Friday morning, I showed James his costume. It was quite nice, a knight costume of real armor and two beautiful swords with wire-wrapped handles and onyx hilts, attached to scabbards underneath the black cape.
James tried it one, and grinned sheepishly at me at he studied himself in the mirror.
�What?!�
�I�ve always wanted to be a knight, and now I am.�
To start, I used a white, thick base makeup all over my face, down to my shoulders and on the back of my neck, my hair braided and looped elaborately but still covered with a find veil. I put rouge on my lips and cheeks, then black kohl on my eyelids and eyebrows. My costume was a lovely wrapped dress, with three layers.
I wore my normal boots. James studied me carefully, trying to sense something out. He put on his mask, a black half one edged with silver. I didn�t wear one, since my makeup effectively disguised me.
I hooked up my small wagon to the mare, and we both rode in it to the festival.
The festival was spectacular. Dancers, Mosques, Fire-eaters, and shopkeepers who hocked their wares filled the streets. I met many fellow students and introduced James to a few of them. Eva the costumer was watching the priestesses and acolytes, trailing after them and insuring that nobody ruined their costume. We saw Master Amas, and Sally, and we met the priestesses.
Everything went fine until nightfall. I spotted a royal courier, who seemed to be searching for someone.
Oh no.
Adomme Du Lanceford. I remember him from court. I snatched away James from a maiden who thought that he was a real night, apparently. I dragged him into the shadows and out of sight from Adomme, dragging him by his shoulder guards.
I waited for Adomme to pass, then we left.
At home, I washed off my makeup quickly and redressed in my normal clothes, I was working on James�s cape when I head someone knock at the door. I jumped up and answered it, cracking the door, then fully opening it and curtsying.
�Adomme.� I murmured.
�Call me Lance, your highness.� and he bowed, then came inside.
James stood in the middle of the room, wearing his brown vest and linen shirt with his slops and boots, looking terribly forlorn. His mouth hung open and he closed it.
I changed my manner. �Adomme!� I snapped. �What�is this? There had better be something serious or you�ll find you regret your career choice!�
�Oh, forgive me, Madame, but some serious has happened.� The short, odd figure stooped low. �Tis your family, miss. Your father�s brother, he is ill. Your father prepares to take the throne, but Queen Netife resists and demands regent for her son Dynasius.�
�Stand, Adomme.� I pondered this, and asked, �Dynasius is only two, is she mad?�
�Yes, she is, and evil too. She intends to frame you as a witch and behead your family once she is regent.�
I plopped down in a chair. Aunt Netife. My family. Mum. Pa. Lynet(not the real one). My twin sister has become a Lady of the Court, which is why I left home to begin with.
We are nothing alike. She chases after princes and fellow courtiers. I wanted to be a healer and a knight. Well, one happened, as for the other�
Wordlessly, I stood up, crossed over to my trunk at the foot of my bed, and began emptying it. A hunting bow and arrows, a set of bracers, a glove for my right hand, fur-lined boots embroidered with a celtic design, darts and daggers, a lady�s fan from the orient, three silk hunting dresses and chemises, my shield, a short sword and it�s scabbard with a harness for the back of my dress, breeches, a war axe, and most importantly, a mahogany box containing my war glove.
Softly, he said, �What will you do?�
I gritted my teeth and wrenched away from him. I pulled out my locked box and removed my rosaries(from the jeweler), James�s wallet, my bag of gold and silver, and my healer�s circlet. I packed all these things into a leather bag, tossing James his wallet.
Adomme just watched, knowing me well enough to stay out of my way. I left out a hunting dress and chemise, all my weapons, rosaries, healer�s circlet, my bag of student materials, breeches, and my war glove.
�Adomme, do you have a horse for James?�
�Yes, but�� before he could protest I turned on James.
�Can you fight?�
�Um�yeah.�
�If you help me fullfill this quest, I shall see to it that you return home. Agreed?�
�Agreed.�
�Put on your armor.�
�But what about travel during the holidays?�
�A royal travels whenever they want.�
And with that, I snatched up a chemise, dress, and the breeches on the way to change clothes.
James wore his armor, and rode a fine dappled grey horse given to him by Adom-Lance. Lance, though short and not very handsome, had a sword slightly shorter than mine, and was quite graceful with it. He wore the sword on a black baldric over his brocade doublet, a dark green one. If you did not know Lance as I did, you would think him a villain�s henchman, but �tis no so. He is kind, quick-witted, and brave, but lacking in the infamous princeliness that has seemed to skip him. I knew him as a child, and it seemed then that he would become one of his Majesty�s best knights, or a scholar perhaps, but he grew instead into a monster, with fangs, pointed ears, and skin with the look of scales. He was also short, and if he had horns, you would mistake him for a demon. So to be inconspicuous, he oft wore a dark gray cloak with an overlarge hood, and black leather riding gloves. It was how I recognized him at the fair. Since is was just us for a moment, he threw his hood back.
�Well, Milady, What do you intend to do? Bring a kingdom to it�s knees with a fake knight, a warrior damsel, and a demon?�
I smiled. Lance had not lost his wit. I retorted, �I doubt you would make a good damsel, Lance.�
We stopped mid-afternoon to make camp and eat.
I had a small tent, but decided against putting it up, so we could move quickly.
I took off my harness containing my shield, bow, quiver, arrows, and sword, but kept it by me, and I kept on my bracers and gloves, both my war and bow. I quietly laid out my blanket and ate. James stared.
�What?�
�No, I�m a member of the extended royal family. I don�t have any proper titles either. I haven�t kissed up enough to have any bestowed upon me.� I grimaced and continued eating. I was careful not to get anything on my dress, a curse of mine. I was wearing my favorite one too, a crimson one that made me look like a valkyrie.
My hair was still in it�s braids, but covered with a black veil of mourning. I wore my rosaries around my neck and my healer�s circlet to hold my veil on. I pulled out my healer�s bag.
�What are you doing?� Lance asked, watching me, �What are we to do?�
I pulled out my palm-healer, but left it in its pouch and tied the strings to my belt. Strangely, my war glove matched my palm-healer. Same stones, same silver. The war glove is a sort of metal cage that moves with my hand. It has a main part that has a stone on the palm, and chains connecting fingertips to the main piece. In all, it�s very formidable, and adds an ability like no other.
I too my war-glove off ad put it back into it�s case. Addressing Lance, I said, �The knights will help us. As long as they haven�t changed. They will do this for me.�
�Aye, but their loyalty is to the ruler. Queen Netife will have them under her hand.�
�Lance, I grew up with these boys. They respect me more than Queen Netife. She has inherited everything in her possesion. I earned everything in mine.�
But a nagging voice said, she is beautiful and you are plain�.men are swayed easily by a pretty face.
�Guinevere, I caution you. These knights are not the boys of your youth.�
�But that does not change the fact that I am respected.� and with that, I lay down to sleep, but sleep would not come. So I recounted how I got here:
When Lynet and I, Guinevere, were born to Lady Suvadun and My father, Martin, the king�s brother, the christener was brought and named us both. Lady Lynet, my oldest by 2 � minute, was christened so by the man because of her quietness, and the fairy midwife gave her beauty. I, on the other hand�.was a mistake. The christener, seeing my resilience in the future, named me Gawan, and the mid-wife gave me the strength of mind. Mom has taken to calling me Guinevere, which I am happy with.
The result of this is a woman who I as strong as any man, who can shoot bow and arrow, handle a sword and shield, and fight just as hard. I still have my womanlike grace, allowing me to pass for a normal girl, and the combination of which allows me to be one the best warriors ever.
But.
But I�m not pretty. My sister has long, light blonde hair and stunning blue eyes. Every courtier in the province falls all over himself. I had dark brown hair and plain brown eyes. Every knight in the province respects me as an equal.
I don�t hate my looks. It is because of them I make such a passable peasant. They also keep liars from wanting to be my friend. My sister has many courters, but none like her because she has a personality, because in truth, she hasn�t one. The latest fashions at court and her recent embroidery piece occupy most of her brain. For the rest, she memorizes titles and importance.
The next day we left at sunrise.
I put my harness back on, and Lance put on his cloak.
Lance, James, and I rode side-by-side-by-side.
�So are you Cartinathia of Dartwell? Or Guinevere of the Royal Family?� James asked, implying that I had lied to him.
�Neither, actually, My birth name was Gawan, but mum has taken to calling me Guinevere. Cartinathia is my peasant name. I use it when I wish to hide.�
�Why would you want to do that?�
�At home, people fawn over Lynet. Everyone wishes me to be a lady just like Lynet. I wanted to be a knight as a child, and now, it is the same. It�s useless for one of noble birth to want to be anything more than an investment by their parents. In my parent�s eyes, Lynet is a success, and I a failure.�
James was silent. I continued:
�The original Guinevere fought alongside her husband, Arthur. I am happy to fight alone.� I smiled at James. Lance said loudly,
�But you�re not alone, Gwenny. You�ve got me. And your knight friends. You�ll never fight alone.�
�Twas true. How many friends were warriors and outcasts similar to I? How many? All. All were either one or both. Some were peasants recognized for their skill and courage. Other were nobles� children, like me, and I helped them realize that not all duty is to your parent�s wishes.
We reached the knight�s castle as sunset on the third day.
Evan, one of my old friends, recognized me and Lance, and lowered the drawbridge for us.
Inside, I was rewarded well with my friend�s loyalty. Anemos, Evan, Paolin of Dench, Charles of Nemmith, Darin, and Seth all wished to join our quest.
That night, in my room, I couldn�t sleep again. It was a full moon outside, and I stuck my stones out to charge and cleanse them. I finally feel asleep sometime past three, and I woke the next morning reluctantly. I decided to stay a few days with the knights and practice my sword technique.
When Anemos asked me what my circlet was for and found out, his eyes grew wide.
�You�re a healer?� he asked slowly.
�Yes. Why?� He looked around and said darkly: �I�ll show you.� I sheathed my sword and followed him. He led me to a room that smelled strongly of death and sick. On a large bed, a young man with black, sunken eyes lay. He was tended to by a nurse, who saw me, glanced at my circlet, and bowed.
�Welcome, Milady. �Tis not much ye can do for him. He is dying.� she stood aside.
Anemos stood at a distance, but I could tell that he cared about the sick young man. Reaching toward the boy, Anemos explained:
�This is Kennith, a skilled hunter and close friend. Please, you must help him. I will do anything if you save him.�
�I will do what I can.� I rounded on the nurse and took off my weapons harness.
�Have you an apothecary?�
She nodded. I told her the list of ingredients to get, and she returned a few minutes later, also fetching my healer�s bag from my room.
Kennith had been wounded by boar whilst hunting, and the wound stank of rot and decay. I worked tirelessly for two hours, and collapsed into a chair after it.
�Is he cured?� Anemos rushed to the bed.
�No, but closer to life than before. God will take care of the rest.�
�Can�t you do anything else?�
�No, but you can.�
�What is it?�
�Pray.�
News of a healer nearby traveled fast.
I turned down most of the requests, since the majority were bull anyways, but I didn�t turn away the truly sick, or the ones who really needed help.
For some, it was their time, and I simply could not do anything.
I was so odd to heal so many at the same time. At first, I did not worry about the consequences, but later in the day, I felt nauseous, then weak. Luckily Lance saved me by inviting me to the castle�s garden courtyard. We reached a bench near the fountain and sat.
�So how is it?� he asked, grinning.
�How�s what?�
�Being famous. Everyone wants a piece of the new healer.�
�Lance, I don�t heal people to be liked, I do it to help them.�
�Whatever. It just seems like you�re losing focus.�
�I already have worked on that. Queen Netife is not very popular among the peasants.�
The next day the news came by courier:
My father had taken the throne.
I was now a princess and so was Lynet.
Great.
James came into the dining room where I was staring at the parchment of my father�s letter and eating lunch. He was followed by Lance, Anemos, and Kennith, who was a picture of health. He wore a green jerkin, breeches, and carried a crossbow. His long blonde hair was braided back.
Lance approached me and put his hand on my shoulder.
�Shall we Quest?� He asked.
�Certainly.�