Chapter 16

"Why are we in the peasant line?" I asked, and plopped back in my seat.
"Because, your royal highness, you're not supposed to be here. So we can't cause and upheaval by flashing your insignias just to get in quicker." Minho said.
"Why?" I asked.
"You marry in a week," That made my heart clench in pain "What would it look like to the public if on the eve of your wedding, you and the prince are gallivanting, unchaperoned, across the kingdom. One it makes you look careless and irresponsible and two it" Minho leaned forward, cupped his mouth and whispered, "questions your womanhood."
I could feel the blood rush to my face and my mouth went dry with fury.
"Minho, if you could just be more tolerable we would all heavily appreciate it," Newt said, moving the curtain of the carriage to look outside.
I was going to kill him. Pull his nails off and then drown him.
"Don't be so prudish. It's true if anything I'm doing you a favor. Our hosts understand the importance of discretion. Don't think the validation thing was just a handout. Oh and by the way, you get to skip the wedding, all you have to do is show up at the cabin, sit and enjoy the show."
Maybe I should burn him after he's been drawn and quartered.
"Minho," Thomas said, his voice pleading.
No matter how angry Thomas was at me, he was tired of Minho, just like everyone else.
However, it did explain why Teresa and Agnes had been squeezed next to me.
It took an eternity before we got to the front of the line.
They made us get out of the carriage for an inspection.
The men wore blue aprons and their hair was all tied back. They were pale and enjoyed sneering.
They made Newt, Minho, and Thomas open their mouths and gave them a quick pat down.
It was different for us ladies.
They lined us up and checked our mouths but the pat down was different.
Their filthy hands didn't just slide down. They lingered and dug everywhere imaginable.
I simply glared and sighed in objection until Agnes yelped.
"I think that's enough." I said, glaring at the man who had pinched where he shouldn't have.
The men looked at each other and smiled.
The one in front of me took a step back and said "I think something is odd about you. Please follow me."
I blinked twice "I don't think so. I'm in perfect health. Maybe you should be checked."
He smiled lecherously "Mam, please follow me. You need a different inspection."
"Actua-
"That's quite all right," Newt stepped up next to me and put his hand on my waist "Come along darling, I'm sure the man just wants to do his job."
The man narrowed his eyes "And who might you be?"
"Her husband and I wouldn't be a very good one if I let her wander off on her own."
He eyed Newt up and down, sizing him up.
"You wouldn't would you?" He put his hands on his hips and sighed "Move along now. You're holding up the line."
I let out a sigh of relief and let Newt lead me away.
"That was…suspicious," Newt said, once we were out of their eyesight.
"You don't have to tell me twice," I immediately turned around and looked at Agnes "You all right?"
She nodded but kept her head down. She was looking at her hands. They were shaking.
"You must be cold." I took off my gloves and handed them to her.
"No, I'm fine miss, you'll get cold, and besides it's my fault for forgetting mine."
"Oh, nonsense and you know me, Agnes. I never get cold."
She reluctantly took the white gloves. "Thank You, your grace."
It was time to give her, her space. Agnes didn't like to be the center of attention and she had already suffered enough.
I turned towards Minho "Well go on then, show us what you dragged us all the way out here for."

"No!No!No!"
I watched in frustration as my boat sunk in the green water.
I faced palmed.
I had just lost, I rarely ever did. I wasn't used to it.
"Ha!Ha!" Minho jumped up and down in delight from across the wooden rectangle.
"I told you! No one beats me at Battleship!" He high-fived anyone that was within a five feet radius before going to pick up his award.
I didn't want to stand around humiliated so I walked over to where Agnes and Teresa were trying to throw rings around a row of bottles.
We had lost Newt and Thomas somewhere farther back and Minho and I had agreed that it would be pointless to sulk around looking for them instead of enjoying the fair.
"Ladies, would you care to join me in a good-natured game of darts."
I turned to Minho. He was stuffing brightly colored balls of sugar from a small brown bag in his hand. It must have been his price. My price.
"They're rather busy but I have no qualms in beating you," I said, ready to annihilate him.
Minho rolled his eyes "If your humiliating defeat was anything to go by, I'll think I'll do fine."
"Game on."
We walked over to the darts a couple of feet away. Minho handed the man some coins and the tender set three darts in front of us.
"Winner gets a soft toy." The man said uninterested, he went back to his stool where he chewed a stalk of grass.
"Let's make it a little more interesting," Minho said, turning toward me, the menacing twinkle in his eye ever present "If you win, I'll tell you the why, when, and how of the man who broke into your rooms. If I win, you get on Adrihula's and Taribolous waterfall."
"What on earth is that?" I asked. I was tired of hearing about Adrihula and Taribolous.
He smirked "Does it matter? You were pretty confident before."
I narrowed my eyes. This was obviously a trap. Too bad my pride was going to get in the way of reason.
"Be prepared to lose. You can tell me all about my attacker on the way back to the manor."
I took a deep breath and picked up the first dart.
Failure was not an option.
What happened next would come to define my life in ways unmeasurable.
In any other circumstance, you could have said I did a good job. Great even.
But in comparison to Minho, it was pitiful.
He didn't stop in between throws. It was one after the other and all landed perfectly in the center ring,
I'd fallen compliantly into his sordid trap.

It was very embarrassing to walk around in defeat. To know that I was a failure.
Thankfully, Minho hadn't shared the full details of our wager but he was very eloquent about my painful loss.
We found Thomas and Newt buying trinkets from a tribe woman. Her table was full of necklaces and woven bracelets, there were also handkerchiefs and other playthings.
I picked up an empty vial and turned it around in my fingers before putting it down.
"Are you interested in a blood diagnostic miss?"
I looked at the woman. Her skin was pale and her hair was made up tight black curls that fell to her waist. She was wearing a white blouse and a red skirt with a brown leather belt holding it to her body.
"A what?"
"It's a very simple process, I prick your finger, we let the blood drop into the vial there, I add special herbs and I can tell you anything from your fertility to the strength of your immunity."
I couldn't help but smile. It was probably a scam but what harm could possibly come from a little pseudoscience?
"All right then."
The woman took a box of vials out from underneath her table and got to work.
She numbed my index finger with a poultice and let about two milliliters of blood fall in the vial. She began to add all sorts of powders from her box and I exchanged dubious glances with Teresa.
She put a cork on the vial and shook it.
The final result was a dark blue liquid.
"Are you married, miss?"
I narrowed my eyes "Why?"
"Well I can tell you're not, otherwise you'd be pregnant."
I felt my heart in my throat.
"Your husband will be very pleased to find that your fertility levels are very strong. I'd expect many children if I were you."
I felt like puking. It only got better when I heard Thomas and Minho snicker behind me.
"Also, very high immunity. You must come from a long line of pure blood," Well she wasn't wrong there, "Although, if I were you I'd watch my diet, your blood is low on vitamins."
"Interesting. Anything else?"
Might as well get my money's worth.
"Well it's really hard to tell, the powder that reacts with the fertility indicator reacted very strongly and it muddled all the other colors."
Wonderful.
"I see. Thank you miss. How much?"
She shook her head "No. You already paid, you gave me your blood. It makes very good medicine. I keep the vials and you keep the information I give you."
"Oh, all right. Thank You, Miss."
That was enough humiliation for one day.
When we walked far enough, Minho and Thomas cackled to no end. They laughed in the middle of the crowd and leaned against each other for support.
"That's enough. You've had your fun. It's probably not even true, you can't tell that type of stuff from what color your blood turns."
"Don't you think it a little odd how she kept your blood?" Newt asked, looking back at the stand.
I shrugged "Well I don't think she can do any harm with it. It's just my blood with some dye."
Minho and Thomas stopped laughing but I was going to wish they kept on.
"It's starting to get darker. We should go back." Thomas said.
The sun was still in the sky but it had dipped enough for the vendors to take out oil lamps and string them on ropes above our heads.
"Not yet. Roan has dues to pay." Minho said, smirking devilishly,
I couldn't help but groan.
"Come along then." He said and started to walk away.
"What is he talking about?" Newt asked, looking at me.
"I don't want to talk about it."
I followed Minho and stomped the whole way behind him.
He led us to a long line people. They stood outside a wooden gate with faded yellow lettering. Behind them was what you could call a wooden bench that was suspended over a river. A burly man would bring a lever down and the caged bench would begin its descent over the river.
Absolutely wonderful.
"Minho why on earth would you make me get on that?"
He only smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, it seemed like a good idea at the time."
"Oh just like the validation was?" I asked and snorted.
That wasn't very lady like of me but Mother wasn't around.
"Why are you even getting on? That thing is far from safe."
I sighed and looked at Newt who was behind me.
"Somethings are better left unsaid your royal highness."
Minho told us to wait while he went and talked to the ticket vendor at the front of the line. When he came back it was all smiles.
"So these people in line are waiting for the raffle number to be called. I was going to bribe the man to let you in first but turns out they're not even paying customers. Oh and here's the thing, you can't get on alone because if you fall in the water, who's going to fish you out? With that in mind," He handed me a ticket and then of course, as it had been his plan all along, handed the other ticket to Newt.
Thomas almost rolled his eyes out of his head,
I was really trying to be nicer to the prince so I kept my mouth shut as much as I wanted to protest.
"You know because it wouldn't be proper for me to sit privately with an engaged woman and Thomas can't get on because you two are quarreling."
"Well, Teresa or Agnes could always come with me if Newt doesn't want to get on," I said.
Minho tried to look apologetic as he answered, "Well here's the thing, this is backcountry and they don't look kindly on women's independence so there's a sign that says a woman cannot ride alone. So…"
He shrugged and smirked.
I wanted to slap him.
"Let's just get it over with," I said, trudging towards the front.
One day I would get my sweet revenge.
Sadly, Newt felt compliant and followed. If he had refused then there was no way for me to get on.
The ticket vendor waited for Newt to catch up before he let me through. Over their shabby fence was a small patch of ground with random tufts of green grass before a wooden ramp that led you to the benches.
I let out an annoyed sigh before stepping forward.
A young boy of around fifteen stood next to one of the bench contraptions and opened the small gate to let us through.
I took a deep breath as my foot suspended itself over the gray water. He gave us a wide smile and I stopped and handed him some loose coins I had not spent.
"Thank you, miss."
I nodded at him and sat on the far end of the bench giving enough space for Newt to slide in and have a wide area that neither of us occupied.
The boy reached up and pulled a long wooden bar horizontally over us.
"Don't let go on the turns unless you want to take a dip."
He latched it down with leather strips on each side and then went behind the bench.
"All ready John." He called and the burly man named John pulled the lever down.
I accidentally yelped when the boy pushed the bench over the bridge we had been on. The thing wavered back and forth and I clamped my hands over the wooden bars.
"I'm going to kill that bloody maze guard."
I was thinking the same thing I just didn't expect Newt to voice my thoughts.
I looked at him, his jaw was clenched and his knuckles were white with the effort to hold onto the bar.
"Get in line," I said.
He shook his head "I hate how I just let him get away with this type of stuff."
"It's my fault. I let myself fall into his stupid trap. I knew I was going to lose that stupid bet."
I felt his eyes scan my face. "What bet?"
"Dartboard Challenge. I don't know why I thought I could beat a trained maze guard."
From the corner of my eyes, I saw him shake his head.
"Oh, Roan. When will you learn?"
I shrugged my shoulders and started to look around.
There was a foliage of trees that made a tunnel around us. The golden leaves hadn't fallen off. So far, it had been a straight descent but I could see a turn up ahead. They had a rope strung with some lamps. It had gotten considerably darker and I couldn't see the river but I could definitely hear it. There was a secured lamp hanging on the cage above us.
I let my hands rest by my side and leaned back.
This was just a simple ride on a bench over a river. Absolutely normal. I would tell myself that until it was over.
"Why did you give the boy money?" Newt asked.
"So he would have an incentive to secure us with special attention."
Newt nodded his head and looked away.
"What do you think that awful man at the entrance of the fair was going to do?"
Newt inhaled sharply before answering, "I don't know but probably nothing good."
"Is that common in inspections? To manhandle a defenseless woman."
"In the lower classes its more common. Most places have women inspect other women but certain places like this take advantage of their separation."
"Don't you think it's funny how we are supposed to lead an entire kingdom we've never really lived in. You probably have a better feel of the land but I know nothing besides the rumors and the stereotypes."
"Despite the situation, I'm glad my mother chose you. You seem to care more than most royals I've met."
I looked at him in surprise and forgot about the turn up ahead. The bench dipped and my hands flung out to grab onto something as the bench leaned far too much towards the water.
My bare fingers wrapped around the soft and warm cloth of Newts cloak, I had pulled myself against him. I could feel the lean muscle rigid from the pressure of my body on it.
Although the bench had regained balance, I did not want to let go of Newt. I didn't want to risk falling in the water.
Terse seconds passed before I pried my fingers off him. "Sorry, I thought I was going to fall off."
"It's all right."
I tried going back to my spot but I didn't want to be too far from Newt in case the bench tried to kill me again.
After awkward moments of silence passed, Newt broke the silence.
"When we got separated, Thomas and I went looking for rings," Oh no "After the dilemma with the inspector, I thought that a ring would be the safeguard. It's a bigger offense to go after a married woman. It might deter miscreants"
He wasn't wrong but I wasn't jumping with joy to be branded.
Newt reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black velvet bag, he untied the strings and on the palm of his hand was a golden ring, it had a lavender diamond that was inside the golden band instead of sitting on top. The gold twisted over each other creating an ornate pattern on the band.
A strange warmth spread over my chest and I had to remind myself to breathe.
"I hope you like it. Thomas helped me pick it out. Do you want me to put it on you?"
"S-sure."
I held out my left hand. Properly aware that I could have done it myself but for the golden prince propriety came first.
He took my hand tenderly and slipped the ring on. It was warm from being in his pocket.
If I hadn't been blushing before from the dip, I was now.
"Thank you. It's a lovely ring." I examined my hand. The ring made it look feminine, almost dainty.
I was definitely getting sick. What had just transpired should not cause such a weakening reaction to my body. Breathing was becoming harder and my muscles felt like melted wax.
"It took us forever to find a vendor with real gold. We had to leave the place and go into town and find a blacksmith. "
They really did disappear for a long time. Pity we hadn't noticed at the time. Minho was a terrible friend and chaperone. He failed to monitor Newt and left us alone in a dark secluded part of the fair.
"Well, I truly appreciate the effort Newt."
Since his torrid break up only hours before Newt had not fully smiled. I was glad my gratitude made his eyes light up.
I had been so caught up trying to be civil that I had once again forgotten about the bloody turns. Newt, thankfully had not. He grabbed my shoulders before I could lean forward.
I didn't squeal this time but I felt my heart in my throat.
"When will this infernal contraption end!"
I held my head in my hands and what happened next did not help my situation at all.
Newt put his hand on my back and tried to soothe me by rubbing his palm across my upper back.
I wanted to squirm away but I didn't think Newts ego could handle such a rejection.
He obviously thought I didn't mind him touching me, he was gravely mistaken.
It wasn't long before I could see the bridge up ahead. The distinctive shape of Minho and Thomas stood waiting. That was not good, Newt had stopped rubbing but his hand rested on the back of the bench.
I was very bothered by that.
You give someone a pat on the back and they suddenly think you're best friends.
The nerve.
When we docked, that's when I realized this had all been planned. Minho's smug face gave it away. He trailed his eyes over Newts outstretched arm and only smiled wider.
I patiently waited for Newt to get off before he helped me out. Not that I needed the help.
"My, my, my look at the rock on that finger. " Minho whistled and rocked on his heels.
"You move on fast my friend," he clapped Newts back and led him away by the shoulders.
As an afterthought, he turned his head towards us "We can leave now."
Finally.
I thought the torture would never end.

Thanks for the review!