Chapter 27:
I walked as confidently as was possible out of the laundromat. As I neared the exit, I noticed the owner talking to a man, someone that clearly looked as if he was from the castle.
“Yes, the man you speak of was here, I let him in the laundry after he came in with quite a few men, he was looking for someone from the castle.” Some mumbling interrupted her, but then she looked confused. “No, the Prince was not here. If he was, we would not have the store open right now. He does great business, you know, with all those outfits of his that always need cleaning. The man did leave with a lot of the bags of laundry, and no I did not challenge him, they had weapons. Of course, I told him not to, but now I will be punished harshly for the loss of the castle’s laundry.” The woman replied, sounding worried as she clung her hands together in front of her rough cloth dress.
I mentally praised the owner of the store; I had asked her not to give out my name or that I was here, and this man didn’t seem like someone who wanted to know when I would be available to accompany him to tea. The man turned around, and the sun caught his sharp, spindly features. My breath hitched in my throat as I realized who the man was. In front of me stood the Prime Minister, Sir Oswald. I had been introduced to the grey-haired man by Jean, and the man had not particularly stood out to me because of his kindness; his face remained cold and composed, never showing a hint of emotion. In fact, Jean had told me more than one tale of this man’s harsh judgement, and I knew that I definitely did not want to cross this Sir Oswald if not necessary. One man, who had committed several offenses for not paying his dues to his lord, was forced into slavery for the rest of his life to the man for not staying kept up.
However, this man seemed to want to know about the prince; I wondered if he wanted to help him or hurt him. Maybe he could help me get him back; I didn’t really want to make any risks. After all, this man hadn’t exactly done anything to win my trust. Jean did not exactly speak of him highly, and this man probably didn’t think of Jean highly either.
Just to prove my point, the man pulled his sword out of its scabbard by his side. He advanced towards the woman, his boots clicking smartly on the wooden floorboards. She shrieked in horror, so I guessed that he had to have done something to lose her trust. By now, my instincts were flashing with fear, and I knew that this man was definitely not a ‘good guy.’ Not many men that I had met on my adventures--besides Jean, of course--were truly ‘good guys.’ It was quite a disappointment to me; I had expected better, judging from the gentlemen I had met previously at the castle. Though back then I had been extremely sheltered, thinking that men were all gallant and chivalrous.
I slowly drew my small jeweled blade which really did not compare to his, not really wanting to get into hand-to-hand combat if necessary and kind of hoping that he would just back off when he saw that not everybody here is defenseless. My feet placed themselves in front of each other, and I found myself counting how many steps I was taking, more out of nervousness than counting reasons. When I was occupied, there was a smaller chance that I would actually begin thinking about what I was currently doing.
“Ah, who do we have here? Looks like the little sweet princess! And where the princess is, the prince must be somewhere; he is your tiny puppy dog, following you everywhere and such. Really, I don’t see the attraction,” he stated, looking down at me. “Now where is the sweet little puppy dog? Tell me, girl, and I won’t hurt you. So you’ll be getting the better side of the deal, as long as you simply obey what I direct you to do.” He commanded, his voice getting sterner after he had sufficiently teased me. Edging closer, he began holding his sword in front of him, and I guessed that he had seen my small pathetic dagger and somehow judged it a threat to him. Well, let him think that way.
“I have connections, you know. I am currently considering trussing you up and sending you to that prince who has been chasing you so much. He’s already asked if I would be so kind; I might just oblige. That would shut up your obnoxious attitude.” He said with a glance of disgust in my direction.
This quieted the comeback teasing my lips. He knew Jean. He knew Jean! What is up with these people? Why can’t everyone just be as they seem? Life always has to be complicated, and to think that fifteen minutes ago I almost told him where the prince was with! He would have just gone to Jean and told him, maybe bringing me with him. None of this mattered, I told myself. All of this will mean nothing by tomorrow, I just need to save Derrick before Jean finds him.
I counted my breaths as he drew closer to me. Once I reached thirty(my lucky number), I jumped to my feet, pushed past the evil government official, and scurried away, hoping that I could outrace the man. Luckily the stout man was not quite fit to match my pace, and I got out of the place without any unnecessary trouble. I found a horse stalling by a gate where it had been tied; seeing only slight trouble in it, I soon found myself carefully mounting the steed. She had no bridle or reins, luckily I was quite an equestrian, and had learned how to ride sidesaddle(for formal occasions), forward, and bareback.
The horse was built for speed, I could see that. But what I found next was quite surprising, for she took off at a breakneck speed. I clutched her brace tightly, if I didn’t manage this carefully, I would be bucked off, and soon the Prime Minister would begin chase. Eventually, I settled into the lulling rhythm of her strides, and we were galloping along smoothly. Before long, I was drifting in and out of sleep, waking up every time the fine mare took an especially hard
To tell the truth, I had no idea where we were going. We passed blurred trees, bushes, animals, lakes, all beautiful, but no land marks to recognize. In fact, I didn’t even know where Jean and his men had escaped to. Maybe the horse had some built in navigation, because soon we approached a shack. Not quite sturdy, it perched precariously on top of a grassy hill. My rear was already sore after just a few hours, and my whole body was shaking from the sudden feeling of hard ground under my feet.
And though it would be perfect right now, the little cabin did not contain Jean, his thugs, and more importantly, Derrick. To my disappointment, I found an empty one-room house instead, currently unoccupied. Either the person who owned the house had vanished in a rush, or simply gone on an errand of some sort. The bed remained unmade, drawers were pulled out of their shelf, and clothes scattered around the room. Scrambling in the small cupboard, I found half of a loaf of bread and some stale wine which I guessed was from one of the few vineyards that I had passed on my way here. Not one to require high maintenance, I upturned one of the fallen chairs, and plopped down into the throne. Munching on the bread, I stared aimlessly at the ceiling.
“Found something entertaining up there, girl?” a voice asked, startling me, as it seemed almost as if it came from a dismembered source. When I looked down, I found my personal space being invaded by a frightening man who probably hadn’t shaved in weeks and was currently invading my private space. I looked down to find a pleasantly sharp dagger held dangerously close to my white throat.
“Care to tell me why you’re intruding on my house here? Don’t give me any useless fripperies, I want facts. Wanna explain this situation to me before I decide to just go on ahead and chop that pretty little head of yours off of the rest of your body?” He finished, staring at me expectantly.
I took a deep breath that I hadn’t known I was holding. I began unsteadily. “Well, this may sound crazy, but I began back home in my castle. Now there was this guy, you see, who I actually really liked. However, on my birthday he tried to poison me. I didn’t know it then, but he actually wanted me out of the way. He thinks that I am an impostor, and apparently he also hates my parents for something they did to him way back. Then, he had some of his men kidnap me, and it didn’t quite work well. So then, I escaped. Ha! The losers.” I waited a second before I continued.
“After that, I found myself in the middle of nowhere. The men still pursued me, because apparently I’m really valuable or something and Jean wants to sell me back to my parents. And I know this is a really long rant, but it’s getting to the good part. Next, Derrick found me, he’s my.... uh, well, he’s basically my suitor? And then we basically went on a whole long adventure, and now I’m here! So please don’t kill me!” I said, squealing out the last part while holding my hands up in defeat.
The man went on to stare at me, pondering what to do with me. Well, I guess it wasn’t every day that a random stranger shows up in his distant cottage. As he continued peering oddly at me, I began feeling quite uncomfortable in the position. Having someone gaping at you while in the midst of a sharp knife drawing blood on our neck is not comfortable in any way.
Finally, he sighed. “Well, I guess I won’t kill you. But that doesn’t mean that you won’t still have to do something to make up my mind that you aren’t here to kill me or something. And by the way, the name’s Francis. You?”
“Adriana. I’m sorry that I ate your food, but I was really hungry. I promise to get you the money back after I get out of this mess, but I would have just fainted if I wasn’t able to eat something. Or I can just help you in some way... I could help,” I glanced around the room in disgust, “clean up this mess.”
He looked somewhat offended at this, as his pultruding belly seemed to stick out even more in defiance. The man--Francis--was quite round, with a rough beard framing the egg-shaped face. His skin was rough from working on his land, and his periwinkle eyes shocked me at their tenderness. He seemed like a calloused man, but I could tell that he was sweet if you got to know him.
“Just go to bed. You seem quite rude, to have just entered into my hospitality and already critiquing your entertainer. Well, there’s a pallet up in the loft, use that. It may be small, but from what you’ve told me, I think that it will suffice.” He looked satisfied with his answer, and abruptly turned around and began rummaging around in the cabinet for some food that he hoped still remained.
Shuffling, I sullenly set up the sheet over the straw that was customary for lofts. Thus the reason why they are often called ‘haylofts.’ I lay down after shortly considering what I was to sleep in. I felt as though I needed to have some kind of nightshift, but I still wasn’t quite sure that this man didn’t have bad intentions, so I decided to remain in my simple dress and hold on to my knife. Sluggishly I formed a mound out of the stiff sticks.
In the mean time, Francis had turned off the candle he had brought in with himself. I guess he really didn’t care that I was here, just another inconvenience in a long list of troubles; he wasn’t about to let me change his routine. I stared at the rough wooden ceiling, and I wondered if he had built this midget shack by himself. Surely he must have had someone living with him before: a wife, brother, who knows? I hoped I wasn’t causing too much trouble by intruding upon him.
My thoughts drifted over from him to Derrick and then on to Jean. Something about Jean just demanded all of your attention. No one else seemed to mind this fact, as he wasn’t extremely bad looking. Of course, whenever I thought of him, shivers went up my spine, but it was kind of like a naughty pleasure. He wanted to kill me, and I somehow think that he’s attractive. If only all of my enemies were like him, I wouldn’t mind having so many of them.
Oh well, you can’t get everything you want in life. But daydreaming won’t get me anywhere, right now I needed sleep.
A/N: Thanks again, I finally updated! Yay! On the side is a picture of a dress that would be common on princesses in her time, very fancy, I know. I am so sorry I have not updated sooner, but I have been really busy with soccer, school, and refereeing soccer, as well as my social life(or lack thereof.....) Just kidding, but I seriously will try to update as soon as possible once again. Tell me what you think should happen, what you want to happen, etc. Also, please vote or fan if you haven't yet.
~loviedovy12