Sequel: The Game ›
Status: complete, but revisions are being made
The Pauper Princess
Chapter Eight
The guards rose before the sun the next morning, waking us too with their noisy packing. By the time Mehta and I emerged sluggishly from our tent, the other tents had been packed away and breakfast- consisting of leftover stew and bread from the night before- was already being warmed up. We ate quickly, not at all enjoying the reheated stew, but still finished after the guards. While they finished packing away tents and putting saddles and hitches on the horses, Mehta and I were just becoming fully awake.
Seeing Mehta yawn for the tenth time, I directed her to the carriage where she could sleep as long as she wanted. I walked back to the fire and gathered all the cookware, intending to wash them before packing them away. I was creating quite a precarious pile of bowls and spoons when Ekohl approached. With a smirk at my tower of dishes, he crouched down beside me.
“I noticed you were having some trouble yesterday,” he explained, offering me a pile of clothing. I looked down at the dishes ruefully, wondering how long they would take and if I would even have time to get changed.
“Don’t worry,” Ekohl laughed, “I’ll take care of these.” With that, he shoved the clothes into my arms and gave me a light push in the direction of the carriage. I smiled gratefully at him and then rushed to get Mehta’s help untying the back of my dress. She groggily helped me, but we discovered that Ekohl’s clothes were quite big on me. After a bit of searching, we found a belt to keep the pants up. It felt strange to wear anything but a skirt or dress, but it would be much easier to ride this way.
I had trouble figuring out what to do with my weapons at first, because I could no longer keep them strapped to my calves. They would be easily noticed and too difficult to get to quickly anyway. If any of the guards saw the knives they would be very suspicious; no servant would carry knives this rare and expensive. After a bit of convincing from Mehta, I hid the knives in the carriage. I still carried a dagger concealed at my waist, but I felt vulnerable without the knives.
When I emerged the guards were a bit shocked to see my state of dress, but they just exchanged looks and shrugged before continuing with their work. We left shortly after Ekohl came back from the river and packed away the dishes, and I was immediately thankful for the pants. I could now ride normally on my horse’s saddle, not sideways like a woman. I fell into step directly behind the carriage, and not once in the next two weeks did I come close to falling out of the saddle, at least not because of the way I was sitting.
Seeing Mehta yawn for the tenth time, I directed her to the carriage where she could sleep as long as she wanted. I walked back to the fire and gathered all the cookware, intending to wash them before packing them away. I was creating quite a precarious pile of bowls and spoons when Ekohl approached. With a smirk at my tower of dishes, he crouched down beside me.
“I noticed you were having some trouble yesterday,” he explained, offering me a pile of clothing. I looked down at the dishes ruefully, wondering how long they would take and if I would even have time to get changed.
“Don’t worry,” Ekohl laughed, “I’ll take care of these.” With that, he shoved the clothes into my arms and gave me a light push in the direction of the carriage. I smiled gratefully at him and then rushed to get Mehta’s help untying the back of my dress. She groggily helped me, but we discovered that Ekohl’s clothes were quite big on me. After a bit of searching, we found a belt to keep the pants up. It felt strange to wear anything but a skirt or dress, but it would be much easier to ride this way.
I had trouble figuring out what to do with my weapons at first, because I could no longer keep them strapped to my calves. They would be easily noticed and too difficult to get to quickly anyway. If any of the guards saw the knives they would be very suspicious; no servant would carry knives this rare and expensive. After a bit of convincing from Mehta, I hid the knives in the carriage. I still carried a dagger concealed at my waist, but I felt vulnerable without the knives.
When I emerged the guards were a bit shocked to see my state of dress, but they just exchanged looks and shrugged before continuing with their work. We left shortly after Ekohl came back from the river and packed away the dishes, and I was immediately thankful for the pants. I could now ride normally on my horse’s saddle, not sideways like a woman. I fell into step directly behind the carriage, and not once in the next two weeks did I come close to falling out of the saddle, at least not because of the way I was sitting.