Part of what made these events so enjoyable—-no, that’s too weak of a word—-so invigorating, was truly the night before. Last night, I was bestowed with the graces and trappings worthy of a princess—-and rightfully so! As my father, and his father before him, is the chieftain of our people, the ruler of our lands from the base of the mountains to the beaches of the salty sea, I, his oldest daughter, am not only his princess, but the princess of my people. Alas, my brother, three years my elder, stands to reside in my father’s regal hut once he passes—-that is the way of succession and how our nation has retained stability and tranquility for many ages. Knowing this, I am content to serve my father, and eventually my brother, as part of the royal family.
Our nation has grown monumentally under our last three chieftains. Rival nations and marauders have, from time to time, attempted to engulf us, to steal our culture, raid our land. Eons ago, war would have been the way of our peoples—-great armies meeting away from the villages, battling, men lanced with spears or gutted with the blade. Once the carnage had ended, the victorious tribe would ooze into the villages and lands of the vanquished people, re-building the destroyed structures, re-planting the charred fields, and enslaving the surviving women and children.
It was Meka, my great-grandfather, family lore maintains, who changed the way our peoples warred. Meka recognized that both nations lose in such a war—-culture, food, shelter, and tradition all being destroyed with the hundreds of dead warriors on each side. Instead, he suggested to the ruler of Belatar, who at that time was our chief rival nation, that the scions of the kings should fight in hand to hand combat. The people would watch, cheering on their champion, until one was either killed or submitted to the other. And with that, the victorious nation would simply acquire everything that was the nation of the loser—-its land, dwellings, treasures, and people, and the winning nation grew larger and stronger.
Since then, our nation has had five such conflicts—-my father fought in two as a young man, each time, of course, emerging as the stronger. Two seasons ago, my brother fought—-although as siblings we argue and fight—-I watched with pride as he tore into the son of the rival chieftain, dominating him easily. But at the end, when it was clear that my brother was the victor, the beaten heap that was my brother’s opponent refused to submit, so my brother made him pay—-humiliating him over and over in front of the combined people of our nations.
This morning, I am to represent our nation. Although it does not happen often, if the chief of a threatening nation does not have a son, and only a daughter, then the defending nation must respond in kind, with either the chieftain’s own daughter of other female relation fighting for the honor of her people. At 5’2 and 100 lbs, I have dreamed of this day for almost all of my twenty years. I have had two weeks to prepare—running and sparring daily, honing my toned body, expanding, I hope, my strength and endurance. I am not big, I know, not like some of our Amazon warriors, and I am told that the sun-haired daughter of our rival is slightly larger than me, and my excitement grows as I prepare to meet her on the beach at dawn. yt