Claudia
Though the sun had just risen, Claudia was already at her carriage ready to leave. She and her servants packed up clothes the night before, the horses were freshly groomed, Claudia wrote letters to her children since she would already be gone by the time they woke up, and frantically checked every last item to make sure that she wasn’t missing anything.
She waited in the stables next to the carriages refusing to leave before saying goodbye to her husband. Most of the ground was muddy and would stain anything within a second, but the servants laid out a wooden walkway so her clothing wouldn't touch the mud.
Maximus finally came out in his full attire. Claudia was annoyed that he had to wear his formal clothing but understood the importance of a king to always appear luxurious, even if everybody knew that was not what a king wore in private. Maximus speed-walked to Claudia, and they both bear-hugged each other as the sun slowly became a circle and rose in the sky, casting a deep orange glow.
“I gave you some extra men, in case that dastardly People’s Lord group decides to attack you. Sorry about not being able to go over water.” Maximus said.
“Thank you, but what can you do? The bay is storming, so by land it is,” Claudia responded. “I’m sure you gave me the best.”
Maximus smiled at the comment and nodded. “You only deserve the best. Goodbye, Claudia,”
“Bye,”
They let go, and she could see Maximus on the brink of tears. There weren’t any physical tears or even a sign of them, but both knew that Maximus was trying his hardest to keep calm. He had only seen her for two days before they were separated again, and even though Claudia smiled and told him not to worry, it was difficult, nonetheless. To make the separation bearable, they both had a list of where she would be on what days, and they both promised to write to each other every day.
She climbed aboard her carriage, and she went as the two waved goodbye to each other. Once he was out of sight, Claudia faced the windows she tried to relax and think of the preparations for Gala's ceremony.
She traveled slowly because the carriage was sandwiched between four other carriages which formed a convoy with dozens of armed guards in full body armor marching in formation. The pattern of their marching first bothered her but provided a pleasant white noise as she read her books.
Eventually, the second day passed with nothing notable, but a little after dinner time on the third day, as the sun was coming down, the convoy stopped. Claudia looked out the window, but they didn’t arrive in any town or farm. There were no landmarks nearby that suggested civilization, only rolling hills across the plains. She assumed that one of the drivers needed to empty their piss and shit bucket, but the amount of time they were stopped concerned her, so she decided to check it out for herself. She was wearing a purple dress that luckily didn’t reach the ground and brushed up against the brick road. If she was wearing something less formal, it would be fine, but alas she chose to wear this, as she expected not to exit the carriage without warning. She hopped out of the carriage to talk to her carriage drivers. “What seems to be the hold-up?” she politely asked.
“I am afraid there are a couple of dead bodies up the road, Your Majesty. The soldiers have gone up to inspect it.”
Claudia nodded and decided to check the bodies herself. The drivers tried to protest, but she insisted on seeing what was holding up their trip. They only had limited time to set up Gala’s coronation after all.
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She reached the front and saw a group of a dozen bodies lying about fifty meters ahead. A couple of the soldiers surrounded them. Claudia could make out four cows, three Borzors, and three Dymish people, but the last two escaped her observation as the soldiers didn’t let a line-of-sight pass through.
She turned around and made her way back to the carriage. Their curiosity would expire, and they would be on their way soon enough. Claudia walked past some of the soldiers, but when she got to her carriage, she found both of her drivers to be dead. Blood dripped from their throat as they sat limp, leaning on each other. She froze and heard footsteps run across the back of her carriage. Claudia screamed and turned back to the front to hide behind some of the soldiers, but they had no idea what was going on as they were facing forward the entire time.
She pointed and screamed in pure terror and the bodies. The soldiers turned around and saw the dead drivers, but before the adrenaline could run through their bodies and pull out their swords, a group of men appeared from behind one of the hills and charged them. Claudia hid under one of the carriages as a battle ensued. Lying on her stomach she watched as blood, steel, and bodies dropped to the ground.
Though she was in a state of shock, Claudia could tell that her guard lost the battle. She lay there and pretended to be dead, as they were hopefully thieves who assumed the guards were protecting a transport of gold.
Screaming and yelling became silent as all of the royal guards were dead. The thieves found her soon after, and a Borzor man dragged her to the front of the convoy. She kicked and screamed the whole walk up but couldn’t break free. They forced her to her knees. She looked forward toward the dead bodies in the distance and saw the final two bodies. It was a mother holding her daughter’s hand.
Claudia began to bawl as she assumed the worst. These were not thieves. A group of around twenty men watched her collapse onto the ground crying her heart out before one of the men, who was the only one wearing any armor, picked her up and put her back on her knees. He had a scar across his jawline that went ear to ear. He was Dymish and no older than twenty-five or twenty-six. He looked closer to a Dymish man than any Borzor, but his skin was more white compared to the tan of the Dymish. Claudia looked around and saw a group of Dymish, Tolman, and Borzor men around them. “Do you know who we are?” His voice was unexpectedly ragged and tired, yet calm and educated. Claudia couldn’t imagine any other of these murderers having such a respectable voice, so she assumed that he was the leader.
“No, but whoever you’re monsters,” Claudia said, choking on her tears. “Just take the valuables and leave me be!” She pleaded. “You’ve already killed enough people!”
The Dymish chuckled along with the rest of the group. “No, we aren’t here for your valuables. We are not thieves; we are here for you,” he explained.
Claudia's face dropped, and she looked up at the man helplessly. “Let me ask again,” he said. “Do you know who we are?”
“You’re the People’s Lord,” she realized as her jaw unhinged into an open position.
The man looked to his comrades in shock, before turning back toward Claudia. “Not exactly,” he explained. “I am not the People’s Lord, but all of us here work for him. To be honest, though, he is a hard man to reach. I haven’t talked to him in months. Hell, it was easier finding you. I thought the one thing that royals would be good at, if not murdering Borzor people, would be to keep themselves safe. You know, like traveling with a fake name, do your hair differently, or you know,” he said as he backed up and gestured toward the convoy. “Not put a giant sign wherever you go saying ‘Hi, I’m a royal, and I am traveling with only a few guards.’ So spoiled.”
Claudia didn’t respond as she stared into the road. “Let me tell you what we want,” the man continued. “We are going to bring you to a secret location and contact the king. We’ll give you back if he disbands all his armies and abdicates the throne to the People’s Lord. What do you think?”
Claudia gulped and looked up at the man. “My husband’s too honorable to deal with the likes of you.”
The man scoffed. “Honorable? If he’s honorable, he would have a heart for the poor men just wanting to have a say in their government, but in the meantime, let’s see if he’s honorable enough to get back his wife.”
The man nodded toward one of his men, and they pulled a black mask over her head, surrounding her in blackness. They stood her up and walked her off the road; all the while she wondered if she would see light again.