Page 125 of Settle Down, Princess

“Well, he’ll have that in spades if war comes.” The duke’s lips were now a thin line.

“But we’ll be the ones that bear the brunt of it.” The burly border lord stroked his hand through his beard. “There’ll be nothing left of us before the capital even rouses itself to care. This can’t stand, Your Grace.”

“No, it can’t.” Arik straightened up and right then I could see it. Him dressed in velvet and ermine or whatever it was that kings wore, a golden crown on his head. “So death by ‘accident.’” He nodded slowly, then turned to the Raven. “What exactly did you have in mind and what will be the cost?”

Silas’ father smiled slowly.

“I’m so glad you asked.”

Chapter 73

“This is Cheapside.”

Selene announced the name of our destination with a wry smile, but she needn’t have bothered. Just as Stormare had rougher areas around the docks and on the outskirts of the city, so did Khean. It was considerably smellier though. I fished out a handkerchief, pressing it to my nose, but the faint scent of lilacs was barely perceptible. Open sewers, mud and horse dung littered the road, smearing everywhere as carriages and carts rolled through it. I looked out at the grime, dirt and mud and had to steel myself for what was to come.

“The first time our founder had a vision of the goddess,” Selene explained, “was at the water pump, so that’s where we will go.” She nodded to the postulants seated around us in an open cart that had bench seats set along the width of the tray. “In her steps, we walk.”

“In her steps, we walk,” the other women repeated back dutifully.

Baskets of provisions gathered from the more well-heeled members of the congregation were hoisted up and I grabbed my own, Selene making clear that I would be participating in this ritual.

“We will make contact with some of the women who work in the castle,” she’d told me in my room before we left. “Make sure to wear something you don’t mind getting dirty.”

That was immediately apparent when the driver appeared by the side of the cart, flipping down a set of wooden stairs so we might alight. I saw the pools of disgustingly mysterious brown liquid pocking the road below and paused to do something that would’ve had my mother expiring on the spot. I hiked my skirts up and tucked them into my underwear so the hem was raised enough not to trail through the muck.

“Feeling brave today, Princess?” Selene asked, taking my hand as I climbed down the steps.

“I’m fairly sure no one here gives a damn about my finely turned ankle,” I replied. “But I draw the line at wearing a gown covered in horse shit.”

Men stopped what they were doing to wave and call out to us and initially I feared this was to suggest something lewd, but it became clear at least a few of the postulants were well known to the locals. Greetings were shared as were little snippets about family or friends, but it was when we reached the water pump that our true audience was found. Women were clustered around with great jugs or buckets to fill with water, many chatting away or hoisting babies higher up on their hips as they waited their turn. When we arrived, all conversations ceased as they turned to focus on us.

“Oh bless you, Sister,” an older woman said, bent over double and forced to use a cane to walk.

“And to you, sister,” Selene said, handing the woman a cotton wrapped bundle of food.

“What do you have today, Selene?” a young woman with rosy red cheeks said, peering at the baskets. “Any of that fine bread you brought the other day with the sugary stuff on it?”

“That was nice,” said another.

I stopped still as the women swarmed forward, even the one who had been working the pump. They rushed towards us in a great mass, right as a sharp voice cut through the air.

“Alright, alright, we all know how this goes, so let's line up nice and orderly like, rather than rushing the sisters!”

A woman with fiery red hair and eyes twice as bright surveyed the crowd, completely confident that everyone here would listen.

“You’re not the boss here, Desiree,” another woman shot back.

“No, but I know it makes it easier for the sisters to give out their parcels quicker and then we can get back to the bloody business of pumping water for our families,” Desiree replied.

Apparently they all agreed because the women moved, if somewhat grudgingly, into a single line. I let out a long sigh, not realising how much tension had built in my muscles.

Worrying about a bunch of poor women clamouring for food? That seemed ridiculous now that we were moving down the line, handing out parcels. I was facing death or worse within the palace, but as was becoming clear, the human mind could only deal with the threat right in front of it and once that was resolved I achieved a small moment of peace.

“Thank you, ma’am,” one woman said, clasping the bundle I handed over, then nodding and walking away from the line.

“You don’t look like the sisters,” another woman said with an open smile. “Your dress is far nicer.”

“You one of them fine ladies who comes down here to do good works sometimes?” another asked, looking me up and down. “Though maybe not, flashing your ankles like that.”

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