This was it. This was the moment she had been dreaming of her entire life. Even though she had been trained to be the ideal princess, according to society’s standards, she never wanted that life. She had always dreamed of being on the battle front. Royalty was not supposed to fight – at least not the female royalty. She didn’t mind doing all of the things expected of her, but that didn’t mean she enjoyed it. She enjoyed fighting with her brothers, racing horses, swimming…essentially everything a princess should not enjoy. Things a princess should enjoy that she enjoyed were reading and dancing. She detested being prim and proper. She’d much rather be free and relaxed. Prim and proper were so constricting to her. It made her feel like she couldn’t breathe (that was probably due to the corset she was forced to wear, actually). The face that Freya was picked to marry the prince amazed her entire family. Freya was never afraid to speak her mind or to just be herself, two dangerous things as a woman in Camelot. The dream of all girls between the ages of sixteen and nineteen is to marry the Pendragon that is next in line. That has never been Freya’s dream. It’s been her family’s dream for her, but never hers. So when she was picked personally by Rayne Pendragon, it came as a shock. Freya accepted the offer because “no one refuses a Pendragon.” She would be even more of a disgrace to her family than she already was. It’s not that her family thought that, because they would love her no matter what. The disgraceful judgment came from the society around her. This marriage was a chance for Freya to bring honor to her family.
The first time Freya met Rayne was not under the same circumstances as the rest of the prospective princesses. The circumstances were more “damsel in distress” –like. Freya was on one of her long walks when some strange looking creature came out of nowhere. It had her pinned against a tree when Rayne showed up. Once the beast was dismembered, he gracefully introduced himself. Freya acknowledged him and thanked him for killing the creature (she couldn’t bring herself to say “saving”). She never introduced herself and before she could hear him ask for her name she was gone. Rayne searched everywhere for her. He even went walking in the same area where he met her in hopes of finding her. Rayne pulled a trick from his father’s book. Rayne dressed like a “commoner” (as his father called them) and he walked through the “poor” area of Camelot. He found Freya helping her mother with the shopping. Rayne went up to one of the stands after she left and asked the merchant what he knew about the young woman whom he just sold to. The merchant told Rayne Freya’s name and a bit about the family. Since Rayne’s mother was a “commoner” before marrying his father, seeing how much his parents love one another is what helped Rayne decide that he wanted a love like his parents. He decided that he wanted the girl from the soldier’s land.
Freya and Rayne were married. It hadn’t been very long since the wedding day when war broke out amongst two of the four kingdoms. Camelot had to get involved even though Arthur did not want to. Rayne had to go with Arthur and the knights to the battle field. Freya was told to stay with Gwen, but she refused. Freya did what she does best, she spoke her mind. Arthur and Rayne listened. Neither one liked the idea of a woman in battle, especially one they cared about dearly. Freya begged for a chance. Rayne wanted to give her a chance to prove herself, but Arthur would not hear of it. Freya helped Gwen pack everything Arthur and Rayne would need.
While Freya was in the stables, Sir Gwaine came up behind her and challenged her. Sir Percival tossed her a sword and the duel began. Freya did all that her father had taught her. Percival shouted a few tips and Gwaine teased her to get her to put more anger in her performance. Arthur watched the duel as Gwaine hoped. Arthur could see that Freya could fight just as well as any of his most trusted knights. Freya ended the fight by pinning Gwaine’s tunic to the post his horse was tied to. The thrill of the fight pulsed though Freya as she took in the adrenaline. Both knights praised her for her skill. Arthur asked about her archery skills. His voice startled her. She turned to face him. He had a bow and a quiver of arrows in his hands. She said that her archery skills were decent enough. Arthur handed her the equipment and had Percival set up a target. Freya took her stance and drew an arrow. She inhaled, and then as she exhaled she released the arrow. The arrow hit the center of the target. Arthur left leaving Freya with Percival and Gwaine. The knights told Freya not to fret. She went back to packing the horses until Gwen asked her to help in the kitchen. That was something Freya like about Gwen. Gwen never relied on the team of servants. She did not consider herself above anyone else. She helped the kingdom along the side of Arthur. It reminded Freya of her own parents. It was moments like these that made Freya pleased with her choice of accepting Rayne’s proposal.
At dinner that night, Arthur and Rayne discussed battle strategies. Gwen and Freya sat quietly. The men continued for almost the entire meal. When dessert came, the conversation altered a bit. The topic was still the battle they were leaving for at day break, but the focus of the conversation was Freya’s opinion. Growing up in the house of a soldier, Freya was familiar with the battle talk. The different types of strategies that can be used for battle, the different types of secret tactics that could be used depending on the desired outcome of the battle. These were the types of things that her father did. He was a battle consultant. At least he was until he was wounded in the knee. Freya’s father made sure that all of his children knew how to fight – for safety purposes. During Freya’s final month of living with her family, her father taught her all he knew about war. This was in hopes that she could one day help Camelot. Needless to say, Arthur was surprised by Freya’s knowledge. He asked who her father was and once she said the name Arthur remembered him well. That was the deciding point that sealed it. Arthur asked Freya to come ad be the battle consultant. Gwen made Arthur promise that Freya would not get involved with the battle, just consult the plan. Gwen’s concern was that Freya would be killed before she would have a chance to make a change. Arthur promised, but it was an un-kept one.
Freya ended up on the battle front. She was just as skilled as any of the Knights of the Round Table. She fought alongside of Sir Gwaine and Sir Percival. The knights did their best to protect her while they fought. If anyone appeared to be headed for the princess, the knights ended their (the attacker’s) life faster than anything else. Camelot was victorious. Freya was adored by all of the men who fought. Because of the adoration, Gwen found out that Freya was in the battle. Gwen was not pleased with Arthur, but she was relieved that Freya was unharmed. Rayne felt like the luckiest man in the world. Not only was his wife beautiful, but she could lead an army like no one else. Because of the outcome of the battle, the amount of respect and adoration Freya received was equivalent to the combination of Arthur and Gwen’s. This made Freya uneasy, so she made that the last battle she attended…at least while she was a princess.
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Author's Note
You can read more about Freya's adventure on my Wattpad.