Memories of her Father flashed through Rama's jade eyes as she walked through the dimly lit halls to her room, she could still vividly remember all the things he taught her, every sword fight they had, she could still feel the burn in her palms from using the sword for too long till she got every step perfectly, not right.
A young girl could be seen combatting with a taller and bulky man in the middle of the forest, swords clinking hard as they came in contact with brute leverage.
"To win a fight, don't think of the pain when one is inflicted on you, think of what you're fighting for, let it be your drive, then fight like a tireless man." Her Father's deeply baritone voice echoed in her ears as her sixteen year old self shielded herself from his incoming attack with a swift action, preventing it from taking her head off.
A stranger watching the fight would think it was a fight to kill as her Father thrust his sword at her with immense force and speed, causing sparks to fly as the two swords collided viciously.
Her sword threatened to fall out from her grip as her Father came fiercely at her but she tightened her grip around the hilt of her sword, making her palms burn more but she didn't whimper or grunt in pain, her jade eyes were hard and fierce as she fought back, not accepting defeat.
She was dressed like a man, wearing pants and hair tied in a single braided ponytail, so her movements were easy and swift.
Her Father's sword was ready to drive into her abdomen but she swiftly evaded it and with a precise effortless movement, she stomped her feet on the sword, breaking her Father's hold from his sword as she sent her sword crashing through his.
It fell on the floor and within a second the tip of her sharp sword was pointed at his chin, the blade barely away from his flesh but he had an impressed look on his face nonetheless as he stared at his daughter who panted softly from all the fighting they had done.
"I just defeated you baba." She was excited that she had defeated her Father, one of the best warriors the Empire had but her face was still hard not letting the excitement appear too visibly on it, although her eyes twinkled with a spark of excitement.
"After I defeated you fourteen times, next time defeat me on the first round." Her Father's voice was rather cold but she knew he was impressed and was only trying to make her ready for the throne, to serve the Empire and her people. She bowed her head with a rather timid look on her face as she bit her lower lips.
"Yes Baba." She replied before wiping the sweat that had broke on her golden skin with the hem of her sleeves.
"Your cousin wouldn't have lasted one round, he doesn't deserve to seat on the throne, you do, regardless of everyone's opinion, you'll make a great ruler." She could still hear her Father's voice and she remembered how she smiled at his words, glad she was fit to be a ruler in his eyes, only his opinions had mattered to her, only his words had made sense to her and no one else's but now he was gone.
The only person she could listen to was now herself, her mother was too feeble minded and frail hearted, her Father might have been the strongest man she knew and she knew very well that she took after him making her resolve harden even more.
She took another deep breath as she shut the door of her chambers closed, with quivering lips and shaky breath, she moved to the window, opening it to feel the breeze on her skin but she didn't feel any better. She knew she would have problems piling soon at her door when the death of her Father would be announced to the public.
The high court and officials in power had been against her coronation to be the Queen of Saba Empire, not because she wasn't fit, but because she was a girl and she was considered too young to take the throne.
The officials and her family members had wanted her male cousin, Jafar to take the throne since he was a man and he was the closest male kin the King had.
If only her Father had coronated her earlier as the Queen, she sighed inwardly, but none of them had planned for his death to happen so unexpectedly.
It wasn't anticipated in any way as her Father had been healthy and vibrant with life two days ago, his illness had started out slowly the other day, no one would have thought it would turn out so seriously until then.
She knew her Father was getting older, she could see his grey hair dominating over his black ones, but he was still strong, ever so full of life so she wondered how he suddenly got sick and died within two days of illness.
She felt suspicious about his sudden illness, after all, everyone knew of his plans to coronate her on her twenty first birthday, so she wouldn't be surprised if someone had planned his murder out to stop her from inheriting the throne.
She could now anticipate the stupid smugly look her cousin would give her when they would arrive for her Father's burial since they lived apart from them.
He would be delighted about the news of her Father's death for sure because then, everyone would be on his side to choose him as their next king, her Father the king was no longer alive to declare a word against their decision, everyone would be against her with no allies to back her except her Mother, but what could she really do?
The women had no say in political matters as such and her Mother being frail and weak wouldn't dare utter a word, she had grown up differently than her, trained differently.
While she was being trained how to fight, be strong and grow to be a wise queen, her Mother had been trained the etiquettes of a lady, only to speak when she was asked to and cower behind the back of her husband but Rama swore she wouldn't live that way.
She had no allies at the moment who could help her secure her throne but she had a lethal advantage, her brains.
The society would make the men seem as though they were more superior than the women, but to her, they were just cowards dominating over the women to feel superior.
Her cousin was no different, he felt he was better than her because she was a woman, but she would prove him wrong, for someone who didn't have a spine, neither the brains she knew just well how to deal with him and them all.
She wouldn't sit back and watch her throne being seized unfairly from beneath her nose, she would fight for the position as the Queen, after all she was the rightful heir to the throne even though she was a woman.
Naturally, she would have been married off to a powerful man of status in the society as the High court had persuaded her Father but he had disagreed, only he saw the burning fire in his daughter's eyes that couldn't be quenched, only he knew she was more fit than any man to take the throne.
Rama would do whatever it took to successfully acquire her position as the rightful heir apparent to the throne and the Queen and she wouldn't let anyone come in her way, she would do whatever it took, even though they were all against her, she'd strive forward and lay waste to them all if she had to, after all she was the fierce warrior princess, soon to be Queen.