Nadine - The Beginning

17. The Journey

"Sister what is taking so long? We leave this morning."

"Calm down Nicladie. We're not leaving until after breakfast and I just need my veil on."

"There you go little miss."

"Thank you. Are you ready to go Mary?"

"Yes miss."

"MOM! IT'S TIME FOR BREAKFAST!"

I shrug and look at Mary. "He can be such a pain."

She just smiles as we walk to breakfast.

My mom walks in at the same time I do. "Clay I know your excited but please calm down. Rushing everyone is not going to make us leave faster."

"I didn't know you were going dad." Clay stops shoving food in his mouth and stares at my dad who just walked in.

"Yes son. Until the route is established as safe, I will attend with you all."

Clay nods and starts shoving food in his mouth again. "I'm done. Can I go wait outside by my carriage?"

"Yes child please." My mom takes a drink of blood and looks at me. "Are you excited too?"

I start laughing. "Yes momma. But perhaps not as much as Clay."

She smiles at me. "It will be you, Mary, and 1 guard in your carriage. You'll also have another 2 in the front directing the horses. I have sent fruit, vegetables, and breads for your carriage."

"Thank you momma." I finish my last bite and look around. "Should I go outside too?"

She looks up at the head servant. "Is everything packed?"

"Yes ma'am and the 20 servants you requested are assembling in the final carriage now."

"Perfect. Yes Nadine you may go out. You will be in the very middle carriage. We will be out soon."

As soon as me and Mary walk out the front gate I see everyone standing there again. "I didn't know we were getting a going away party. We're only going for 4 days."

"It's always a big deal when the king leaves miss." She looks at me through the veil. "Even if it is only for 4 days."

I nod and look around. I see advisors Dipak and Frode. I start walking to them. "I feel like I should say bye to someone Mary."

About half way to them I see Elkie and Dorseti. I change my direction. "I didn't know you come to these?"

Dorseti is super excited like always. "We never have before but doctor Cruor said we could this time. We were just going to wave though. I can't believe you're talking to us here Princess Nadine." She curtseys.

I curtsey back and smile at them both.

"Princess your carriage awaits."

I jump straight up. "Oh Dipak I didn't know you were standing there. Excuse me."

He smiles at me and holds out his arm for me to take.

"I'll see you in 4 days ladies."

"Goodbye Princess have fun." Dorseti is just so excited she jumping up and down again. Elkie is just holding on to her.

I take Dipaks arm and he leads me to my carriage. "Enjoy your trip Princess Nadine."

"Thank you Advisor Dipak." I laugh at the formality and curtsey.

He bows because at this point he has to, but he stands back up laughing and opens the door for me. I get in and Mary gets in behind me. There's already a guard in the carriage like mom said there would be. "Good morning."

"Good morning ma'am."

I push the fabric off the wall and look outside. "I am so excited to see what's out there Mary."

I hear her chuckle. "Well when you get bored with that, I brought some extra fabric. We can make some gloves."

"My gloves always come out weird."

"Yes they take practice but any weird ones, the servants can use. They will need new ones for the winter season anyways princess."

I nod and sit back looking outside as Mary starts to knit something.

My carriage takes off shortly after and I hear everyone cheering. I jump over Mary and open the curtain on that side. I wave to Elkie and Dorseti. I see them both start jumping up and down this time. I laugh and go back to my seat.

I watch the scenery go by for a couple hours. It is so beautiful. All the trees and birds. "How much longer Mary?"

"About 2 hours miss."

"Oh. I guess I could work on some gloves."

I work on getting better at gloves while checking out the window. My first glove only had 4 fingers somehow. But the rest are actually starting to look nice. Maybe not royalty nice, but still pretty decent. My carriage stops completely and I stick my head out looking around. "What's this Mary?"

"It's the half way point. Your father had guards sent out last night to do some hunting here. The meat is to be ready for we come through at lunch time."

A knock on the carriage door and the guard gets up to open it. He comes back with a huge portion of meat. Probably enough for 10 people.

He sits it down by the fruit table. "Here is your meat princess."

I just stare at it for a minute. "What is it?"

"Deer princess."

Mary sits up and cuts three chunks off of it. She puts them on plates with some other stuff from the table. She gives me one and then the guard.

"Oh mustn't take food from the princess."

"It's fine guard. I can't eat all that. Help yourself."

He smiles at the plate and takes it. "Thank you princess." Then he looks at Mary. "Thank you."

"No problem. You can have more if you want it."

"My pleasure sir."

Mary grabs the last plate and sits down to eat.

"Mary."

"Yes."

"How much longer?"

"About 2 hours princess. It's taking a big longer than expected. But not to bad."

"My butt is starting to go numb."

"Eat your food. Then you can make some more gloves."

I look outside and sigh as we start moving again. I finish eating my food and I lay down on the floor of the carriage. "My butt needs a rest."

Mary lays down beside me. "My back needs a rest."

I laugh as we both position ourselves with our feet where are butts are supposed to go and our backs on the floor.

"This is better Mary. 5 hours is a long time to stay in one spot."

"Yes it is."

-Thud-

I look around. Mary is knitting something again and the guard is looking at me. "What was that?"

"Apple fell princess."

I try to sit up and can't hardly move. "How much longer Mary? I think I fell asleep and my back hurts now."

"About an hour little miss. Lay on the seat and try to rest some more."

I'm really stiff but I manage to stand up. I try to stretch and the carriage hits a bump. Something is wrong, I feel part of the floor fall and the guard catches me. I fall right into his arms. He is super hard like all the other men. I can feel his muscles through his robes. I try to stand up properly but I'm still not awake fully. "I'm sorry."

He picks me up and puts me in his seat. "I'm going to check what that was." He says it as he's already leaving.

I hear other guards talking around our carriage. I try to hear what they say, but I can't.

I'm starting to get scared when my guard opens the door back up. "Going to need you to step outside princess. We need to fix a wheel."

I nod at Mary and she gets out first. I try to stand up but the floor is slanted. I slip and fall against the table.

"Are you ok princess?"

Well now I'm embarrassed. "Yes I'm fine. I just slipped."

I feel his strong arms wrap around me from behind. He lifts me up so my back is against his chest. I'm so happy I don't have to breath because there is no way I would be able to right now. "It's hard to walk on a floor when it's like this. I will get you out of here."

Once he gets me outside, he puts me on my feet and turns me around. "Are you ok princess?"

All I can do is stare at him and nod.

"What happened?" Mary is standing beside me looking all over my dress.

"She just slipped."

Mary turns my shoulders so I'm looking at her now. "Are you ok?"

"Yes I'm fine. I slipped and hit the table but I'm ok now."

They both look relieved. "Great. Let's stand over here under this tree please. You can be in the shade while they fix the wheel. It should only take a few minutes princess."

I nod and follow my guard under the tree with Mary.

The guard is just looking around at everything going on.

Mary elbows my shoulder and whispers. "You sure you're fine princess? You seem quiet."

I whisper back "You should slip next time."

I look at her and we both bust out laughing. The guard looks at us and we hide our faces and start laughing even harder.

He just shakes his head and starts watching everyone again. "It is fixed. We can return to the carriage now princess."

We get back in and sit back down. "Well that was a nice break."

"Yes that was princess. I needed that stretch." Mary gets back in the fabric bag and pulls out some fabric for us both.

The last hour is spent making gloves for the servants and staring outside. "It is such a pretty countryside Mary."

"Yes we are getting closer to the sea now. Maybe we could take a trip over and see it one day while we are here. I know you would love that."

I catch the guard looking excited for a second. I wonder if he's never seen it either. "Yes I would like that a lot Mary. Please don't let me forget to ask momma."

"Of course child."

"Is that it Mary? I see a village up there."

"Yes it probably is. Get your head in the carriage please."

"I am so excited."

She smiles at me and puts all the fabric and gloves back into her bag.

I stick my head back outside again. I can see little houses popping up in the distance. That much be the human village. It's been so long since I've been able to talk with humans. "I wonder if there are girls my age there."

"I'm sure you'll find a few princess. Guard are you assigned to Nadine for the duration of the trip?"

"Yes I am."

Mary nods and looks at me then back to him. "Do be careful. She is quite sneaky."

I can't help but laugh. "I wonder if they have markets like we do. I would love to see what they trade."

I sit back and try to relax while looking outside. "Do you think Tre will be there when I get out? Do they have hello parties like good bye parties? I guess I don't know anyone here. It really wouldn't matter. Where are we going to sleep? Will we get one of the little houses? I wonder where the servants sleep here. There's no castle or servants quarters yet. I wonder where Tre and his parents are staying. Do you think they have a little house in the human village? Little houses are so cute. Does it get cold here? Do you think the servants will want these gloves?"

I look at Mary and the guard and they are both just staring at me. Maybe that was to many questions. I can't even remember everything I asked.

"I'm getting hungry again."

"There will be a feast ready for you when you get there little miss. Try to calm down."

I nod and sit back. "I wonder if Tre will be there when I get out." I sit lost in thought for a few minutes. I wonder if he forgot about me already. Mary said there are other girls my age here. Maybe he found another one he thinks he will be mated with.

"Look outside child. We are pulling up now."

I look and I see Tre standing beside his parents. I breath easier just seeing him. I hear the door open and Mary starts pulling on my arm. The guard gets out first and then me. Mary gets out last. Tre comes running over to me.

I give him a big hug. "I missed you."

"I missed you too princess."