The Forlorn Dagger Trilogy Box Set

by Jaxon Reed

  “A majority o’ members on th’ Trade Council think iffen we can increase our dealin’s wi’ th’ humans, we can keep enough gold comin’ into th’ coffers until another vein is found.”

  Realization sparked in Barley’s eyes as he processed the full importance of what Dudge said.

  Dudge nodded for emphasis.

  “And so, while my brother th’ Crown Prince gets t’ stay home and interview potential brides, I am tasked wi’ seein’ if yer idea is feasible. And iffen so, I’m also tasked wi’ traversin’ th’ human lands t’ find more opportunities fer trade.”

  He tipped back the mug, finishing the last of the beer, then looked Barley in the eye.

  “So I’ll be stayin’ wi’ ye fer a while, and seein’ how yer trade goes wi’ th’ human merchant.”

  He looked down at the empty mug in disappointment. He glanced back up at Fret.

  “Any more left?”

  Chapter 5

  Crystal Palace flew into a frenzy for the departure of Princess Mita. Plans for the morning were made, revised, and revised again.

  Following a sumptuous breakfast, every member of the kingdom’s nobility, it seemed, stopped by the royal table and offered the princess their fondest well wishes for all her future endeavors.

  After fifty or so of these. King Aldwald had enough and addressed the remaining crowd, thanking them for their presence and dismissing notions of further farewells. Then he sent Mita to her quarters to make final preparations for departure.

  There seemed little for the princess to prepare. The wizard had informed them she would need to bring nothing other than a simple dress. The “clothes on her back,” so to speak. She was to bring no luggage, no personal effects, and no servants or companions could accompany her. So, Mita decided to wear a plain white dress.

  White being the official royal color of the Crystal Kingdom, it seemed an appropriate thing to wear. Although far more expensive than a typical dress a merchant’s daughter might wear, it contained no embroidery or crystals or anything ostentatious. It was hemmed fashionably just above her knees, and short-sleeved.

  She spent more time thinking about what shoes to wear. Not knowing if she would need to practice swordplay in her own shoes or not, she finally decided to wear the same white slippers from the night before.

  Mita climbed the stairs up to her chambers and gave them one last look. She turned at a knock at the door, and her sister, Princess Atta, entered. The ten-year-old girl shut the door behind her.

  “I am very jealous of you, Mita.”

  Mita laughed in surprise and amusement.

  “Jealous? At what? Atta, you are the favorite. You are the seventh born. You have every suitable prince in the land squabbling for your hand. Believe me, there’s little to be jealous about.”

  Atta shook her head, dark curls of hair waving back and forth.

  “You get to go off and live a life of adventure! I have to stay here and keep attending palace functions and see to my studies.”

  Mita walked over and hugged her little sister.

  “It will go by quickly, Atta. Before you know it, Mama and Papa will select a prince as your groom, and you’ll have a huge royal wedding. There will be feasts and celebrations in your honor. Then your prince will take you away to his kingdom where you will be the belle of every ball. You’ll have more servants than you’ve ever had here at home, and maybe a summer cottage where you can escape the capitol city. You’ll get to travel on official visits to other kingdoms, and meet with courtiers and be involved with so many important matters.

  “Oh, Atta, you’re going to have so much fun, and such a wonderful life. There’s nothing to be jealous about me.”

  Atta sighed, and pulled out of Mita’s embrace.

  “But what about you, Mita? What will you be doing with the wizard up in his floating castle all that time?”

  “Well, I don’t really know. I suppose he will continue my training. Maybe he’ll bring in additional tutors, just like Papa has. Maybe I can sit down and discuss things with him. You know, wizard things. Magical matters. I’ll know more by the time I come back to visit, and I promise I’ll tell you all about it. But you’ll see. It won’t be nearly as fun or exciting as your life.”

  Mita smiled at her sister, and hugged her again. Then Otwa, Mita’s nanny, burst into the room crying. She hugged both girls while boo-hooing over them.

  “My little Mita. Meeeeeta!”

  Otwa broke down sobbing.

  Mita laughed and hugged the older woman back.

  “Even my own mother isn’t showing this much emotion, Nanny!”

  Finally Mita headed downstairs, her sister and nanny following. At the entrance to the courtyard, a cheer went up from the crowd when they saw her. The royal band struck up the patriotic tune, “The Crystal in the Cave.” The castle’s servants stood in a line to each give her a hug goodbye.

  As she walked out toward her parents and the wizard, standing near the slab in the center of the courtyard, lords and ladies from across the realm waved and cheered.

  She hugged her mother, who wiped away a tear. She hugged her father as the last notes of the band’s song died away, and the crowd cheered once more. Then she nodded at the wizard and went to stand beside him on the flat rock that had floated down from his castle.

  Oldstone waited until the crowd quieted, then he said to Aldwald in a voice loud enough everyone could hear, “I’ll have her back to visit at Winterfest.”

  The slab lifted up in the air, slowly at first. Many in the crowd gasped in wonder at the sight. It gathered speed, floating higher, and everyone below waved goodbye to Mita. She waved back.

  About fifty paces up, the slab turned to face the floating castle and quickly flew up toward it.

  The slab reached the surface of the castle’s much larger floating landmass, and merged neatly back into the space from which it came. Oldstone immediately walked to the castle’s entrance, two large wooden doors standing about 20 paces tall.

  Mita took a moment to stare in wonder all around her. She turned and looked down at the courtyard so far below. Many in the crowd were still staring up at her and waving. She waved back a final time. The castle began floating higher, then turned to face away from the palace. It quickly gained speed and altitude, flying out over the city beyond its walls and toward the countryside.

  Mita turned from the edge and explored the grounds a bit. The castle took up most of the flat mountaintop’s surface, but a considerable space remained around the edges of the walls. The lawn seemed fresh and well watered, with closely cropped green grass. Several trees stood on the side of the castle, and she noted with surprise that many were fruit trees.

  She felt tempted to circle the castle’s exterior, exploring all the outer grounds, but decided it would be poor form not to follow the wizard inside. She walked toward the doors wondering if she should knock before trying to open them. They opened for her as she approached, rendering her decision moot.

  Inside the doorway, a very attractive servant waited for her, wearing a dress that covered most of her body from her neck to feet. She smiled at Mita as the princess entered.

  “Come with me, and I’ll show you to your room.”

  She followed the servant up a set of stone stairs. They ascended several flights, until Mita decided they must be near the top floor of the castle.

  Finally, the servant led her down a gray stone hallway to a simple wooden door. She opened it and motioned for Mita to enter.

  Inside, Mita found a simple bed along with a small writing desk and chair facing an unadorned window. A little door led off to the left, and the servant opened it for her.

  “This is your bathroom. Let me show you a few things.”

  She followed the servant into the tiny bathroom.

  “This is your tub. You’ll notice the two pipes with handles. The blue one is for cold water, the red one is for hot. You can adjust both and fill the tub to a comfortable temperature. The master wants you to bathe
every day. It’s probably best to do it before going to sleep each night.”

  The tub and the pipes looked odd, but the bathing every day part seemed even more so. After considering it for a moment, the princess ventured a question.

  “How will the servants fit into this small room?”

  “No servants. With the water pipes, you’ll be able to draw your own bath. Towels and soap are on the shelf. You’ll bathe, dry, and clothe yourself.

  “Moving on, this is where you’ll do your personal duties.”

  “What an odd looking piss pot.”

  “Once you’ve done your duty, you are to flush away the waste by pulling down on this rope.”

  The servant demonstrated, and a loud rush of water came into the piss pot from the container on the wall above it, flushing its water down a drain hole.

  Mita gasped.

  “What magic is this?”

  “Milord says you are to keep this bathroom and your quarters impeccably clean at all times.”

  They walked back out into the little bedroom. Mita spied a dress on the bed that had not been there previously.

  “You will change clothes, and meet milord in the library on the ground floor with all due haste. You are to begin training immediately.”

  The servant reached for the door.

  “Wait! What do I call you? What’s your name?”

  The attractive woman smiled for the first time, and gave a polite curtsey.

  “Milord calls me Cutie.”

  She walked out the door, leaving Mita alone in the room. Mita paused to reflect over things, processing all that had happened since the morning began.

  Finally, she decided to get on with it, and shrugged out of her dress. As soon as she placed it on the bed, it disappeared.

  That’s odd, she thought. But then, everything seemed a little odd in the wizard’s castle.

  She picked up the dress and looked it over before putting it on. It seemed to be her size. It was a simple servant’s dress of unbleached cotton, hemmed below the knees and short-sleeved.

  She wrinkled her nose at it. Mita had never worn a servant’s dress before. She pulled it over her head, and found it fit her perfectly.

  She looked down at her white slippers and debated whether she should take them off or not. Finally deciding they did not match the dress, she pulled them off. They too disappeared once she placed them on the floor.

  She turned instinctively to look for a mirror. There were none in the little room. The bathroom did not have one, either. She spread her arms out, and looked down at her bare feet, trying to imagine what she looked like in the drab servant’s dress.

  “I told Atta there was nothing to be jealous about.”

  Mita walked downstairs and explored the ground floor until she found the library. A large doorway opened off the main hallway to the giant room. The ceiling reached four stories up. Shelves lined the walls, stuffed with books both old and new. Ladders reached up shelves 40 paces high. Balconies hung along the higher levels. Floor space was covered by more shelves, along with tables and cases filled with all manner of artwork and curious artifacts.

  Three giant windows dominated the far wall, each about 25 paces high. She looked out at blue sky and cloud tops stretching off in the distance.

  A huge table stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by twelve heavy chairs. At the head of the table, Oldstone sat leafing through broadsheets.

  Mita approached him, looking over his shoulder. The wizard studied a broadsheet she recognized from Pert. She read the first few lines.

  “King Aldwald, ruler of the Crystal Kingdom and all the principalities and lands therein, announces the advent of celebrations for the imminent arrival of the Wizard Oldstone, who graces our kingdom with a visit . . .”

  The wizard flipped the broadsheet over, and picked up another one. Mita noted this one was from Ruby, featuring the face of some handsome fellow named Hemphnor who was wanted by the Royal Guard.

  How the wizard managed to have recent broadsheets from all the kingdoms was another magical mystery, she decided.

  Oldstone stood up, turned and faced Mita.

  “Come along. Your first assignment.”

  She followed him out the door, and down the hall. He stopped in front of the two large wooden doors at the castle’s entrance.

  He waved a hand, and a wooden bucket filled with soapy water appeared on the floor near the doors, along with a large scrub brush and a cleaning towel.

  “Your first assignment is to scrub the foyer floor. It needs to be spotless.”

  Mita gasped, and she looked at the wizard with her jaw open.

  “I most certainly will not! That’s what servants are for.”

  “My servants are all facsimiles. You and I are the only the real people in the castle at the moment. Now, get to work.”

  “I will not! Get Cutie to do it.”

  The wizard tugged his beard, and looked thoughtfully at her, considering for a moment.

  Finally he spoke.

  “How are you going to give orders if you do not first learn to follow them? Scrub the floor.”

  Mita felt anger rising up within her. Her face flushed. She placed her hands on her hips and stamped her foot.

  “I am Princess Mita of the Crystal Kingdom, fifth born to King Aldwald and Queen Etta. I am not a cleaning wench, and I have not nor will I ever stoop so low as to perform menial labor, for you or anybody else!”

  A paddle appeared in the wizard’s hand, long, narrow, and wooden. Mita felt her hands drawn behind her back by unseen powers. The forces turned her around, bent her over, and pulled her skirt up.

  The wizard walked over and paddled her bottom.

  Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack!

  She burst out in tears from intense pain and humiliation. The forces that bound her dissipated, and she collapsed on the floor in a heap, sobbing.

  “Your father made a commitment to me, and I to him, and you to both of us. My part of the commitment is to form you into a battlemaiden. It’s time you started to fulfill your part. When I return, I expect this floor to be spotless.”

  He walked back toward the library, the paddle disappearing from his hand along the way.

  Mita lay on the floor sobbing. Several minutes passed. The pain in her rear subsided a bit. She drew herself up into a squatted kneeling position, and rubbed her eyes. What would happen, she wondered, if she just sat there until he returned?

  As if answering herself, she reflexively rubbed one of her sore buttocks. The pain felt excruciating. Certainly she would face worse if she risked the wizard’s wrath a second time.

  Reluctantly, she crawled toward the brush and bucket.

  Two hours later, Oldstone returned to the castle’s foyer. Mita had scrubbed each floor stone with the brush, and wiped it dry with the towel. With mounting frustration as the tedious task continued, she had hurried to be done with it, and the last several stones were sloppily cleaned.

  The wizard frowned, and pointed out every spot she had missed, every stone not pristinely cleaned.

  “Do it again. This time, do it right.”

  He waved a hand, and the bucket’s dirty water disappeared, replaced with clean soapy water. The old brush and towel vanished, replaced by new and unused ones.

  Mita sighed in frustration, blowing out air from pursed lips that sent curly locks flying up over her eyes. Her dress, now stained and wet from water and sweat, clung to her sides. She wiped her face with a hand, bent down again to the floor, and went back to work.

  She went faster this time, scrubbing each floor stone as needed. Most were already clean from her earlier efforts. She spent more time on the stones she had short-changed earlier.

  The wizard returned in an hour as she wiped off the last stone with her towel. He nodded at her work in satisfaction.

  “Much better. Leave the brush and towel, and head to the kitchen for lunch.”

  She dropped both items and wearily stood up. As she walked down the hall
the bucket, brush and towel disappeared.

  The kitchen seemed enormous, with ovens and stoves and pots and pans and cupboards and storerooms. Mita imagined it could feed a small army and still have capacity for more if needed. But only one person occupied the giant gallery, a tall and rather plump blond-haired woman.

  Mita recalled the wizard had said all others in the castle were facsimiles. She approached this one from behind, wondering how to address her.

  The plump woman turned and smiled.

  “Hello! I am Cookie. Let’s make lunch! Bring me that cage of birds over there, please.”

  Mita paused, unused to having servants request her to do things. Then she turned and spied the cage, filled with quail.

  She squashed the awkwardness she felt from doing what a servant asked, walked over and retrieved the cage, bringing it to Cookie.

  “Thank you, dearie. Now, let’s prepare them for lunch!”

  Cookie opened the cage door, reached in and caught one of the birds. Taking it out, she held it over the sink and twisted its head off, tossing it aside. She started plucking the feathers, letting them fall in the sink.

  “Your turn, dearie! Catch one of the birds and wring its neck, then start plucking.”

  Mita’s eyes grew wide as she watched Cookie pluck the bird. She looked toward the cage, reluctantly. The three remaining birds looked back at her.

  “Come on, come on! You can’t have this one, you have to prepare your own.”

  Mita felt her stomach grumble in hunger. She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. Then she opened the cage door, reached in and clumsily caught one of the birds.

  She held it firmly, and brought it over to the sink. Its head bobbed up and down, back and forth. It started to peck at the skin between her thumb and forefinger.

  “Come on, just twist it there. Don’t stare and fall in love with it. Wring its neck, real quick-like.”