The Queen of Swords

The Queen of Swords sat down for a minute. She put her swords down, took her helmet off, loosened up her armor, and breathed in the safe space she had finally created for herself. It had been a long journey. There had been many demons that she fought. But she reminded herself that she had chosen to take this journey. She knew what she had signed up for and she knew she would have to face every single one of the demons along the way. And she knew she wasn't done.

But she was gaining some skill. She was learning how to sit in the pocket. And she was able to see her battles a little bit further in advance. And that had afforded her this safe space to put the armor down for a little while.

The demons had been huge so far. Those first ones, whew. She didn't know how she was going to get through them. Bloodied and bruised she just kept fighting through. Her swords her only companion, her only lover in the night. Those long nights fighting those demons... it almost broke her. Almost.

It would have been easier to take the easy road out. She had had the option. Many princes had come to steal her away and put her in pretty dresses and lock her away in a pretty castle. But they never really saw the real her. She never let them, granted. Always putting on a pretty smile and giving them all just enough to like her but keep the distance. She had never let any of them in to be honest.

She had been fighting for so long. She had been fighting for so long that she didn't know how to put the swords down to have a pretty life. And then she decided to have a pretty life with herself. But she had to go on the greatest adventure of her life to earn that freedom. So she dawned her suit of armor, picked up her swords (those trusty swords) and blazed ahead.

She called each demon by name as she fought to the death. Sometimes 2 and 3 at a time. Sometimes there were obstacles that would get in her way. But she always believed in herself. She always saw the purpose in what she was doing. Her freedom. Her freedom to live life exactly on her own terms. Not in pretty dresses in fancy castles, but pretty nails would be nice. Maybe pretty dresses sometimes.

But also war! Because she wasn't a pretty queen. She wasn't a queen of hearts. She had a heart. She had a heart of gold. In fact she fought for her people, for her community. She fought for her lovers and her friends; her enemies even. She fought for all of them because as she beat each demon she was learning the fighting techniques that worked for each one of them. The ones that worked for her so she could pass that skill on to the next generation. So she could save her community and teach them how to fight against the same demons when they harassed their towns and their families.

She knew her purpose so she knew she would keep going on after this rest. And she would do it with a smile on her face because she saw all the blessings and she saw the light at the end of the tunnel. She knew that with each demon she slayed and each step she took she was saving the world. She was saving her world. Creating a safe space for her and her loved ones to be their authentic selves.

Because that was what she wanted most in the world. Not world peace, but peace for those she loved the most. Peace through hardship. Peace through adversity. Peace with the tools that they could use to know that they could save themselves. Because at the end of the day she knew it was everyone's responsibility to save themselves. She could not do that for them.

But she could be their queen of swords. She could lead the way with her light and her magic.