Queen Bee

Far, Far Away

    Anna heaves my last suit case on to the back of the carriage. Then she runs up to, tear filled eyes, and begins to hug me. 

    "I..can't...breath."

    "Sorry!" She lets go and steps back, looking me up and down. 

    "Are you excited?" She asks. I almost say no to spare her feelings, but a creeping smile gives me away.

    "Yes!" Her entire demeanor changes as she grabs my arms and jumps up and down, squealing like a school girl. My father appears around the corner of my carriage, looking relaxed and smiling. 

    "Ready to go?" 

    "Yep." I say, as Anna lets go of me and bows. Father nods, then pivots and leaves. Anna opens the carriage door for me and helps me step in. It clicks shut behind me as I sit on the bench. 

    "I'll miss you." I say as I open the window. 

    "Don't! Enjoy your time there!" Before I can reply, Mother is standing beside Anna. 

    "Anna, dear, would you mind giving us a moment?" 

    "Of course, Your Majesty." Anna bows, then scurries away. 

    "How are you feeling?" I ask, rubbing my finger against the window frame. 

    "Fine." Her eyes say other wise, as well as her paling skin. Something heavy sinks in my chest, and for a moment I wonder if I should even go. 

    "The servants will take good care of me, Dear. You have fun. Here," she says, as if she can read my mind. She lifts her hand up to me and I see a shiny object in her palm. 

    "A..knife?" I ask, stunned. All of my etiquette teachers had taught me that carrying a weapon, like a knife, is extremely uncivil. So why does she have one?

    "A pocket knife. Nothing serious." She hands it to me and I take it, carefully as if it might cut me. 

    "Why?" I run my thumb over the design. Its yellow, and appears to be in the shape of sunflowers. Maybe that makes it more ladylike. 

    "To remember me by. And in case you might need it." Need it? Why would I  need a knife?

    "Thank you." I'm in a more comfortable dress today, one with pockets, so I'm able to slip it into one of them.

    "Of course dear." A soldier yells something, causing the carriage to jolt backwards, then forwards as it begins to move.

    "Be safe. Have fun!" Mother calls after me. I wave back to her as one of her maidens comes and helps her up the stairs. I slouch back into the velvet seat, and immediately  jump back to halfway standing again.

    "You frightened me." I announce, my heart pounding. There is a man in one of the all black soldier's uniform silently sitting diagonally from me. 

    "I apologize, Your Highness. I did not mean to." he says through the slits of his helmet. I sit back down and try to hide my heavy breathing. 

    "It's alright. Just surprised me a bit." He dusts his shoulder, decorated with our Kingdom's red falcon symbol, and grunts in reply. Even his hands have black gloves, so no wonder I didn't see him. After a few minutes of listening to hoof-steps and picking at my fingernails, I finally say "So, I've actually never ridden out of Astaria far enough to need an escort. Are we supposed to talk or anything?" He slowly turns his head to me, and I suddenly regret asking. 

    "No." He says gruffly, then turns back away.

    "Oh, okay. So how many escorts have you done?" Again, he slowly turns his head toward me. 

    "One."

    "So does that include this one? Or have you done one before today?"

    "No." Outside of the window is a blur of trees and bushes, as well as the musical chirping of birds. 

    "So, you must have just joined the guard?"

    "No." This time he doesn't bother to look at me. 

    "How long have you been in the guard? You have a few medals, so it must have been a while ago." I point at three small and shiny medals that hang off his chest.

    "Two years ago."

    "Oh wow, only two years? You must have joined when you were older then?"

    "Sixteen." 

    "That's pretty young! You must be pretty good at what you do! Pret-ty good." I look back out the window again, hoping I'm not bothering him too much. He seems like a talker. 

    After about an hour of riding, the carriages screech to a halt and the guard tells me that we have ten minutes to get out and stretch our legs. He jumps out of the carriage and before I know it he's already at my door, opening it for me. 

    "Thank you!" I say as I step out. He grunts in response.

    "I don't think I caught your name? I'm Adela." I bow in greeting, as one does when they meet someone new.

    "Sawney." He limply bows to me, then quickly closes the door and heads out into the woods. I follow, the warm air turning my face red. Even though I'm not wearing the best shoes, I manage to keep up with him and make it down to a small stream. He looks around us, glancing at me, then takes his helmet off and pulls his black mask down. Now that I can see his face, I can tell you that Sawney is a young, Chenese man with very good bone structure. Hey, I'm not married yet. 

     "Here, drink this." He hands me a canteen, black to match his outfit I suppose, filled with river water.

    "Are you sure it's safe to drink?" He looks at me weirdly, making me blush.

    "Yes. The rocks over there would have filtered it." He explains, as if I should know. As soon as my tongue touches the ice cold water, any fear is washed away as my taste buds explode. I gulp the whole thing in a matter of seconds, then hand it back to him. He turns to fill it up again when suddenly a bird swoops by, right over his head. He immediately drops the canteen and whips his sword out of the sheath. I can't help but laugh as I watch his chest move up and down in fearful breaths. 

    "I'm sorry, but are you afraid of birds?" He fumbles sheathing the sword back.

    "No! It just surprised me." He bends down and picks the canteen back up. 

    "Sure. okay." He lifts his mask back up and puts his helmet on. It takes him a few minutes to fill the bottle back up, but as soon as he does he begins to trudge back to the carriage. 

    "How long will the trip take, do you think?" I ask, hiking up my dress to step over a branch.

    "A little over two days." 

    "Okay, thank you!"

    "Look," he turns suddenly, forcing me to almost fall into him. "I'm not here to be friends with you. I'm just here to make sure you don't get killed, okay?" 

    "Okay." I manage to say. My hands tremble at my sides as he leads me back up to the carriage. Now I know why this is his first escort detail. I focus on the ground until we arrive, then I watch him open the door for me and I don't bother thanking him this time. He slaps the door shut, making me flinch. He must think I'm some frilly princess with a brain as large as my non-existent muscles. Well, I'm not. Bitterness seethes in my chest as I question that statement. Sawney hops into the carriage and slaps the sides through his open window. As soon as he does this, the carriage comes to life and we continue down the beaten path. 

    The next time either of us says anything is when the stars are in the sky. 

    "We're staying here for the night." He says as I stifle a yawn. I nod and look out the window to see a large building with a wooden sign that says "Golden Plains Inn" hanging over the door. My door clicks open and Sawney is already standing there, ready and waiting for his princess. I double check that I'm not leaving anything and exit the carriage. Windows line the building with candles twinkling in every one. I hear Sawney grunt and turn my head to see him lugging one of my bags over his shoulder. 

    "I can carry that, you know."

    "No you can't, I would get fired."

    "But you said that your job was to 'make sure I don't get myself killed'. What's the bag going to do to kill me?" He rolls his eyes and pushes past me to go in the building. I have nothing else to do but follow. The inn's reception room greets me with the familiar scent of cinnamon and wood. Sawney orders me to stand in the middle of the room-not too close to the door and not too close to the old lady working at the counter. My eyes gaze over the room, taking in the rows of wooden tables and a fire place on one side of the walls. The old lady at the desk waves at me and smiles, so I do the same. This makes Sawney lean down to her and talk in rushed whispers. There's only one other person in here, and he sits at the far end of the room. He's drinking something from a mug and staring at me, so I pretend not to notice. Suddenly, he stands up quickly and begins speed walking over my way. My heart starts beating a little faster, so I look to my guard. Sawney snatches the keys from the ladies hand and marches back to me. I watch him side eye the man as he grabs my wrist and pulls me away. I watch the man disappear from sight as we go down a dimly lit hallway. 

    "Who was that?" 

    "Don't know and don't care to find out." He jams the key into a door and twists it. He grabs my shoulder and shoves me into the room just as he opens the door. Then he locks the door behind us. I examine the quaint room as Sawney lays my bag on the bed and locks all of the windows. It's much smaller than I'm used to, with no vanity and only a single chair. The bed is much smaller as well. 

    "Where will you be sleeping tonight?" I ask, thinking about the man in the reception room.

    "Outside the door. Knock on it if you need anything." He pulls the curtains shut.

    "Do you know where the king is staying?" 

    "I can't tell you where he is, but it's not here. Protocol." He locks the door that leads to the private bathroom shut. 

    "What if I have to use it?"

    "Then knock on the door and let me know." He pockets the key.

    "Are you keeping me in, or somebody out?" I say, not sure if I'm joking.

    "I have orders to do both." That hits me hard. He doesn't say anything else as he unlocks the door and shuts it. The sound of the lock clicking hurts my ears. I've always known that life in the castle was like a cage. people coming from all over just to look at you, to poke and prod you and see what your reaction is. I slide my bag off the bed. Not only were you the circus, but you weren't allowed out. I think I've only been to the village twice my whole life. Once when I was born and had to be presented. Another for a kingdom wide celebration. I'm not sure what we even had to celebrate. I pull the blankets back and slide into the bed. I'm too tired to change, and too tired to annoy Sawney any more. My eyes force themselves shut as I drift into a fitful sleep. 

    My fist flies onto the door as I pound. I've been up for an hour. I've had time to comb my hair, change into another informal dress, and stare at the ceiling for forty five minutes. The sound of a lock angrily clicking into place comes right before the door is swung open.

    "What!?" His head gear is off, revealing a hair do swaying to one side. 

    "Did you seriously sleep on the floor?" He looks at the ground, then back to me. 

    "What do you need, Your Highness?" 

    "I'm ready to go." I hold my chin up and act like the nonsense princess he thinks I am. 

    "Fine. Give me a few minutes." He picks his helmet off the carpeted floor and sticks it on over his messy black hair. I stand in the door way, watching his every move. He keeps glancing back at me as he cleans his stuff off the floor. 

    "Get your bag." He says, zipping up his own. 

    "No." Then I take off down the hallway before he can argue. I know it's childish, but I think he deserved it. I hear Sawney slam the door and I smirk. I wave at the lady, still sitting at the desk, as I head out. The excitement of the trip fills me once again as I throw the doors open and hop onto my carriage.