Peas and Princesses

by Aleese Hughes

My sister was older than I by two years and definitely the pretty one with her glowing skin and shining, green eyes. But I was the strong one. When our mother died three years before— Jan was 18, and I 16– our drunken father disappeared soon after. I had to be the strong one. My poor sister was stricken with grief that took more than a year to even begin to subside, and someone still had to earn the money. My anger towards our father overcame any sadness I ever felt, so I took over tending Father’s small garden and orchard in our land and proceeded to sell the fruits and vegetables in our Kingdom’s capital, Capthar, periodically.

  “What’s his name?” Jan asked.

  “Borden,” I said, picking up a brush to groom him. “He’s the best Barty had.”

  Jan nodded. “How much?”

  “Nine pieces.”

  She looked shocked. “That’s not even half of what…” she paused, looking around, even though our little farm was rather far from any sort of neighbor. She then continued in a whisper, “she gave us.”

  “I negotiated him down. He actually said ten and three silver, but I wasn’t having it.”

  Janice smiled. “It’s nice having some money to spend…”

  “It really is. Is there anything I can get you while I’m up there for business?”

  Her smile grew bigger. “Do you think I can get a new book, with the extra money and all?”

  I laughed. Janice loved reading. “Of course. How much do you think we’ve got to sell this time?”

  “I picked a few dozen pumpkins, a bushel of cucumbers, lots of carrots and cabbage heads, and a barrel of apples,” she said, gesturing towards the produce she had stacked by the back door.

  “Great!” I said. “Wanna help me load up the wagon?”

  Within the next half hour, we had the wagon loaded and Borden hitched. Janice wrapped me up in a hug.

  “I’ll be back by the end of this week,” I said. Capthar was about two days north of us, Marviton being the furthest town away from the capital within our small kingdom of Mardasia.

  Jan released me from her embrace and watched as I jumped into the driver’s seat of the wagon. “Be safe,” she whispered.

  I winked. “Always am.”

  Chapter 4

  “Miss! Miss!”

  I pulled on Borden’s reins and squinted past the sunlight to look to my left. Not far from me was a crippled, old woman with little gray hair left on her scalp. The skin on her face sagged past her chin, and I tried not to gag as she flashed her rotted teeth at me in a smile. She lounged on a large pile of red and orange leaves as she waved to me.

  “Do you think you can help me, miss?” Her voice croaked with age, but the smile never left her face.

  I hesitated. “What do you need help with?”

  “I was wondering if you had any food to spare for a poor, old lady.”

  I glanced over my shoulder at the produce in my wagon, then back to her. I felt a pang of sympathy as I watched the woman pull her ratted shawl back over her shoulders and shiver against the cold, fall air. It wouldn’t hurt to give her an apple or two.

  I smiled at the woman. “Give me one second.”

  I led Borden and the wagon next to the tree the woman sat beside. She watched eagerly as I hopped from my seat and tied his reins around the small trunk.

  “No one ever stops for me!” The woman leapt from her place and rushed towards the food. I held my hands out to stop her.

  “Please,” I said. “I still have to sell most of it. Let me get it for you.”

  She covered her mouth with her knobby, dry fingers and giggled.

  “Of course.” She danced back to her spot and plopped down with a thud. Leaves sprung up all around her.

  I pulled two shiny, red apples from their basket and walked over to the woman. Her smell became more and more pungent the nearer I came. With a closer look, I could tell she hadn’t bathed in a long time. She bounced up and down and clapped her hands together in excitement, much like an eager child.

  I held out the fruit to her. “I hope this helps.”

  She snatched the apples from my hand and dove into them like an animal. Pieces of it flew around, and some of the juice hit me in the eye. I chuckled, uncomfortable.

  “Well, I’d better get going,” I said, rubbing at my eye.

  The woman gasped, chucking the two cores behind her back. She had eaten those really fast.

  “Oh, no. Please, child.” She patted the spot next to her. “Will you keep me company just for a minute or two?”

  I gulped. “I really do have a lot of travel today.”

  The woman stuck her chapped, bottom lip out in a pout. “I just wanted to talk for a second or two. Like I said, no one ever stops for me.” She flashed another gruesome smile at me. “I’d like to get to know someone as special as you.”

  I glanced at Borden. He munched peacefully at the grass. I then looked up at the sky. There were still a few hours of sunlight left. Besides, what harm could come from talking to a frail, old woman for just a moment?

  I moved to sit by her, trying not to crinkle my nose from the odor. I hugged my knees and stared out at the dirt road. There were not many travellers today, and I enjoyed the quiet. The sound of the wind rustling through the trees and the crisp air were relaxing.

  “What’s your name, child?” The woman sat back on her hands and closed her eyes to the warm rays of the sun.

  “Milly,” I replied.

  She nodded. “That’s what I thought.”

  I found myself laughing. “Lucky guess? What’s your name?”

  She paused for a moment and furrowed her brow. “I’m not sure which name I’m using as of this moment.”

  I waited a few seconds as the woman searched her mind in turmoil for what seemed, at least to me, to be an easy answer to an easy question. She was crazy.

  She snapped her fingers suddenly. “Bavmorda! That’s what I’ve been going by lately.” Bavmorda closed her eyes again, pleased with herself.

  “Oh.” I inched myself a little further away from her.

  “You know,” Bavmorda said, twirling a piece of her tattered hair around her finger, “I was almost expecting you today.”

  I raised an eyebrow and looked at the woman. “What do you mean by that?”

  She ignored my question. “Were you able to help the Princess get away?”

  I shot up from my seat and stared at her. “How did you—”

  Bavmorda laid all the way back and chuckled up at me. “I pose no threat to you, child. And I will repay you for your kindness, Mildred Wallander. I promise.”

  I gasped as she said my full name and turned to run from the woman. Her high-pitched cackles pierced my ears as I shakily untied Borden and leapt back into the wagon. I turned my head for one last look as I quickly moved back on the road, but she was gone. It was like she had completely vanished, leaving nothing behind but the two apple cores.

  Chapter 5

  I stood behind my makeshift booth piled up with the produce Janice had picked for me. It didn’t happen often, but this time I got a spot to set up shop in the middle of Capthar’s town square. But my thoughts kept revolving around my encounter with Bavmorda two days ago, and the things she knew. She had said that she was not a threat to me, but I couldn’t help but feel paranoid about being turned in for helping the Princess escape. But what had the woman meant about repaying me for my kindness?

  I shook my head, determined not to think of the strange woman anymore, and turned my attention to my surroundings. Loads of people from snooty nobles to dirty street urchins bustled about, mostly ignoring me and the other merchants shouting out our various advertisements. The sounds were loud, but I found them welcoming. The smells were a mixture of things, some pleasant, some not so much: the bakery next to me provided the sweet smells of dough rising and, contrastingly, the pungent smell of body odor was strong in a big place like this.

  I propped my elbows on the wood of my booth and found myself staring at the looming towers of the castle ju
st two or three miles away, thinking about the Princess. What was she doing? Was she okay? Something about helping her that night made me see her in a different light than my past perceptions of a snobbish royal. I hoped that she was okay.

  “Did you hear the news?”

  I turned my head to listen to some young girls talking near me.

  “They still haven’t found the Princess! They say she ran off with a handsome servant. Isn’t that romantic?!” The girls started giggling and skipped away.

  That’s the second time I heard that she ran off with a boy, I thought, definitely curious.

  A little old man stepped up to my booth, interrupting my thoughts. “Hello, young lady,” he croaked.

  “Patrick,” I said with a kind smile. “It’s good to see you again! How’s the wife?”

  The sweet man smiled back at me, eyes crinkling with a thousand wrinkles. “Gladys is feeling a lot better. Her broken wrist is healing up very quickly.”

  “That is so good to hear!”

  “How much for two carrots and—” he stopped to count on his fingers: “five apples?”

  “Two copper,” I said, putting the produce in his outstretched basket. He handed me the money, winking as he put an extra copper in my hand, and hobbled away.

  It was starting to get dark, so I began counting the money I had earned in the day. There was more than enough for a night’s stay in an inn and the trip home, plus a good amount of profit. It was definitely better than normal. I decided to call it a day and packed up all the leftover produce into the wagon, excited about the few pumpkins left and looking forward to making a couple pies with Janice once I got home.

  “Alright, Borden,” I whispered to my horse. “Let’s head home.”

  I hopped into the driver’s seat of my wagon and began to navigate through the busy traffic in the square. Navigating past the tall, stone buildings and many people was a challenge. After making it out into the town’s cobblestone road, a young woman with ratted, red hair ran right in front of me.

  “Hey!” I shouted, pulling the reins on Borden. “Watch where you’re going!”

  She stumbled over, shouting out in pain. She looked up at me, terrified, but something told me it wasn’t because I had almost hit her. She hobbled off the road and made her way into a dark alleyway. Looking to my right, I saw an inn and pulled over. I tied Borden and my wagon to a post and called over the nearby stable boy.

  “Will you please watch over my wagon?” I asked, pressing a copper piece into his palm.

  “Sure, ma’am,” the grungy boy said.

  I then ran after the girl, hoping to catch up with her and help. I didn’t have to go far. I found her huddled in the alleyway, clutching her ankle.

  “Are—”

  She lifted her finger to her mouth, shushing me, then gestured for me to come closer. Tears were welling up in her eyes as she nervously looked around. I shuffled closer to her. She was very dirty, obviously poor, but also very pretty. She must’ve been about the same age as me.

  “Can you please help me?” she said, grabbing my shoulder. “They’re after me.”

  “Who’s after you?” I asked.

  “Two men from the royal guard,” she hissed through the pain in her ankle.

  “What did you do?”

  She shook her head vigorously. “I don’t know! They found me this morning sleeping in the street. I somehow was able to get away, but they’ve been looking for me ever since.”

  I searched her eyes and found no lies there. Similarly to the Princess a few nights ago, this poor girl just look scared and helpless.

  “Did you hurt your ankle?” I asked.

  “Yeah. I don’t know if I can walk.”

  “You’ll have to try,” I said. “Put your arm around me.”

  She did, and I helped her up.

  “Do you think you can make it back to my wagon?”

  “No!” she said. “They’re coming that way! They aren’t far behind me!”

  “Okay,” I said. “Let’s find you someplace to hide.”

  I helped her through the alleyway as quickly as I could, all the while looking for somewhere or something to hide her in.

  “You there!” a gruff voice shouted.

  I whirled my head around and saw two soldiers dressed in the royal red and blue heading towards us.

  “Oh no!” the young woman whimpered.

  We both tried to run, but we made it maybe five feet before I felt a tug on my long hair.

  One of the guards grabbed me around the waist and the other pulled the young woman off of me. I struggled against the big man as much as my tiny body could as my hands were tied. I shouted, hoping anyone could hear. The guards roughly placed a gag over my mouth to stifle my cries.

  “Borge, are you sure no one’s going to notice these two gone?” the guard holding my companion asked the other.

  “No one’s going to miss two cretins from the street, Jared,” my guard spat back. “We’re just doing what they ordered us to!”

  “What?” I tried to shout through my gag. My stomach churned violently as I tried to process what was happening.

  “I know we’ve been following the red-head, but how do we know this other one isn’t going to be missed?” the one named Jared asked, gesturing to me.

  “People go missing all the time. Besides, she’s seen too much. We have to take her, too. Now grab yours and let’s get out of here without drawing too much attention to ourselves. We’ll take the back roads to the castle.”

  The castle? I thought, still struggling.

  Borge threw me over his shoulder, which caused the coin purse in my pocket to fall to the ground. I watched as all my hard-earned money spilled along the cobblestones.

  “Ooh,” Borge said, leaning down to gather my money. I groaned as the blood started rushing to my head.

  Jared moaned. “What if someone asks what we’re doing?”

  “We’re royal guards, Jared! We can just tell them that we’re arresting criminals.”

  Jared shrugged and leaned down to gather some of the money, as well. I watched sadly as they stole my money, all the while dangling the other girl and me over their shoulders like sacks of potatoes.

  After finding every last coin, the men started running, one behind the other, the alleyway being too narrow to run side by side. They took some interesting twists and turns in the alleyways, our heads banging against the men’s backs uncomfortably as they ran. I was too much in shock to feel the pain. The girl I had been trying to help gave me a petrified look. I’m sure the look I gave back was the same. Soon we made it to what must have been the “back roads” Borge was talking about. Borge thrust me onto a horse, and Jared did the same with his captive. Both men leapt behind us onto their respective horses. Tears spilled from my eyes as Borge kicked his horse, the situation finally hitting me. What had I gotten myself into?

  Chapter 6

  I found myself locked in a large room of the castle with three other girls. It seemed as if we were in a library— I had never seen so many books in my life, and the furniture was magnificent with gold inlays on the armrests and plush pillows scattered all over. All of the girls were whispering nervously. Soldiers surrounded us on every side, each with longswords and daggers resting in their belts.

  “Why are we here?” a young woman whispered close to me. I turned to look at her and noticed she was the red-headed girl I had tried to help. I shrugged, which was surprisingly hard, considering how much my body shook from fear.

  “By the way, my name’s Laura.” She forced a smile as she extended her hand out to me.

  I hesitated. Was it really the time for pleasantries? I shook her hand anyway. “Milly.”

  Laura opened her mouth to say something else, but was quickly interrupted as the giant, mahogany door we were locked behind began to open.

  A small, studious-looking woman entered and silence fell. Her black hair was pulled into a tight knot on the top of her head, making the skin around her baggy eye
s stretch past its limits. She held a few sheets of parchment in her aged hands.

  “Hello, ladies,” she chirped. “I am Lady Minerva.”

  No one responded.

  Clearing her throat and adjusting her spectacles, she continued: “Some of you may have heard the rumors of the Princess’s disappearance. The rumors are true, but King Leopold has decided to not let it discourage him. All of you young ladies have been chosen—”

  “Chosen?!” someone shouted from among us. “More like taken!”

  The woman rolled her eyes, annoyed by the interruption, and snapped her fingers. Two of the guards surrounding us snatched up the girl who made the outburst and rushed her out of the room.

  “If any of you ladies cause anymore trouble, you will be severely punished.”

  We all jumped at the sound of a whip striking the poor girl in the hall and winced as her piercing screams reached our ears. Lady Minerva smirked at us.

  “As I was saying, you were all chosen to be judged, and one of you will become the Princess’s replacement.”

  We all gasped simultaneously.

  You’ve got to be kidding me, I thought.

  Minerva clapped her hands. “First thing’s first! The King is going to choose which of you physically fits the criteria the most. Be respectful to His Majesty and try to look pretty!”

  I felt the blood leave my face. King Leopold! I thought. His reputation was not something to make light of. He was known as merciless and powerful, not just as King, but it was rumored he picked fights and killed just for sport.

  The doors were pulled open again, but this time the King himself stepped through. He was a magnificent-looking man with shoulder-length blonde hair and a well-trimmed beard. His deep brown eyes stared each of us down with a terrifying intensity. A longsword swung back and forth at his hip as he walked, and his hand covered in many rings gripped the hilt of the weapon in what seemed to be a strange fondness. I gulped at the sight, my terror increasing tenfold.

  “What number is this again?” he asked Minerva.

  She curtsied to him. “This is the third group, Sire.”