Twelfth Knight

Chapter 5

Emberly was not sure how long she laid in the dirt, struggling to be free from the ropes that bound her hands together. If she could just get free from the restraints, she could remove the bag over her head. Then, she would be able to see where she was going to and how far away from the castle she was.

She tugged hard on the ropes, willing it to be free from her wrists. But whoever tied her hands together knew what they were doing. No matter how much she tried, she could not be free from the ropes.

Of course, once this truth had fully sunk-in, Emberly began to imagine all of the horrible ways she could die in the mind of nowhere. First, she imagined the slow and painful death of dehydration. Even now as she considered the option, she grew thirsty for the taste only water could satiate. Then, she considered what would happen if a snake slithered over to her and attacked her with its venom. Of course, it would be even worse if the snake was, instead, a bear. And if that bear was ginormous with a brown coat, it would be entirely more horrific. The bear would stroll over to her and think she were food. And Emberly would be helpless to stop it.

Just as she was considering what would happen if a vulture found her, the bag was removed from her head.

Blinking she looked up to meet blue eyes. They were like the sea, speckles of green splashing into the blue color. Emberly took in the rest of the man’s face. His hair, a humdrum brown color, was long, longer than most men she’d seen. His face was crinkled together, trying to discern why he had found someone with a bag over her head and lying in the dirt.

With a frown still plastered to his face, he reached out and removed the gag from Emberly’s mouth. “Thank you,” she murmured instantly, in awe of the man’s kindness. He said nothing, but moved around her to untie the rope binding her wrists together.

It was still dark out, but sparks of light were piercing through the darkness. She was standing in a middle of a large field. Emberly needed to return to the castle as soon as possible. If she was gone longer than a day, she would be labeled a deserter. She refused to do that to Kyler. She had taken his place. She was going to see this through.

The man removed the rope from her wrists. Emberly began rubbing her hands together in an attempt to increase her blood flow. “Did bandits do this to you, miss?” The man’s voice was husky and deep.

“No,” Emberly answered, climbing to her feet. She wasn’t wearing any shoes. Wonderful. She was still wearing her bed clothes, a dark blue night gown that was entirely too indecent to wear in the presence of anyone, let alone a man. “Just a bunch of stupid boys.”

“I’m going to need more of an explanation, sweetheart,” stated the man, taking in Emberly’s appearance.

“I’m not sure what more I can tell you,” Emberly admitted, brushing the dirt off of her. “It’s just a joke.”

“A harmful one,” interjected the man. “You could have died out there.”

“Yes, but I had you to save me, Mr…?”

“I’m Benedick Torpe,” he said. “But you can just call me Ben. Most people do.”

“Well, thank you, Ben. I’m Emberly.” She stuck out her hand to Ben, which he shook. “Thank you so much for saving my life. I must be going now.”

Ben burst into laughter. “Woman, it’s dark, you’re not wearing any shoes and if you walk into any town dressed like that, you’ll be mistaken as a prostitute and get groped in the town square.”

Emberly knew that the right thing to do was to reprimand Ben for his words. That was not something someone said in polite company. But Emberly just laughed in reply. “I think you’re right, Ben. Don’t suppose you’d be willing to help me a little more than you already have?”

Ben appeared to think about it for a moment. “Suppose it would be the gentlemanly thing to do,” he guessed. He removed his outer jacket and handed it to her. “Must warn you though, Lady. I’m not a gentleman and I expect to hear the whole story.”

“That seems fair,” she responded, taking the jacket from him. It was much too big for her as he was at least a foot taller than her and broader around the shoulders than her. At least it covered her better than the night gown did.

“Where you headed?” he asked, beginning to walk east.

“The castle in Central,” Emberly said, following him.

“The castle, eh? You must have a pretty interesting story to tell Emberly.”

Emberly relayed the chain of events that led to her being stranded in the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere. Ben listened with extreme interest, asking various clarifying questions. Once she’d finished talking, Ben said nothing, drinking in the news he had heard.

“A lady knight,” he murmured. The sun was now high in the sky and beating down on them. Ben handed her his small container of water. A whistled in awe. “D’you know, I think it’s about time.”

Emberly stared at him, trying to discern if he was mocking her. He seemed completely serious. “What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “I’ve been saying for years the king was wrong about women. Not many people listened, mind you.” Emberly continued to stare at him. She was certain this was all a dream. Or, maybe, she had trusted the kind man too hastily. He was mocking her before he told the king the truth. “Calm down,” he added, seeing the worried expression on her face, “I won’t tell anyone. My mother served in the military in Malidor.”

“You’re from Malidor?”

“Not me,” he explained. “Just my mother. She met my father while working at the border. Guess the rest is history. But it’s clear that Etrusca is a little archaic in its thinking.”

Curiosity, as always, plagued Emberly. “Alright, so what were youdoing in the middle of a field at night?”

“Oh no, Woman, we agreed you’d share, not me. I’m not going to give you my boring life story. Sorry.”

“If it’s so boring, why not tell it to me?”

“Em,” he said, amusement vivid in his voice, “word of advice. Don’t annoy the person who saved her life.”

“Fair enough,” Emberly muttered. Her mind was mostly preoccupied with whether or not she should be upset that he called her “Em.” Only her brother had called her that before. She wasn’t entire sure how she felt about Ben saying it.

The walk to Central was long and tiring. The boys that left her there clearly knew what they were doing. They wanted to scare her off, so they left her miles from where she should be. The fear that they had somehow learned the truth crept upon her again.

She voiced her fear to Ben. He gave a short laugh. “They wouldn’t’ve left you in the field if that were the case. They’re supposed to be gentlemen. They’d send you to a trial to get rid of you. Chances are it was too dark for them to see anything. Hence leaving you to die in a field. And these are supposed to be honorable men.” The last part he added with all the bitterness in the world.

It was clear that Ben worked in the village. Emberly wasn’t entirely sure what the man did for a living, but he was not, by any means of the word, a nobleman. He dressed like a commoners, he talked like a commoner. He wasa commoner.

Emberly had lived her whole life being told that noblemen and women were more important than commoners. She had been told this, but she had never truly seen it played out before. Her own father constantly spent time with the commoners, knowing each of them personally. There were many men who worked on her father’s land. And he strived to know them all. Her father never once believed that he was more important than the commoners. And Emberly didn’t see why she had to do any different.

As she walked, she wondered how many of the “gentlemen” learning to be knights would spend their time talking to a commoner like Ben, who was especially willing to say whatever came to his mind, be it polite or not.

He told her the most interesting tale of a baker in Central. The baker would spend all day working to bring the best possible bread to his customers. Now, it was apparently, well-known throughout the whole of Central that this baker housed the most delicious pastries and bread. Unfortunately, the baker knew this and boasted loudly to everyone he knew that noblemen and women would stop by his bakery. He annoyed everyone with arrogance.

There was a little boy who simply could not stand for this.

Among the inhabitants of Central lived numerous horrendously poor families. Many young boys and girls roamed the streets, begging passersby for money or food. Among these sects was a little boy called Gavroche.

No one knew what had happened to the boys’ parents–if they were still living or not. Gavroche claimed to have been born on the streets and would always live there. He was a carefree boy with the spirit of a thousand exploding stars.

It was Gavroche who decided that the baker needed to be taught humility.

One day, he led a group of young boys to the bakery. He browsed the various foods in the store before making a show of stealing a loaf of bread before the baker’s eyes. Gavroche, quick as he was, raced out of the bakery, the baker chasing after him angrily.

Of course, with the baker racing after Gavroche, the bakery was left completely unattended. The group of boys wasted no time clearing the bakery of the food. And it was said that many of the starving kids in Central feasted like kings that night.

“What did the baker say when he returned to his bakery?” Emberly inquired.

“Word has it that he fainted like a silly woman.”

Emberly chose to ignore the insult and asked, “So, did he learn his lesson?” Ben shrugged.

“Some people in the world are determined to remain the same. At some point in our lives, we all realize our own faults. Some of us learn from this, while others ignore the issue.”

“You’re kind of wise Ben Trope.”

“It is the burden I must bear,” he answered clutching his heart dramatically.

They came upon the city of Central. The sun was blazing down against their backs as they strode through the immense crowds, which was currently cluttering the street, making it impossible for them to walk straight to the castle.

It was around three in the afternoon when they entered the city, according to the trajectory of the sun. Emberly desperately wanted to return as quickly as possible to the castle, but she could not ignore the rumbling of her stomach. She hadn’t eaten anything since dinner the night before, and the story of the baker and his delectable foods only exacerbated the problem.

Ben chuckled beside her. “For a lady, your stomach sounds like a herd of cattle. C’mon, we’ll get something to eat. No use going back to the castle starving like this. And we need to do something about his clothes.”

“Thank you, Ben. I’m going to repay your kindness one day.” Ben nodded once, but made no reply to her words. Kindness was not something you should have to repay, but a quality that flowed out of you.

Ben led Emberly through the enormous crow towards an inn called Bandello’s. Emberly could fell the eyes of everyone around her staring down at her. She was dressed inappropriately, Ben was right. There was no way she could walk to the castle dressed this way.

The moment they entered the inn, Emberly felt infinitely better. Her bare, bleeding feet felt wonderful against the padded, red carpet of the inn. She located a comfortable chair and collapsed on top of it. She hadn’t realized how much energy she had exerted over the course of the day.

She noticed that people were staring at her. She pulled Ben’s jacket tightly around her, warding off the wandering eyes. Her cheeks flamed red in her embarrassment.

Ben was right. The boys who had done this to her were the furthest thing from gentlemen.

Ben returned to her side, holding shoes, a shirt and pair pants out to her. “I’ve got this for you,” he muttered. He reached into his pocket and retrieved a small, thick key. The number 12 was etched into it. “You can use this room to change and rest for a brief time.”

“Thank you,” Emberly said again.

“Do rest, Em,” continued Ben as though he had not heard her. “It’s been a long day and I’m guessing you did not sleep well last night. There’s no point in going to the castle until you’re ready.”

She climbed the stairs to the room labeled 12. She wanted to return to the castle and explain what had happened, but the weariness took her over at the sight of the bed. Exhaustion flooded her at every side. She laid down on the bed and was asleep in a moment.

-----

Sir Wylan was glaring at her. It was clear that he did not believe her explanation at all. Fear told Emberly that he was going to send her from the castle this moment. She would have to return to her father and explain what she and her brother had done.

“Fall in line, Dern,” he just forced out. “Breakfast is in three bells. I expect you to be there.”

“Yes, Sir Wylan,” she answered.

“I like to eat my meals on time,” he continued, his raspy voice lowering dangerously, “I did not like having to wait an hour before it was learned that you were nowhere to be found in the castle yesterday morning.”

Emberly’s heart sank. He had not believed a single word she had uttered. “Yes, Sir Wylan.”

“You will be given four weeks of dishes following dinner.” She wanted to refute his injustice, but she knew enough about Sir Wylan to know the futility in this action.

“Yes, Sir Wylan.”

“You are dismissed, Dern,” he told her.

“Yes, Sir Wylan,” she said. She turned to leave. Just has her hand grazed the handle on the door to Sir Wylan’s office, she heard him speak once more.

“I am not saying that I believe your outrageous tale, Dern. I think explanations are whiny excuses. And I have no room for petty, whiny excuses.”

“Yes, Sir Wylan,” Emberly answered, leaving the room with this statement. She marched straight to the Great Hall.

At first, no one noticed her. Then, her eyes met James Heczah’s. Shock dissolved into annoyed anger. One by one the eyes of the boys sitting in the Great Hall turned towards her. She could depict who had left her in the middle of nowhere by the guilty, frustrated, and shocked expressions in the boys’ eyes. James Heczah and Keenan Taylar were among them. As well as the honorable and revered Prince William.