Lead With Me

1

"This will not do! You must tell me where you've hidden the others, otherwise, I'd have no choice but to gossip around," Madelyn almost threatened, but not remotely close to the vendor who was stealing from her, more or less.

He appeared unfazed by her words, leaving her with no choice. "THIEF! THIS GENTLEMAN IS STEALING FROM THE POOR. MY MO-" The man quickly came up to cover her mouth, but she stepped back, surprised by his actions.

"How dare you smear my shop in vain, girl. Here. Take the rest, now leave," he said, shooing her away. In return, she smiled and bowed politely, with the rest of the fruit and bread.

It was for her mother to make supper for the next coming week. Her and her mother were the only ones left of her family; everyone else had died from either the plague or old age. So when Madelyn saw that only her mother and she were the sole survivors, it made her cherish her life more.

Either that, or Madelyn was very good at nursing people back to good health. She was never a nurse, but she had a talent for taking care of people. The people in her village basically treated her as a nurse, although she had acquired no such title.

Once she made it back home, she heard her mother in the back of the house rustling with sticks and leaves. "Mother! What are you doing?"

"Oh dear, I wanted to get this done before you returned, otherwise, you would throw a fit," she said, clearly right. She was getting slower in her age, though she was only forty-six, her body was still recovering.

"If you knew, why must you do it then, dear Mother?" Madelyn grabbed hold of her mother's hand that was holding the handle of the pot. Eventually, her mother let go and let Madelyn finish.

The woman had nothing to say but to laugh gently. "You treat your mother so well, yet you neglect yourself. Have you no conscience?" Madelyn's mother said, resting on the log chair.

Madelyn looked behind her to her mother; the wind blew a breeze, hitting her hair, allowing the grey hair underneath the black hair to be exposed. All Madelyn could do was smile at her.

She definitely got her looks from her. Her black hair, blue eyes, and almond-shaped eyes, her nose was similar as well. Their bodies were of the exact same type as well, though Madelyn's was a bit more curved from all the food her mother was feeding her.

After pouring water in the pot to start boiling over the fire, she sat next to her mother on the log, and the older woman put her hand on top of Madelyn's hair. "I love you so much, Madelyn Pawns. I raised you well, and I hope you can continue to be well after I am gone, with a husband and children of your own," she said, hopefully.

"Meredith Pawns. I second your love, a hundred times more. And I will not hold my breath, as they say. I don't think anyone can handle my spunk," Madelyn replied, laughing softly, even at her own words. She had been spending a lot of time with the militant men in the nearby town.

Her mother was shocked at her words, "Spunk? Hold your breath? Did Captain Darcy teach you those sayings?" She knew me well, of course. So Madelyn nodded.

Tapping the top of Madelyn's head, Meredith held onto her tight. "Care to come into town with me for more fabric in the morning? The children want me to make more clothes for them."

Madelyn nodded, smiling as she leaned in to give her mother a kiss on the cheek. "I will wash up and prep the vegetables for the stew, yes?"

Meredith nodded and returned to the pot above the fire before watching Madelyn run off inside.

The morning came. Prepping for the town market, Madelyn decided to pick out her mother's clothes. Being in a town was rare for her mother, and if she were to be bargaining, she must look put together. Madelyn was perfectly fine with her clothes, as she was not there to be seen or heard from. She must have caused more trouble than usual from her little fiasco yesterday.

"Mother, are you ready?" Madelyn called from the kitchen, waiting for her mother to come down from her room.

There was silence for a minute until she heard footsteps down the stairs. "Madelyn, did you pick these out? I was as happy with my clothes as they were."

Madelyn shook her head, "You must look the part to be the part. You must get good deals. Think of the children." She touched her heart in a sympathetic kind of way, which only made her mother shake her head at her with a look.

"You silly child, this is not a fairy tale. Let us go, the market will be busy as usual," Meredith spoke, grabbing her basket to carry and held out her hand for Madelyn to grab, which she did.

The walk took time, but they eventually made it. As expected, there were many people around, yet they were standing around gossiping to one another or purchasing things.

The sounds were deafening because of the many people, but Madelyn was used to it. "There, that will do well with Lady Felicia's daughter, right?" Madelyn nodded, clearly not paying much attention. She was never very good at fashion, obviously.

The sounds of hooves shook the ground, causing people to start moving backward out of the way. Madelyn and her mother were away from the opening, but she was still pushed backward, trying not to knock into her mother. She could not see who it was, but eventually, she was able to when they stopped and sat up straight.

"Greetings all, I come with a message from King Rupert II, his royal highness. He requests the presence of Miss Madelyn Pawns and family at the castle. If she is here, please speak up and step forward."

Madelyn's mouth dropped at the mention of her name. The same name that caused her mother to turn towards her, and whispers started back up around them. Clearly embarrassed from the sudden attention on her, she tried so hard to hide behind a person, but that person shook her off and exposed her quickly, "She is here!"

Madelyn was pushed toward the front, making sure to grab hold of her mother's hand in the process.

As soon as she was free of the crowd, she looked up past the horse and to the man holding the scroll. "Are you Madelyn Pawns? Is this your only family?"

Madelyn quickly nodded before her mother nudged her to bow, so she did, "Yes, your grace."

"Very well then, here. Return to your duties; a guard will be with you. This evening, we will come to pick you up and bring you to the king," he spoke, handing Madelyn a scroll which she held onto, a quick bow from both of them, and then the men on horses were off back to the castle.

Still in shock from what just happened, Madelyn looked to her mother and then back to the scroll. "Mother, what just happened?" She asked, not even sure of it herself.

"You, my dear, have been invited to the palace to meet the King and Queen," Meredith answered, basically interpreting what had just happened. The people around them started to disperse, but they couldn't help but continue to whisper among themselves. Madelyn was a pro at not listening to the gossip; it was beneficial to herself and her mother not to know what people thought.

There was a guard right next to the stand where Madelyn and her mother stood, watching their moves so they would not be separated from each other. Wherever they moved, the guard followed. Although her mother enjoyed the sudden special treatment, Madelyn couldn't help but feel uneasy about the whole thing.

Meredith continued on with her fabric picking with Madelyn, and the guard followed behind her.

~