Seven

I woke up to the sound of the curtains being drawn and bright sunlight filling the room. I groaned in annoyance and tried to burrow myself under the covers in an attempt to escape the light and go back to sleep. Unfortunately, a certain maid had other ideas.

“Wake up, My Lady,” Griselda said as she pulled the blankets off of me. “Come, you have a busy day ahead.”

I grumbled grumpily as I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. “What time is it?”

“It’s two hours past sunrise,” the maid explained. She turned away and walked over to the table where a platter of food and drinks was waiting. “Now hurry up and have breakfast.”

My ears perked upon hearing the word “breakfast” and so I eagerly got out of bed and made my way to the table. After grabbing a seat, I took up the knife and fork and began to stuff my face with the food in front of me. It consisted of buttered bread, fried eggs, bacon, sausages, and some white stuff I couldn’t identify. The meal was delicious as always, and pretty soon I gobbled everything up. It was only after stifling a burp that I realized Griselda had been watching me eat the whole time with a mild look of horror on her face.

“What?” I asked, breadcrumbs and grease covering my cheeks.

She gave me a strained smile. “Well, it looks like we shall be brushing up on My Lady’s table manners at a later time. Right now, though, we have to get ready for your appointment with the royal seamstress, Madame Rancos. She will need your measurements for the clothing she will be making for you.”

“I’m getting new clothes?” I asked as Greta used a napkin to scrub away at my dirty face.

“Of course. You didn’t really think His Highness would only provide you with one set of clothing, did you?” the maid said.

I guessed not.

When Madame Rancos arrived at my room, I was a bit worried. She was an older woman, with graying hair tied up in a severe bun. She wore a dark, frill-less gray gown with a floor-length hem as well as a tight, buttoned-up collar. She looked like your stereotypical mean grandma type, and I was worried that I’d get yelled at a lot if I did something even remotely wrong.

Turns out I didn’t need to worry. Madame Rancos was the very definition of “don’t judge a book by its cover.” She was very nice and easy to talk to, with a warm personality and an easy nature. While she was taking my measurements she tried to ask me questions about myself, but I couldn’t really tell her much. I had only been a normal person for a day, so I didn’t have that much life experience. She seemed to sense my reluctance so she stopped with the personal questions and began to talk about herself. Madame Rancos had four adult children and six grandchildren, all of whom lived in Vilgur, the city just outside the castle grounds. She had been serving the royal family for over thirty years and had her own shop in the city called Royal Raiments. It was a large business that catered to some of the wealthiest families in the kingdom. She was very excited to be working with me personally since she could now add making the dresses for an actual Hero to her repertoire.

“Oh! Can you make me some pants, too?” I asked her. Dresses were fine, I guess. But I wanted some pants since they seemed simpler and easier to move around in.

“Now, now, My Lady,” she chided gently. “Gentlemen wear trousers. Young ladies such as yourself wear skirts and dresses.”

Oh, right. This was a medieval fantasy world. It made sense that their views on some stuff would be a bit… archaic. I had to remember that.

I was a little sad when all the measurements were done and Madame Rancos had to leave. Talking with her had been fun, she was so nice. Before leaving, the old woman smiled and pulled me into a soft embrace.

“It was wonderful meeting you, dear,” she told me.

My body grew rigid for a second, surprised by the gesture. It was my first hug. No one had ever just held me like that before. It was nice. Soothing. My body soon relaxed and I returned the embrace. Madame Rancos left afterward, promising to deliver the first of my clothes personally in a few days’ time.

Griselda had me get dressed for the rest of the day, helping me put on the same outfit that I wore yesterday. She was meticulous, making sure every button on the blue dress was fastened, every loose thread was pulled, and that no dirt or lint was found anywhere. She even made sure that the black ribbon tied in my hair was straight, which was not the case the day before.

“There,” the maid smiled proudly at her work. “Now you look presentable.”

I looked in the mirror and decided to take her word for it. Aside from the ribbon, I didn’t really see anything different with my appearance from yesterday. Same Alice in Wonderland-style dress, same brown boots, same constricting underwear.

“Now, then, My Lady. Master Ghaldor has requested your presence at the northern yard. If you would please follow me, I shall take you to him.”

Oh! Ghaldor wanted to see me? I hadn’t seen him since yesterday morning when he took me to meet the king. I eagerly trailed after Griselda as she navigated through the labyrinthine corridors and stairwells of the castle. I tried my best to memorize the layout of the place but I doubted that I was at all successful. Hopefully, after a few more days of walking about, I’d get the general layout of the main keep.

I was following Griselda through a long hallway when she entered a doorway. I moved to follow, only to stop in my tracks when I realized that the door led to the outside, into an enclosed yard that was open to the sky. I felt a familiar dizziness and looked quickly to the ground.

The maid noticed that I had stopped following her. “My Lady? Is something the matter?”

I took deep breaths as I tried to calm myself. My hands had gone to grasp the side of the doorway, my fingernails sinking slightly into the worn wood. I tried not to think about that vast openness right in front of me; of the infinite space above me, filled with nothing but blue. Instead, I focused on my feet, encased in the brown leather boots, and of how they were firmly on the ground. The ground was heavy and dense; solid and unmoving. It was as infinite as the sky, reaching forever below me; an eternity of stone and earth that I was connected to through my feet. I would not fall into the sky above.

In time, my shaky breaths ceased and the dizziness stopped. The trembling in my body stilled and I was able to look up and away from the ground. I saw that Griselda was standing next to me with a concerned look on her face. I gave her a small smile, showing that I was alright. I could tell that she really didn’t believe me, but she continued her duty and escorted me outside.

The yard was large, enclosed on all sides by stone walls. There were archery targets at the far side as well as training dummies near the doors. The earthen floor was loose, with various footprints visible sunk into the dirt. It looked like a training area for the soldiers and seemed capable of housing about forty people, though the only ones here now were me, Griselda, and two men standing in the center of the yard, one of whom I recognized.

“Ghaldor!” I shouted with a wide smile. I rushed my steps until I was standing in front of the old wizard. I was tempted to give him a hug, but something told me that he wasn’t the hugging type.

“Good morning, Amelia,” he said, returning my smile with one of his own. “I trust you have been well?”

“Oh, yes! Everyone’s been so nice! My room is great, and the food is awesome!”

The wizard nodded. “Good, good.” He then turned to the man standing next to him. “This is Sir Hirch. He will be helping us to find your powers.”

I looked to the other man and found myself looking away from his stern gaze. He was huge. Though not as tall as Ghaldor, he was definitely much wider. He was middle-aged, with dark brown hair and a bushy beard. He wore a light blue gambeson which stretched with his muscles underneath.

“H-hello,” I said, bowing to the man.

He gave me a nod.

“Sir Hirch is the captain of the guard,” Ghaldor explained. “He will be training you in the arts of combat. Swordsmanship and the like.”

“Oh.” I bit my lip. Fight with the sword? With my skinny arms and small stature? That was just asking for trouble.

“You see, various records I have read through indicate that Heroes manifest their powers through moments of physical and mental stress. It has been found that training can simulate this and most, if not all, of modern-day Heroes have gotten their powers during training.”

I guess it made sense. But still, sword fighting? Not only was this body totally unsuited to it, but I was completely uninterested in the art as well. Whenever I read any fantasy stories, I always found the sword fighters to be the most boring characters. They stabbed monsters with sharp pieces of metal, big whoop. What really interested me were the mages, the ones who used magic to fight. Like Ghaldor! Casting magic was so much more interesting than swinging a sword around.

“Couldn’t I just learn magic with you?” I asked the wizard with a hint of pleading in my voice.

“Impossible. All Heroes have shown no affinity with the magical arts whatsoever. This is most likely due to their original world having no magic at all.” The old man suddenly looked thoughtful, rubbing his beard as he seemed to be mulling something over. “Although… Yes, it might be worth looking into. Since you are a special case.”

Huh. I wonder what he meant by that.

“Very well,” Ghaldor nodded. “Tomorrow, meet me in my workshop after breakfast. Your maid can guide you there. I will test you for magical aptitude.” I smiled and was just about to jump up and down with joy, but his next words stopped all that. “Until then, you are to study with Sir Hirch.”

I sighed and tried not to let the look of disappointment appear on my face. Looking over at the guard captain, he seemed just as discontent as I was.

Sir Hirch stepped forwards, his steely eyes looking me up and down. From the frown on his face, I could tell that he was not impressed.

“You’re really not giving me much to work with here, Master Wizard,” he said.

“You don’t have to make her into a champion duelist,” Ghaldor said sharply. “Just train her until her powers manifest. That is all.”

“Very well,” he grumbled. “Follow me, girl.”

He stalked off and I rushed to follow. Looking back, I saw that Griselda had stayed behind with Ghaldor. Sir Hirch led me to a few wooden racks with various weapons hanging from them. I wearily eyed the axes and pikes, knowing full well that there was no way I could even lift them.

The knight looked through the arsenal in front of him. He seemed to be examining the blades carefully. He reached out and picked up one of the smaller swords and began weighing it in his hands. After frowning and shaking his head, he put the weapon back. He did this to a few more swords before picking one that had a short and wide triangular blade narrowing to a point at the end.

“Try this one.” Hirch handed the sword to me. I hefted it by the grip with both hands. It was pretty heavy. I noted that the edge of the blade was dull, so at least I wouldn’t be cutting myself with it. I swung it around awkwardly for a few minutes before Hirch shook his head and grabbed the sword back. He returned it to the rack, then picked up another one.

“Try this one,” he said again as he handed it to me.

It was another blunted sword with a long, thin, and narrow blade. Its grip was small, making it suitable for only one hand. At first, I thought it was a rapier, but it didn’t have the typical basket-style hilt to it. I wasn’t an expert on swords so I had no idea what this type was called. I swung it around experimentally and definitely found it to be better than the first sword. Not only was it lighter but it was also easier to hold onto.

Hirch watched as I played with the sword. “Good enough,” he said, then turned around and began walking towards some training dummies. I rushed to catch up.

The captain spent the next hour or so teaching me some basics. He showed me several stances, the various positionings of the sword, how to thrust, as well as some other sword-related minutiae that I had trouble remembering. I could tell by the look on his face that I was doing a poor job of adjusting to his lessons and tried my best to correct myself whenever he yelled out a frustrated bark on how to fix myself. Why was he so mad? I mean, what did he expect? This was my first time holding a sword for God’s sake!

When he finally called an end to the lesson I found myself sighing in relief. I had never been yelled at before, and it made me feel irritated and scared at the same time. I didn’t like it. I watched the large, brutish form of my teacher march towards me, standing as stiff as I could lest he find some other thing wrong with me that would set him off again.

“Good work today,” he told me with a satisfied nod.

Uh… wut?

“Your form is sloppy, your footwork is atrocious, and your posture definitely needs work.” I frowned as Sir Hirch listed off all the things I did wrong. But then he added, “But you tried your best to correct your mistakes and you did it all without a single word of complaint. You’ve got a lot of work to do if you even want to be considered a passable swordsman, but if you keep at it like you did today I’ve no doubt that you’ll be quite a proficient duelist.”

“Oh. Wow. Thank you, sir.”

He nodded. “You’ll be training with me three days a week every morning. Make sure to get a good rest the night before; we’ll be doing more rigorous exercises soon. Now, go on and put your sword away. You’re free for today.”

I smiled and gave the guard captain a bow before rushing over to the racks to put away my practice sword. Griselda met me there and I noticed that Ghaldor wasn’t with her. I guess I didn’t notice it when he left. The maid asked if I was ready to go.

“Go?” I asked. “Go where?”

“Well, that’s up to you, My Lady,” she said. “We can either return to your room or I can give you a tour of the keep if you’d like.”

I quickly agreed to do the latter. I was definitely not ready to go back to my room yet, plus I wanted to see more of the castle. I hadn’t really seen much of it and it seemed like a good idea that I know the layout of the place since I’d be staying here.

Griselda once again led the way, taking me through the keep’s various corridors as she showed me around. She took me to see the kitchen as well as the large dining hall that was next to it. We passed by many parlors and sitting rooms, and Griselda showed me the stairway that led down into Ghaldor’s workshop which was on the first floor near the throne room. I took note of where everything was located and was pretty sure that I had a general idea of where everything was.

“And here we have the library.” I followed Griselda into a room that was lined with bookshelves. All in all, it wasn’t that impressive of a library. Unlike the movies which showed castle libraries being these vast, multi-story areas filled with books of all shapes and sizes, the library in front of me was just a regular room with old bookshelves along the walls. Two large windows let in a lot of light, perfect for reading. Unfortunately, the air was heavy with the scent of musty old paper.

I examined a nearby shelf and found many leather-bound books of various colors. I noticed that they didn’t have the titles printed on the spine. I reached out and plucked a small red book from its place on the shelf, then flipped through its yellowed pages.

… and he pushed her down onto the softness of the bed, his form heavy atop her. His hands clutched tightly at her delicate wrists, pinning them against the silken sheets on either side of her head. Her sky blue eyes sought out his dark gray, imploring him to show her mercy. But she found no mercy in those eyes.

Only lust.

“Please, My Lord,” she pleaded, her eyes teary, bountiful bosom rising and falling with each shaky breath. “We must not do this! What of your honorable wife? Your children! What of your position in Court?”

“What of them?” he proclaimed, his searing lips trailing kisses across her satin jaw. His masculine scent permeated the air between them, causing her mind to fog in delirious ecstasy. “I would throw all of them away, everything I have worked for away if only to have one night with you.”

She let out a defeated moan as his lips found her neck, his hands roaming across her inflamed body. He pushed himself up, towering over her, revealing to her hungering eyes his glorious-

I quickly shut the book, my face turning completely red. What in the hell had I been reading?!

Wait a second… what?

This book was in English!