Beyond The Walls

Chapter 3. Market Mayhem

Hoodwink (verb)

To deceive or trick someone

Cherie's POV

Momma was so excited when I told her about the letter.

Dad on the other hand, wasn't exactly as excited. He measured my reaction of being timid or worried about it and showed me his own fears with his facial expression. His mom and dad argued almost daily, he never laid a hand on her but he would call her names sometimes. Dad promised to never treat momma like that. I admire that about him.

"Can you wait in that line," momma points to the long line of people waiting for poultry, "I want to shop around for vegetables before all the good ones are gone."

I nod and get into the line while she ruffles around to give me one of the baskets.

Cold air runs up my legs, causing a bone chilling ach.

Men are so lucky. They get to wear pants while women are only allowed to wear skirts or dresses. We should at least be allowed to wear pants under our dresses in the winter for the sake of being warm but the king says that women in pants aren't feminine and that's a sin.

The markets are packed today, lines are the longest that I've seen them in a while.

It's been such a harsh winter that people have probably being doing the same thing as us. Waiting as long as they can before having to stand in the cold and shop.

We live quite close to the markets, we are lucky in that regard. Some people live all the way on the other side of the kingdom and have to haul all that food or lumber back to their home.

They have three docks here, one of them connected to the market, but you can only use those if you have enough money to do so. Most people don't have that kind of money to just be spending on something so simple, so the waterways are mostly used for transporting food to the stables and to our cattle farms. One also connects to the main farming fields so they can quickly transport it to the markets.

"Bullshit! Last week it was seven credits cheaper!" A man hollers at one of the elder merchants.

She cowers, "I'm sorry, sir, I had to raise my prices."

The man scoffs, "so, you just allow people to go hungry with your greed. You're a sinful wench."

He spits at her unfairly, making my heart pinch in pain for her.

"Forgive me. I have a disabled son to care for. The medicine is much more expensive than what I charge." Her eyes stay glued to the ground in fears that she will anger him further.

"Your son is disabled due to your sins. The king should've never allowed a man to breed you."

A random man of steps forward to defend her honor, "how about you take a walk before the I alert the guards."

I can't help but watch the exchange, I know I should be minding my own business, but my brain won't allow it.

"How about you tail out of my business." The rude man pushes the one back.

The nicer man tumbles backwards but catches himself on the wooden table where an assortment of beans are being sold, knocking over a whole basket, sending the beans into the snowy dirt.

"You two, with me." The familiar voice of my father appears.

Dad helps the nicer man up while the other tries to argue and defend his actions.