The Princess Bride

Chapter 17

Another month passed and nothing changed, but I decided not to truly worry until at least a full year had passed.

My resolve was easier to hold on to when obligations kept me busy, which was most of the time. But days like today were harder. It was my usual day to sit in the Great Hall and observe the king. It was boring and so I was able to dwell on things I shouldn't, which was bad enough, but being surrounded by the king's advisors was awful.

Given the formal atmosphere, none of them said anything directly to me, but the looks were there. The ones that said I was a failure and that Alex had made a mistake by choosing me. Most of them barely even pretended to like me. Oh, they would address me appropriately and be polite if need be, but only when absolutely necessary.

The only good thing about having to be here, was the opportunity to be near Alex. As usual he kept sending me smiles or would discretely roll his eyes when things were just so unbearably boring.

I probably shouldn't be bored though. The content was terribly uninteresting, but some of it had to do with me. Indirectly at least.

As part of my mission to attempt to help the lower classes, I'd decided to focus on one of the biggest problems facing the lower class in particular - food. Unfortunately, starvation was not unheard of in the kingdom and I thought that was completely unacceptable. Especially considering the amount of food that the rich threw away every day. As an alternative, I'd proposed that rather than throwing the food out, it could be sent to a central location where people who needed it could go and collect it.

Of course, no one had much cared for my suggestion until I pointed out that such a policy would greatly reduce the presence of rats and other vermin around the castle.

Unsurprisingly, the majority couldn't care less about the lower class and common decency, but they were eager to get rid of the rats at least. And so it was turning out to be an upper class effort, rather than just something we would be doing at the castle.

A few more philanthropic individuals like Papa had offered to donate money or food that wasn't just left overs.

Today's matters consisted mainly of individuals wishing to do business. Merchants and other business men were free to come make their offers to the king. Some had to do with my project and some did not. Which made it particularly boring. Trying to pay attention to the men who might have something to do with my project was hard enough, but I couldn't even seem to try with the others.

Alex caught my gaze and rolled his eyes, letting me know that he was just as bored as I was. I fought a smile and then nodded slightly in answer to his silent request to have a picnic in our secret room. Now that we were married and could be alone in our rooms whenever there was time, we didn't really need the hideaway as much, but it was still nice to have a secret place.

When I focused my attention on the matter at hand, a tall, rough looking man was approaching the king. I didn't think I knew him, but something about him was familiar.

Once he reached the king, he bowed as he was supposed to before the king motioned him up and waved him on to hear his proposal.

"Good day, Your Majesty," he said pleasantly. "I have come to offer my hunting services. My associates and I are able to catch fairly large amounts of any animal this country contains."

The king looked skeptical. "Any animal?"

The man nodded. "Yes, Sire. I'm not sure what your current needs are, but I've had great success with some of the more difficult ones such as elk and mink."

Now the king looked interested but I was no longer focusing on their conversation because I was struck again by that feeling of familiarity. Stronger this time due to the man's mannerisms and the way he spoke.