Hansel & Gretel [NaNoWriMo 2016]

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Gretel

The morning was cool as Gretel explored the castle that was now her home. With rugs of rich green dyes and a soft texture that screamed luxury, there was no doubt in her mind that this was a place of royalty. However, she couldn't see herself as princess even though that was she technically was. From Gretel had learned and heard in her life, princesses were supposed to be beautiful and graceful in their floor-length dresses. Gretel didn't even own a dress unless the wardrobe in her room had some in there. She wouldn't doubt it even though Serane hasn't said a word about the trousers Gretel wore.

It was only a matter of time, though. Every time Gretel met a woman, they made it their goal to make her wear one. She was proud to say that only Frida was able to convince her to do so. Those days were long gone, however. Frida wasn't around anymore to do anything.

While Gretel was lost in her thoughts, she bumped into another person as she went around a corner. She stumbled, but was able to steady herself with her staff. The other person, however, had to catch himself with a hand on the wall. When Gretel raised her eyes to apologize to the person, she realized who it was.

It was the leader of the Knights who had taken them to the castle in the first place. While she had not analyzed his face yesterday to gauge his age, she had to opportunity to do so now and was surprised at his apparent youth. She would have expected the Knights' leader to be at least in his thirties, not his twenties. In fact, Gretel wouldn't be surprised if he was only a few years older than her and barely in his twenties.

"I apologize. I didn't see you," Gretel said with a convincing smile.

She didn't particularly hate or like this guy, but knew to at least to have other people thin she was a sweetheart. After all, sweethearts didn't sneak around looking for information or frame people. It was all about illusions. Gretel didn't want anyone to question what she was doing when she was alone in the castle so it was better to give them an illusion of a nice, simple girl who was their princess. As much as that image made Gretel inwardly shutter, she knew how people worked. Between her gender and the kind image she would project, the king could be assassinated and no one would ever consider her as a suspect.

She was a good actress after all.

The Knight flashed her a polite smile. "It is quite alright, your highness. I wasn't paying attention."

Hearing her being referred to as your highness made Gretel's stomach roll. Though she had been vaguely aware that these people would consider her as their princess now, she hadn't thought of how it would affect her. It was weird to see this Knight smiling at her even though she had bumped into him. Were all people going to be nice to her now just because she was royalty?

It set her teeth on edge. She and Hansel had been through their fair share of trouble in their short lives and while there had been people who had been very kind to them, there had also been the kind of people that wouldn't look at them or raise a finger to help. After Hansel and Gretel survived their incident with the Witch, they had struggled to eat enough to stay alive. They had stumbled upon a village in which a kind mother had given them food and in the same day, when a slave trader tried to kidnap her to no doubt sell her to a brothel or a rich man, the few witnesses didn't try to help her escape. It had been up to her and Hansel to kick the man and run away as fast as their feet could carry them.

So, yes, to see that all it took for people to smile at her and be kind to her was to be royalty was something that made her want to curse at the world.

"If you say so," Gretel replied, masking the rage beneath her skin.

The Knight merely nodded his head and said nothing, leaving them stranded in a swell of silence and awkwardness. While there was no conversation to be had, neither person felt it was acceptable to leave just yet. So they stood there with both of them looking at each other, but neither of them started talking.