As the cloak it tossed over my nude form, I clutch it tightly around me and pull my head down to avoid eye contact with anyone. The guard who threw his cloak at me was dressed in more extravagant armor than the rest of the guards, silver and gold fillagree was smithed along the edgeing of the iron plate. Taking a second to relax now that I have something covering me, I glance around and take in my surroundings. Sun poured down through the large colored windows, casting a light prism along the floors and walls.The king sat on a throne made of a mix of stone, the base and back, iron castings of magical creatures and wood edgeing and arm rests. Luxury craftsmanship abound yet they were at war and struggling enough to warrant a goddess summoning strangers to aid them? Seems like a last ditch effort was cast before there was even a good reason to do so, makes one wonder if what I'm being told is the truth. But politics are politics, high chance of corruption ,power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, I have spent the better part of 20 years on the bad end of that stick getting a good walloping. The world isn't as kind about disabled people as they make it seem, yeah we get tech to make life easier but there's always those who seem to need to make a crap life alot worse than it is. Being summoned naked means my only way to talk, my electronic voice box, didn't get a chance to follow me along on my new "exciting" adventure. As I'm looking around and checking things out the king's voice sounds out. " Before I provide you with the last step to access your power's, the kingdom, I the king, require you to pledge fealty. Your actions will reflect the land and so you may move unburdened throughout the territory."

Ah, and there it is, a leash. Question is does this oath require magic or is it just by word? The teens of the group seemed eager and overwhelmed at the idea of power, adventure and fun new sights. I on the other hand know anything that seems too good to be true useally is that. Powers, political control, nobody in their right mind would unleash a group of strangers upon their land with unbridled enthusiasm and not keep a way to stop them at hand, the real issue now is how do I remove myself from this mess. I have no weapon, no powers of yet and no way to get them without being collared, and while everyone is ok with some kink in the bedroom this isn't the type of fun I plan to sign up for willing and that in a nutshell is my main conundrum.

So going over the issues in my head I got a list, don't become a pet soldier, get access to said powers, and last but not least get the hell out of Dodge or whatever this place is called. Holding the clock around me I wave my arm up in the air to try and get the attention of the king, while this might not be a bright idea it's my only idea and honestly I don't exactly excell at planning. When the kings eyes lock onto me and he motions with a questioning glance i put my hand over my throat and then try to make a no motion hoping to get the concept of lacking speech across as I then wave to my hair and body and shove my hand into my hair and grab a chunk and hold it up to show it's midwashed state, I pause and stare at him as he look confused and in thought as he true to figure out my near madman attempt at charades. Iv spent a good many years without my voice but at the day and age when I lost my voice nobody used sign language, there just wasn't a need , everyone got gadgets or aid for free from the government, well free enough if your ok with paying extra fees for everything else to "aid" your transition from a nonworking person to being specially registered to be legal to get a job. Everything has a price, even freedom.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

His highness nods to a guard who steps up and guys the cloak down so they can clearly see all of me, startled I let out a strangled a hoarse noise and try to keep the cloth around at least my waist. With wide eyes the king leans forward and says " Hoh, I didn't expect our goddess to give us a person who can't speak, this is a surprise, though I should have expected as much, she does enjoy her games.As for why you appeared naked...." He started to trail off as he stared at me with a intense gaze. In a hurry I reached out and grabbed the guards hand only to have him knock my hand away and reach for his sword. " Hm, what is our mute wanting to say? Let him do as he wishes!" The guard looks up at the throne and bows slightly, he looks back at me as he stands straight then slowly offers out his hand. I motion for him to pull off his armored glove and as he tugs it off my hand darts out grabs his and places it on my head, wipeing the sticky semi dry and crusty shampoo on him. I grin when he yanks his hand back and trys to wipe it off. I wave my hand to get his attention then make it seem like I'm sniffing my fingers, with a clear look of a mixture of disgust and repulsion he slowly brings his hand up to his face and sniffs. If I could laugh without sounding like a dieing cat I would be rolling around gasping for air, his face as he realized it smelled like a mixture of soap and fragrance of cotten candy, I did mention before I take my dares seriously and this was one of them. Something about losing and having to be a walking chunk of cotten candy made me more than willing to take the bet, after all would I really be at a loss if I smell good and have pink hair?

The guard looked back at the king, " Sire, from the scent and texture I would guess it's soap, he was delivered whilst he was bathing". As he was speaking he and other guards listening apparently found my predicament alot more humorous than I did and I could see he was struggling not to chuckle as I heard a few other guards snicker. Coughing lightly the king hid his mouth politely as me looked down at me with amusement in his eyes, " I'm sorry for the harsh greetings when your rather unrobed entrance wasn't your doing, but for the goddess to not provide clothing only leaves more questions, but seeing a you can't speak and your still covered in soap I will try and hurry this along, after all royalty is anything if not hospitable"

Finding it kind of odd how agreeable and easygoing everyone is I sidestep logic and just play along hoping for a way to get on their good side just enough to escape, nomatter how improbable that is.