Chapter Two: The Princess And The Outskirts

As the carriage rode along the backroads, multiple bumps helped to bring the princess back to her senses. Her shoulder was still burning with pain from the branding spell, and it was only a moment later that she realized she was tied up and gagged. "Mmm!" she let out, drawing the attention of her guards.

"Oh, so the princess is awake now?" one said in a snide tone.

"Come on, don't antagonize her. She was royalty, you know," the other said.

"Yeah, whatever. I don't think it really matters anymore, but you're probably right. An unhappy princess would be pretty annoying to deal with for the rest of the ride," the first guard agreed.

Overall, going from the palace to the outskirts of the kingdom was a six day trip. Currently, they had only been on the road for about six hours. "Man, I can't believe we have to go all the way out to that hellhole just to get rid of this garbage," the first guard complained.

"Dude, what did I just say? Don't antagonize her!" the other said sternly.

"What's the big deal? She treated us like ants, so why should we have to show her respect?" the first guard said.

"Well…" the other guard didn't have a response. There was no way to defend against his comment. After all, he was right.

While Princess Elisia was known to be absolutely awful to demi-humans and monster people, it was nearly as bad for anyone who she deemed under her, especially those who exactly were. Whatever unlucky soul got the job of being her attendant bore the brunt of her vitriol, but that didn't make her personal guards immune. While these guards with her now had never served Elisia, they had heard stories.

There was the story about how a bird had flown too close to her, so she had a guard thrown in prison for failing to protect her. There was the story of how her food had tasted a little weird at a restaurant, so along with having the entire establishment shut down, she had the guard with her nearly poisoned for not checking for such substances in the princess's own food himself. Then there was the story of a guard who had claimed to be devoted to her, but when he had expressed as much, Elisia had called it disgusting, and the guard quit his position soon after.

Many more stories followed ones like these, and they were well-known among the guardsmen. Having the chance to be the ones to escort her out of the kingdom as a prisoner would've normally been one the guards would be clambering for. But, because of the distance, they had drawn straws instead, leading to the two guards in the carriage being the ones tasked with the job.

"Face it man, this girl never cared about anyone but herself. She's getting what was coming to her," the first guard continued. This comment, however, drew a muffled shout of protest from their passenger lying on the floor.

"Mmph!" she cried indignantly.

"What, got something to say princess?" the first guard spat, then removed her gag just to find out what she wanted to say.

"How dare you say such things about me! When I get back to the capital, I swear I- mmph! MMM!" Her words were cut off by the re-gagging from the guard. "MMM! MM! MM!!!" Elisia kept making noise, determined to be heard.

"God, just shut UP already!" the first guard exclaimed, while at the same time standing up in the carriage and giving a swift kick to the princess's abdomen.

"Mgnnh...!" she groaned, her eyes going wide from the impact.

"What the hell dude?!" the other guard yelled.

"Man, I always wanted to do that," the first guard said with satisfaction.

"You can't just KICK A PRINCESS!" the other guard shouted.

"Former princess," the first guard corrected his partner. "As of today, the girl is nothing more than a simple commoner. How does that feel, princess? Does it make you mad to know you're not so important anymore?" The only response he got was a death glare.

"Please stop taunting her," the other guard sighed.

"Alright, alright," the first guard said. For a while after that, it was silent aside from the clacking of horse hooves and carriage wheels. Curiously, the other guard looked down at Elisia.

"I'm surprised she's so quiet," he commented.

"Maybe she finally understands how bad her situation is," the first guard said.

In truth, that wasn't entirely off the mark. Being a princess, Elisia had had access to all sorts of lessons in combat and magic, along with any of the arts, but she had scoffed at most of them. Other than being trained up to high-level magic and some lessons in basic swordsmanship, she had dismissed anything having to do with fighting. "The people with me will do all of my fighting, so why should I dirty my own hands?" she had said. Among those lessons that she disregarded was surely something along the lines of self-defense or escapism. Looking back, a tinge of regret seeped into Elisia's heart. "If I hadn't been so arrogant, perhaps I wouldn't be tied up like this," she thought. "I could escape these restraints and subdue the guards, then…"

Then what? Even if she did have such capabilities, it wasn't as if she had somewhere to go. She had been thrown out of the royal palace and stripped of her title. Most of the commoners loathed her, so it was highly unlikely any would open their homes if she asked. There were small settlements outside of the capital walls, but even the people living there would know who Elisia was and would refuse to lend a helping hand. That was the price she paid for making sure everyone in the kingdom knew who she was.

High atop her pedestal, Elisia never would've dreamed of a day when she'd be knocked down from it. She believed she was the epitome of royalty, and because of that, she believed that there should be none in her kingdom who didn't know who she was or what she stood for. Far and wide her words had carried, until eventually, it was true. If one claimed to be a citizen of Endrelta and didn't know who First Princess Elisia Felbrun was, then it was assumed they weren't a citizen at all.

But, now those efforts were coming back to haunt Elisia. Her silence had been for several reasons. The first was the most obvious, as there was a gag in her mouth. The second was due to her knowing that any sort of struggling or muffled shouting could make her situation worse (and potentially more painful). The third however, was the most concerning.

The carriage was headed to the outskirts of Endrelta, the very edges of the kingdom. It was there that not even humans lived, out of fear of being attacked or picking up a disease. If someone was told to go to the outskirts, it was either treated as a joke or an insult.

So why was there such a bad association attached to the outskirts? The answer was simple. While the humans got to live their lives in the comforts of towns and cities or even small settlements, the ones they ostracized, demeaned, degraded and spat on were the ones that lived out on the fringes of civilization.

For on the outskirts lived demi-humans and monster people.

It was true some of them made their way into towns, but most were chased out, and the ones that did manage to stay often ended up on the streets. If one was lucky enough to make a living, it tended to not last long, as a customer or client would find some reason to have them fired. One of the fiercest offenders of this practice was Elisia.

And now, she was being sent out to spend the rest of her days with the people who she had classified as less than living. Surely, out of everyone in Endrelta, it was the demi-humans and monster people that despised her the most. Knowing that, a fear had begun to take root in Elisia, which was the biggest reason for why she had been so quiet.

While she contemplated her upcoming problem, the two guards began talking again. "Y'know, it's too bad the princess here is so hot," the first guard said.

"...what?" the other guard said, confused by such an odd statement.

"I'm just sayin'," the first guard said. "Here's this woman, super sexy and stuff, but then she's got a personality that's so rotten you'd rather screw a random prostitute than her."

"...what?" the other guard repeated.

"Look, all I'm sayin' is that if I wasn't happily married, and I had the chance to do it with the princess, I'd still pass. There's no way she could get me going when I know what's inside of her," the first guard said, seemingly pleased with his assessment.

"Okay?" the other guard said.

"What, you wouldn't take a swing at her?" the first guard said with a smirk. "Actually, come to think of it, you're single ain't'cha? If you want, I could step out for a moment and let you try her out."

"No thanks," the other guard replied swiftly.

"You really aren't even gonna consider it? Who knows, you might be missin' out," the first guard said.

"She's not my type," the other guard said.

"Oh yeah? So you got someone in mind?" the first guard asked.

"Well…" the other guard said reluctantly. "There's this one lady on the main street who works a crafts booth. She's really cute, but I just can't work up the nerve to ask her out."

"Ah, I get that. Yeah, I had a hell of a time trying to ask my wife on a date the first time I tried. But lemme tell ya. If you stick with it, eventually you'll get that date you want," the first guard said, doing his best to cheer on his friend.

"You really think so?"

"Absolutely!"

On the floor of the carriage, Elisia was subject to the entire conversation, and it was only at the end that she could no longer contain her annoyance. At the first guard's advice, she had let out a snort loud enough to be heard, which brought the focus back on her. "Oh?" the first guard said. "Does the princess have something to contribute?" Realizing her potential mistake, Elisia just closed her eyes in response, but apparently that wasn't good enough.

"Yeah, I didn't think so," the first guard said roughly. "Not like you'd know anything about love. Even if ya did have a crush on someone, there's no way they'd love a girl as rotten to the core as you."

For as much as she hated to admit it, Elisia knew the guard was right. The thing she had loved most was money and power, and behind that, her family. Romance? There was no room for that. Any prince or noble that tried to court her was sent away in shambles, eventually earning her a nickname among her failed suitors as "the cruel princess."

The first guard scoffed at Elisia's lack of reaction to his jab, then bent down to remove her gag. "Go on princess. Speak your mind," he said tauntingly.

"Very well," Elisia said proudly. "I think this whole conversation is utterly ridiculous. You truly think fools such as yourselves even deserve wives? Although, I suppose one of you did say he was married. I wonder what woman was dumb enough to agree to such a union?"

"Why you-" the first guard spouted, but the princess continued.

"And as for your compatriot, well… he isn't much to look at is he? You mentioned something about a crafts booth, yes? I think I know the one. That woman's wears were so paltry I nearly had her shut down for selling such garbage. Honestly, it would've been better for her dignity if I had!"

Suddenly, the other guard stood up. "Take it back," he said darkly.

"Hah? Never. I mean what I say, always. If you don't like it, then perhaps you should take your pathetic little heart and- Guh!"

Before she could finish what she was saying, Elisia found a boot planted firmly in her abdomen. With it being the second kick she had taken, it was a certainty that a bruise would be there, the first of its kind on the previously unblemished skin of the princess.

While she coughed from the impact, the first guard smirked. "Didn't ya just yell at me

about not hittin' princesses?"

"Sorry. I just couldn't help it. I really like that girl, you know? Hearing a woman like the princess badmouth her just really gets to me," the other guard explained. Underneath him, the princess coughed.

"Maybe we should put her gag back in," the first guard said with a smirk.

Once it was back in place, the guards continued on with another conversation while Elisia laid in agony. She talked big, but her resistance to pain was relatively low. Getting kicked twice in the abdomen was enough to make her want to pass out. She wondered if any of her bones were broken, but it seemed like that wasn't the case. Although, that knowledge did little to make her feel better.

"I swear, when I get out of here, I'll make both of these guards pay," she thought darkly. At the moment, she could do nothing. Aside from the obvious bindings of her limbs, the rope was enchanted as well to prevent the person being held captive from using magic. That meant she really had no real means of attack, along with not being able to heal herself. "Curse these ropes," she thought.

As the carriage continued on, the light outside faded, leading to the group needing to stop for the night. "I guess we'll set up camp out here," the first guard said. The area was a wide plain, with forest in the distance. They were currently on the only road leading to their destination. Getting out of the carriage, the other guard sighed.

"Man, we still have a long way to go."

"Yeah, still at least a few more days if I had to guess," the first guard said. "Hopefully we don't have any more problems with the princess."

"You know you started most of those problems, right?"

The guards, along with the driver, set up for camp. Meanwhile, Elisia was left in the carriage, moaning in pain. The initial impacts had hurt enough, but she found that as time went on, it felt harder to breathe. Every intake of air seemed to result in a sharp pain shooting through her. Trying to sleep seemed like it would be impossible.

After the tents were put together, the first guard came back. "Hey princess," he said smugly, drawing a glare from the girl. "Just thought I'd let ya know we're turning in for the night. It gets kinda cold out here, so be sure to stay warm!" He added a mocking laugh before slamming the door of the carriage shut.

The inside wasn't too dark thanks to the barred windows allowing moonlight in, but that

didn't make her settings any cheerier. It was gray all around, and truly, thanks to the guards and previous passengers, the carriage itself smelled awful. Adding her bruised stomach into the mix, Elisia was quite miserable.

As it turned out, it was only going to get worse. The guard turned out to be telling the truth, as the temperature in the air gradually dropped. Soon, the former princess was shivering. "It's freezing!" she whined to herself. "Why is it so cold out here? It was never like this in the capital!" Of course, that was her major mistake. In the capital, she had had every amenity available to her. If she ever went out at night, she had plenty of warm coats or blankets. Now that she thought about it, she vaguely remembered seeing commoners on the side of the road wrapped up in cloths. "Perhaps it's always been this cold at night then…"

The night passed slowly for Elisia. Her sleep was sporadic at best, and she spent most

her time being startled awake by various howlings and chirps. Being a princess, she had never needed to travel much, and anytime she had, she had traveled in luxury. If any wild animals came by, the guards she had with her fought them off, doing so under the requirement of not waking her. "Must they be so noisy?" she thought of the creatures outside, although she was mostly trying to hide her fear with annoyance.

After how the trip had gone so far, Elisia had little confidence that the guards accompanying her wouldn't just abandon her at the first sign of danger. "I'm sure they'd throw me to the wolves," she thought. There was also the carriage she was in to consider for defense, but she was sure she remembered an important detail about it. When it had been built, it had been a shoddy job, with the king saying that if it fell apart upon impact from animals, then it'd be better to let the prisoners be eaten than trying to save them.

Guards that hated her. A carriage that probably wouldn't protect her. And a spell on her

shoulder that was days away from being activated to its fullest. Looking at her situation, Elisia couldn't help but feel foolish for her previous swear. "I'll make these guards pay? How? What could I possibly do once I reach the outskirts?"

She wanted to be conniving and come up with some plan to get back everything she lost and then some. But, it felt impossible. As soon as her branding spell recognized she was on the outskirts, there'd be no going back. Any attempt to do so would surely result in immense pain. On top of that, the spell wasn't even her main problem. The demi-humans and monster people out there would definitely want her dead. How would she survive them? As the night passed, Elisia's worries grew, and by the time the sun rose the next day, she was exhausted from her fretting and shaking from the frigid conditions.

"Well, well, you look pretty tired there princess," the first guard said with delight when he looked into the carriage. "What's the matter? The wolves keep you up?"

"Dude, cut it out. I really don't want a repeat of yesterday," the other guard said.

"Yeah, guess you're right. I'll go tell the driver that we're ready to head out," the first guard said. When he left, the other guard climbed into the carriage and glared down at Elisia.

"I'm warning you princess," he said. "You better fix that behavior of yours, or you'll have worse problems to deal with than us. Oh, and try not to cause any more problems like you did yesterday."

With his warning issued, the other guard said nothing more until the first guard returned. Unbeknownst to him, he would be getting what he wanted. Elisia was too busy worrying about everything awaiting her that she wasn't even giving a thought to the guards.

With a command from the driver, the carriage wheels began to turn once more, leading Elisia ever-closer to her dreaded fate. With every bump in the road, temporary stop, and occasional jab from the first guard, the time passed. One day turned into two, then a third, then more. Finally, on the sixth day, relief seemed to streak across the guards' faces.

"There it is!" Elisia heard one of them yell from outside. "I can just barely see the landmark we're lookin' for in the distance!" The announcement made Elisia's hairs stand on end. "No. It can't be time yet. I'm not ready!" she panicked inside. As the ride had continued, so had Elisia's worries, so much so that she had come to the conclusion that she was most certainly going to be killed upon arrival.

Climbing back in, the first guard could see the panic on Elisia's face. "Aw, is the little princess afraid?" he said mockingly. "You get to live with those filthy mongrels now. You know, the ones you used to torment? I'm sure they'll just looove having you!"

"As much as I hate to admit it, this is a little satisfying," the other guard said. "It's kind of like, 'what goes around, comes around.'"

"Exactly!" the first guard agreed loudly. "And now it's comin' back around for our princess here."

After another half day of travel, the carriage came to its final stop. Still being on the floor, Elisia could see nothing of her surroundings, but she could hear plenty. Outside, there were boos and jeers, along with a couple of death threats. The guards were out there, doing their best to protect the driver while also trying to tell the citizens of the village why exactly they were there.

"Get out of here! We don't want your kind!"

"Have you come to steal from us further?!"

"How dare you even show your faces out here!"

The atmosphere was volatile, and the residents seemed to be showing no signs of listening. "Would ya shut up?!" the first guard yelled. "We're not here to stay!"

"Just let us do our jobs and we'll leave!" the other guard added, but it seemed to be no use. At one point, Elisia heard something thud against the carriage wall. She assumed that meant the demi-humans and monster people had begun to throw things.

"God, they're throwing rocks now!" the first guard shouted. "Let's just toss out our cargo and be done with it!"

"Agreed!" the other guard shouted back. Quickly, they made their way to the back of the carriage and flung the door open.

"Come here, you!" the first guard said aggressively as he reached for Elisia.

"Mmm!" she whined. This was it. The moment she had been dreading had arrived. She was about to be sacrificed to appease the masses. But, just as the first guard dragged her to the exit and threw her over his shoulder, the noise suddenly ceased. Curious, the other guard looked around, only to find an elderly man standing at the forefront of the previously raging group.

"That's quite enough, thank you," he said calmly to the people. Then he turned his attention to the guards. "State your business. I see the royal crest on the side of this carriage, so it must be important."

Composing himself, the other guard pulled out a rolled up piece of parchment, cleared his throat, and then began to read. "By order of King Felbrun, this woman, formerly known as the First Princess of Endrelta, Princess Elisia Felbrun, is hereby stripped of her title, banished to the outskirts, and sentenced to spend the rest of her days there."

This announcement caused the gathered crowd to raise their voices again, but with a raise of the elderly man's hand, they stopped. "Very well," he said. At that, the first guard marched forward and threw Elisia down onto the ground, eliciting a loud "Umph!" from her gagged mouth.

"Enjoy," he said harshly. Then the two guards climbed back into the carriage, the driver pulled on the reins, and they left.

Slowly, the elderly man approached the woman now lying in even more pain on the ground. "Hello, former princess Elisia," he said. "My name is Gorose."

"Welcome to Dehl Village."

End of Chapter Two.