The Pauper Princess

Mehta was already tucked away in a new carriage and most of the men were in saddles when I finally arrived. A few horses had also been reigned to the wagons. I scanned the crowd for Ekohl. He stood near the door of the carriage talking to the prince with his back toward me. In his hand were the reins of two horses. One was obviously carried more weapons than the other, so I could easily assume that the other was for me.

I started toward the men, ignoring the many stares I was receiving. They must be shocked to see a woman donning a man’s clothing. Every eye followed me as I walked, and I hoped that they would just accept it as a strange Kyshian habit and stop staring. Ekohl and Jegan finished their conversation just as I reached them. The prince was also unsettled by my clothing. His confused look caused Ekohl to turn. Seeing that Ekohl, a fellow Kyshian, was not disturbed, many of the men went back to whatever they were supposed to be doing. The prince, too, took excused himself.

“What’s wrong?” Ekohl asked quietly, a concerned look crossing his face as he stepped closer. Even after wiping away the few tears, I knew my red eyes would probably give me away.

“It’s nothing,” I said stoically. I reached for the reins in his hand and he let me take the one’s that belonged to the least weapon-burdened horse. I lifted myself into the saddle, and Ekohl adjusted the stirrups, sparing another worried look as he worked. I ignored this and looked out over the rest of the assembled group. Ekohl said nothing, and within a few minutes we started down the south road.

After only an hour of travel, the skies of Lequin- which had held back it’s moisture briefly at the beginning of our trek- once again poured out its hold of raindrops. The water plinked off the soldiers’ armor, drowning out all other sounds in a cacophony of noise. My cloak was soaked through in a matter of minutes, and the clothes underneath suffered the same fate. The fact that the temperature that day was unusually warm was of little consequence once a stiff wind began to blow from the east.

The prince forced us to stop at the next town we reached, stating that with the rain it would be dark soon anyway. I was entirely drenched by this time, and the streets had been nothing but mud for the last several miles. I was starting to wonder if the Lequinian solders wore so much armor to keep the swords from piercing their skin, or if they really wore it to stave off the unrelenting rain.

We took up lodging at the town inn, but our large company was more than it could handle. We occupied every available room, and some of the men, including Ekohl, had volunteered to sleep in the stables. Mehta and I were given a room to share, and the innkeeper even had one of the stable boys run ahead and start a large fire in the bathhouse for Mehta and I. It was wonderful to soak in the warm water after being drenched by the rain for the past several hours.

Lying in bed later that night, however, listening to the barrage of rain that continued to fall, I felt guilty for being so comfortable. I quietly dressed, careful not to wake Mehta. My clothes were dry, as they had been hanging in front of the hearth since our bath. Pulling my mostly dry cloak over my shoulders, I realized that I had not yet given the badge back to Ekohl. I had initially dressed in order to bring extra blankets out to the stables, but now I had a second purpose. I gathered up quilts from the wardrobe and tiptoed down the passageway.

A few drunken patrons were still at the bar, but I made it through the side door to the stables without their notice. The icy air that hit me as I stepped through the door literally stole my breath away. I took in a few raspy breaths on the doorstep, then plunged out into the cold.

Most of the fifteen unlucky men were lying near the middle of the stable, farthest from the poorly fit planks that made up the shabby walls. I tiptoed to the group and tried to lay blankets on the men without disturbing them. Unfortunately, since the men were all trained soldiers, I managed to wake nearly every one of them. For the most part, though, they saw who I was and just rolled over to sleep again. A few who realized I was giving them more blankets even mumbled sleepy words of appreciation.

“What are you doing?” I gasped in shock and turned to find Ekohl giving me a quizzical look.

“Here,” I said, extending the last blanket to him. “I felt guilty inside.” Ekohl laughed quietly and shook his head. He took it gently, his hand brushing against mine.

“You should go back inside,” he said. “Your hands feel like ice.” He set the blanket on the ground and took my hands in his.

“I’m sorry about earlier, too,” I continued, ignoring his observation. He looked up from my hands and a concerned look crossed his face.

“It’s alright,” he said, dismissing the matter.

“It really was nothing.”

“You don’t have to explain,” he said. I nodding appreciatively.

“You’re shivering,” he said after a moment. He put one hand around my shoulder and started leading me to the door.

“Wait.” I stopped walking, suddenly remembering why I had wanted to find him. I shrugged off his arm and unfastened his badge from my cloak. Ekohl managed to catch my cloak just before it slipped off and he readjusted it over my shoulders. “You must have given it to me by mistake,” I said, taking his hand and putting the badge in it. Ekohl looked at it for a moment, and then reached for his own cloak. To my surprise, he had another badge already fastening his cloak.

“The General gave his to me, just before he died. I can’t wear this one anymore.” He readjusted my cloak on my shoulders and fastened it again with his father’s badge. “It seems you’re in need of this one anyway,” he continued with a smirk. “And I think you’ve earned it,” he finished, lightly touching my left shoulder. I let him guide me the rest of the way to the stable door, and I walked slowly back to my room alone, fingering the badge.