyously with a hint of uneasiness, but I do not let her in on my reservations. I must be a good friend and stick by her side no matter what. What I will not tell her is, I will try and protect her regardless of what situations she gets us into.

I have a chance right now to back out and go my own way, but I cannot in good consciousness let her run into battle without backup and anyone on her side.

I watch as she easily picks up a feed bag, sitting it on the table in the corner. She opens it and starts scooping out feed for the animals.

"Can I help?" I offer.

She looks up at me. "With the feeding?"

"Yes."

"Of course," she says, pointing at the hay with the scoop in her hand.

As she feeds the chickens, I proceed to feed the horse nearby. As I pet him, I twist my head over my shoulder. "Where is your horse?" I ask, noticing he is not in here.

"Outside. I will bring him in shortly."

Knowing that is sufficient answer enough, I feel no need to ask any more questions. Instead, I ruminate over the possibilities of what this battle could cause in the future.

This battle could go multiple ways. We could succeed and win the fight. We could become captured. We could be revealed as women. We could even end up dead. Is this worth fighting? The odds are stacked against us.

On our way back into her main hut, the moon shines down, casting shadows over the leaves and grass around us.

Entering her home, the warmth from the fire bathes us in both heat and light.

She lays her lantern down on the table, blowing out the flame.

"Tiff?"

"Yes?" She turns to me with an inquisitive look.

Pensively, I debate whether to ask the questions pestering me. "How will we fight them? Most of the battles occur during the day. Would it not be better to fight with the men in the day? We will after all be wearing armor. We have strength of men, if not more. Why cannot we fight with them?"

She sits down in one of her chairs, thinking. "I suppose we could. As long as our faces and hair are covered, I do not see why not. Our superpowers will definitely aid."

"Agreed. We have more energy than humans as well, so we can fight longer. Fighting in the dead of night and middle of the day will help win the war."

"We would still need time to sleep." She yawns, eyeing the metal pots and her white night gown hanging on hooks nailed to the wall.

"Perhaps we should get some rest," I suggest.

"Aye, we have had a long day. I did not sleep last night and I believe it is catching up to me."

As she gets dressed for bed, I watch as the fire dances within the hearth to give her privacy. I pray to God, our Heavenly Father, for guidance, strength, and safety for us both should we follow through with this plan.

"Makenzi," she calls me.

Glancing over, I see her already sitting on her bed. She pats the mattress made of straw and waves me over. "We can share. There's enough room for us both. If you want to change, I have an extra nightgown hanging up."

"That is very kind of you, Tiff. Thank you." I remove my armor along with everything else I am wearing and lay it against the wall. I grab the nightgown from the hook and pull it over my head. Climbing into bed beside Tiff, I pull her handmade blanket over us both. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," she whispers back before we both fall asleep.

When morning arrives, autumn sunlight filters in from the east. Beams of light come through the windows and slits in the straw thatched roof. 

Getting up, careful not to wake Tiffany, I decide to make us both breakfast. Dried porridge meal sits within a bag near the hearth. Sneaking outside in my borrowed nightgown, the cool morning air blows against my bare calves.

Petting Xangelo's head and down his neck, I talk to him. "Morning, Xanny," I say, his nickname. I pull out a dress from his side saddlebag and quickly make my way back into the hut. The only clothes I have in here are a tunic and undergarments since I had my armor on.

Quickly and quietly changing into my ankle-length dress, I grab the pail from the corner. I return outside to fetch some water from the nearby neighborhood well. Sitting my pail on the ground, I lower the attached pail down into the water below the stone well. Once it is filled with water, I hoist it back up to dump into my pail.

After I am finished, I easily carry it back to the hut and quietly sneak in, careful not to wake Tiffany. Even though I am trying my best not to make noise, the door creaks on its metal hinges. I wince and look over at Tiffany. Thankfully, she is still sound asleep. I scoop out the dried porridge and ladle in some water to cook the food.

As I wait for it to cook, Tiffany wakes up, rubbing her eyes. "Hey, you are awake...and cooking."

"Thought I would help out since you are letting me stay with you while we practice."

"That was thoughtful of you. And not only while training. You can stay with me as long as you are in England, that is unless you do not want to."

"I will stay with you. Thank you, kindly."

She smiles and stands from her bed. She fetches some metal bowls for us to eat from as well as spoons. "Thank you for cooking breakfast. I appreciate it."

"You're welcome."

After we eat, we dress in our armor. Before taking our steeds back to that clearing to practice, Tiffany and I take our blades to the bladesmith to get them sharpened on their whetstone. Since the sword Tiffany gifted me does not need sharpening, I refrain from handing the swordsmith that one. I do however hand over my knives.

As we wait, Tiffany and I peruse the market to purchase some fresh fruit and vegetables that are available during this season. Once purchased, I place them within our saddlebags.

After retrieving our blades, we head out to the isolated area we were the day before.

Over the next few days, Tiffany and I train, strategize, rest, and prepare for battle. Eventually, the day arrives.