Quid Pro Quo

None of these men have any interest in what I have to say, just because I am a woman.

But then a thought occurs to me. If I admit that I'm betrothed, they will just escort me back to my father and I will lose my opportunity to get out of here. If I participate in the competition and lose on purpose, then maybe I can sneak away when the king is distracted meeting his new bride.

I feel a pang of sympathy for the other women. From the comments the guards have made, the king doesn't seem like a very forgiving or kind man. I am going to do my best to lose this contest, because he doesn't seem like my type at all. At least Luther is the devil I know.

I fall in line, discontinuing my protests and acting the part of the acquiescent female. We are led to the archery area and asked to line up, one in front of each target. I'm actually a very good shot. The only thing my father would let me do that wasn't directly womanly was hunting.

He would take me on his hunts sometimes when I was younger and taught me to use a bow. I enjoyed it and would practice when he wasn't around, hoping to impress him with my skill when he would eventually pay attention to me. As I got older, I preferred my father's absence to his presence so I wouldn't have to listen to him drone on about King Luther.

"Prepare your bows, ladies," the guard says.

I lined up my arrow perfectly, then veered it dramatically to the right. Hitting the bullseye wouldn't be helpful in this scenario, as much as it would give me pride to show my skill. I hear some muttering and cursing and when I look around me, I realize none of the other women have any idea what they are doing.

Of course not, I think. It's rare that a princess would ever have knowledge of such things. But even if I shoot this arrow a little off to the right, the other women probably wouldn't even get their arrows out of their bows. I walk over to Rosemary and start to show her how to hold her stance and aim the arrow. In the middle of my instructions, one of the guards interrupts.

"No assisting the competition!" he shouts.

I give him a withering look and sigh in frustration. As I begin to walk back to my target, the queen speaks for the first time.

"Wait," she says loudly.

The guard that seemed familiar to me earlier leans down and whispers something in her ear and she nods. It is odd to me that the queen would take direction from a guard, but maybe he is a messenger for the king. It's driving me crazy that I can't place the man. I'm not that close to see his face clearly, but something is niggling my brain, something I can't quite put my finger on.

"She may assist the others," she announces.

"Thank you, your highness," I reply and she gives me a regal nod.

I continue to show each princess the proper way to shoot an arrow and after some time I go back to my place. The guard tells us to prepare and does a countdown.

"Ready…"

"Aim…"

"Shoot!"

Our arrows fly through the air with a whoosh and I hold my breath for the results. Even giving myself a handicap I still manage to do better than the other princesses; certainly not my best, but the better by far than the rest.

I curse under my breath. What did I expect? I have years of practice and most of them only learned how to do this today. Cassandra did the worst out of everyone, so she was dismissed. She waved cheerily at me as she left, probably relieved to be sent away.

The next test was about horses. Inside I was delighted to ride one of these beautiful girls, but outside I pretended like I didn't even know how to mount one. At least this was a skill suited to a princess and I didn't need to offer my assistance again. However, apparently Rosemary was terrified of horses.

I hear her shriek and look over to see her horse rearing its front legs. Horses can sense when a rider is afraid and they don't like high pitched noises. Rosemary is immediately escorted off the field and I let out a disappointed sigh. Is this really the best the kingdoms have to offer? I suppose most of the princesses were bred to look pretty and obey their fathers and then husbands.

Which begs the question, what is the king looking for in a queen? Clearly not the typical royal woman. It's very curious indeed. My respect goes up another notch for him, but I still don't want to marry him. Or anyone for that matter.

We are instructed to lead the horses through an obstacle course with some roundabouts, trotting, and a few jumps. I try to look incompetent but being a seasoned rider is a nearly impossible habit to break. The other princesses do just as well, until it comes to the last jump. The first two were pretty small, but this last one will take a little skill and a lot of trust in your animal.

Jeanine barely makes it over and she looks scared out of her wits when she turns around. Alexandra does a beautiful job getting over it, but her landing is a little shaky and she nearly falls off her horse. Then it's my turn. I should botch it, or refuse to do it at all. Maybe they will disqualify me immediately and send me away.

But pride cometh before the fall, as they say. I'm sure whatever tests are left I can fail brilliantly. I just can't bring myself to improperly jump a horse. Riding is in my blood and I don't think I could throw this if I wanted to. My jump and landing are absolute perfection. Not that I needed it, but the applause from the king's sister gives me the feeling that everyone else noticed my capability too.

This time none of us are eliminated and we are led to one of the tents. Each of us is instructed to wait outside while we go in one at a time. I'm a little nervous about what I might find inside, but when it's my turn, I square my shoulders and walk in.

A large pile of flat stones is on the ground, but they are all shaped in very specific ways, like a puzzle. Damn, I love puzzles, I think. There is nobody in the tent with me and we are only supposed to get the king's guard when we are finished with our task so they can affirm our success or failure. I can't help myself, I finish putting the pieces together in record time.

Then I mess them all up again, do the puzzle halfway and leave the rest, and inform the guard that I wasn't able to complete my mission. He gives me a confused look but shakes his head and leads me to the other tent. I see Jeanine walking off the field and I realize it's only Alexandra and myself left to complete the final test.

I turn back to wait my turn and realize I'm much closer to the royal family than before. The queen is a stately woman with blonde/silver hair and gray eyes. Her expression is taut and stern and she doesn't bother looking in my direction. The princess has light brown hair and beautiful blue eyes and she gives me a cheeky smile when I look her way. She gives me a small wave and I can't help but grin back at her.

Then my attention shifts to the guard that was whispering to the queen before, the one I thought seemed familiar. As soon as our eyes lock, I recognize him immediately.

He was the arrogant nobleman that rescued me in the woods. But apparently he is actually one of the king's guardsmen, or maybe a knight? His clothing is a little too fine to be a guard. But he carries a sword and wears armor, so he can't be a lord. His expression is serious, as if all his attention is focused on me alone.

My cheeks flush and my temperature rises, but I give a prim nod as if it's beneath me to acknowledge our prior meeting. His eyes narrow on me and I look away, uncomfortable under his heated gaze. All of sudden, Alexandra storms out of the tent, red faced and angry.

Oh, no.

Please, please, please tell me she isn't leaving, I pray.

The guard signals for me to enter the final tent and I send a plea to the heavens to get me out of this situation. When I walk in, I can barely hide my shock. There are two chairs and a table with wine on it in the middle of the room. A woman who looks to be several years older than me is sitting in one of them and she gives me a warm smile.

"Hello, I'm Faye. Would you like to sit down?" she asks politely.

"I'm Wren - Renata I mean. Thank you," I reply, and take the seat across from her.

"Wine?" she asks, but she's already pouring some into a golden chalice with filigree carvings on it.

In for a penny, in for a pound, I think to myself.

Might as well drink some wine if all hell is about to break loose. And it most certainly will. If I win, I probably will have a hard time escaping so I'm going to have to fight my way out of here somehow. If I can't find a way to leave, my father and King Luther are going to be furious with me that I entered this competition. I swallow a huge gulp of wine as I think about Luther's reaction.

Either way, this is not going to end well for me.

Faye gives me a sympathetic look, but she doesn't drink any of the wine herself. A feeling of warmth and relaxation spread over me and somehow I have a gut feeling that I can trust her. I have the sudden urge to blurt out the truth of my predicament.

Then I go right ahead and spill my guts.

I tell her literally everything about my life. I tell her about my mother, Margaret, my father, his debts, his arrangement with King Luther, my fear of the evil man and how I ended up in this competition. She sits quietly and listens to all of it, nodding appropriately and commenting if necessary.

When I'm done, she takes my hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. I am baffled that I just told her so much, having just met her. It was almost like I couldn't help myself. Like I didn't have any control over what was coming out of my mouth.

"Well, Wren, it seems to me that you've had a long journey to get here," she says.

"I just want to be free. I want to live a life of peace, riding horses and growing vegetables," I implore her.

"Is that what you really want, deep down?" she asks me.

"No," I blurt out and add, "I want to change things. I want the powerful men in these kingdoms to acknowledge that women are more than just ornaments or commodities for them to trade. I want power myself, not to abuse it, but to help others."

I clap my hands over my mouth so I don't say anything else damning. She laughs and grins at me, then takes my hand again.

"I think we are going to be great friends," she chuckles.

"How am I going to get myself out of this mess?" I cry out abruptly.

"Leave that to me. But you are going to have to do something for me in return," she replies.

"Anything!" I exclaim. I feel so relieved that I found an ally in this confusing disaster I've found myself in.But her next words make my heart sink.

"You will need to marry King Drake," she says.