From the Depths

Chapter 2 - Made it in One Piece!

It was a three-day trek to the Lord's castle by horse, she had to awkwardly ride with one of the knights. Probably for fear of her commandeering one of their horses, though they were stupid for thinking she'd put her village at risk. She had tried to argue the fact that she would never, not with her mother's life on the line. But it was to no avail, no chances were to be taken when it came to her, apparently.

It hardly made any sense. But all she could do was remain quiet and obey. The one she rode with appeared to be the ring leader, so to speak. He was short and stern when speaking and no one questioned his orders. The knights at least treated her with some form of respect, terrified of what may happen to them if she were harmed before she was given to the King.

Kirea was not looking forward to living in the castle or under Lord Haith, each step closer twisted her stomach into numerous knots. The anxiety and anticipation killing her slowly as dread ate her alive from the inside, why did he want her of all people?

After the sun had long set, the night air was cold, the ground hard beneath her as she tried to sleep for the few hours they stopped each evening. They rose earlier and pushed on, if she wasn't used to sleeping in the stables with the sickly animals it would have caused her to be more tired and restless than usual. Instead, she only felt more anxious with every passing moment.

The sun was high on the third day when they finally arrived at the gates of a huge city. The capital of the Kingdom she called home. If she had cared for the country and the King she would have learnt the name of it by now. But she didn't. The leader of their small pack of knights announced his presence and the large grated gates slowly began to turn inward and open.

Kirea had never been to any big city, and as the horses lurched forward she took it in, noting the differences to her own small town. The streets were narrow and seemed rather crowded, the ground was paved to make horse and cart travel a lot smoother, and the buildings were not made out of straw and wood. She'd only ever seen brick used for fire pits, it being a far too expensive material for such common folk like herself.

Though it did surprise her when she saw that a lot of the faces looking back at her, were much like her own. Untidy unkept hair, dirtied clothes and rough hands. It seemed that the people in the outermost part of the city lived a lot like her and her mother. The workers of the town, many of whom bowed as the horses passed their small stalls that were stationed on the sides of the paved roads.

As they moved deeper into the city and closer to the castle, the atmosphere changed. She started seeing people of higher status, elegant clothing and more colourful housing. These buildings were adorned with decorative pieces like coat of arms, silk flags with house symbols and metal accents, something that was utterly unheard of in her town. These people gave her judging stares of confusion as if to say, what is that filth doing with the knights?

Pompous, arrogant pricks! Kirea thought with distaste. Looking down on people similar because they didn't have wealth, it disgusted her.

Finally passed the over-dressed onlookers, she was glad to be rid of the distasteful banter which she could clearly hear being muttered amongst the so-called nobles.

I can see myself having the best time here! She thought sarcastically.

She would have to act refined and ladylike, wouldn't she? She held back a groan. She was anything but ladylike. Would she truly be able to hold her tongue around the buffoons that ruled the kingdom? She'd had to at least try, then little curse them in secret later.

The horses finally came to a halt, she was roughly pushed from her seating position on the saddle, and very nearly ended up greeting the ground with her face. Thankfully her arms had caught her before the ground was given the pleasure of her first kiss. She could have sworn she saw the knight behind her smirk beneath his helmet, bastards!