Chapter 6

The longest time I had ever stayed awake was when Janson took us to see some comets. I stayed up all night waiting for them. They completely covered the sky and rushed by in steady streams of celestial light.

Janson was not a bad person on purpose. Some greater good always motivated him. Most of the time I was blind to this motivation and the majority of our arguments stemmed from that.

"Periwinkle pink is a weak color."

"The Brittannicans frown upon their women wearing strong colors." Janson continued to wave and smile but anyone close enough could see the frustration that was starting to seep through the wrinkles on his forehead.

"Well it's a good thing I'm not from Brittannica then." I said and waved as cheerily as I could.

"This is not the image they want for you. A submissive queen is a popular one. When you stood next to him instead of behind, you could practically hear the whole crowd gasp."

"They did not and I couldn't see from behind him. I wanted to take a good look at the people."

They had indeed gasped. Which was exactly what I had wanted.

I wasn't going to be a soft queen. My value would be weighed on more than my ability to birth an heir.

There were serious issues, issues I wasn't going to ignore.

I wasn't going to idly sit by and watch how the insufferable Prince Terror mismanaged everything.

I still felt a twinge of guilt when I thought about my behavior the previous night but deep down I knew that he wasn't going to see me as someone deserving respect unless I made him.

Thomas had found out somehow and gave me his two bits. He said that the prince had panicked and that he deeply regretted bringing up our sordid past.

I ignored him.

The channel led straight to the capital. We were escorted off the ship and loaded into open carriages. We walked through a heavily decorated dock before we reached the carriages that would take us to the castle. The streets were rampant with crowds. The horses moved slowly through the cobbled streets. All sorts of people cheered. They couldn't be happier. Janson said that seeing the Royal family was the best form of entertainment for the lower classes. It gave them a glimpse at a better life. When we first broke through the hoard, the raucous throng made my ears ring with their sonorous chanting. Children ran behind the coaches and shouted their devotion and loyalty to the crown. They adored their Golden Prince.

They dropped off when a rider rushed by waving a yellow flag. I sighed in disappointment. The crowds dispersed almost immediately. The scurried away life frightened animals.

"Prince Newt has abundant popularity. His coronation is long awaited. You'd do well to take notes." Janson said. He pulled out two handkerchiefs and handed me one. I pressed it to my mouth and inhaled the lavender scent.

It did a poor job on hiding the smell that started to emanate.

Janson and Agnes leaned over to untie the tarp at the edges. They pulled it methodically until it covered the entire carriage. Only a transparent square on each side showed the outside world.

Mother always made me turn away or close my eyes but she wasn't here to stop me from looking his time.

They were cornered off by yellow flags, I was too busy inspecting the dirty rags and dragging feet to notice the rider that came up to our carriage.

He exchanged hushed words with Janson before taking off again.

The group of people who had caused mass hysteria amounted to twenty misshaped decimated beings that held each other together through the chilling wind that I had forgotten about through the layers of fur I wore.

"What are they sick off?" I asked, leaning closer to the small window.

"I think they have a variation of the influenza. Their whole village was contaminated and they are coming here to beg for help. Apparently, they missed their quarantine." Janson said. He must have paid the rider for information. He was unbelievable

"Will they get punished for that?" I asked, taking my eyes off the group to look at Janson.

He paused to think and held up a finger before turning to his own window. A rider was there in seconds.

"Depends on what the regent decides. That is a capital offense here."

"That's stupid. Those people need help." I turned around again to find more riders surrounding the group.

I felt my heart jump in my throat when the first guard took out his sword.

"Janson. What are they doing?" I asked, not turning to look at him.

I heard him sigh. " They are too far gone. Its for the majority."

The response was rehearsed. His words were scripted.

"They're not going to kill them are they?"

Janson stayed silent.

I watched how they pulled a man from the group. I couldn't hear anything but I didn't need to.

He drooped to his knees and clasped his hand in clemency. It would be useless.

I closed my eyes when the Knight raised his sword.

I hadn't noticed we had stopped until the stillness in the carriage made my ears ring.

"Why aren't we moving Janson?" I asked, finally opening my eyes.

Janson had always his differences with Thomas. Their arguments had never really amounted to anything, they constituted on debates over our lessons, and if we could go outside or not when it was raining.

As Thomas grew, he learned to just do what he wanted and ask for forgiveness later.

I would always envy his quickness to do the right thing. The ability to question.

The transparent cloth made everything blurrier but Thomas was unmistakable.

The fool.

He had ran out in front of the guard's sword. The guard barely stopped in time before it slashed Thomas's face.

As children, I always followed Thomas. He always picked the games and I had no qualms in following. It had always been like that and there was no reason for it to change when we grew.

I had seen how Agnes and Janson had pulled the tarp. If I untied the strings behind Agnes, I would have a way out.

Of course, they tried to stop me. Well Janson did. Agnes merely shrieked while Janson and I wrestled over the strings. I finally elbowed Janson's ribs and stomped on his foot.

It didn't take long for me to pull the tarp off and scramble off the carriage. Running to Thomas was a tad more difficult. The same rider stopped in front of me and blocked me off with the flank of his horse when I side stepped it. I grew bored of the dance, dashed underneath the horse's body, and rushed to Thomas.

"How dare you start the fun without me?' I asked, panting and fanning my face. I wasn't used to running under horses.

"Look, we can fix this all right?" Thomas held his arms out towards the guard, he was the only barrier protecting twenty people from the kings guard.

"All they need is some help. Nothing a warm bath and some food can't fix. I'll pay for it. Just don't kill them. Please."

The guard wasn't looking at Thomas. He was glancing at the other riders.

Some had returned and surrounded the royal carriage where the royal family peaked from underneath the undone tarp.

I could see the rage on the queen's face even forty yards away.

"Like he said. We'll take care of it. Just go back to your guard friends and tell the Queen that we'll see them in the castle when we have all of this sorted." I said after finally catching my breath.

But nothing ever truly went my way.

The same rider from before had approached and he was not happy with me.

He dismounted only to grab my arm. He started to drag me towards the horse and I had no choice but to kick him. I wasn't a very skilled fighter but I wasn't going down without a fight.

I bent my knees and pulled as hard as I could, the jerk simply let me go. I fell on my bum rather unceremoniously.

"How dare-"

While I had been on the floor, the guard took the chance to grab me from behind and underneath my arms. He dug his finger into my armpits, making me wriggle in abrasive pain.

"I swear if you don't let me go I'll-"

I go cut off when the air was knocked out of me. The rider had slammed me down on his horse's saddle rather harshly.

I tried to slide off but he only grabbed my hands. A rope dangling from his.

I slapped his hands away and tried to pull the rope from his hands but I only scratched him instead of neutralizing him.

"I don't know if you realize but I'll be queen rather shortly and this sort of treatment will not be forgotten."

He finally had my hands tied.

I'd break my head if I tried sliding off.

Thomas wasn't in a better situation but he had all the attention. He liked the attention. He needed three guards to pull him away.

On the upside, he was being dragged out by all fours. That looked much worse from how I had been dragged. Poor Thomas, his bravado would be tarnished.

The guard climbed behind me and pressed against me so forcefully, I could feel his jackets buttons dig into my back through my fur coat.

"You know, I don't think the prince will appreciate the proximity."

The guard pulled on the horse's reins and started to lead us away.

I looked at the frightened crowd. If they ran, their death would be certain, if they stayed, maybe a few of them would survive if they seemed healthy enough.

"If any harm comes to those people, I will personally seek you out."

But no one ever listened to me.

When the guards had Thomas on horse and out of the way, they finished what they started.

The fear in their voices of the villagers echoed off the wall and landed in my ears.

I turned my head to see more guards pull more men to their knees. My vison was obstructed when the guard jerked the horse to the left and out of the courtyard; I hadn't even realized we had been in. Tunnel vison, I guess.

"What's your name? Mines Roan, my mother has an obsession with the letter R so my brother's name also starts with an R. But, sincerely, I'm really interested in your name."

The guard ignored me and we continued to ride in silence.

The streets of Brittannica were all cobbled and the houses all looked the same; stone foundation, with a plastered second floor and a triangular roof.

The wind seemed colder on the horse or maybe that was just my impotence taking effect.

Mother would faint when she heard.

Hopefully the Brittannicans would see the error of their ways and send me back.

I wasn't the kind to simply act irrationally, I was more prone to sit back and watch how things played out. That's how Thomas and I balanced each other out and stayed out of any serious trouble.

Well until Today that is.