Cinderella vs. Happily Ever After

Chapter 7

            Valerie’s breath was coming in short, sharp inhalations as she and Isaac walked up to the northern gate. The first touch of morning had seen them up and getting ready to leave. Using some of the supplies they had along with what Nateza’s family had in their home already, they had made a decent dinner. Ignoring their hosts’ protests, Valerie and Isaac had cooked the food and some of the leftovers were in their backpacks. The rest had served the five of them for breakfast.

            They walked in the shade amongst cool morning air, the sun still hidden by the walls and buildings of the city. A few tendrils of mist drifted along the cobbles, soon to be burned out by the sun. In front of them the gate rose in front of them, massive slabs of pink stone mortared together to resist anything less than heavy catapult fire. The huge wooden door and iron portcullis lay broken and twisted, tossed to one side of stone gateway. In their place were armoured and armed soldiers, who were taking careful stock of the handful of people leaving the city from behind a long table.

            “Relax,” Isaac whispered out of the corner of his mouth, noting the stiff way she was holding her arms, one hand hovering near the hilt of her sword. “You heard Fidessa. We just go up, say we’re travellers just passing through and heading up north to visit friends. We play dumb whenever possible. Let me do the talking.”

            She didn’t have a chance to reply as they arrived, joining the short line of other travellers. Soon, too soon for Valerie’s nerves, they were standing in front of the soldiers. Their uniforms were dark gray, edged in purple, their faces hard and emotionless as they looked Isaac and her over. The man who was wearing a purple plumed helm was the only one seated and Valerie could only assume he was in charge. “What has your business in Merritty been?”

            “Supplies, sir. Me and Cort here needed to pick up some more food so that we could make it to Methus. We’ve got friends up that way that said there might be some jobs up near them. With the way the south is going we thought we’d try our luck up north,” Isaac said, affecting an earnest, friendly demeanour. Under normal circumstances, Valerie would have struggled to keep a straight face. Instead she felt sweat prickle her scalp and slide down her palms.

            “What business are you in?”

            “Well me, I’m into cloth. A merchant you know. One of our friends is in the same business and said he has openings for us. I figure we work for him for a bit, get ourselves settled and knowing the place and then we can strike out on our own. Cause I don’t mind telling you I’m not into making someone else richer for the rest of my life, you know?”

            “And your companion? Curd I believe you said his name was?” The man said, leaning forward slightly, his elbows on the table.

            “Ah no, his name’s Cort, sir. He’s my cousin you see and he’s my assistant. Doesn’t talk much, as I’m sure you can see sir, but that suits me just fine. He’s almost got magic with numbers. Saved me a fair amount of money over the years, haven’t you Cort?” Isaac said, slapping Valerie on the back.

          She jerked forward slightly then turned to glare at him. “I’ve told you not to do that.”

            Isaac grinned at her then at the soldier. “He’s a bit testy. Very serious. He needs me around or he all he’d do was work.”

            “I see. I don’t suppose either one of you could tell me what kind of material our uniforms are made of? Just to prove your story.”

            They both leaned forward to look at his sleeve. Valerie could almost see Isaac’s mind working, trying to come up with a way to get them safely through. She looked up and met the soldier’s eyes, “Looks like linen, maybe with a bit of wool blended in. I’m guessing you got the colour from iris root, it looks about the right colour for that.”

            He turned to look at one of his men who nodded. “Well then. Everything appears to be in order. You may be on your way.”

            “Thank ya sir,” Isaac said after only a moment’s hesitation, saluting. “We appreciate it.”

            The solider waved his hand and they walked through the gate, the weight of all the stone making Valerie feel faintly claustrophobic. They walked in silence though Isaac kept shooting her glances, like he expected her to grow an extra head or something. They walked for a half hour before he decided they were far enough away. “How on earth did you know that?”

            She snorted. “The linen part was because I’ve spent so long in fitting with the seamstresses I couldn’t help but pick some stuff up. Especially when they would get into arguments about silk over linen and the like.”

            “And the dye? I mean you knew what it was made out of.”

            She chuckled. “You forget, I lived with Kelly. For one of her projects, she decided to try making natural dyes. Not only did the whole house smell like a cross between an outhouse and a garden for a month, but she wouldn’t shut up about it. We all learned way more about dyes than we ever wanted to. Mind you, I’m going to have to thank her somehow. That useless knowledge just saved our lives.”

            Isaac shook his head. “I never thought her insanity would come in useful. Well beyond amusement purposes, that is.”

            Valerie smiled. “So how long do we need to head north?”

            “Until tonight. If we don’t see any patrols for at least the second half of the day. When the sun starts setting we’ll look for a camp site. According to Cort we’ll be well into the forest by then. It runs deeper north and east so we’ll have plenty of cover. But we’ll still have to be careful. Because if we’re found in the woods by invaders, no amount of playing dumb and bullshit is going to get us out of it.”

            She nodded. She only hoped they found the survivors before the invaders did.