The Princess knew the rumors were already flying about, the whole palace knew, and of course a few drunkards would spout off stories that nobody would believe but everybody would fear. ‘People love fear at a distance.’ Deirdre thought as she watched the population through the window of her carriage. Only an hour after the others left, she’d had a ‘procession’ formed. It wasn’t just her carriage, fifty of their strongest looking knights in full regalia on horseback were lined up in front of and behind the royal carriage.
Between both sets of knights rode four heralds who blew long brass horns. The call they let out announced one thing and one thing only. A royal address in the city square, where thousands could gather and listen on the ground, and more would listen from the rooftops and through windows on upper floors.
From her carriage hung pennants, the royal family’s colors of blue shield and walking red dragon on a blue shield with gold lining, a backdrop divided between blue and red down the center, and each side holding a dragon of the opposite color. It stood out. It hung from every tower of the city, it had fluttered over countless battlefields.
In her mind she could already see each proud fluttering banner lying ragged and destroyed, dirty, torn, and trampled under the feet of Auxkos knights.
‘I never liked the banner anyway. It’s so tasteless.’ Deirdre thought to herself.
The population, seeing the procession, began to follow, such events were rare. Very rare. ‘The last one was when father rode off to war and chose to address them. That was months ago, before that, the only one that comes to mind is when they called for volunteers to send to fight the demon who invaded North Qadish.’ None of those volunteers had ever returned, though nobody knew what happened to them. ‘Did they even make it there?’ She wondered idly, then set the thought aside as her carriage finally slowed down.
The knights quickly moved to create a clear path from the door of the shining carriage, all the way to a platform where criminals hanged, traitors were beheaded, slaves were once sold, cases of public interest were heard, and above all, where those with great power spoke to those with less or none.
Getting out of the way was a skill the commoners of Gelia knew quite well how to use, and as such none of them came too close while the knights moved in sync to create a wall of flesh and steel between her and the population. Where noise hadn’t carried in the city, rumor did, and while the Princess ascended the creaking wooden steps of the platform she could see other people were streaming into the square from the many side streets.
When she was atop the wooden platform, standing taller than her size where any and all could see her, the knights broke formation and cantered over to surround the platform, keeping all at bay without so much as lowering their lances.
‘If only we’d dispensed with a war of numbers, grabbed the nobles by the throats, and forced our army to nationalize into proper knights and professional soldiers, we would have had a chance…’ It was a bothersome thought, but chiefly because it was one of the many occasions when nobody listened to her thoughts on…really anything.
Faust was living proof that she was right, a landless knight supported by the crown, trained by the master of arms, the strongest warrior in the Kingdom, except for the strongest adventurers, and his teacher that nobody in the city could beat. But even with proof in the form of his singularly professional status, nobody listened. ‘Or if they did, it ran against their interests.’ That part disgusted her in particular. As much because her father let it happen as that it happened at all.
The corruption of the old, entrenched nobility, made the kingdom sick, and it was why she knew she was right about what would happen next.
She stood at the front and center of the platform and opened her hands, the horns blew once to call for silence from the mob, and as the notes died as the sound fled far away, she spoke.
The sun was at her back and cast her shadow long over those who stood beneath her where they belonged, the outline of the light around her caught her golden hair and gave her an almost angelic appearance to the eyes of the common crowd.
“People of Gelia, lend me your courage! I have much to say, and little time to say it! No doubt already the rumors have reached you that the capital is going to be under threat. What you have heard…” She paused and put her left hand over her breast, “is true! I have heard it myself! My father and brothers are beaten, and their fates are unknown, and even as I speak to you, the Four Knights, the great commanders of the Auxkos Empire’s legions, are on the march for this city. They come with fire and steel, with magic and terror, to take this place and you with it!”
She allowed the gasps and cries of alarm and horror to rise before holding up one hand to call for silence. Her voice soared as theirs faded and she continued, “As you know, I supported the ban on the trade in slaves throughout the Kingdom, but the Auxkos Empire has not.”
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Throughout the crowd she could easily identify former slaves, they reflexively touched their throats where collars once rested. The liberation she supported had made her absurdly popular among the people of the city, though it hadn’t changed their lives as much as they might have wanted. Not to mention the ‘labor bargains’ they entered into were almost as bad. Still, it removed the symbol of their bondage, and that in and of itself garnered her much good will.
“Those of you who cannot fight or help with the fight, should flee to other towns and cities, places more likely to be spared the torch. But the rest of you, those with courage enough, I ask you to remain and defend the city… with me.… I am staying here.” She shouted her lie for all the city and a deafening roar of acclaim went up.
Only when it died down did she speak again, “I will not leave this city unless I’m dragged out of it! This is our city! This is our home! Nobody will take it from us! Nobody! Not unless it’s over my broken body!” She shouted and punched her small fist upward toward the sky. “I’m only a small woman, I have no training, no skill with the sword, but even if I have to fight alone, I will! Those of you who cannot fight, I will use my life to buy you time to run to safety! We have a few weeks before they arrive, and before they do, I want to turn this city into one great armed camp! Everything will be turned into a weapon or a shield!” The Princess then drew from her hip a small knife, it barely qualified as a weapon against a mouse, it was more for show, than anything. Suitable for cleanly slicing through cheese or apples, but not much else.
She then grabbed her long golden hair just where it fell at the nape of her neck, pulled it tight in front of her body, and cut, sawing through the strands of her golden locks and making her hair as short as that of a boy.
The hair hung loose, swaying in the breeze as she held it out in front of them. When she sheathed her little knife, she announced, “My hair will now be made into a sling to throw stones into the teeth of our enemies! Use everything we have, buy my brothers and my father, your king, time to rally and they may come to the rescue of our common home! It is our only hope! To resist, to resist so strongly that they lose all taste for our steel and our blood and slink back home to lick the boots of their bloodthirsty Emperor! Are. You. With. Me?!” She shouted the question, and a roar went up. It ripped through the disbelieving crowd like her knife had torn through her hair and shattered not their courage, but their cowardice. And the will to fight was born.
“Then eat your fill today! By royal order, all prices are fixed. Whatever bread cost this morning, it will cost tonight, and for every tomorrow until the crisis passes. Anyone caught selling so much as a crust of bread for a copper more than this morning will be sent naked to fight the knights of Auxkos!”
A rumble of amusement went up as that image flitted through their collective minds, and a few people joked about the effectiveness of their ‘longsword.’ “By the same token, anyone caught stealing food will be used as a projectile weapon, launched from a catapult toward the advancing army.”
It wasn’t really the most vital proclamation, some would be deterred, but she already knew that at least some would have to be rounded up in advance. ‘I should have no trouble getting some emergency measures pushed through.’ She smiled at that thought, she could already hear the howls of terror as the thieves she would have snatched up were hurtled from the walls and toward the no doubt very confused army of Auxkos.
The crowd misunderstood her smile however, and chanted, ‘Shorn Princess! Shorn Princess! Shorn Princess!’ and their cries only rose as she knelt down and handed her hair to a knight, who in turn passed it to the nearest peasant.
Already she could see that various women were cutting their hair like hers, slings were not the easiest weapon to master, but they weren’t very hard to use at least, and a large number of rocks would make up in volume what was lacking in accuracy.
“At every city block I will station a guard to instruct you with the courage to fight, as for the rest who have to run, make your preparations, and leave at dawn tomorrow, take whatever goods you value and trade them on your way for what other supplies you need. Now… I’ve said what needed to be said. So we must now do what needs to be done! You do your part, I do mine, and we will make them wonder why they ever believed we were weak!”
One last roar carried after her as she made her way down the platform and back to her carriage, the knights again forming up to give her a clean path out, she suppressed her smile until the door was closed at her back and she was seated on her stuffed cushion again.
‘That went well. That went ‘very’ well. They’ll walk into hell itself for me now.’ She thought, and touched the short hair at the tips, losing that caused a small pang of unhappiness, but it would have to be cut anyway for life on the run, and it was far too recognizable anyway.
‘Oh well, two deaths with one strike, I can live with that.’ She mused while the carriage carried her back to the palace again, to await the return of her precious, precious Faust.