Tipping the Scale

The price of Idealism (3/3)

Although Lidea had tried, she barely slept. Instead she spent her final hours watching the night sky turn bright through the little window of her cell. It barely registered that this might be the last time, she ever experienced a sunrise. Her mind was too focused on dissecting every piece of information that the stranger had given her, which was barely anything. When mealtime arrived, it was a bit more than the piece of bread, she normally received. A bit of pity for the final day of a dying person. However, she found it hard to down the porridge and apple she had been given.

 Halfway through, she decided that the extra energy wasn't worth getting nauseous over. The rats would be happy with the free meal. After that, she heard nothing for a long time, until finally some familiar footsteps approached. The sound of the keyring teased her. If she hadn't had any hope of escape, than she would have attempted to knock out the guard and make a run for it.

Knowing that she wouldn't get far, but it was better to die fighting then whatever death awaited her outside. Nevertheless, as she wasn't desperate yet, she let the guards shackle her once again. The brute holding her chain, roughly pulled her to her feet and started dragging her to the hallway. She quickly regained her footing and tried to keep up as she took in her surroundings.

 The amount of guards had swelled to five, including the man that was dragging her around as if she was a dog. As a unit, they climbed out of the royal dungeons until they finally reached the outside door that she had entered so many weeks ago. As the door opened, she was blinded by the sudden amount of daylight. Before she got used to it, another hard tug at her chain made her stumble and fall to her knees on the hard cobble stones.

"Just wait a moment for her to get up again."

"Why should we? The sooner she is at the Great Market, the sooner we can go home."

"Even though she is condemned as a traitor, she is still a noble. Let her have her dignity."

During their little discussion time, her eyes had been able to adjust. She wanted to thank the man, but didn't think it to be wise and just quickly got back on her feet.

"Careful Thorn, or somebody might think you a traitor as well."

"Nonsense, I just don't like seeing someone of the fairer sex being mistreated."

"That you can even recognize that thing as one of the fairer sex. She wanted to act like she was a man than she can now be treated as one."

Both men looked at her, making her uncomfortable. Though she scoffed on their opinions of her womanhood, she was keenly aware of how filthy she had to be. She was remembered once again of her father and how he had looked. At least she had been spared from any torture.

The men lead her to a rickety old wagon which seemed to lean a bit more than it was supposed to. A cold breeze made her shiver as they made her get on. When she tried to sit, the brute roughly pulled her up again.

"You are the main part of the show."

She wished that she had knocked that man out when she had the opportunity. Even if she would have missed a chance to escape, it still would have been worth it.

As the cart started moving, she tried to keep her balance as well as she could. Luckily it wasn't too hard as the wagon made its way to the Great Market at a snail's pace. She subtlety moved her hands to test out the shackles. She would be able to jump down and run before the guards could catch up to her, if only she hadn't been attached to one. To her disappointment, they had properly fitted them to her wrists and no amount of wiggling could get her out of her binds.

Defeated, she instead looked at the streets they passed. Many houses looked dilapidated and most of the shops had been boarded up. A testament to the economic downfall of the once great city. Reports had reached her ears that in the last five years, taxes had been more than tripled. A decision that is pure madness and made her dread the future. There were only a few reasons why a king would decide on such a drastic measure. One would be in the case of an emergency like with a natural disaster or draught, the other was when the country was preparing itself for war. Neither of which were options she particularly liked.