Page 126 of Settle Down, Princess

“As if we don’t all hike up our skirts to stop from dragging them in horseshit,” Desiree said, joining us. “Nice to see a lady being practical about the matter for once rather than fainting and flapping her fan about.”

“As if that’d get rid of the stench down here,” another woman said with a chuckle that had the others laughing.

“Did you get caught by your husband rolling in the hay with the groom?” one of them asked me with a sly wink. “One lady was forced to come down here every day for a month when she got caught at that.”

“Or that poor lass who produced only daughters.” This woman shook her head sharply. “As if that was her fault.”

“Ah, no…” I cleared my throat and straightened up. “I’m Jessalyn.” When I offered them my hand, the women just stared. “Princess Jessalyn. I was sent here by my father to marry your king.”

“Oh, lass…”

There was something familiar in Desiree’s voice. Perhaps it was because someone else with flaming red hair had said the same to me before, though that voice was decidedly more masculine.

“Perhaps you should be keeping one of these parcels for yourself.” The woman I had just handed one too went to press it back into my hand. “That bastard up there in the palace… You know, don’t you, Desiree?”

The red-haired woman looked a little uncomfortable but quickly straightened and met my eyes.

“I work in the kitchens up at the castle,” she said. “So I hear a thing or two. Did your…?” She swallowed and then forced herself to go on. “Did your father tell you what the king does to his wives?”

“Every princess on the continent knows about the King of Khean,” I replied and somehow this felt good to admit. The stink, the smoky haze around the square seemed to dissipate. “We know our fate when we are sent here.”

“Do you have brothers that can stand up for you?” someone asked. “That’s what mine did when my ex-husband started beating me. Forced him clear out of the city, they did.”

I snorted before shooting them an apologetic look.

“Unfortunately, that’s not what happens when a princess marries a king,” I explained. “A prince of another country coming to court to beat a king would be a declaration of war.”

“Ach, you wouldn’t want your fellas trying to take our beast men on,” an older woman with a far broader accent said with a shake of her head. “It wouldn’t end well for you.”

“Look, this is some of that chocolate cake we had last time.” A heavily pregnant woman pulled free a muffin and pressed it into my hand. “Take a bite of that. Pure heaven, I say. It makes me forget about my children whining, my husband complaining and the fact that my feet are swelling up to twice the size of my head.” She shot me a pensive look. “Maybe it’ll help you… get through your situation.”

“Taking chocolate from pregnant women?” I smiled as I handed it back. “In my country that’s something that would have the lady in question ready to fight you to the death. I’ve seen it myself in my father’s court. Keep it for your unborn child.”

“The bastard that’s kicking me in the ribs at every turn?” she said, setting her basket down and then leaning back to try and ease the burden on her back. “Not sure he deserves it.”

“The midwife says you’re having a son, Georgie?” another woman asked.

“Have to be a boy,” Georgie groaned. “Ain't no one else that would make their mother’s life this miserable.”

As if on cue, I heard the sharp garbled cries of children as a flock of them came streaming into the square.

“Mumma!” a beautiful dark-haired little girl said, running over to Georgie and I blinked as the woman scooped the child up, resting the child on her hip, despite her obvious pain seconds before. “Did the sisters bring us treats?”

“They did, indeed.” As Georgie handed over the muffin, the little girl’s whole face lit up. “Now, share this with your brothers.”

The woman had made clear just how much she loved the muffin last time she ate it, but she’d been willing to hand it to me, then to her children to share without a moment’s thought and I wondered if any of the ladies at my father’s court would be so generous. In the ways proscribed by court protocol? Always. We were nothing if not proper in our dealings with other ladies, but this… Georgie watched her daughter squirm free then run off to find her siblings with a gentle smile.

“Seems like you need to find a way to slip some rat poison into that king’s stew,” one of the women told Desiree. “That got rid of that bastard, Frank, when he was touching his kids.”

“As if people haven’t tried that. Saw a young lad get hung, drawn and quartered for taking the coin of a disgruntled lord.” Desiree’s hand went to her breast as she went terribly pale, every freckle standing out plain on her skin. “The cook got sick and nearly died when tasting it and the interrogation that followed…” She shook her head sharply. “I wouldn’t keep working in the kitchens if we didn’t need the coin it brings.”

“We all have our burdens to bear,” Selene said in a calm voice. “Now, Desiree, if I could have a quick word? The temple is thinking of putting on a banquet for the less fortunate and I’d like your input on the menu.”

The red haired woman flushed then, looking awfully pleased and the postulants took our burdens, finishing off handing out the parcels as we drew Desiree off to one side.

“I’m thinking this has nothing to do with a banquet,” she said, muttering under her breath as she looked us over. “I told that story of the kitchen lad as a reminder of what happened last time.”

Selene was the ‘disgruntled lord? The woman gave nothing away as she gazed back at the square as if we were discussing the weather or something.

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