Gerald's blood ran cold as he heard the baying of the wolves. Terrible memories of his flight through the forest being pursued by the wargs danced in his head. It was just like last night, except he got was beaten up and bound after the wolves instead of before the wolves chased him down.
As he began to panic, Gerald heard the Knights outside shouting orders to each other. He couldn't make it out exactly, but he thought they said something to the effect of close ranks,watch the flanks, stay on course, followed by horrible screaming.
Prince Aaron in the meantime began to yank furiously at the overhead chains. She twirled herself so her back was facing Gerald, then bracing her bound legs against the wall, and then began a series of jolting yanks. The Prince's face grimaced with pain as every muscle in her tawny body strained against the metal loop.
"That ain't gonna work," sighed Gerald. "It's never going to…."
*CREAK*
Gerald did a second take as the iron ring holding the Prince was yanked a quarter inch from the wall. Buoyed by her success the Prince yanked harder against the chain, but seemed to make no more progress with it.
Seeing as how he could not match the effort of the Prince, Gerald attempted to bolster her efforts with a song.
"You got the strength!"
"You got the power!"
"After all the dragon's done, you've never walked you've never run, you're a Prince!"
"You've got the moves, you know the…"
"STOP IT!" shouted Aaron after giving another mighty yank. "You're terrible at this! You're the worse bard I've ever…"
The Prince stopped when she realized that in her anger at Gerald's horrible song, she had yanked the iron ring out of the wall, creating a small hole in the process. Surprised at her success, she quickly grabbed Gerald's chains and did the same with another burst of strength.
"Okay, now break our manacles," said Gerald holding out his hands.
Aaron shook her head still gasping for breath, "The rings are iron, meant mainly to hold straps so the cargo won't bounce around the wagon. These manacles are forged steel, they won't break so easy."
Gerald frowned, he thought she could at least try. As Aaron started fumbling around the smashed boxes, Gerald peaked outside the hole in the wagon next to him and saw two Knights fighting a half dozen warg riders in a running battle. The goblins would throw spears at the Knights, but they mostly missed while the Knights simply attempted to weather their attacks. Gerald didn't think the goblins were terribly accurate, especially compared to Armondo and his mounted great bow shot earlier, but he guessed that might have been due to the sun effecting their vision. Whatever the reason, the goblins seemed to grow tired of missing and one of the great wargs simply broke rank and charged directly towards a Knight. The Knight saw this and readied his shield even stabbing the goblin in the process, but the warg simply leapt at him, bowling him and his horse over in a flurry of armour, fur, and blood.
Given his limited scope, Gerald lost sight of the melee, and wasn't sure if the warrior was able to survive the attack, or if he was being ripped apart into wolf kibble, but the other Knight had enough of this.
"Retreat, retreat!" the remaining Knight shouted as he urged his mount onwards.
While the Knight and his mount were both armoured, they had no trouble pulling ahead of the wolves. Gerald remembered that he was able to out pace them last night as well, and only through superior numbers and the thick underbrush were they able to catch up to him.
"Coward," spat the Prince as she eyed the scene behind Gerald.
Gerald glanced back and saw that even though her wrists were still shackled she now had the Dragonsword in hand, and it was glowing brighter than ever.
"If the wizard is the dragon, why is the sword glowing?" asked Gerald. Tig had disagreed with him earlier, but he trusted Mina's take on the situation.
Aaron shrugged, as she began slamming her shoulder into the tailgate of the wagon. "Maybe…. we were wrong….. about the wizard…though I doubt that….Or maybe the fake dragon …attracted a real dragon…... To defend its territory or something,"said Aaron between shoulder slams.
Gerald didn't like the response. A real dragon in the area? A fake dragon was bad enough, but a goblin army, a crazy Knight, and now a real dragon mixed into this mess? It was too much.
As Gerald considered the real possibility of another dragon, Aaron finally crashed through the tailgate of the wagon. It didn't crack or splinter, but simply flew off its hinges from the Prince's strength. Gerald was surprised at how close the goblins were behind them. He could see four giving chase, while a fifth was engaged in a swinging match with one of the remaining Knights. As the door flew off, one of the goblins was taken by surprise, and the door hit him and his warg square in the face, sending both tumbling in a cloud of dust.
"Quick, throw out the remaining boxes to slow the goblins down," she ordered. While her hands were holding Dragonsword, she managed to kick a few of the open bundles of food out the gate. One of the goblins nearest the wagon saw an opportunity and made a daring jump towards the open gate. It stabbed at Aaron with a jagged knife, but the Prince coolly hopped back. While her feet was still shackled, Aaron simply grasped one of the top beams of the wagon, lifted herself up, before kicking the goblin square in the chest with both her legs. Sending the shocked creature rolling and under the small horde of wargs behind them.
After witnessing the spurt of violence, Gerald did as he was told, and managed to drag a few of the larger boxes to the back before flipping them out towards some goblins. He initially thought Aaron wanted him to nail the goblins with the boxes, but it quickly became evident to him that after each box thrown out, one or two of the goblins would break off the chase to examine their contents. Gerald despaired after one particular box seemed to spill out silver coins, but fortunately it seemed to some all the goblins to it. Sighing and with great regret, he fished out his gold, payment from last night's adventure and threw that out as well, scattering it along the path and the tall grass on the road side. The rest of the goblins stopped as they scattered behind them, greedily picked through Gerald's treasure.
"It's working..It's working…." shouted the Prince.
No sooner had he said this, the cart hit a big bump. Gerald lurched to the side and grabbed Aaron, who in turn slammed into the crouched wall. A second later the entire wagon seemed to lean sideways before the whole thing was sent careening off the path, and skidded violently into a field.
Gerald thought his neck was going to snap in the crash, but fortunately he landed and rolled on top of the Prince, who proved to be much softer than she looked.
"Off of me!" she grunted as she pushed him away. Gerald took a straight arm to the face, but he was still too woozy from the crash and simply collapsed onto her again. It took a few tries and punches though, as they were tangled together, but eventually she threw him aside and limped to the open gate, with her shackled legs and blade in hand. Gerald was still shaky but managed to crawl after her and fall out of the cart onto his face.
"Back in the wagon, prisoner," warned a mounted Knight with a crossbow aimed at Aaron. Two more of the mounted warriors flanked him, one with blade and shield, the other with a lance aimed at them. All of them had bloody wounds, but it did not seem to deter them. Gerald thought they had all fled, but it appeared these three were made of sterner stuff.
The Prince seethed at her treatment but remained silent. Even with a sword, she could do little against armoured, mounted, and most importantly unfettered opponents.
"Wait…wait..gentlemen…"there's been a misunderstanding, gasped Gerald as he scrambled onto his feet. His first attempt ended disastrously as he fell on his face again due to his leg irons, but he managed to brace himself against the wagon on his second attempt as he pulled himself up.
"The goblins will be done squabbling over rations and coins soon. You two will be trussed up and tossed behind our horses as we make our way to Beauregard manor. Struggle and we will leave you to the goblins. Fight and I'll shoot you myself. Resist us at your peril," warned crossbow Knight.
"Hold on there," said Gerald. "You don't want to do that. That's no way to treat your Prince."
Aaron shot him a 'shut up, don't give up my secret' look, but Gerald gave him a ' it's fine' wave, even though he wasn't exactly sure what he was doing.
"Prince? You expect us to believe you're the Prince! HAH!" laughed sword and shield Knight. "I've seen the Prince, he's like a snake, all muscle and sinew and ready to pounce at the drop of a hat. You...you remind me of porridge, with some berries thrown on top."
Gerald ignored the unflattering comparison as he shook his head, "No, no. I won't be that presumptuous. I'm not the Prince, I'm the newest member of the Silver Guard. You should be able to tell by my armour."
One of the wagon teamsters shuffled at them from the front of the ruined wagon, his head bleeding profusely. He seemed to have heard some of the conversation and pointed at Gerald. "Sorry about that, a goblin fell under the front wheel. Wait, I know him, he's the local bard. Amusing fellow though he can't sing, but he can dance, and mime a little."
Gerald took a deep breath. "Of course I am, the Prince knighted me in the woods for my heroism not my entertainment value. In fact the Prince is right here," he said as he pointed at Aaron.
The Knights paused before they burst into the laughter. Prince Aaron grew red with shame, her secret finally revealed. Even if the Knights didn't believe Gerald, she shrank in humiliation at their attention. This was the worse moment of her life, to face the truth and be laughed at. Gerald half expected her to curl into a ball or more likely given his previous experience with her, violently lash out at him, taking his head with the brightly glowing blade she still held.
"No, no, I speak the truth," said Gerald as he edged away from the sword wielding Prince. "Aaron…was cursed to appear as a woman. You've all heard of the tale of Zerd and how he pined for his Princess for decades now. Well that crazy perverted wizard snapped and attacked us outside of Daggerhall. He used his magic to befuddle Tessa and placed a magical girdle on Prince Aaron, transforming him into this boyish maiden you see before you."
Again the Knights paused before bursting into laughter, oblivious to the goblins which were out of sight nearby.
"That story is worse than yer singing," said the Teamster.
"It's true. As the newest member of the Silver Guard, I wrested the girdle away from her before who knows what other magic it could inflict," said Gerald. "If you don't believe me, I have it on me. I was able to smuggle it away before Lady Tessa could find it. I was hoping to find a wizard to reverse its magic."
Crossbow Knight was not amused."I should just shoot you right here," he warned. "Your story makes no sense. If the wizard was able to get close to the Prince, why didn't he simply charm her with his magics, put her under her thrall or something. And if you had a magic belt that could change genders, why don't you just put it on her again and change her back."
"It's cursed that's why. It wouldn't be much of a cursed item if it could be so easily reversed. It changes a person gender once, and that's it," he said smugly, though in reality he had no idea if that was the way it worked or not. "If you don't believe me, I have the belt on me. Put it on if you dare."
"I'm going to kill you," whispered Aaron red with shame.
The Knights didn't seem to believe any of Gerald's story, but the bard poured in his heart and soul and every story teller trick he had to make it seem plausible if not believable. "Help me out here…I'm dying out here…" he whispered to Aaron.
"This bard, no matter how oafish he looks, speaks the truth," finally declared Aaron, in a commanding tone that would have put to shame Tessa's best imperious voice. "I was the Prince Aaron, but now I am the Princess Aaron. The wizard Zerd did this to me."
"Gawds…that sounded stupid," she whispered back to Gerald.
Lance Knight scratched his head. "You know, I've never seen the Prince up close but I always thought he kinda looked a bit…ummm effeminate. Looking at this woman right now, well , yeah I can see the resemblance. She looks like the Prince except without the caterpillar mustache, those awful side burns, and that peach fuzz on his face."
Aaron pouted at that comment, Gerald could see that she was proud of her fake facial hair.
The other Knights and the Teamster laughed except Crossbow knight. "Enough of this, Trevor, Smallhill, truss those two tightly and throw them on our horses. Ed you can ride with me. We're getting out of here."
"Listen, you're making a big mistake here," said Gerald as his manacled hands dug into his side pouch. "Look I have the girdle here, if you don't believe me, put it on."
Gerald and the Crossbow Knight locked gazes. For a second, he thought he was going to get a bolt straight through the neck, but finally the knight rode up to Gerald and snatched the belt away from him. "This is stupid. He's just trying to delay us till his goblin friends catch up," he said as he wrapped it around his waist. "There's no way that…..what…oh my gawd….what's happening...nooooo...it's gone...noooo...my wife is going to kill me….."
The other knights stared dumbfounded as Crossbow Knight became Crossbow Lady Knight. She looked relatively the same, but she suddenly set down her crossbow as she grasped her chest, then her crotch, her face, then her hips, and finally her crotch again. Her facial features did not change much, but her voice did go a half octave higher. Gerald seized the advantage and simply bowed to the Prince before Crossbow Lady Knight decided to shoot him in revenge.
"Long live Princess Aaron!" Gerald shouted.
The others dismounted and shouted the same two more times. Even Crossbow Lady Knight did the same, though she was still confused about her new gender orientation.
"Err, thank you," whispered Aaron. "That was an easier transition than I thought. I might not have you executed after all."
"No worries," said Gerald unsure if she was joking or not about the execution. "Now, let's just find the keys to these manacles and get out of here."
"Errr…my partner had the keys, I'm not sure where he ended up after the cart crash," said Ed the Teamster nervously.
"Oh, that's fine, we'll just head to Cottonsworth and get a blacksmith to remove them there," said Gerald. "We better hurry if we want to keep ahead of the goblins."
"Nay. We ride back to Daggerhall. Defeat the goblins, and confront Tessa," said Aaron in her commanding voice. The other knights bowed and agreed with her without question.
"Now wait a minute, " protested Gerald. "These three can fight, Ed might be able to fight, but you and I definitely can't fight in these manacles. Also, there's a small horde of warg riders between us and the town. What use are we if …."
"Oh hey Gerard. I thought I smelled you nearby."
"Mina?"
Gerald eyes grew wide as he scanned around him. Out of the tall grass, strode the short cloaked girl with a big overflowing bag of silver and gold underneath her arms. Gerald guessed her dwarven nose must have picked up his scent.
He ran and hugged her, and she hugged him back. It had been only a half a day but he truly missed her. It had also been a while since he'd seen a friendly face, or at least a person that didn't punch, kick, or threaten violence on him.
After awhile the pair parted awkwardly. He wanted to continue, but not sure how. Should he hug her again? Steal a kiss? She seemed all smiles at him, but what should he...
Gerald felt a forceful shove from behind. "Kiss her already," said Aaron as Gerald was sent towards towards the dwarven girl. "I've been a man long enough to tell when a girl wants a kiss."
With such a royal command, Gerald couldn't help himself and kissed Mina. He didn't care if she was a dwarf, and apparently she didn't care if he was a human as she eagerly returned his affection.
" What are you doing here? It's dangerous, there's goblins around!" he said at last after their exchange.
Mina shrugged."Oh yeah, those guys. Well, I chased them and their doggies away, and found all this treasure they were gathering. Both silver coins and bars," she smiled. Gerald noted at how her large saucer eyes seemed to glow at the mention of the word treasure, and he also noted that the gold was probably his but he would bring that up later.
"As for what I'm doing here….well l was worried about you, and despite what I said earlier, I decided to return. Maybe I can help after all, or at least I can try. As I was flying back, I saw your friends being chased by the goblins. I was about to throw down a fog spell, but it seems you were able to lose them with those crates. So, umm, aren't you going to introduce me to your friends, and ummm…why are you shackled."