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546
“You must have insides of iron, lass. A lot of men don’t even have the stomach for butchery; whoever taught you knew what he was doing-it would have taken me and my assistant twice as long to break that animal down.”
She dumps the bowl out, filling it with fresh water for the butcher before taking her apron off, “Thank you,” she says hesitantly, “I’ve had some practice with cattle, more so with deer and goats though. But once the skin is off cloven hoofed animals are pretty much all the same.”
“Indeed,” he agrees. “If you ever decide to change your profession I’d be happy to work with you.”
She smiles, tucking the knife back into her boot before unknotting her dress, “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Coral nods to the King and starts to walk back to her wagon. From behind her she can hear Quell speaking to Rainer, “I’ve never been as attracted to such a frightening woman. I apologize, father, I did not realize she carried a knife. Or could wield it.”
“Aye, it is concerning the skill she possesses with it but perhaps we let her keep it. I imagine if she got an idea in her mind she’d carry it out with whatever was at hand regardless. Let us just be appreciative that we are in her favor,” Rainer says with a frown on his mouth.
Coral climbs back up into the wagon next to Marcus and soon they begin to move forward, their journey set back a little. Quell appears, walking next to Coral. She looks over at him, “I should have probably turned my knife over to you.”
“Aye,” is all he says in response.
“Piers…” she fumbles to word it delicately, “He was worried about my safety and insisted that I keep the blade hidden.”
Quell looks at her before nodding, “I understand. It was an oversight on our end that we did not think to check a freshly plucked maiden for a weapon. In our realm only men carry weapons on them but… as a necessity of your profession it is wise for you to have one. Though, please do not wear it on your person in the castle,” he says firmly, “that is our law.”
“Of course,” she says softly, bowing her head in acceptance.
“I must say, it was unnerving watching a fair maiden do such a… such a thing. I’m almost afraid to ask-what other weapons can you wield?”
Surprised, she looks at him thinking it a joke but when she sees the seriousness on his face she realizes that being able to perform a mercy killing without damage to her sensibility makes her a rather surprising threat, “Oh. Um, well I can use a bow, but I don’t have a lot of experience with it. I’ve fished with a spear before…” she tries to read his blank face, discerning if he feels differently because of her unfeminine talents.Text © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.
“What was the reason behind wielding a bow?” He asks.
She thinks back to the night she spent sleeping in a tree, “There were some wolves attacking our sheep, getting into the pasture and killing off the lambs at night. Piers taught me how to use a bow and had me climb into a tree to wait for them-he is far too old and I insisted on doing it, a fall from that height could have killed him.”
“Did you kill the wolves?”
Hesitating, she doesn’t want to lie but she doesn’t want to come off threatening, “Yes. There were only two renegade males.”
“How far of a shot? Was it a kill shot?”
Another pause, “I am not sure… maybe three hundred yards?”
Looking at her he waits for an answer.
She feels queasy, never before has she felt that her normal everyday life, though a little odd for her town, would be viewed by outsiders as making her a dangerous woman, “It only took one shot to take him down. The second went running off so it was a little further away but I got him as well.”
Quell nods slowly, looking forward, “Have you ever killed a man?”
“No,” she responds quickly, aghast that he has to ask.
“All right, Coral, calm down,” he says softly, “we will talk about this later tonight. Let’s just keep it between us for now. Well, us and Marcus, assuming he doesn’t open his large mouth.”
“Of course, Quell,” she says.
“I didn’t hear a thing, Prince Quell,” Marcus smiles at him.
With a nod Quell trots forward to rejoin his father. Coral can feel herself deflating in the seat; she looks to Marcus, “I realize that it is unusual for a woman to have done the things I have, but… surely men are capable of as much. Am I really a threat to them? Are they going to lock me away?”
Marcus laughs a little, glancing at her, “Aye, you’re most definitely a threat to them and any other living creature. Sure, some men are capable of handling a knife as well as you, some a bow, some even both but by that point they become soldiers, lass. The thing that makes you, well, dangerous, is that no one expects a woman to be able to slaughter a creature with such skill. It gives you the element of deception-oh, I know you don’t mean to intentionally deceive but the centaurs do worry about assassins. It has been known to happen.”
She makes a choking sound, “I am not an assassin-I’ve never attacked anyone, what I do isn’t with malice-”
“I know lass, they just prefer to err on the side of caution. You won’t be locked up but don’t be offended if you discover someone watching you at all times. At least for a while until they are sure of your resolve.”
Thinking back to the night before with Quell, the intimacy they shared contrasted with the way he looked at her today, she shudders, “I don’t know what more I could do to prove my resolve.”
By the time the caravan climbs the steep incline to the lower path through the mountains into the valley of the centaurs below, the sun has begun to set. The fading light illuminates the shadows of the far high cliffs, darkening the massive town at their base. Though it is hard to make out, Coral strains her eyes to see all that she can of the breath taking view. Hundreds of wooden buildings are neatly lined up down long streets, the tallest of which line the wide main road to the castle, no doubt the center of their businesses. The castle itself is taller than she expected from Quell’s description, three stories with the upper parts peaking in watch guard towers, its wide elegant stonework making it seem as if it melted out of the mountain itself. Each floor must be at least twenty feet tall, the castle sitting at least that high off the base of the mountain, a wide stone ramp leading towards huge double doors.
When the caravan finally comes to a halt in the middle of the town there is a lot of happy laughter, cheering and bustling about from both humans and centaurs. Many hands come help unload the bounty of the Atonements, townsfolk coming to greet the newly arrived citizens and assist them with finding the correct place to go. Coral climbs out of the wagon, grabbing her bag, when Marcus walks around to join her shouting, “Hoy, Reid!”
The centaur, obviously looking around for Coral, turns when his name is called and walks to them.
As Coral makes to retrieve her medicine case Marcus stops her, “Naw, lass, I will bring it to you. You must go with Reid now, he will show you to where you are staying.”
She nods, nervous, “Thank you, Marcus.”
“Quickly now,” Reid waits for her before settling into his normal walking pace, trying to catch up to the royal party down the road.
Though she wants to take in all of the sights she is unable to do so at such a brisk walk so she focuses on following Reid through the crowd, having to almost jog to keep up. By the time they reach Rainer, Quell, and the rest of the royal procession, they are walking up the ramp into the castle. Reid stops so suddenly Coral runs directly into his ass, stumbling back a bit.
He gives her an odd look then nods down at her leg. It takes her a moment to realize what he wants. Quickly she crouches down, unlacing her boot before unbuckling the knife and retying her boot, a shade too tight in her haste. She hands the knife willingly to Reid. He holds it as if contemplating, then reaches for her bag, pulling it off of her shoulder and stuffing the knife into it.
“I will carry your bag for now, until you have been introduced to the Queen and Prince. You must courtesy before them-do not speak unless directly spoken too and if you must make eye contact keep your chin down so that way you don’t come off as threatening,” he starts walking up the ramp, several paces behind the others, “only the royals and guards are allowed to carry a weapon on them in the castle. A weapon is never to be drawn in the presence of a royal, unless specifically commanded to do so.” He tries to think of anything else he can say to prepare her; he has never had to prep anyone before, let alone a human, “don’t mention anything about that boy Tobias or the ox to the Queen. She likes to be well informed but the King does not wish to frighten her with gory details.”
Coral nods, walking through the tall wooden doors behind Rainer. She suddenly feels entirely out of place, knowing that she has not gussied herself up from the trip. Able to finally glance around as the centaurs slow their pace she sees the luscious tapestries and rugs, elegant furniture and extravagant decorations. She also sees humans-acting as servants, they all stand either bowing or curtseying as the procession walks through the long great entry-it is then that she truly starts to worry. All of the guards are centaurs, which she obviously assumed but seeing her race as underclassmen to these majestic creatures makes it soundly resonate that she is in an entirely different world.