Gender Equality and Knighthood

As I clasp the sword in my hands, I fear no man. The golden sword of truth glimmers underneath the sunlight as I brandish it back and forth, inspecting its metallic grace; its magically charmed jewels are sprinkled around several engravings of intricate marigold flowers. I, Rea, have been trusted to hold such a holy weapon of legends. And I am not exactly that surprised as I am easily the best and most skilled knight at our knight academy at only 19 years of age. Why else would they have made me one of the leaders of knights here? Why else would praises be sung wherever I go?

Sitting underneath the sunlight, I let it warm up my brown skin and ogle in wonder as it glints off my golden knight armour. I smirk as I notice that the sword completely matches my armour, almost as if me wielding it is destiny.

“Rea? There you are! Where have you been this entire time?” Dame Clyd, my knight mentor, calls for me.

I set aside the golden sword of truth in its scabbard and turn to look at the red headed chignon clad woman wearing red armour, striding straight towards me at an alarming speed. Oh well...you did not get to be a knight’s mentor without having outstanding agility and speed, I suppose.

“Dame, I am here! I have been here the entire time,” I smile at her, tucking a dreadlock behind my pierced pointy ears.

“That is all well and good, Rea,” She gives me a disbelieving side eye, placing her fists at her hips in an authoritative fashion. “But you must come with me at once; You are to embark on your quest to defeat the evil comet king in only a few days and you cannot waste time just sitting around! Were you not told before that it is your urgent duty?”

I recall immediately and hop onto my feet quick as quick. “I am so sorry, my dame! I will follow you immediately,”

And so I do just that; I trail after her swiftly to the hall of legends where some other heads of the academy, in their red knight armoury, are convening. They are in deep discussion as we arrive, Dame Clyd and I. Once they acknowledge our presence, they beam at me and beckon me over. Proudly, I stroll over to them and listen attentively at what they have to say to me.

“Rea, my dear,” One starts, taking both of my hands gently.

“We have excellent news for you,” One with a blue cloak says, piping up.

“Absolutely excellent!” another interjects, flicking his curly hair over his shoulder.

I nod attentively, extremely curious for where this conversation is headed.

“Yes, it is “absolutely excellent”. Anyway, as I was saying,” The one with a blue cloak gives the other curly haired head a scolding look for his interruption. “It turns out that…”

I nod eagerly. “Yes, Sir?” Jeez, why are they all taking so long to get to the point. Whatever it is, I think I can take it. They really need to stop stalling, as they are testing my patience and-

“You will not need to go alone on the quest to defeat the evil comet king anymore!”

“What?” I mumble in absolute shock.

“Yes my dear! As you see, you will be getting a partner to follow you on the journey,”

“What?” My voice raises against my will. I clap a hand over my mouth when I realize shortly that I am yelling at my literal superiors at the academy.

“Oh, we knew you would be ecstatic. I am glad that you are so excited! Look at you, you can barely contain yourself,” the blue cloaked head chuckles with mirth. “Your partner will be a transfer student from a nearby knight academy. He is one of their most exceptional knights, just like you are over here,”

“She isn’t excited. She’s horrified,” The curly haired head laughs, then turns towards a doorway. “Come on out, Dion!”

The name ‘Dion’ already irks me. It leaves a sour taste in my mouth and it only intensifies when I see a platinum blonde clean cut man in pitch black knight armor (complete with a navy cape) around my age, walk into the room like he owns the place.

“Good morning, your graces.” He kneels immediately, smiling.

“Is he not a charming one?” Dame Clyd beams at me after inspecting him.

I fight the urge to roll my eyes. “Yes, my dame. I supposed he is,”

“Well, you two must train together at once! The day of your departure on your quest is just around the corner and you must both be more than prepared by then,” Dame Clyd claps her hands. “You are both dismissed. Off to the training room with you both!”

Obeying their wishes, both of us young knights troupe over to the training room to battle each other.

While doing so, Dion takes it upon himself to critique my stance. “You slouch too much. Lean more into your blade,”

I glare at him in silence, totally ignoring his advice and attack. He dodges swiftly. Blast him!

“See? You make it really easy to predict your attacks,” he smirks, whipping around his jade green sword. “Are you sure you are one of the best knights here?”

Seething, I charge at him again. How dare he question my skill? But unfortunately, he dodges again and shoves me away with ease.

“Better luck next time, sweetie?” he grins.

That does it! No more holding back this time! I throw all I have at him; slashing about my sword, doing backflips, making brief hand combat...and they all prove to be in vain. He counterracts them all.

I groan as I dust my arm while rising from the ground where I’ve been tossed.

Dion offers his hand, “Need some help, honey?”

I scowl and flick his hand away, storming straight out of the room. I sit at a fountain and hug my knees to my chin, completely ashamed. What kind of knight am I that I let this...boy...beat me?

I swirl my fingers in the fountain’s glowing waters, peering at my reflection in disappointment. Maybe I wasn’t as good as I’d presumed? Soon, my solace is disturbed by a familiar platinum haired boy.

“What do you want, boy?” I spit with venom in my tone.

“Firstly, I am 21. I am far from a boy, Rea. Also,” He smiles softly. “You seemed troubled. I had to come check on you; are you alright?”

He sits beside me even against my protests. I give him a look, muttering, “I bet you just love doing this, don’t you?”

“Doing what?”

“Making others seem smaller than you?” I look away, angrily.

He stares at me sadly. “Rea, I was only…” he sighs. “I was just playing around. I didn’t mean to belittle you-”

“I’ve worked hard to get where I am,” I glare at him. “I’m one of the only few women here and at 19, I’m already a knight leader. So nobody, not even you, can take that away from me. Got it?”

Dion nods, rubbing his neck. “I know, I know...I’m sorry, okay? How I acted was pretty shitty, I know. I wanna make amends. Give me another chance?”

“Why?” I eye him curiously.

He laughs, “We are going on a life threatening quest together in a few days. We need to have each other’s backs...as equal partners,”

I narrow my eyes at him suspiciously before sighing, giving in, “Alright, boy.”

He offers his hand to me. I take it and we do a hand shake.

Days later, we mount our pegasuses. Dion grins at me. And believe it or not, I reciprocate.

“Rea, I see you’re finally getting along with Dion? Why the change of heart?” The curly haired head smiles as he and some other heads ready our weapons.

I shrug, smiling. “I guess we came to an understanding,”

“We’re partners in this,” Dion adds.