Underestimate Me

“No.” it was one word. Only one word spoken, but it carried so much more. It was the firmest ‘no’ she had ever spoken, and Meredith had objected to a multitude of things. Josselyn was still standing next to her, rising over her as an angel descended from Maa. A warrior angel with immense strength and constraint. Though all she could see was the nakedness beneath her sheer dress. All Meredith could see was how vulnerable Josselyn was and how she did not see that herself. The scars on her skin had healed, displaying a regeneration her soul had not yet finalized. The monster outside only needed to look at her sister and she would run. She hadn’t been swimming in that pool for months now, and Meredith had been glad she hadn’t needed to. Only one look. It took only one look from him for her to run to her place of comfort. The wetness still hugging the white dress to her hips. Her moist hair such an exemplification of her susceptibility.

Meredith rose from her seat and grabbed her sword that still rested against it. As she circled the belt, from which its scabbard hung, around her waist she looked her sister straight in the eye. Josselyn had been silent this whole time. Preparing for the explosion.

“I will not have it.” Meredith said, it was hard not to raise her voice, but she was afraid the others would hear them. Fighting sisters was not the image she wanted to sell to Rowen or any of her companions. They were a unity. They were one. Though Josselyn seemed to have forgotten that.

“And I will not have you slice him to pieces.” Josselyn spoke. Her words were not her own. Her words were spoken by someone else. Meredith wondered if Maa was speaking through her leader, or if it was Josselyn’s teenage affection that she heard.

“Who’s words am I hearing, sister?” Meredith spoke as her eyes narrowed to slits. She could not contain her anger anymore. It was getting a hold of her and would not let go. She could not stop the words coming out of her mouth. They just trickled over her lips as the blood that trickled down Josselyn’s shoulder. They would cause a pain as redundant as the one Falcon's claws had caused. “Is this the fool Josselyn talking, pining away for the monster who cast her aside? Or do I hear the leader whom I follow?” They said fire burns, but ice could have a burning sting, Meredith dripping with it.

Maa was definitely housing Josselyn, because before Meredith could take back her words, she felt the palm of her Goddess strike her cheek. A snap filled the air as her face swung sideways.

“How dare you!” Josselyn growled. Meredith turned her head to face her sister again and felt how her cheek burned. Josselyn’s eyes were filled with clouds of thunder and she looked like the adversary herself. Maa had struck her, but it was Josselyn who had swung her arm. It was Josselyn who had laid a hand upon her.

“You filthy woman,” Her head snapped to the side again. She was trying to fend off his blows with her arms but they kept coming.

“Thou shall not lay with another,” The voice roared above her. A voice she had known so well. At first loved. As it was the soothing voice that would take her pain away when she had fallen. As it was the voice that had told her she’d grow up being the most beautiful woman in the entire village. Now it was a voice she had learned to despise. Bitterness filled her mouth and she tasted her own blood. His slap had her biting on her tongue and now her mouth was slowly filling with a warm wetness. It was a taste she had grown accustomed too. It was something she now tasted when hearing any man speak. She was conditioned to taste its bitterness on her tongue when faced with a male. They tried breaking her. Though one day, she would break them. One for one. Single by single. They would die with that bitterness on their tongue and they would regret this day and any other.

“I dare because I cherish you!” She suddenly yelled, waking herself from her absence. Meredith felt as she was trembling on her feet. The worry, the pain and the concern was leaving her body all at once, spinning her into a trembling mess. The room around her seemed to close in and push her and Josselyn together. It seemed like they were feeding off the same energy, both filling with anger and passion.

“He will fill you with lies! And you will believe them!” She was screaming now, not concerned anymore with who would listen. She needed to get through to her. She needed to let Josselyn realize this man had some hold on her. It was something more than just the revenge she longed for. It was something more than the pain she wanted to cause him. Because that longing was there. Meredith could see it in her eyes. She could see Maa, craving for that release.

Meredith did not question the hate Josselyn had towards this man outside. She did not question the motives she had to keep him alive. She questioned him. She wondered about the powers he possessed. She wondered about his capabilities at manipulating her leader, for he had won several guards to his cause.

Meredith had seen it. She had seen Evelyn and Aldith looking at him with more than just the loathing they were taught to have. They had taken care of him, spoken words with him and they had looked at him with concern. A concern for his well-being that they were not supposed to have.

“Do you truly have so little faith in me sister,” Josselyn said, not raising her volume this time. Pain was hidden in the little quiver her voice had.

“I have no faith in him.” Meredith said, the words escaped her mouth with a sigh. She could not have their future balancing on the tip of a sword. She could not have it in the balance of a sword she should have swung.

“You know I cannot have you there. You will lose your cool. You will kill him as you attempted earlier today and with that condemn us.” Josselyn’s voice was getting stronger with each word and she grabbed Meredith’s arm. Her second in command felt the strength in those hands and she watched as the fingers around her upper arm tightened. “I will not have you sentence my family to death, I will not have it!” The last words were in a sheer volume that would no doubly reach the other tents. Rumors would spread the next morning, but it would be said that their leader was a strong woman. One that did not abide objection. It would be said that Meredith crossed the line, but they would not have seen everything. Tents were places of solitude, and as all privy places; they were filled with hidden movements and unspoken words.

Josselyn pulled her closer with that strong hold she had. Their noses almost touched before her sister raised herself to her toes and pushed a little kiss to her forehead. Her lips so soft and warm against her skin

“I will not see you beheaded,” She whispered in Meredith’s ear. “I could not bear it.