Chapter 1
My Lord, they have cut my hair and dressed me as a boy.
The Sisterhood taught that a Sinner must use any disguise, but the weight of this deception is heavy. I feel a fraud. The soldiers I ride with see a holy mascot, not a warrior, and perhaps they are right. How can a vessel so plain, so unworthy, be chosen to carry the will of Heaven?
I see now that this war is not only against the English, but against the pride of men who cannot bear to see Your power in the vessel of a girl. Every night I pray I am strong enough not to shatter from this famine in my soul.
One thought keeps me afloat. They do not know the true war we fight is in the shadows. They cannot see the demons that I do.
If the voices are correct, and this holy sword is where they tell me, then I will mark it so to remind myself that it is my cross to bear.