Frieda - The Second Vow Ch. 01

Trying something with a new type of story - hope you enjoy it.

I have also commissioned an artist to bring these characters to life - keep an eye out for them!

Character pronunciations:

Frieda: Free-deh

Korine: Cor-reen

Lino: Lie-no

Marrianne: Mah-ree-ah-neh

Merten: Mehr-tin

Samanta: Sa-mahn-ta

Hartwin: Heart-veen

Deep in a forest, a woman ventured cautiously, every step of hers measured to avoid snapping the sticks that littered the forest floor beneath her. The sun peeked through the gaps in the trees, casting a golden glow upon her light locks. As the brisk autumn breeze kissed her tanned, fair skin, it also ruffled her hair, revealing subtle hints of pale red woven within. She paced the forest floor nimbly, ducking her tall figure underneath the branches of the trees around her - then she saw it. A large rabbit was sniffing through the grass unbeknownst that it would soon smell its last.

Closing one of her icy blue eyes and peering through her spectacles, the tall woman took aim with her bow, and in an instant an arrow pierced the creature, ending its life immediately. A wide smile spread across the huntress' face — she was pleased with her kill.

"Finally," she spoke to herself, "that's three."

Attaching the creature to her belt, she swiftly retraced her steps back home. Her cheeks were flushed a light pink from her activities in the forest, highlighting the freckles scattered all over her face. As she approached the forest's edge, a voice called out to her.

"Frieda!" The voice came from an older, much shorter woman —but the hair colour was the same.

"Look, mum!" Frieda yelled back, as she closed the gap between them, "I got three this time!"

"Yeesh, you may as well tell dad he can come on home," said the older woman.

"You know how much he likes fishing," said Frieda as she approached her mother in the wheat fields, "besides, that was fun - as always."

Frieda's mother smiled as she took hold of the three rabbits — what a young, beautiful and completely capable daughter she had. The older woman always thought that her daughter needn't be a man to do their jobs, especially if she enjoyed it herself. Frieda then acknowledged that she needed to go and wash up, and as Frieda's mother watched her daughter go inside, a pensive expression appeared on her face. Her daughter wasn't getting any younger, and seemed to have it in her mind that she wasn't going to find a genuine connection. The older woman worried for Frieda.

Frieda lived on a farm with her parents who made their living by trading their wheat, vegetables and dairy goods. She enjoyed the simple lifestyle and loved to go out and explore the fields and forest even as a young lass. Aside from hunting, the gingery blonde loved to go see the sheep out in the fields, especially around lambing season. Her parents knew what the world was actually like, but because of this slightly detached lifestyle they were a bit more lenient with her. They embraced her carefree spirit, understanding that on the farm, she could indulge in the freedom to be herself.

Frieda entered the bathroom and began to draw water for her bath. As she waited for the tub to fill, she stripped off her hunting overalls and inner garments, wiped a layer of sweat from her brow and placed her glasses on the sink. Once the bath had been filled, she swished her fingers around in it to check the temperature — it was ready.

The tall woman sighed as her body became enveloped in the warm water, beginning to ponder as she relaxed into the bath. Frieda was different from other girls her age — she wasn't your typical "girly girl". She didn't take pleasure in shopping for dresses, nor was it really a purpose for her to find a husband quickly, which practically every girl in town was trying to do. So, her chances were always slim to none when it came to finding someone. In fact, she couldn't even think of any girl in town that was like her at all. There were some young men that did attempt to seduce her, but were quickly scared off once they got to know her a bit more, so she knew one thing — she didn't luck out on looks, that's for sure.

The woman had always said that she didn't need anyone or any man for her to feel complete, yet seeing her parents every day and how happy they made each other, and how much fun they seemed to have made her curious about that feeling. Despite what she said and how she portrayed herself, Frieda still wanted to know the feeling of being treated like a real woman. She was taller than almost all men in town, sure, but she wouldn't necessarily tower over them — it was just that all of them would want or prefer a shorter woman. What's more, Frieda never liked gardening, sewing, or anything of the sort.

The tall woman enjoyed hunting, gathering and all things a man would do — but, even so, Frieda still wanted that feeling of having and connecting with someone, and caring for one another. Having these thoughts for an extended amount of time, she could tell that she was getting upset and angrily sat up in the bath, accepting the fact that she wouldn't find anyone for the rest of her days.

Stepping out of the bath, she dried her shoulder length hair, then the rest of her body. Yes, she was incredibly fit — she was well toned from all the physical jobs she did and despite being tall, her feminine features had still fully blossomed. Her breasts weren't incredibly large, but decent, she curved from her waist and her behind was immaculate — she still had all the good jiggly bits, so to speak, and wasn't considered a lanky person.

Her shoulders were a bit broad, but her torso still seemed tiny compared to her luscious, long legs and her thunder thighs. Stepping out of the bathroom and into her room, Frieda rummaged through her clothes — she had a ball tonight with a childhood friend, Samanta, and needed to find something fancy. The blue eyed woman then found a dark green dress that she had worn on formal occasions before and slipped into it.

She let her hair down and combed it straight while looking into her mirror. The dress hugged her curves tightly —she knew this was a bold move as most girls her age would wear something more "modest" but again, she wasn't like those girls. Frieda was always trying to see how far she could push it — it wasn't like she wanted the attention, even if she was wearing something "different" from other girls. Her height alone would attract the attention of most people, not to mention how much of a beauty she was with her light, golden-red hair and icy blue eyes.

As she put on a silver necklace that was given to her for her birthday the previous year, she thought about how she didn't mind dressing up and going to balls and other formal occasions too much — so at least in that respect, she was like other girls her age. Although, she did have a different agenda for going to these balls compared to most of the attendees there. Frieda took one last look at herself in the mirror, then touched her necklace — it was of an arrow, her favourite activity. The gingery blonde pressed the head of the arrow against her finger as she continued to admire it, before peering through the mirror's reflection at her bow behind her, smiling.

Frieda stepped out from her room and made her way into the living area where her mother was sitting sewing a piece of a garment.

"My, my, my," her mother said as she looked up from her work at Frieda adoringly, "I now understand — those boys are just not able to handle what an absolutely gorgeous woman my daughter is."

"Come now mother," said Frieda as she went to pour herself a glass of water, "I wouldn't want any of them anyway."

"You mustn't give up hope — perhaps wearing something less... daring might help tonight?" Frieda stopped mid-way through drinking and looked at her mother a little annoyed before setting the cup down.

"No, I'll wear this to the ball — it's comfortable and formal enough. It's much better than those other dresses that Samanta will no doubt wear tonight."

Frieda tried to remain respectful, but firm as she wanted to get her point across.

"You know how I feel about the way the world works, mum — with all these customs, rules and traditions — I'd much rather enjoy myself without people constantly talking."

Her mother looked at her with a hint of worry and doubt. Frieda wasn't getting any younger, but seemed to have it in her mind that she wasn't going to find a genuine connection with anyone. But she knew that she would only anger her daughter if she pressed on any further.

"I suppose you have always been one to never back down — you definitely take after your father on that front."

Frieda gulped down her glass of water then smiled at her mother apologetically.

"Sorry, mum. I didn't mean to snap."

"Oh, as if you could offend me," her mother said as she brought her gaze back to the garment in front of her, "you've been a pain in my ass for 19 years."

Frieda chuckled at her mother's sarcasm and the two conversed for a little while before she began to space out. She thought about the words she just uttered to her mother — so matter of fact, but... did she herself believe them? Despite trying to be someone who wasn't a stickler for the rules, she always found herself obeying them. Being respectful usually trumped any thought of being rebellious. Although, sometimes when she spoke, it would be perceived as disrespectful... maybe she acted this way as a defensive mechanism for not being able to find love, she thought to herself. Then her thoughts were interrupted by multiple knocks on the front door.

"I'll get it!" Frieda said as she hurried off to the door excitedly.

As she flung open the door, there in the frame stood Samanta —her tanned, dark eyed and dark haired childhood friend, who stood about a head shorter than Frieda. She wore a bright yellow and orange trimmed dress that had slightly poofy shoulders and a wide bell-shaped skirt. Samanta's mouth slowly curved into a smile as she held it agape.

"Oh. My. You are actually insane! You look so good, but this dress... it's..."

"I know," Frieda said as she cracked a smirk, jerked her eyeballs up in a cheeky way and tucked her chin close to her shoulder, "you think they'll look at me with this crazy dress on? It makes me mad to think that this perfectly normal dress is even considered crazy or daring."

"I don't know if I should be happy or scared for you," chuckled Samanta, "but how's mine?"

Samanta did a quick twirl before stepping firmly on one foot.

"Revolting," said Frieda sarcastically and the pair laughed.

Samanta was the only girl her age that Frieda completely trusted and got along with completely. The dark haired woman never criticised or made her feel any different just because she was... well, different, from the other girls. Their friendship meant more to her than what the world thought, and to her, the blue eyed woman was almost a breath of fresh air as Samanta had 3 sisters, who were all completely and equally exhausting.

Frieda then slipped her feet into her boots and the pair were off.

"Have a good time, darling! Don't be out too late!" yelled her mother from the door frame as the two hurried off.

"We won't be!" yelled Frieda back as she blew kisses to her mother.

The two women walked along a stone path with a low fence, arms linked, towards the town centre where they could already hear distant music and the sound of chatter.

"How much do you reckon we could get away with eating tonight?" asked Frieda half-jokingly.

"Are ya kidding? The fact that they haven't banned us for the last few times is a joke itself," chuckled Samanta, "I mean, we just stood by the buffet table and none of the servers cared to kick us out or say anything!"

The two laughed — while the town ball consisted of music, drinking, dancing and all that usual jazz, Samanta and Frieda only really attended for the free food. It may seem like it was unethical, but every ball was hosted by rich snobs from in or out of their town who loved to flaunt their wealth. Or at least, that was Frieda's thoughts on it. They would mostly use it as a platform to gain political favour, and no one ever ate the food that was served — so it'd be a waste, right? As they approached the town hall where the ball was hosted, Frieda took notice of how every store, stand and shop were closed early for the event ahead.

Her parents never attended as they preferred to keep their distance from the town, enjoying their slightly secluded life. Frieda remembered her first ball when she was a child, and even back then, the only thing that excited her was the food. The two women walked up the steps to the town hall; there were people outside chatting on the steps, and out in the garden area in front of the building, all in full fancy attire. They spotted several attendees with glasses of wine in their hands as they continued to walk in.

Immediately, Frieda noticed that many of them began to stare at her or do a double take. Some gawked, some were surprised at her daring dress, or her height — others, both. She just kept a straight face as she linked arms with Samanta and carried on, yet, her fists were clenched tight, almost trembling.

"Ugh, why must they always stare?" Frieda thought, "it's like they've never seen a tall woman before, or one in a dress like this."

Trying to ignore the eyes that were on her, Frieda began to take in the interior of the town hall. The gigantic chandelier, full of lit candles, shone and twinkled radiantly high above them, lighting up the entire floor area — how any of them were replaced or lit was an absolute mystery to Frieda. Scattered around to help with the lighting were more candles and torches on the walls. The duo made their way through the usual chattering crowd, gently pushing past them as each person held a glass of wine in their hands. Then, they spotted the illustrious buffet table, absolutely full of exotic foods from corner to corner. Frieda's blue eyes lit up.

"Come on, Samanta," said Frieda as she tugged on her linked arm, "let's get started."

The two giggled and quickly went over to the table to inspect the goods — they slowly walked from one end to the other, spotting a wide selection of seafood at the beginning, sweet and savoury pastries in the middle, and a variety of peculiar finger-foods they'd not seen before. This piqued Frieda's interest entirely as she stood in front of them.

"Curious," said Samanta as she stood beside Frieda, "I've not seen this type of food before, nor do I recall them changing the contents of this buffet that often."

"I'll say," replied Frieda as she picked up an item, "I don't know what to make of it..."

Even though the words escaped Frieda's lips, she couldn't help but admit that it all looked very appetising. As she eyed the item, her thoughts were interrupted by a server as they approached.

"May I be of any assistance, miss?" said a male's voice nearby.

Turning around, Frieda saw that a young male server was facing Samanta. He was dressed neatly with one hand tucked behind his back, and had a tray of the food item that she herself was holding.

"Oh! Um," stammered Samanta, slightly taken aback, "yes, what is this?"

She pointed to what the tall woman was holding, and before the server could even open his mouth, the tanned woman quickly spoke again.

"U-uh, and I don't mean to be rude! Apologies, we've just not seen this type of food before."

The server just smiled before answering back politely.

"You are quite alright, miss. This here is what we call a spring roll," the server then brought his tucked hand into vision to gesture, "the outside is rice paper, the fillings are a pork mince with various herbs and vegetables, and it is fried in oil to help get the crisp that it has."

"That actually sounds so delicious," said Samanta as she just stared at the spring roll.

"If there is anything else I could help you with, please just ask," said the server politely.

Frieda then picked up an item and asked the server what it was. As his attention switched from Samanta to Frieda, he immediately became flustered. Her tall figure, combined with her striking beauty, not only caused him to stumble upon his words, but also instilled a sense of intimidation.

"Uh, yes miss, that is uh, a rice ball," answered the server, who steadily became more flustered as he spoke Frieda, "i-it's in the name — a ball of rice with a filling of uh, seafood, meat or, v-vegetables."

Frieda furrowed her brow at the server's behaviour — she got more and more fed up every time this type of thing happened, but again, she always tried her best to look past it, even if it was difficult. It wasn't like Frieda was doing anything, either — she was being her normal self, speaking to him like she would anyone else.

The two then took turns asking about every single item at that spot of the table, genuinely interested and intrigued. They took a bite out of each, excitedly raving about how delicious each one was. Although, Frieda noticed that the server began to face Samanta and strayed from the cherry blonde's eye contact every time she spoke to him — clearly a coping mechanism.

"Why are these only here now?" asked Frieda with her mouth half full.

"Uh, courtesy of our Lord Lino," answered the server, "his Lady is from the far East, as am I — this is what we eat." He then politely smiled, glanced quickly at Frieda, then hurried away to tend to the other guests — not that they'd eat any of it.

"The far East, huh? I thought he looked unique..." Frieda then trailed off and noticed something about the servers tonight.

"Wait a minute, looks like they're all from the far East!" said Frieda as she looked around.

"You're right!" replied Samanta, "Oh, who is this Lord Lino?"

"Who cares, probably just another rich snob," said Frieda as she picked up a rice ball, "good taste in food though, that's for sure."

As the night went on, Frieda and Samanta remained close to the buffet table and chatted away. They liked to people watch and guess what type of things they were talking about, usually accompanied with a funny, mocking voice. The two were enjoying themselves a little too much, attracting disgusted looks and scoffs, at which they couldn't care less about. That was when Samanta had to excuse herself, and wandered off to find the bathroom.

Frieda then turned her back to the buffet table and faced the floor area. The tall woman was always a bit more observant than others — it might be that she just had a lot of time to herself. She wasn't an only child — she had a brother, but he moved away several years ago when he met his now wife, and didn't visit too often. She looked at the servers with her blue eyes, each of them had black hair and dark brown eyes, with a warm complexion compared to her own fair skin tone — although, she was a little tanned from the summer just gone. She then started to get deep in her thoughts, thinking about genealogy and how some of their traits must've been dominant, and how the gene pool in her own town was basically a mixed bag.

Interrupting her thoughts, she heard yet another male's voice next to her,

"Enjoying the food?" he asked.

Frieda turned and faced the man — he had curly dark brown, almost-black hair and was about half a head shorter than her.

"Oh, uhhh... yes, yes I am," replied Frieda, slightly shocked that someone, and a male at that, was actually talking to her.

"I've always hated these things," he said as he turned to face the floor area too, waving a spring roll around.