Continued:
Around the time of her 15th birthday, an argument happened between her middle older brother, Aeron, and her father, about the rights to the inheritance. Aeron left that day, determined to make his own life and own way in the world. Raynagh would get letters from her brother here and there, but the letters stopped just as quickly as they started once the crusades began.
When her father and two remaining brothers left her in the care of a distant elderly relative of her mother to fight in the crusades, Raynagh was none-to-happy. Raynagh lived for years with the kindness of the elderly spinster woman until a letter came out of the blue, that same brother, Aeron, stating their father and brothers, Estillo and Tristan were dead. He had been notified of their passing from the blacksmith he had been apprenticing for sometime. Aeron apologized to her, on behalf of their father for leaving her behind and for not being able to see her before he died.
The sincerity in his written words, though brief, gave her a peace of mind about the motives of the men in her life. However, that letter was the last word she heard from him for years.
With her family gone, Raynagh became angry. The lifestyle of dresses, sewing, baking, and tending home she was put into, was not what she was used to, nor what she wanted. In the night, she left her relatives home, never to return. She was kind enough to leave a note, explaining her decision and her choice to join the crusades in her fathers honor.
Raynagh did well in the fighting, but left to pursue a more lucrative lifestyle. This desire brought her to tournaments around the country. Being a woman, she was unable to compete, however, she used her middle brothers name, her mothers old nobility and lied her way to even gain some notoriety.
It was at such a tournament, she crossed paths with a Knight, Sir Ronan Dubhberach. Raynagh was competing in a sword contest, when her helm was removed revealing her long, flowing, red hair. Having discovered she was a woman, they locked her in the stocks, for the whole town to see.
Little did she know, Sir Ronan had been watching her fight the entire time, seeing her potential and caring not that she was a woman. Sir Ronan arranged for her to be released and she joined him in his travels, a loyal squire to him until Sir Thomas Rogers and Sir Ronan made arrangements for her to train under Sir Thomas. She remains a loyal fighting squire for Sir Thomas to this day.
Years later, she was coincidentally reunited with her middle brother, Aeron, having found him among the ranks of Lord Jeffery of Gore’s encampment. He’s still the overprotective, annoying, older brother she remembered growing up with, just aged, which she teases him about to this day.