©2025 SammyC

“Oh my Lady, Princess! You’re a boy!” Daisy, my novice lady-in-waiting, exclaimed as Merlyn and Luna helped me undress and lead me into the burbling stream, naked as the day I came into the world.

“Keep your voice down, Daisy,” rebuked Merlyn as she and Luna stood in such a way as to block most viewing angles from beyond the shore. “Here, be of use, child. Hold Princess Rani’s riding outfit. I knew it was a fool’s errand when your father badgered me to appoint you as Rani’s lady-in-waiting for this journey. And stand over there. Yes. There. Any peeping Toms would crouch behind those trees—”

“Toms? Did we meet anyone named Tom in the long house, Merlyn?”

“It’s a figure of speech from our home world, Daisy,” Luna explained as she handed the bar of soap made from tallow and ashes to me.

While the three of them were nattering on, I began to lather my hair with the foul-smelling soap the tribal women had given us. And I closed my eyes, not only to avoid irritating them but to call up images of what had happened to us after the tall gates of the enclosure opened to let our party inside, led by Malcolm, riding ramrod straight in his saddle on his Hobnob, as if he were our escort, not our prisoner.

Dozens of men, women and children watched us as we made our way to the long house in the center of the enclosure. Contrary to what I expected, they seemed healthy, hale and hearty. Wearing simple but colorful clothes made from a combination of woven fabric and leather, they followed our caravan of Rumperdons all the way to the entrance of the long house. The men saluted Malcolm as he passed. The women eyed me with awe and rapt curiosity. Perhaps they’d never seen a teenage boy disguised as a female royal. The children were more fascinated with our Rumperdons. A few even escaped from their mother’s grasp to try to pet them. Did I tell you that Rumperdons are very patient and affectionate with human children?

Finally, Malcolm signaled to us to dismount. Without a word, some men took the reins of our animals and walked them to some location behind the long house. A tall dark-skinned man appeared in the doorway of the long house. He was bare to the waist as were all the men in the tribe we’ve seen, with elaborate tattoos covering almost every inch of skin. I estimated he was middle-aged, perhaps 45 or 50 years old.

“Welcome, Malcolm! Horace told me to expect you yesterday but never mind, you’re here now. Come! Please enter our humble house. The tribal council has already convened awaiting your arrival. You can introduce your guests to everyone.” He waved his hand toward the doorway and bowed his head.

The man, who was named Langston, introduced himself to us as the Governor of his tribe, as a young woman in a floor length sheath dress of what looked like silk dyed blush pink ushered us into seats at a long table. Seated at the head of the table were Langston and four other tribal council persons, two men and two women.

“Please tell us who your eminent travelling companions are and what you need from us, Malcolm.”

Malcolm stood up and faced the council members. He spoke in an authoritative voice I had never heard from him. No one would guess that he was barely a year older than me.

“Friends, comrades. My plans have…ahem…changed since we last spoke. They’ve changed because of my chance meeting with this lovely young woman, Princess Rani of the Eastern Kingdom.”

Heads turned and surprised gasps filled the room. I became very self-conscious and sank down in my seat, only to have Merlyn raise me back up by my shoulders. “Smile, my Lady,” she whispered. Clumsily I did and quickly waved to the curious council persons.

“On another of my sister’s nefarious patrols of the trade routes, looking for victims to abduct and sell to the underground people in exchange for various goods, they came upon the Princess’ traveling party and captured them. Fortunately, after learning of her high social standing and the importance of her mission to the Western Kingdom, I singlehandedly rescued them from my sister’s evil clutches—”

Amos coughed loudly, interrupting Malcolm’s narrative.

“And I am escorting them to the Western Kingdom so that the Princess can accomplish her mission—”

“What is this mission that requires her to cross the dangerous interior of the continent?” asked Langston.

“She is to wed Prince Kelvin in a royal ceremony that will appease the Gods and stop the Dagger of Heaven from striking our world and ending all life as we know it,” Merlyn announced breathlessly, with a tone evincing the magnitude of the mission and my role in it.

“The Gods? A Dagger of Heaven? These are strange words to us who live outside the two kingdoms. And this Dagger. Is this true, Malcolm?”

“I’m a warrior, Langston, not a wizard of science like Merlyn here. I wouldn’t doubt her knowledge though. For my part, I have made a solemn promise to the Princess to see that she safely reaches the Western Kingdom. I have given her my word and my word, as you know, is bond.”

Amos coughed again. Merlyn must have kicked him under the table because he let out a yelp right afterwards.

“What is it that you need from us, Malcolm?” one of the council women asked.

“My sister is at least a day’s ride behind us but her hobnobs can outrun the Princess’ Rumperdons on flat ground not to mention the rough terrain from here to the coast. On the outside chance they do catch up to us, we’ll need reinforcements to hold them off. Four of your best archers would be perfect.”

Langston stood up from the head of the table, pounded it with his fist, and almost shouted out, “It is done! You will have the best archer from each of our four clans. Do you need to leave now or can we entice you and your company to dine with us tonight? We have prepared quite a feast in anticipation of your visit, Malcolm. We have enough for six more guests…”

“I’m not about to decline your kind invitation, Langston. And my friends and I have had our fill of dried meats, stale beer, tepid tea, and hard-to-chew biscuits since leaving our homes. Of course, we’d be delighted to partake of your feast. Thank you.”

Amos almost bumped heads with Malcolm as he shouted at him. “That’ll give your sister time to catch up to us! Are you insane?”

“Insane? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Listen, Amos, I know what I’m doing. I know my sister’s habits very well. She won’t tax her men or her animals by running them all day and all night. If we depart here after the feast, we’ll be on the road while my sister is camped down overnight. We’ll make up the full day’s lead…”

The young woman who had ushered us to our seats led us to rooms at the far end of the long house, where we could rest until the feast tonight. Amos pulled me and Merlyn aside.

With a stricken look on his face, Amos implored, “Don’t trust him, Rani! From what I see, he’s turned the tables on us. We’re effectively his prisoners now.”

"We have no choice but to trust him, children,” Merlyn whispered. She took my arm to catch up with the rest of the group. “At least we’ll have a decent meal in our bellies if the shit hits the fan.”

I shrugged my shoulders as Amos shook his head. Must be another old home world colloquialism.

Our young escort stopped Merlyn and me just before we crossed the threshold of the room assigned to us.

“My Lady, would you wish to bathe before the feast tonight? I can tell you’ve not had the chance to freshen up after several hard days on the road. You would probably also be more comfortable in one of our finer dresses than that riding outfit you’re wearing. There’s a stream not far from here where you can bathe in total privacy—”

“She must be free from prying eyes, young lady. She is a royal personage and as such must be treated with the utmost respect. Not to be ogled by curious onlookers,” Merlyn insisted.

“Of course. My sisters will take you down to the stream and leave you to bathe in solitude and peace. With your attendants, of course.”

“Merlyn is not my attendant. She’s our Royal Wizard.”

“Excuse me, I did not know.” She turned back toward the center of the long house where two younger women were approaching us, carrying linen towels, bars of tallow and ash soap, and the aforementioned sheath dress. “Girls, please take our guests down to the stream and make sure there are no onlookers before you leave them.”

There were two dozen members of the tribe seated for the feast that night. Each of the four clans had sent their highest ranked people. At the head of the room was Langston and seated to his immediate right was the guest of honor, Malcolm. Refreshed by my bath, my hair still slightly wet but clean, I admit I salivated at the thought of a decent meal and watched as large bowls of a stew-like dish were placed on the three long tables in the middle of the room.

“What is in the bowls they’ve just brought out,” I asked our young escort, whose name was Shanna and turned out to be Langston’s eldest daughter.

“It is our tribal favorite. A stew made from vegetables that we grow in the valley and a game bird native to this region. We call them Blinkbirds because they have a disarming trait of blinking their eyes rapidly when first meeting your gaze. I’m afraid they haven’t had a natural predator in millennia, maybe ever. Even now, they’re easy to capture and raise. Have a taste.”

Merlyn and I ladled the stew onto a bed of cooked grain that stuck to your teeth in a pleasant manner. I was told it was a wild grass that resembled the sorghum known to our ancestors on the home world. They fermented the grass and used it to brew beer. I sneaked a draught of beer from Amos’ cup when Merlyn wasn’t looking. I didn’t like it.

“What is your opinion of the Blinkbird stew, Merlyn?” I could see from the somewhat glazed look in her eyes that she’d had more beer than stew at this point of the feast.

“To me…” She hiccupped. “To me, it tastes like chicken. Everything tastes like chicken.”

“But what does chicken taste like, Merlyn? You know we don’t have chickens on this planet.”

“How do I know? Never had it either. It’s just an old saying—”

“From our home world.” I turned to Amos, who was holding his cup between his two splints, waiting for a servant to pour him some more beer. “Amos, I need you to be alert. If you’re right about not trusting Malcolm, you’re our only hope to get away.”

He dropped his cup onto the table and turned to me, a sober expression on his face. “At your service, my Lady. You can count on me. I’m…I’m…” He nodded off and began to snore.

I had succeeded in rousing Amos from his sleep without resorting to slapping him hard with the flat of my hand. He needed to be awake to listen to Malcolm as he was addressing the room. After exchanging grandiose toasts with Langston, Malcolm had begun to share his conspiratorial plans with the tribe, a part of which, of course, involved me and my party.

“…by delivering Princess Rani safely to The Eastern Kingdom so she can marry Prince Kelvin…of course, it’s a sham wedding, as you must know. The boy is barely out of nappies! So they get hitched and the world is saved from the Dagger of Heaven, What follows is the more interesting part of the story. Both kingdoms would owe me a big favor for securing the continued existence of life on the planet.” He laughed and took a swig of beer before continuing.

“My requests? No, my demands would be that they provide me with a small army to return and unseat my sister from her undeserved position of power. It’s the least they could do after what I’ve done for them. Of course, my friends and comrades…” He raised his cup in a toast again. “I will not forget your loyalty to me and, once I am chieftain of The Two Moons Tribe, I will grant you independence. To allow you all to live in peace and security. I salute you!”

Cups were raised high all around the room with the glaring exception of our little party. Amos knocked his cup across the table with one of his splints. No one noticed as they raised their cups several times and cheered Malcolm.

As the cheers and toasting died down, Malcolm stared in my direction. His clear-eyed gaze demonstrated he knew how to hold his beer.

“And last but certainly not least. My ultimate demand is that the fair Princess, Lady Rani, be my bride. She is truly the only prize I desire for all my efforts. Saving the world, liberating both my own tribe and yours from the evil deeds of my sister, can only claim second place to winning the hand of the most beautiful woman in all the land.”

Cheers resounded and echoed in the room for several minutes. I sat stunned. Amos was beginning to stand up from the table, gripping his broadsword. Suddenly, a young man rushed into the room and whispered something into Langston’s ear. Looking alarmed, Langston stood up and addressed us.

“I have just been told that our lookout on the ramparts has spotted Senshi’s band approaching from the south. He estimates they are an hour away.”

As everyone in the room voiced their dread at the thought of Senshi’s marauding band arriving within the hour, Malcolm shouted above the din to calm us.

“It’s alright. I’ve planned for this. We can hide in the hills to the east of here. When Senshi demands to have you hand us over to her, you can honestly tell her we aren’t here. And you haven’t see me in weeks. She has no way of knowing you’re lying. And I know her. She won’t risk wasting time to scour the enclosure for us. She knows we’re a day’s ride ahead of her. And she’ll need to camp down tonight, losing even more precious time if she stops here for too long. Once the sun goes down, we can go on our merry way. We’ll be behind her while she thinks we’re ahead of her. While her group is asleep, we’ll be adding distance she won’t be able to make up.”

Langston signaled to some guards to take us to our animals. Once mounted up, we would head to the eastern hills. After saying our farewells to Langston and his tribal council, Malcolm led us out of the enclosure, a smirk on his face, laughing at his sister’s false steps.

“Do you think he really had this all thought out?” I asked Merlyn.

“I have a headache. Ohhhh. I hope that stupid Rumperdon doesn’t sway the basket from side to side. I might need to evacuate the stew we just ate from my stomach—”

Exasperated by Merlyn’s non-response, I turned to Amos, who was weaving about, listing to his left side slightly. I started to cry.

I felt Malcolm’s hand on my shoulder. He looked down at me with his warm brown eyes and patted my shoulder.

“Yes, I really had this all thought out.” He smiled. Not very reassuringly.