Ascension (16 page)

As if one shock wasn't enough for
today, after making my way down the majority of the stalls, I saw
the fair, golden head of Elana peek out of the stall at the
end.

"Elana? You're here too?" I greeted
her with the same I enthusiasm I gave Sir Thunder, although her
reciprocation was much better, her chin nuzzling my back as I
stroked her beautiful mane. I noticed that she, too, had a thick
film of dirt embedded in her coat and mane. Before I could begin to
wonder where she had been, someone came from behind me and snaked
their arm around my waist.

"Excuse me!" I exclaimed as I turned
around, instinctively reaching out to slap whoever it was behind
me. My mind didn't process that it was Croxley's mug until my hand
reached his cheek with a resounding smack!

"And hello to you too, Fara," he
said, rubbing his jaw. "I guess I deserved that."

"That was just the beginning! What
are you doing here? Where did you go? Why did you leave?" My mouth
was spewing out questions before I could even think of them, and I
knew that I must have sounded like a bumbling idiot, but I couldn't
help myself.

Croxley laughed
and pulled me into an embrace, sending my stream of questions to a
halt, my mind now preoccupied with trying to figure out what was
going on. "Glad to know you're still curious! I
’
ve missed you,
”
He stopped laughing and pulled out of the
embrace, his grin softening into a quiet smile as he looked at me
tenderly. My mental gears were still processing what had just
happened and the swirl of emotions that came with it. Before I
managed to form a coherent sentence, Heath appeared. His eyes
immediately went to Croxley's hands on my shoulders, which were
quickly dropped, and then directed his gaze to
me.

"Fara, the missus wants to see you.
I believe she said it was important." Confused, I walked outside,
leaving Croxley and Heath behind, only to find Mathelda waiting at
the entrance.

"Come with me, girl." Without any
further explanation, she walked away, back towards the castle,
leaving me little choice but to follow. The whole way, I wracked my
mind for an explanation as to why she came for me. After that first
day, I had been very careful to stay out of her way, and for a
while, I thought that I had been successful. With a shock, I
realized that it must be about the plans for the revolt. Someone
must have realized why I was so curious about the colonies, having
asked one-too-many questions, and now I was going to pay for it. I
swallowed the nerves rising in my throat and clasped my hands
together, hoping to hide their shaking.

She took me back to my room, and
before I had a chance to ask what was going on, told me to wash up
and to put on my good slippers and the clean dress I saw lying on
my cot. I waited for her to leave, but she made no indication of
moving. Turning myself around, I slipped out of my dirty uniform
and pulled the rag out of the bowl of water at the side of my cot.
After I had wiped most of the grime away, I slipped into the new
dress. It sent shivers of pleasure down my spine, goosebumps
raising along my arms as the smooth fabric, unlike any I had felt
before, shimmered down my skin. It was a vibrant green, which
contrasted against my pale skin and dark hair.

Mathelda looked satisfied, but I
couldn't imagine why she would have me wear such a thing. A morbid
image appeared in my mind in which I was swinging from the gallows,
an execution victim dressed in the finest gown so that, even in
death, I wouldn't mar the beauty of the royal city. My nervous eyes
flitted around the room, stopping at my plant on the windowsill.
Having watered it every night, it had grown much larger in the past
month. Its leaves were thick and green, with a round stalk that
pointed towards the sky. It had become a symbol of hope for me, and
I could only hope that Jean would continue to care for
it.

“
Hurry now," Mathelda
barked, and once again I followed her through the
tunnels.

We were walking through one of the
residential hallways where nobles normal stay when she explained to
me, "You have a request."

"A request?" I didn't
understand.

"I was expecting one sooner or
later, but I have to say that I was surprised by your first
customer. For your sake, I hope you entertain him well." And with
that, she shoved me through one of the doors in the hallway and
left.

I turned around, and to my horror, I
saw the hay merchant from a few weeks ago laying on a bed, his
spindly appendages poking out of a blanket covering only the lower
half of his body, while his upper half was unclothed. He beckoned
me forward, but I felt like a deer caught by a predator, my legs
stiff and my eyes wide. Suddenly, I knew exactly what all the other
girls did for work. Memories of my times in the tunnels, when the
guards would try to take me back to their rooms, paired with more
recent memories of girls coming back to the dorms late at night,
whimpering in their rooms, flooded my mind. Images like that of
Jean gingerly sitting on her bed, removing her dress that looked as
though it had been put on wrong. All of them came together, and the
harsh reality that I had tried so hard to avoid was now facing me,
point blank, and it was all too obvious.

The slimy
merchant laughed darkly. "I would tell you not to worry, that I
won't hurt you, but from what I hear, I can't make any promises. I
believe I'm your first client, yes? I paid good money for this, you
know. Girls like you are a rare commodity.
”
He paused and a smug grin appeared on his face. "I told you
I would be back, didn't I?" He stood, the blankets falling from
around his waist, and I saw that he was still wearing thin briefs.
This offered little relief, though, as he was walking towards me,
and I had no where to go. I was trapped. In what seemed both like
seconds and hours, he closed the short gap between us and stopped
in front of me. He ran a hand through my hair, pushing it behind my
ear, and I flinched, moving to take a step back. He grabbed me by
the shoulders, locking me in place. My mind flitted back to earlier
today, when Croxley's hands were in the same spot, and I wondered
at how the same position could make me feel so different depending
on who was holding me.

The merchant kept his grip on my
right shoulder with one hand, while the other moved up to caress my
cheek. His breath smelled foul and rancid, and as he sighed, the
telltale scent of alcohol wafted up my nostrils. I felt like I was
about to vomit. He abruptly planted his lips on mine, and stuck his
tongue in my mouth.

I bit down, hard.

He howled and pulled back, wiping a
hand over his lips, and I noticed with slight satisfaction that I
had drawn blood. My satisfaction was short lived, however, as his
hand darted behind my head to grab at the hair at the nape of my
neck. He tugged on it, pulling my head back, and I whimpered out of
pain and fear. He hissed, "So you want to play it like that, do
you? You like it rough? I can give you rough." Pulling me to the
bed, I was sickly surprised at the strength of this scrawny man. He
threw me on the bed, and thrust himself on top of me. Tears began
to stream down my face, but I couldn't wipe them away because he
was pinning my wrists to the bed. Keeping one hand on my wrists
while his legs straddled over me, he struggled to undo the top
laces of my dress. I closed my eyes, not wanting to watch him
anymore, when suddenly, his weight was lifted off of me.

I heard him curse, and when I opened
my eyes, he was in the grip of a guard. "What the hell is this," he
exclaimed. "I paid good money for this girl!" I quickly squirmed my
way off the bed, getting as far away from him as
possible.

Another second guard came from
behind me and announced, "I have an order from the King. She is
needed." Before I could react, he spun me around and pushed me out
the door. I glanced back into the room, and I saw the other guard
struggling with the merchant, finally resorting to slugging him on
the head which succeeded in knocking him out. The guard hustled
towards the door and closed it behind himself. I could only stare
at him with wide eyes, the shock being the only thing that kept me
from going completely hysterical.

They moved at a quick pace, herding
me up a staircase and into another room. This one had a fireplace
in the corner, a large bed with a canopy, and some chairs seated
around a table. I didn't see the King anywhere, and for the
umpteenth time today, I wondered just what exactly

was going on. The guards locked the
door behind them, and then slumped against it, putting their hands
on each other's shoulders.

"What is going on?" I yelled,
finally reaching my breaking point. "Let me out of
here!"

"Calm down, calm down!" The guard in
front of me took off his helmet, and I had to blink a few times to
make sure I was seeing things correctly. Underneath the helmet was
none other than Croxley. Not knowing what else to do, I collapsed
into the chair next to me, staring at him with a completely blank
face. Croxley followed and crouched down in front of me. "Relax,
you're okay. We came to rescue you ."

"We? Who is that," I motioned to the
other guard, who was putting more fire on the fireplace. He set the
poker down and walked towards me. He took off his helmet, knelt
down, and, taking my hand, kissed it and then looked up at
me.

"Nice to meet you," he said, his
bright green eyes locking with mine. "My name is Erik."

Chapter
17

“
Y-y-your highness," I
stuttered, attempting to pull my hand back, but he held it tight,
clasped in both hands. He kept my gaze, and before I could get lost
in it, I reminded myself about his reputation. "You're engaged," I
blurted out.

Smooth.

He laughed, a
melodious, carefree sound that sent my already racing heart into a
sprint. But behind the laughter, I sensed a pang of sadness.
"Croxley, is she always so blunt?" He looked at Croxley, who
shrugged, and then looked back at me.
“
Engaged. That I am. And to the most beautiful maiden in all
the lands, for that matter. Princess Lena of Ethera. What a lovely
name." He sounded less than sincere. Mocking,
almost.

Croxley, however, was much more
frank. "Lena. What a horrid woman. Sure, she looks fine on the
outside, but I couldn't spend more than a few minutes in her
presence without wanting to dump a glass of water on her swollen,
arrogant head." He shook Prince Erik's shoulder companionably, and
looked so forlorn for his friend that one would of thought he was
the one engaged to the Princess. "Sorry, old friend, but it's
true."

The Prince stood up and careened
around the room, declaring in a snobbish manner, "and yet, it is
all part of the Prince's duty," Prince Erik continued, droning
about how a Prince must "make sacrifices for the kingdom, get his
priorities lined up and learn how to separate himself from the
commoners," and so on, obviously repeating something that had been
drilled into his head since birth. The longer he went, the more
ridiculous the demands became.

"Do not bathe on Tuesday mornings,
unless the maid has already washed the tub, or else you will have
to wash again the next hour in a different room. You may not wear a
purple cloak with red trousers, else you may start a war. If you
have a guest who would like to sit on your right, you must drape
your cloak over your left shoulder, unless you are not wearing a
cloak, in which case you may only sit with guests on your left
side. And if you find the food to your disliking, spit it into
discretely back into your soup spoon, not your meal spoon, else you
will offend your guest." The Prince sat on the edge of the couch,
looking exhausted just by thinking about all the complex rules he
had to follow. "Honestly, whoever said being royal was easy
obviously hasn't had to take lessons from my tutor."

Croxley and I remained quiet,
sympathetic but not knowing how to ease his grief. Prince Erik
cleared his throat, uncomfortable in the silence, and pushed
himself up with his hands on his knees. "I'm going to check on the
guards. You two stay here in the room," he announced and exited,
leaving Croxley and I alone. I awkwardly looked around, sitting
stiff and straight, not knowing what to say, but Croxley didn't
seem to share the same inhibitions.

He came and sat down next to me,
sighing as he relaxed into the sofa. With his eyes closed and his
hands clasped over his lap, I was able to relax my mind, and my
questions from when I first saw him earlier today resurfaced. l
took a few breaths to try and form a coherent question, not knowing
which one to ask first, so l eased in with the simplest question I
could think of. "Why didn't you tell me you knew the
Prince?"

"Why are women so caught up with the
Prince? I swear, mention the Prince's name once, and suddenly
everyone wants to be your best friend." He glanced at me, then
laced his fingers behind his head. "Honestly, I didn't mention it
because it wasn't important." I scowled. Fair enough.

"Okay, next question. Where were
you?"

"I'm a messenger. I deliver
messages. It's kind of what I do. The Prince decided he wanted to
come with. Nothing interesting. Stayed in a few inns, scared off a
few phantom owls," he teased. "The usual."