The Price Of Freedom

One

The loud clanging of metal hitting metal came from the dark and hot blacksmiths shop. The sweet smell of many baked goods came from the bakery. Small shops littered the town square, including a tailor, shoemaker, grocery store, and fabric shop. The square was bustling with people, old men and women, kids running around, women buying things from the market, and men were eagerly advertising things. A large statue of an overweight plump man standing in the center of the fountain. He had a long cape, swirling around him, a horrible mustache, a goatee, triple chins, a nice suit on, fancy boots that must have been at least size 14, and to finish it off, the statue had an arm pointing to the sunset, brandishing a sword. The statue was made out of silver, and the same one occupied every single village and towns in the Kingdom of Wellington. King Bernard Wellington ruled the Kingdom, the statue depicted him.
A loud clang came from the blacksmiths, followed by an ‘aarg!’.
“ Stupid sword!” Skinny, elegant, tall, auburn girl yelled. “ Why won’t you do what I want you to for once?”
“ Katya!” A low, rumbling voice came from the corner. “ Watch your language!”
“ Sorry, Father.” Katya rolled her eyes, and flipped her straight hair over her shoulder. A short, petite girl with curly black hair and dark skin entered the dark shop.
“ What’s the matter, Katya?” She asked in a sweet voice,
“ No matter what I do, I can never pound a sword right!” Katya said, annoyed. Wren, the shorter girl, was Katya’s best friend. She looked down at the misshapen sword, now with a large dent down the middle.
“ You just have to try again.” Wren said thoughtfully. “ You’ll get it soon enough.”
“ I know.”
“ You’ve only been working here for a couple of weeks, when I started helping my mother at the bakery, I couldn't figure out how to knead the dough properly for weeks!”
“ Yes, but baking is easier.”
“ It’s quite hard actually,  you have to knead the dough just enough that it rises and gets fluffy, but not too much, or else it will get chewy, and we have to throw it out.”
“ I suppose so.” Katya said. Wren always knew how to calm her down.
“ I was heading to buy some ingredients from the store, would you like to come?” Wren asked.
“ Father?” Katya called, “ May I shop with Wren for a little bit?”
“ If you must, but be back soon.” Her father said grumpily. Ever since Katya’s mother had died when she was seven, he had blamed himself for her death. Some robbers came from a nearby village, looking to steal swords and weapons. A big, burly, man had come wielding a large hammer. Her father stopped resisting, and offered anything to the robbers, in exchange for his wife and daughter’s lives. The robbers took everything in the shop, but when they were leaving, an archer spun around, and loosed an arrow at Katya’s mothers open back. The arrow struck her right through the heart, and she died in an instant. Katya still thought that her father could have done something, anything to help, or even Katya herself could have done something.
The girls exited the blacksmiths shop, talking.
“ My mother threw out a perfectly good pie because the crust was too dark. It was a delicious one too! We could have sold it for cheaper, but Mother didn’t want her perfect reputation of perfectly baked pies to fall.” Wren said, “ Don’t tell mother or Father, but after she had thrown it out, I took it and gave it to the poor old man who lives in the old wrecked house.” The ‘ poor old man’ was a man of about 65, his wife had died of old age years ago, and the man’s health went down, and he stopped taking care of his house or himself. He didn’t have enough money to pay for food every week, so once in a while, the girls snuck some of the day-old pies and pastries out of the shop and gave them to him. The old man also had wonderfully exciting stories. One time, the girls stayed so long listening to him, that it soon got dark out, and their parents questioned them. They both replied,
“ We were taking a walk in the woods, and talking.” Wren’s parents didn’t approve of her going out in the forest, because it was filled with ‘ dangerous creatures’, but so far they had encountered only a few foxes and rabbits, along with a few harmless birds.
“ I won’t tell.” Katya laughed. It was their little secret.
“ Mother wants me to get more flour, and bread, and milk. We hopefully have enough eggs, but I hope I have enough money.” Wren checked the few coins she had in her dress’s pocket.
Suddenly, a woman’s scream came from around the square. The crowd suddenly parted, revealing two pure white horses with two soldiers clad in fancy metal armor. The horses galloped towards the middle of the square, and Wren pulled Katya away from the path of the oncoming horses. The riders stopped right where Katya had been standing a moment before. The first rider cleared his throat.
“ King Bernard Wellington has sent us to announce,” The guard said in a high pitched voice. “ In two months, the King’s son, Prince Gillian, is to be married. We are selecting the two eldest unmarried young women from every village to be sent to the palace, where they will compete in the newest games, where the victor will be married to Prince Gillian.” The rider finished his announcement. Katya’s father and Wren’s parents joined them. The square was completely silent. Katya’s father had his hand on her shoulder, and he was steadily tightening his grip. They both very well knew that Katya and Wren were the youngest unmarried girls.
“ Who are the youngest unmarried girls?” The royal guard asked. Silence followed. Then, a girl of about Katya’s age, who was engaged to a man, pointed at the two girls hovering in the corner of the square.
“ There! That’s them!” Katya’s breath quickened, and she licked her lips nervously. The riders turned to the girls.
“ Come with me.”
“ No!” Katya’s father burst out, pulling Katya closer. “ I won't let you take her from me!”
“ Silence, fool!” The guard said, reaching down and forcefully grabbing Katya’s shoulder. The guard ripped her away. Wren was not fighting, and she said,
“Mother, Father, there is nothing you can do.” She said, “ I will go with you.” She added to the second guard. Wren climbed onto the second horse's back. Katya gave her father a look, and went with the guard willingly. Then, the horses turned around, and trotted back the way they came. They were gone as soon as they came.   

First chapter! Whoo! Sorry for any spelling mistakes, it's late and I'm tired. How do you like it so far? Please comment, be the first one!
— chaoselephant