The Seven Deadly Kingdoms

Chapter 6

Adelaide was woken by the shrill cry of a baby. She startled awake, taking ing her surroundings. She had fallen asleep on the side of a building that was facing the castles gates. Adelaide reached for her satchel, making sure she had all of her belongings.

As she got up, Adelaides eyes searched the area to find what had woken her up. Her search stopped when she saw a mother holding her crying baby and hugging a boy that seemed to be only a few years younger than Adelaide. The boy pulled away from what seemed to be his mother before planting a kiss on the babies head. He then turned and walked towards one of the guards stationed by the castle gates, not looking back.

The sight saddened Adelaide as she realised that hundreds of mothers would be sending off their sons and daughters the same way today. At least one of them wasn't her own mother, sending off her son.

Adelaide was brought back to reality as her ears adjusted to the busy towns noise. The clambering of horses hooves, crying of peoples loved ones, and the yell of guards, pushing away mothers trying to reach their children one last time filled the air around Adelaide. She looked at the sky, only to find the sun much higher than she wanted it to be. Her family would definitely have been awake by now. Adelaide ran to the guard stationed for her brothers age group, a young man that looked to be about her age. She had wanted to register when it was busy so the guard might not take notice of her strange name, but she was running out of time. "Hello," she said, trying to act nonchalant, "Henry Beckett."

The guard looked her up and down before giving her an unamused look. Still, he looked down the list of names he had on his paper, sliding down them with a pencil as he read. He stopped as he reached Henrys name. "I see that Henry Beckett is listed here, but you are very clearly not him." He said in a monotoned voice. Adelaide's paranoia showed on her face slightly as she looked round her, checking for her family. "I'm Henry, I swear. Its a... family name." She replied. "I'm sorry miss, I'm not sure why you're trying to sneak in, but I simply cannot allow it unless if you are a registered first born. You may leave now, I have other people to attend to." The guard said, looking over Adelaide's shoulder to the line slowly forming behind her.

Adelaide dug around in her satchel, grabbing the remainder of her coins. She held them out to the guard, trying to use her body to cover them from anyone who might be watching. "Please, sir. My brother is Henry. He broke his leg very badly just a couple days ago and won't survive if he goes. And as soon as my family finds out what I'm doing, they'll come for me and try to run away so Henry doesn't have to go. You have siblings, right? Wouldn't you do the same for them?" She whispered desperately. The guards brown furrowed slightly, the first sign of emotion shining through. He paused before looking around and putting a hand over her coins, pushing them back to her and sighing.

"I do have a sibling. An older sister. I cant say that if I were in your position I wouldn't do the same. Take your money and go. I'll put Henry down as registered. The first group of his age will be leaving shortly. Go to the carriages around the corner of the gates wall, they'll be there. Good luck, miss." The guard whispered, smiling sadly. Adelaide smiled and thanked him before walking in the direction he pointed to. As she rounded the corner of the gates wall, she saw the dozens of royal carriages meant for hauling the soldiers off to their doom. She spotted a large group of people that looked to be around her and Henrys age and jogged over to them. She seemed to be the youngest there.

The group was a wide variety of people. Some that were obviously from the higher class wore their best clothes, most likely wanting to go out with a bang. The middle class people did the same, but looked dull beside the bright golden hues of the higher class. There were only a few people that matched Adelaide, the lower class. These were the only people that recognised Adelaides presence. She smiled sadly at a few that locked eyes with her. Adelaide found a spot farthest away from the view of the town to sit, where she pulled out an apple to eat. A couple of the gold-draped people of her group snickered at the sight of her and her apple. Adelaide scoffed. "Laugh while you can, fools. Soon you'll realise that your fate is to be the same brutal death as mine." She said calmly. The two higher class men closed their mouthes tight, and their eyes opened wide upon hearing Adelaides snide remark. They must not have been used to being treated how they treat the rest of the world. Adelaide rolled her eyes and continued to eat her apple.

After what felt like an eternity and a few more people joining their group, the guard watching over them whistled loudly. "Alright, we have three carriages. You can ride inside or out, either way you all are getting on. I do not want to see any last minute attempts at escaping. We are all in this, you are not beside the rules and you do not get to go back home until this war is won. Everyone got it?" He yelled. Everyone rushed to get into the carriages, trying to get in one of the limited seats. Each carriage could hold six and there were well over thirty there. Adelaide avoided the fight to get an inside seat and instead chose to sit on the back bench outside of the last carriage. The guard that gave them their instructions eyed Adelaide suspiciously before sitting down next to her. She smiled slightly, letting him know she wasn't going anywhere. "You look a little young for this age group. Must be the youngest here." He said, looking ahead. Adelaide had already lied her way here, so it wasn't difficult anymore. "Henriette Beckett. Henry for short." She said, trying to make the name more believable. "Austin. Pleased to meet you," He replied, the sternness wearing off, "You seem to be properly raised. A lot more than I can say for some of the prime garbage that we have with us. Also I heard your little remark towards those snobs. Props to you."

Adelaide laughed at his comment. She wasn't the only one here raised in the lower class, apparently. "Thank you, I try my best to look as much opposite of them as I can." She replied. Austin smirked and they fell into a comfortable silence. He looked to be about the age of her father. Adelaide wondered if he had any children at home.

The carriage jerked forward as the horses began to trot, almost sending Adelaide off the back of the carriage. Austin quickly put his arm in front of her stomach, blocking her from falling off. He definitely had children at home. Adelaide laughed and thanked him, and he returned the smile.

The carriage began to cross the large gap between the castle gate and the village, groups of families watching them as they passed. Adelaide looked upon the people, watching most of them say their goodbyes to their loved ones. Scanning the crowd, Adelaides gaze caught sight of the young guard that helped her get in, alongside a tall man on crutches. Henry. Adelaide froze, praying he wouldn't turn around. And of course, he did. The guard pointed towards the carriages. Once Henrys eyes locked with Adelaides, he dropped his crutches and started limp-running towards her. The guard yelled at him to stop, and a few guards stationed between the townspeople and the carriages grabbed him, making him fall to his knees. "Adelaide, no! Please don't go Adelaide, please!" Henry sobbed, trying to get out of the guards grip. He was only a few feet from Adelaide; close enough to where Adelaide could see the waterfall of tears flowing from eyes. Adelaide put a hand over her mouth, trying to keep from crying. " I'm sorry Henry. Please, go home and heal. I promise I'll come home, but until then, forget about me. I'm so sorry, Henry. I love you!" Adelaide yelled as the carriage rode farther away. Henry had never looked so pitiful, so helpless. He looked as if he was in complete anguish, which if not mentally, he certainly was physically from attempting to run on a fractured leg. Adelaide saw her mother and father run out of the crowd as they heard Henrys cries. Just as they saw her, the carriage went behind a building and her family was out of sight, the moment gone. 

Adelaide sat in silence as her tears poured, her eyes locked on the back of the building. "Was that your husband?" Austin asked, his voice thick with pity. Adelaide sat silent a moment before responding. "No.. he's my brother." She whispered, barely able to speak. Austins brows furrowed as he looked back to where he saw Henry. "He looked older than you. How is it that you're here and he's not?" He questioned. Adelaide visibly tensed as she realised she might have just outed herself. "No, he's only eighteen. Years of hard labor have just made him look older. The curse of the lower class, I guess." She said, trying to play it off. Austin nodded slowly and frowned. "I'm very sorry you had to see that." He said. Adelaide gave him a half smile, not wanting to speak any more. Her heart was too heavy for words.