I was sat in the dew-flecked grass, my hands perched under my chin as I watched another girl about my age. I marveled at the sight of this girl effortlessly doling out butterfly kicks one after another. Unbeknownst to myself, I was happily kicking my legs to myself while admiring her, and just as oblivious to me was my younger brother, Adrian, barreling right up to me. With a witchy cackle he crashed into me before flopping down breathlessly.
"Someone catch your fancy already?" He teased. "You're too young to be catching feelings, Yul! You still have your baby hair and your milk teeth and y-"
I rolled my eyes and swatted him away.
"Hey! I'm not wrong!"
I glared before rolling over. "You too have baby hair and worse still, none of your milk teeth have fallen out! You're one to talk, Adri."
Adrian grumbled loudly in reply before running off again, leaving me alone on the field with the other girl. I sighed wistfully as I watched her light brown hair catch the rays of the sun. From where I was, I could see the way her light blue eyes sparkled and the way she moved so surely. I wish I could move as gracefully and as surely as she did but while I could swing swords and hold up shields and shoot a bow, I definitely couldn't do the acrobatics that this girl was pulling off.
Caught up in my daydreaming, I didn't notice that the girl had pranced off the field and had now sat down beside me, until she nudged my shoulder. "What are you staring at in the fields?" She asked as she peered in the direction I was looking at.
I blinked and sat up, smiling sheepishly. "Nothing in particular, actually. Um... what were you doing? Just now in the fields, I mean."
The girl giggled a little and thumped her chest proudly, shaking a fist at me with a grin. "I was training!"
I stared at her, quite perplexed. I looked at her up and down. What exactly was she training for?
The proud smile on the girl's face shrunk a little, sensing my confusion, but her face was no less brighter than before. "I want to become the general of the Regnistals! Y'know, the foot soldiers?"
I nodded slowly. "The general?" I mused. "Are you even old enough to be a Regnistal cadet?"
The girl sighed wistfully. "Oh how I wish! I'm just shadowing my father for now. He's a Regnistal blacksmith, but instead of helping him blacksmith, I spend half my time watching the cadets and soldiers train!" She smiles proudly again. "I've learnt quite a bit that way."
I gawked yet more at this proud blacksmith-y girl, so ever gutsy and so much mirth in her. I wanted nothing less than to be her friend, and to share in her gutsiness and mirth! Perhaps some of it would rub off on me, O me who was terribly bored to bits and took every chance I had to skip whatever lessons I had. Clearly skipping my lessons wasn't good - part of the reason being that I ended up grounded quite often - but I think this girl's company would push me to greater heights. And if it didn't, I would finally have company.
"Well, I can't call you 'The Regnistal Blacksmith's Daughter' all the time now, can I?" I quipped cheekily. "Do you have a name I can call you by?"
The girl smiled a pretty bright smile at me and I thought to myself then that if my legs weren't tucked under me, I would've begun kicking my feet again. "I'm Galina! But so many people call me Galya or Gali or some other such. I think if you called me Galka, it would make me quite happy."
Galka, I thought to myself, whispering her name. Even her name sounded pretty! How great it would be if we could be friends, I thought wistfully to myself. "Pleasure to meet you, Galka," I said as I stood up and cheekily curtsied before sitting back down.
Galka smiled at me again before she leant forward conspirationally. "So... you haven't told me your name yet, mystery girl. Do I call you 'The Girl Who Watched Me'?"
I stifled a giggle and batted at her hand. "Hey!" After I managed to swallow my giggle, I mumbled out my name.
"Yulia?" Galka's eyes widened a little. "Like the Tsarevna[1] Yulia?"
I pursed my lips and shrugged thoughtfully. Maybe, maybe not, I thought to myself.
"We-ell, even if you aren't Tsarevna Yulia, you're still very cool! And your eyes are really pretty too. I haven't seen anyone with purple eyes, y'know! Everyone has brown, or black, or blue eyes. It's really quite a marvel..." Galka went on and on but all I focused on was her first sentence. She thought I'm cool too, and I think in that moment that was all I cared about.
"Can you teach me how you did those butterfly kicks?" I suddenly blurted out. "I have candy! We can exchange."
Galka giggled and took my hand before dragging me onto the field. "You don't know what candies I like though! In fact, how can you be sure I even like candies?"
"I, um... doesn't everyone?" I stuttered out.
"Not my dad, that's for sure," Galka grumbled.
Once we were on the field and I'd tossed aside my skirt, Galka set about helping me figure out how to get a butterfly kick down. It was a good four or so hours we spent in the field, and anyone walking nearby would have heard our giggles and shrieks of delight. When I had finally managed to land three butterfly kicks in succession, I finally crumpled to the grass with a sigh. Galka was quick to follow, collapsing with tired giggles.
"Again tomorrow? Same time in this field?" She asked. I nodded, still out of breath.
We went on like this, day after day. Sometimes we wouldn't train in the field at all, and we'd have very miniature tea-parties or picnics instead, and sometimes we wouldn't even be in the field. We would gallivant off to see the nearby river, for example, or the wee farmers' market down south. My lady-in-waiting, Lady Patrina, would always follow a ways behind us to make sure I didn't land myself in too much danger.
Weeks and months and years passed like this with Galka, and I was all the more happier for it. We both grew - I into a more studious and responsible young woman, and Galka into a Regnistal Apprentice General. An odd post to be sure, but her skills and knowledge were without doubt, and all that was left was to prove herself in some actual situation, or so she told me. Given the way the current Regnistal General was currently aging (in a poorly manner), Galka had a sensible amount of command and say in leading the troops under her care, but how she managed that in around half a decade stumped me. Perhaps it simply was a testament to her skills and know-how...
[1] Tsarevna is the title for Princess in this story!