by A. J. Bell
Sir Richard called out for Rosie, another of Arden Manor’s maids, to get a bath ready and to find me some clothes to wear until he could take me home. “Possibly tomorrow,” he added. I felt guilty for not telling him that I was actually home, since our house was in his backyard. Although he insisted on taking me to the chamber I would bathe in, Mother’s warning glance advised me against it, and so I convinced him that I could walk up the stairs on my own.
I followed Rosie slowly, trying not to put any weight on my foot while taking one quick look back at Mother. Once in the chambers, I got in the bath that Rosie had prepared, and she helped me wash off the layers of mud. She also helped me get dressed and do my hair, since Sir Richard had asked that of her. I felt so uncomfortable with her in the same room, because I knew of her feelings for John. She was a very petite, dark-haired woman with topaz blue eyes who was not much older than I was. Rosie was very beautiful on the outside, but I didn’t think her heart was the same way. Everyone in Stoneburg was aware that her interest in John went beyond doubt, because she was not afraid to make it known to John, or anybody else for that matter. She lowered her dress to show more cleavage when she was near him or uncovered her legs, trying to catch his attention, but John paid her no mind, and for that I was to blame.
When my mother entered the room, I knew I was in deep trouble the moment she asked Rosie to go to the kitchen to start boiling a pot of water and to close the door behind her. Then Mother turned to face me. There was so much concern in her tone, mixed with her anger, that it made me feel remorseful.
“Why have you disobeyed me again? Why didn’t you take John? It’s for your own good! All we are doing is protecting you!”
I wanted to say that I was so tired of being a prisoner, that I had wanted to take a deep breath without feeling like my bound chest was going to burst into flames, that I wanted to openly sing like a bird on a branch, that I was waiting for the day to come when I didn’t have to worry about who was listening. I wanted her to know how desperately I craved my freedom, but I decided to keep quiet until things settled again. No need to make matters worse.
Mother told me she would put a sleeping herb in Sir Richard’s drink to give me the opportunity to leave while he slept. She reassured me that we would continue our conversation at nighttime in the safety and privacy of our home.
Just as my mother was leaving, my father came into the room. He said that Sir Richard had sent him to inquire about my family. According to Sir Richard, my family would be dying with worry, not knowing where their daughter had wandered off to. The color of my father’s face drained instantly when he saw me. He was reproachful at first, but then a few seconds later, his countenance reflected that of a loving father, and a small smile appeared.
“You look beautiful,” he said. It had been a while since he had gazed upon me in the open. He didn’t like me being imprisoned, and Mother didn’t like it either, but someone had to keep me safe, especially since I managed to get in trouble every time they closed their eyes. After what had happened with the Gypsies, I couldn’t blame them.
His eyes began to fill with tears, but before they could spill over, he turned around and left, closing the door behind him. Mother and I followed him with our eyes until he was gone. Then she turned around and looked sternly at me again. Father had always been more laid back with me than she was; that’s why she had always been in charge of the discipline in our house.
“We have not finished with our conversation. I will go and take care of Sir Richard. Please write a farewell note for him not to worry about you, and go right back to the house without being noticed, if you can manage that. I will give him the note when he wakes up.” She slammed the door behind her.
I sat on a stool in front of the mirror and realized it had been a while since I had gazed upon myself as well. Trapped in my prison, there was no need for mirrors, fancy clothes, or perfume. There was not anyone I needed to impress while in hiding. Looking in the mirror now, I barely recognized myself. My hair had grown long since the last time I had seen my reflection. It was usually pulled back, so I never got the chance to admire it, like I did at this moment. I couldn’t stop staring. I would not say it in front of anyone else, but I agreed with Father. I found my reflection beautiful.
My hair was as dark as a moonless night, softly falling in flawless waves down my back. It was so long that it could easily reach the back of my legs. Some of it was braided over my shoulders, covering my chest. The blackness of my locks framed my face perfectly, like the face of a porcelain doll with shiny, bright hazel eyes. My cheeks looked blushed, as if I had pinched them recently, and my lips, normally barely noticeable, looked as if I had painted them pink. It was as if I was staring at the girl I should look like every day, if I didn’t have to hide.
I knew my parents dreaded the day they couldn’t keep me safe any longer, and something in my gut told me that such a time was at hand.
A knock on the door brought me back from the spell that my reflection had put me under. Rosie appeared with a note from my mother in her hand. The note read: Sir Richard’s asleep! That was the message I was waiting for. She really meant for me to get out as fast as I could.
I limped my way out of the manor and went back into my prison and into hiding. I could only imagine Sir Richard’s face when he found out that his lady-in-distress had vanished into thin air.
Chapter 2
I had not yet learned my lesson. It never failed. No matter how quiet everything looked, whenever my guard was down, Elle’s small escapades would only bring trouble.
Sir Richard was not having a good day: first being attacked by Gypsies, then Elle’s disappearance while he rested, not to mention he was not happy when I did not attend to his horse upon his arrival as was expected of me. Dealing with Elle was complicated and, sometimes, even painful.
My Lord,
I am very grateful for your attentions and for rescuing me from what could have been a horrible fate; however, I must return now to my loved ones. Please do not be angry at your servants who only did what I asked of them in helping me back to my home.
Sincerely and gratefully,
Elle.
That was the note Sir Richard received when he woke up from Mother’s herbs. Mother Greta, as everyone else around Stoneburg called her, cared for a huge herbal garden in the back of our small cottage. She not only cultivated the herbs, she also knew exactly how to use each of them. She even nurtured some poisonous plants there. Although she denied it every time I asked her, the fact that she avoided touching them unless she wore thick woven gloves and avoided touching anything afterwards assured me that I was not far from the truth. Mother was the best healer on the east side of the Everlands. Just like Father, she was the best in her trade. Even some of His Majesty’s healers came to seek her advice from time to time. They paid her well, but Mother gave it all away. That was the reason why we lived in a tiny cottage behind Sir Richard’s manor.
Father and Mother didn’t charge for their services to our fellow citizens of Stoneburg, because their attitude in life was that if we had food, shelter, and love, we had more than enough, and so we felt blessed compared to many others and needed nothing more.
Sir Richard had often tried to make my family move inside his castle, but because of our family secret, we couldn’t do that, even if we wanted to. He had been the kindest of souls to us ever since we had followed him here almost seven years ago.
He made me his loyal squire, even though by so doing, he went against the rules and advice of many. At the moment of our arrival, he chose me to serve him, despite my lack of training.
Being the only squire and personal servant to Sir Richard was my main focus most days. From him, I learned fighting moves that helped me surpass the ability of the other squires in the vicinity. I also traveled with him on the King’s errands and almost anywhere else he went.
I addition to being Sir Richard’s only squire, I also helped Mother as a garden keeper and assistant cook. From
her, I learned about healing plants and their uses. Yet, whenever I had time to spare, I would run to the blacksmith shop. Father tried not to have me in the shop so much, but I liked to work with Clouds. Making swords was my specialty, thanks to Father sharing his knowledge with me. If done correctly, the Clouds were nigh indestructible. Nowhere in my travels had I seen anything like it.
For my eighteenth birthday, Father allowed me to test my skills by creating Clouds on my own, and he even allowed me to make my own sword, which I named Heaven – because it was made of Clouds.
I kept Heaven a secret for as long as I could, because a squire was only allowed a sword given by his master, and although Sir Richard had not yet given me one, when he found out about Heaven, he allowed me to keep it and carry it with me. One more rule broken.
While helping Mother in the garden, she lectured me once more. She was not pleased with me for allowing Elle to take control and escape.
“You have to be strong,” she said, pulling some roots from the ground. “You think that everything will be fine, but it won’t. It is not safe. Someone has decided that Elle is worth more dead than alive. Don’t risk my only daughter’s life with carelessness.”
Although neither of my parents gave any more details on the matter, they were doing what they thought was best. For almost seven years, Father and Mother opted to keep Elle’s existence secret. My firm protest did not matter.
Since then, we have kept Elle hidden and would not speak of her to anyone. There have been times, however, when Elle’s imprisonment became so unbearable that I couldn’t help but let her out. How long we could keep the secret was uncertain. Elle’s cries for freedom became more constant as the days of hiding turned into months, and the months turned into years.
Mother wanted me to promise that I would not allow Elle out again until we knew that it was safe to do so. I could have lied to her and agreed, but we both knew that it would happen again.
A few weeks passed. The incident with the Gypsies was almost forgotten, and Elle had already started with her pleas. “A few minutes would be enough.” I could hear her pleading voice in my head.
“No!” I responded firmly and loud. “Not now!” Sir Richard had made it clear that there would be visitors from the Everlands, so he would need my help all day. “I can’t get distracted; it can’t be today.” I put my foot down. The rest of the day, I tried my hardest to ignore her needs.
Visitors did arrive when I was helping Father in the shop mixing Cloud s . I did not recognize the visitors, but everyone was hastening, trying to impress them. They wore the Royal Seal on their cloaks and on the covers of the horses as well, but then again, so did Rogue when he was on the King’s official business, so I didn’t think much of it.
It had been an extremely hot day, and I had worked in the field with Mother all morning, and then joined Father in the blacksmith shop all afternoon.
The evening was fast approaching, and I was drenched in sweat. My muscles ached, and Elle had managed to keep bugging me with her unceasing pleas. I feared if I didn’t let her out for a moment, I’d go crazy by the end of the day.
Father was to start working on new armor for Prince Victor’s twenty-eighth birthday celebration in a couple of months. It would be made out of the Clouds we had created together. The Prince had heard of Father’s work and wanted to put it to the test. The new armor would be presented to him by Master Richard.
Father took the measurements on a half-naked man in his shop. In this aspect of the armor making, he didn’t require my help. Besides, the sight of bare skin made me so uncomfortable that I didn’t dare to look at the man’s face, even after Father was done measuring him. As soon as Father had the measurements he needed, the man left us.
Father was very excited with the challenge of making armor for the Prince and was not paying attention to anything else, so I took advantage of my father’s concentration on a new armor design and decided that I’d had enough for the day and would take a small break. I kept looking back and forth to ensure nobody knew where I was going. Everyone was getting cleaned up and ready for tonight’s feast, so I ran to the stables since nobody seemed to be there.
The smell emanating from the stables was worse than on a normal day because of the incredible heat, but I did not care. I needed a break so badly that I held my fingers up to my nose to prevent the smell from going into my nostrils.
With my other hand, I untucked my shirt and dried the sweat off my face with its seam. I hid behind a small fence that separated Rogue’s stall from the other horses. When I took my cap off to let my hair fall down my back, it was soaking wet with sweat and felt disgusting. As insane as it was, I took some water from Rogue’s drinking fountain and poured it over me; it refreshed me instantly. I hoped Rogue did not mind me using his drinking water as a shower station.
The coolness felt great on my skin, but I couldn’t be content – not until Elle’s needs were fulfilled. I knew exactly what Elle needed, and even though I tried to resist for as long as I could, I couldn’t fight her for too long and decided to take a risk and let her out for a few minutes. Only a few minutes, and then back to hiding, I thought. I took my shirt off and continued to wash myself in the privacy of Rogue’s stall.
The thought suddenly came to my mind that earlier, as I came into the stables, I had seen one of the maid servants come out of the stable door, fixing her petticoats and trying to get rid of some hay tangled in her hair. I did not give it much thought then, because I was busy trying to get a little recess for myself, so I did not realize I had an audience when I untied the strings of the corset that crushed my breasts against my chest every minute of every hour of the day.
“You are a woman!”
I turned around, stunned at the sound of the surprised man. My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach with his discovery.
“A beautiful woman. I was definitely not expecting that. Who would have thought Sir Richard’s faithful squire was actually a girl!”
It was the same half-naked man from my father’s shop. This time, I was pretty sure he was entirely naked, until he saw me coming in. He stood in front of me shirtless and with his breeches still unfastened, just held by the grip of his hand. My gaze met his and took notice of his face. He resembled Sir Richard so much, with his well-defined nose and full lips. His height was about six feet, three inches and had well-shaped muscles. His skin was a little bit darker than Sir Richard’s, who was ghostly white. Instead of Sir Richard’s long blonde hair, he had a head full of brown curls. I was caught up in his image, but I avoided looking below his neck, just in case his pants decided to fall off. The way he looked at me made me uncomfortable.
I did not know what to do! I had been discovered, and I knew for sure he would tell on me, which would mean the end of John and the secret that my parents had kept for seven years. Maybe the end of my life as well, if the truth reached the ears of those who sought to take it.
I had to do something. The man still halfway dressed did not expect me to walk towards his sword lying on the ground, but I did. I took it out of its sheath and pointed it straight at his throat. He was surprised, but still acted arrogantly.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you–”
“But you aren’t me!” I cut him off, putting more pressure on the blade.
“The consequences could be severe,” he warned.
“Only if they find your body or find out that I was the one who disposed of it.” Deep inside, I felt ashamed of the threat I had made to him. His life was not less worthy than mine.
“You have some guts; I’ll give you that,” he said. “But I can do something better than fight you or punish you.” He licked his lips, staring at my cleavage and then back into my eyes. “I can make you a deal, so you can continue to present yourself as a man, although I personally think that is such a waste.” When he looked down again, I pressed the blade farther until a drop of blood started to form on the tip of the sword. “I won’t say a thing about what I have discovered
. You will deliver to the palace the armor your father is working on. Once you are there, I could set you free,” he said seductively.
“You will set me free in exchange for what?” I asked distrustfully.
“Nothing. You are allowing me to live, and as a thank you, I will give you what you want. ”
It couldn’t be that easy, but what other choice was there? I did not want to kill a man. “I will… I will do what you ask, but I will hold you true to your word; nobody is to know that I am a woman, and no favors are expected of me later,” I told him.
He nodded in agreement, so I relaxed a little bit and proceeded to pull my hair back into the cap and to fix my clothing again. He just stood still, looking at me as I tightened my breasts back into an almost flat surface with the help of the same corset that had given me away.
“That looks painful,” he said.
I shot an angry nobody-asked-your-opinion look at him and he fell quiet. I then tucked my shirt into my trousers and walked out of the barn without looking back. What was done was done.
I went inside the manor’s kitchen to help Mother with the feast. Every servant was called to work in the manor for the occasion. It was tradition for knights to train more than one apprentice at a time, but Sir Richard only had me. That meant I solely took care of all the tasks that a group of squires would normally have done for a knight. But going against tradition as he normally did, Sir Richard never allowed me to serve him during dinner, so I would help Mother during that time instead. After the dinner dishes were picked up and the dining area vacated, it came my turn to serve My Lord. I was to bring the wine to Sir Richard and the remaining guests in the common room.
