"Ok," Lei Yang muttered to herself. "5 leaves before sunrise."

She stared up at the battered oak tree in the darkness, sword clamped tightly in her hand. Although she knew that she could not be seen from the house, Lei didn't dare light a lamp in fear of waking the house's occupants. Her parents were not forgiving people, and if they were to know about the secret training at night they would have a fit. Knowing all this she had trained secretly for the past 3 years every night to improve her sword skills. And all that training was going to pay off.

Lei was going to become a Ryder. Becoming a Ryder of the Castle had been a dream of hers ever since her sister had become one of the most well-known heroes in Sandean history. Lei had only been 9 when Feng was made a war hero, and growing up all she heard were stories of Feng's heroics. The time Feng had led an army to victory, ending the year-long war with Rhenolia. The time Feng saved crowds of captured civilians, risking her life to protect them. It was always Feng people talked about, it was as if even their parents forgot that Lei still existed at all.

But Lei was determined to change that. Even if she couldn't be the first female Ryder (Feng had already taken that spot), she could still be great. There was only a small problem.

Feng had run away to become a Ryder. Their parents wouldn't have let her go if she had told them. The night before she had left, Feng had come to Lei's room. "I'm running away," she had whispered breathlessly, eyes gleaming with mischief and excitement. "I'm going to the Castle to become a Ryder!"

She had thrust a roll of parchment paper under Lei's nose. Lei remembered reading the letter of acceptance in muted horror and excitement for her older sister. She  took a long time studying a wax seal on the edge; the Castle's crest had reflected back at her in the moonlight. Finally sure that Feng wasn't lying, Lei admitted defeat. Her sister was going, no matter what Lei said to her. The next night Lei had watched through the closed curtains of her windows as Feng took off on her horse, Majesty, down the uneven path, and remained staring long after Majesty's tail had disappeared behind the trees.

Never before had Lei felt as if the woods between the village and her home were a barrier, but as she listened to the gentle rustling of the wind in the leaves mixing with the distant fading galloping of hooves, she yearned to go beyond the woods and see for herself where the other people lived their lives. She had never interacted with the villagers, as Lei's family lived upon a mountain.

Lei's parents had only ever gone into the village to run errands or sell their crops to get money, and they had never taken Lei or Feng. When they had asked to go, the response they received was always the same. It was dangerous, people acted weirdly around people like them. Lei never understood the reasoning, but she did as she was told. Sometimes, though, when their parents were out, the sisters would go down to a ledge at the edge of the woods overlooking the village and stare and daydream about being there. Feng always talked about being free and not doing what their parents told them to do, but Lei dreamed about the people and the different lives they lived. She imagined having friends, exploring the markets they seemed to have so often, going to school and learning stuff instead of being homeschooled. She dreamed of dancing and laughing in a green summer dress at the village's annual bonfire party at New Year's, twirling and stamping her bare feet on the ground to the sound of the fiddler's music. She watched the celebrations every year, mostly on her own as Feng got bored of the festivities.

Lei took a deep breath before lunging at the branches. She had singled out 5 leaves on the tree that she was to cut down one by one. When 3 of them fell to the carpet of changed leaves below, Lei shut her eyes and instead took down the remaining 2 blind. She smiled. Her sword skills and accuracy had improved immensely since her first training experience. Back then she couldn't even lift the sword properly.

It had been discarded in their barn when Lei had first found it. The sword itself was an old battered longsword, almost as long as she was tall. When she had tried to hold it up, she had almost toppled over, overbalanced by the weight of the thing. But she would not be discouraged; with her determination grew muscles and after a week of training, she could wield the blade with ease. Although it felt unbalanced and wrong in her hands, Lei felt a strange attachment to the sword, after every session cleaning it and returning it to the barn with care every night before sunrise.

But looking back, Lei would've given up ages ago had it not been for the jealousy she had harboured for her sister and her yearning to be regarded that kept her going back every night.

The sun was beginning to show signs of rising, the light turning the sky to flames. Sighing, Lei sheathed her sword. The finality of it all made her think of the day ahead of her, and she dreaded it. It was her 15th birthday, and she was finally legible to become a Ryder trainee.

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Hello there stranger!☺️👋

I see you've reached this author's note...

How are we doing today?

I bet we have lots of questions about things in the book so far so I shall answer them...

Later on in the book. Just wait.

Anyhoo, have a good day! (Or good night, some of us are night owls)

R.Y💮