Sacrificed to the Dragon

5. Sewing lessons

“Where were you?” The stern voice of Agneta greets Katherine as she opens her bedroom door. She gulps audibly and hangs her head. She wonders what kind of punishment she’ll get for keeping Agneta waiting. She closes the door softly and walks forward, not even once glancing at Agneta who sits on the only chair in the room.

“In the second story library.” Katherine tells Agneta.

“How did you find that one?” Agneta inquires.

“Are you mad at me?” Katherine asks back and dares to look the older lady in the eyes. She is shocked to see her smiling.

“I’m not mad at you. What makes you think that?” Agneta rises from the chair and walks over to Katherine. She raises her chin up with two fingers and gazes at her.

“My mother would be mad at me for running away like that.” Katherine tells her.

“I see.” Agneta nods. “You missed lunch. I came looking for you and I brought you a piece of beef roast on bread. Go eat it, it’s still warm.”

“You’re giving me food?” Katherine is shocked as she remembers her mothers favourite punishment method. No food for Katherine or Lear if they made their mother angry at them.

“Oh my!” Agneta exclaims. “Is that how she punished you?”

Katherine only nods as she still remembers the harsh punishments for speaking with her mouth full. And the roast is really good. She has to hold back from stuffing it all in her mouth at once. ‘So not lady like! Eat slow!’ Gods, she can practically hear her mothers voice in her head even now. And she can add feeling guilty for not missing her mother on top of all her current anxieties. 

“So. Tell me? How did you find the upstairs library?” Agneta asks her when Katherine finishes her food.

“A man brought me there.” Katherine whispers.

“Who? And why?” Agneta asks calmly and she waits patiently for a reply. 

“I don’t know who he is. He didn’t tell me his name or what he does.” Katherine explains to Agneta. “He wanted to show me the view from the balcony. And then he just left me there.”

“Aha.” Agneta smirks. “Do you have a habit of going anywhere with strangers?”

“No!” Katherine protests and shakes her head. “He seemed trustworthy. Tall, blond, with blue eyes and wearing all black with riding boots. He never even touched me.”

“By that description, it could be anyone. Including my husband, all the guards and half of the field workers.” Agneta laughs. “Although, the field workers wouldn’t be in the castle at this time and the guards never stray far from their post.”

“Did I imagine him? He had the most gentle smile and something about him soothed my fears.” Katherine asks and thinks that he must have been real, not just a figment of her imagination. “I didn't imagine the man? How did men get up here? Only girls are sacrificed.”

“I believe that you met someone, just be careful.” Agneta sighs. “The men come up here by their own free will. The dragon brings them, just like he brings the girls. That’s all I’ll say right now.”

“Thank you.” Katherine whispers. “It’s good to know I’m not going crazy.”

“About that library upstairs. That was the private library of Lady Anthea, Lord Cellan’s mother. Do not, under any circumstances, take anything out of that room. Ever!” Agneta warns her.

Katherine takes the advice to heart, but there are a few books that she would like to read, since she never had the chance before. And some are so rare that she only heard about them. She takes a breath for courage before she asks Agneta for reading privileges.

“Can I be there and read? Sometimes, you know, in my free time?” Katherine asks. “Do we even have free time here?”

“Sure!” Agneta laughs. “We even have a proper library in the west wing. Education is always encouraged here. And you will have enough free time to read, once we figure out what you will do.”

“Do you have the next task for me?” Katherine inquires and holds her breath. She hopes it’s not something gross, like mucking horse stalls.

“Yes.” Angneta nods. “Tomorrow after breakfast, you will join our seamstresses and we’ll see if you have a hand for sewing.”

“Oh.” Katherine says. “I do love the dresses. Are they all made here?”

“Yes. You will see tomorrow.” Agneta smiles wide and leaves her alone for the day.

Early the next morning, Katherine is awakened by hushed talking in the hall. She creeps out of her bed carefully and listens at her door. The voices are just outside and she can recognise the sweet and melodic voice of Anery. The woman seems to be angry with someone. She keeps saying no, over and over again. But the other voice is too quiet for Katherine to make out the words clearly. It sounds like a voice she has heard before and she thinks it’s the man that has comforted her yesterday. Could he be? He is clearly asking Anery for something and she keeps turning him down. What is it that he wants? And then they go silent and all Katherine can hear is breathing and the clicking of Anery’s heels on the tiles. She is walking away, but where is the man?

You know it’s wrong to eavesdrop, she reminds herself and silently walks to her wardrobe. She needs to get dressed and maybe she can do something with her hair today. She has the pins, she only needs to try and get a decent hairdo done. An hour later, she is content to some point with the braids and knots and the small fake flowers in her hair. She feels more like herself this way and she tries a smile in the  mirror. 

“Yes. Let’s do this and no crying today.” Katherine encourages herself before she leaves her room.

For breakfast, she sits alone and she is fine with it. There are a suspicious number of people missing and she only shrugs. She can see that Lory is already finished and she is cleaning the tables and stacking the plates. Is she that late? Will she be in trouble? Where is she supposed to go? Agneta didn’t say anything about the location and the castle is huge to search for it.

“Lory? Can I ask you something?” Katherine stops the other girl in passing.

“Sure. What is it?” Lory answers.

“I was supposed to go to the seamstresses, but I don’t know where that is.” Katherine tells the girl.

“Oh, that’s easy!” Lory exclaims. “You even have a shortcut. Take the stairs just on the left of the kitchen. The first door you see on the next floor is the right one.”

“Thank you, Lory.” Katherine smiles at the girl.

“No problem.” Lory laughs. “We were all wondering where she’ll put you next.” 

Getting the right door is not a problem and the shocked expressions on the ladies faces is almost funny to Katherine, but she doesn’t laugh. She would hate to make them angry at first sight. Eight pairs of blue eyes are trained on her and what she does. The silence is a bit heavy and she thinks they will all yell at her if she even sneezes. She feels like this is a part of the test and waits patiently for them to say something.

“Well, come on in Katherine.” An older lady invites her. “We are in desperate need of some good gossip.”

“Oh.” Katherine sighs. “What do you want to know?”

“Are you really the princess of Loredan?” A young apprentice asks.

“I was.” Katherine nods. “But I’m one of you now. Just Katherine.”

“Why did they pick you? Has Loredan run out of young girls?” One of them asks and Katherine snickers at that question.

“No.” She laughs. “The dragon messed up everything this time. He refused the first girl. He just cut her off of the pillar and left her there. The council panicked, my father fought them for about half an hour with all possible arguments, but they won. I was the only suitable girl close enough for the next attempt.”

“Oh!” A collective sigh comes from her audience and Katherine shrugs.  

“And we all thought you must have turned down a marriage proposal by some dignitary and this is your punishment.” One of the girls laughs.

“Oh no. Nothing like that.” Katherine tells them. “My mother used to turn down men for me. She kept saying I was too young.”

“Agneta didn’t tell us much this time.” The older lady smiles.

“That’s just my mother, she only tells what suits her.” The young girl laughs.

“Your mother?” Katherine asks in wonder.

“Oh, yes. You will find out that half of the people you meet here are born here as well. We are just a normal village, with normal working people and one dragon.” The girl laughs and all the rest join in. The tension is gone from the room and Katherine thinks that this day will be a better experience than yesterday was.

“Alright!” The older lady announces suddenly. “Have you sown before, Katherine?”

“No.” Katherine shakes her head.

“Then we’ll start you off with something easy.” She says and smiles fondly.

“Thank you.” Katherine whispers.

It turns out that easy is not something Katherine could picture. The sewing machine has to be run with her feet and then she needs to keep the cloth straight and tight to make nice stitches. It’s all going askew and the machine keeps stopping, because Katherine forgets to paddle with her feet. She is frustrated at her lack of coordination, but the ladies say nothing. They each help her in turn to correct the mess she has made. 

“Luckily, we are not on a deadline here. Nobody is waiting on new dresses. Besides, you are working on an apron.” The lady sighs. Mathilde, she reminds herself. She better start learning the names. “Can you do embroidery? That doesn’t involve the machine.”

“I have never tried it.” Katherine tells Mathilde the truth. “And I never knew, until now, how totally uncoordinated I am.”

“I see.” Mathilde answers. “You are free after lunch. I don’t want you to get cramps in the fingers. You’re holding the fabric too tight, you need to loosen up. Relax, don’t force it.”

“I don’t know how to relax.” Katherine whispers.

“We’ll work on it.” Mathilde tells her.

“We can all help with tips and tricks. Oh, by the way, I’m Anny.” The young girl smiles at her from the next table over.

“Thank you.” Katherine smiles, too.

“One of the better ways to relax is to talk.” Anny smiles at her. And Katherine can  see that the girl can talk and paddle the machine and keep a straight line of stitches all at once. She smiles at her and gives it another try.

“What do you want to talk about?” Katherine asks.

“What kind of dresses are popular in Loredan?” Anny asks.

“This year the most desired colours are green and teal. In every variation. And transparent sleeves.” Katherine answers and swears just after.

“What happened?” Mathilde appears like magic at her side. “Oh dear. Someone fetch Agneta and fast!”

“I’m so sorry, Katherine!” Anny winces at the sight. “I just wanted to get you to relax.”

Yes. She did it. She messed up again. Talking did relax her fingers, just a bit too much. She was somewhere else and sewed her fingers right on the apron. And gods it hurts so much! It looks like the needle missed her bones and went straight through the skin. The blood is slowly seeping from the tiny puncture marks and the white apron is getting redder by the minute.

Agneta took one glance at the mess and snapped her fingers. A magic user as it turns out. And a good one too. Katherine is free of the machine in an instant and the thread pulls itself out of her fingers. She gets her fingers bandaged fast and a sling is hung around her neck to keep her arm still. And she feels like a failure again. But there is a silver lining in the words she hears from Mathilde:

“I still expect you to come tomorrow.”