In The Woods ➳ H.S.

☙ e l e v e n

It was a strange feeling, really. To feel so free and imprisoned at the same time.

The wind was in my hair, blowing all the thick bunches out of the hair ties I had used to confine them in. The harshness of it also bit at my skin, sending shivers down my body once in a while.

Seeing town after town blur past us was another factor that made me feel free, as if I was no longer tied down by the boundaries that social classes in the North Kingdom had set up.

In huge contrast to the whole feeling of freedom, I was bounded to sit on this white horse.

I was never privileged enough to even take care of a horse, much less ride one. Every bump and gallop the horse took, I felt like falling over and staying on the ground - several times I did so on purpose just to try and run away.

And then there were the constraints on my wrists. A thick brown rope tied my two hands in front of me, their tightness weren't kind at all to my skin. Already now I see the edges of the skin they hugged blistering in pain.

It was truly odd to feel like I was living in an actual oxymoron: so free yet so contained.

It had taken two days to get to the castle - even on a horse.

I didn't know which was worse during the travel; the day or the night.

When the sun was up, the guard - who's name I had recalled to be Niall - would force me on the horse to ride all day. This was, of course, much to mine and the horse's displeasure.

The sun was hotter than it should be, seeing as winter was approaching, and it beat down mercilessly on me.

I was hungry as well, while as Niall hadn't been shameful at all for eating a full-blown meal right in front of me.

He had gone inside the shop, leaving me and the horse tied up to some post as he gorged himself in food.

I had tried asking for some, of course. As a girl from a low village, begging was something I no longer felt shame for. There was a point in my life when that was actually the only chance of getting food.

His reply, however, was considerably more degrading than the ones back at the village. It was always either a mocking laugh, or phrase like "can you afford it?"

The nights weren't any kinder.

Niall had always rented a room for himself at the finest inn in the town we stop in, and he finds the horse a barn to stay in for the night.

I, on the other hand, was left to try and keep myself warm throughout the hours of darkness, and I hadn't gotten sleep at all - couldn't really risk falling asleep while I was helplessly tied to a pole out in the streets at dark.

However, now that the gold and silver gates of the castle had come into view, I couldn't help but pick those two horrible days of traveling over arriving in the castle.

The gates alone were extremely tall, I was sure it was well over twenty feet. The towers behind the bars were almost triple the size.

With a castle like this I wondered how small villages like mine still had to starve everyday, but clearly the answer was simple: selfishness.

Yes, I guess it truly was human nature to only care for yourself and the people you hold dear - but this was a whole different level. I mean, as rulers of a kingdom, isn't it their responsibility to look after their people?

My scowl deepened at my own thoughts, but before I can ponder more on it, Niall was already stopping near the gates.

Other knights in the same uniform were lined up near the walls. I was sure there was well over a hundred guards with just the gates alone.