The False Princess

The False Princess Part 5

She was so absorbed in her own thoughts, and wondering what lay ahead, that Demetria hardly noticed the beginning of their ride.

But the relentless rise and fall of the horse made her back sore, and a headache began at the base of her neck. The breeze, which at first had been nice, turned cold, and the rough chain-mail of the man who rode behind her was little comfort.

She thought to ask a question once, but the sound of the galloping horses and the clatter of armor meant she would have to practically shout, and she was too unsure to begin that way.

She had never spoken to someone higher ranking than the Reeve, and whatever rank this horseman held, it was clearly far higher than that.

So she held her tongue as the pines flew by, and her seat in the saddle became ever more uncomfortable, until it was almost a relief to see the towers of the castle ahead of her.

They thundered through the gate and into a small courtyard, where chickens scattered from the horses, and a half dozen dogs began barking from their kennels.

Demetria and the others who had been taken in the conscription were herded to a corner of the yard while the horses were seen to and taken toward the stables.

The stone keep towered above them, three floors high, and a guard at the top looked like a toy doll as he peered down at them.

"Listen up!" A guardsman marched in front of them. "I hope you've all had time to say your goodbyes, because you won't be back home soon. This afternoon, you'll draw equipment, and get prepared, because tomorrow morning we march north. Now line up, I'm going to ask questions. Raise your hand if the answer is yes, keep it down if the answer is no."

Demetria found herself at the end of the line, next to Letya, just glad to be away from Pallit.

"Can you ride?"

No one raised their hand.

"Have any of you used a bow?"

All the hands, save Letya's, went up. Demetria was not a very good shot, but she had done a little hunting. A very little.

"Any carpenters or blacksmiths?"

No hands went up. Demetria's eyes caught another of the guards stalking over to stand behind the guardsman, and when they pulled off their helm, it revealed a woman's face as a dark braid fell down her back.

She was watching Demetria and Letya, almost glaring at them, and Demetria gave a glare back.

"Can anyone read?"

No hands again.

"Really scraping the bottom of the barrel," the guard muttered.

"That's enough," the woman hissed. "You two!" she pointed to Demetria and Lysa. "Come."

Demetria led the way, reaching back to take Letya's hand and give her a quick smile. She could feel Letya shaking, and she gave her a reassuring squeeze.

"What are you good at?" the woman asked sharply of Letya.

Letya almost choked. "I... I can cook," she stuttered.

"You can cook," the woman nodded. "And you?" she jerked her head at Demetria.

"I am a farmer," Demetria answered. The woman shook her head, but Demetria continued. "If you wanted something else, you shouldn't have looked for it in a farming village."

"It's about the only option I've got left," the woman snapped. "Either of you married?"

Both of them shook their heads.

"You know each other?"

"Barely," Demetria said.

The woman's eyes flicked to where Demetria was still holding Letya's hand.

"Fine," she said. "Urian, this one's yours." She gestured at Letya, then turned to Demetria. "Come with me."

"We'll be alright," Demetria whispered to Letya, "just keep your head up."

"Come on," the woman said impatiently, "let's go."

She led Demetria to the captain, who watched them approach with a critical eye. "This is her?"

"Don't look so surprised," the woman muttered. "Let's get this over with."

The man nodded and led them into the keep.

Inside, the air was cool, and Demetria had the sense of being enveloped. When the door shut behind them, the sound of the outside was suddenly muffled, and she glanced back in surprise. Heavy stone was lit by the occasional narrow window, and torches, their light flickering whenever a small gust flitted through the passage.

At a pair of double doors, they halted. A pair of guards on either side of the door snapped to a salute.

The man leading Demetria gestured toward the doors. "Are they within?"

The guards nodded, and the man let go of Demetria's shoulder. "I'll go first," he said, and the woman nodded.

He stepped through the door, but left it cracked behind him. Demetria could hear voices for a moment, but it was not long before she heard a woman's voice raised.

"I will not see her, I will not hear her," she said. "If this is to be forced upon me, be that as it may, but I will not torture myself by engaging myself more than is needed."

"If the plan succeeds," came an answering voice, "it may mean no little benefit to our house and to our lands. It will not be amiss to make her welcome and perhaps reap the benefits of it later."

"You foul thing," the woman hissed. "I will not bend myself to curry favor with a wastrel likely to be dead in six months."

The woman beside Demetria stiffened, and Demetria looked at her in horror. If they were speaking of her, then what twisted scheme had she been dragged into?

"I thought I was to be a maid," she whispered. "Or a cook."

"For the love of all the saints," the woman beside her hissed. "Will you learn to not blurt out the first thing on your mind? Be silent and wait. You'll understand soon enough."

They were joined by the leader a moment later, who pulled the door shut behind him.

"That went well," the woman said. "You should have shut the door."

He nodded with a sigh. "Get her up to her rooms, and let's get started. We have barely two months."

***

Author's Note: Whenever I read stories about people who are plucked from obscurity and chosen for some great calling in fantasy stories, I always wonder why they are chosen. Obviously, there's still a lot more to be discovered here, but I hope that when the time comes to look back at this with more knowledge of the characters and the bigger picture, I hope it still makes sense.

At the same time, I didn't want it come across as Letya being defective, which is a tough line to straddle. Someone has to be picked, and someone has to be passed over. So I've got some side story for Letya, and if you're interested I might share some of that at some point.

Also, I need to go make a map at some point for this.