Braeland

Chapter 4. Castle to River

Prudence lay fully dressed, alone and awake in a chilly room of the king's castle.  She wanted to know the time but she had left off her wrist watch at the cottage.  However, she suspected it was in the middle of the night.  The bed she lay on was hard and the blankets were thin and rough.  Although there were no windows in the room except one small one, high up on the wall, open to outside, Prudence did not dare to take out the medallion because she feared that she was being watched.  She tossed and turned in the creaky little bed.  Suddenly there was a knock on the door.  It was not a loud knock but Prudence began shaking with fear.  What if it were the king?  

Prudence recognized the woman who let herself in after a second knock, as she had been at the ball, obviously a person of high social status as she had one of the most fashionable gowns and her hair was done up elaborately.  Prudence had seen her gossiping with the knights and their ladies and the king. Under all that make-up Prudence guessed that this woman was not only used to command but also was very intelligent in a crafty sort of way. 

"What's the matter, my dear?  You are not sleeping but perhaps I can help you?" said the woman.

"Where am I and who are you?" Prudence asked.

"What strange questions for a young lady, obviously introduced to her first ball, to ask.  I am Lady Eugenia and you are in the castle of Ixoria, the king's royal residence."  Lady Eugenia smiled and sat down on the bed.  She put her hand on Prudence, appearing to comfort but making the girl feel that a snake was touching her. 

"The king has spoken to me of your beauty and he is not cross that you did not answer his questions.  He thinks you were greatly discomposed by your first coming out, especially without a parent or even an aunt or uncle to accompany you.  He is afraid that some disease might strike you while you are burdened by such fear, and so that is why you are here, in a room with excellent ventilation," said Eugenia.  

"I just want to be let free so I can go home," replied Prudence.

"But it is not safe for a young woman to be out on the streets of Ixoria at this time of night, or shall I say, morning."

"I will take my chances," said Prudence, beginning to cry

Eugenia put her arm around Prudence's shoulders and said, "I'm so sorry my dear but the king's orders are clear.  They are for your good.  However, if you unburden yourself of those little secrets that are making you sad, I may be able to get the king to change his mind and to release you."

Prudence shook off the arm around her shoulder and refused to answer.  After a long pause, Eugenia continued with a motherly look to cross-examine the girl.  "Have you had these spells before?  Do you forget who you are?  Have you lost someone close to you?"

At this last question, Prudence thought of her mother, so far away and gone forever, and she sobbed.  

"So, this is what happened!  You have lost the person who looked like you, that the king asked you about?"

"No!" shouted Prudence.

"But we are getting somewhere.  I am here to help.  If you tell me it will ease your burden," said Lady Eugenia in a gentle tone.  But, Prudence would answer no more questions and the questioner became less and less patient with her.  At last, after many minutes had passed with the girl being grilled, Eugenia got up indignantly from the bed.  "Well there is no help for it then," she said.  "In a few hours, the court physician will arrive to give you a full examination."

Eugenia turned and stared at the girl, who was obviously frightened by her words, and said, "One last chance."  Prudence looked down at the bed and did not raise her eyes to see Eugenia depart.  She heard the sound of a door clanging shut and of a key being turned. 

Prudence was never so terrified in all her life.  The doctor would surely find the medallion – there was nowhere for her to hide it safely in the little room.  The medallion would be taken to the king who would claim it.  No, Prudence corrected herself, she would have to give it to him freely if he was to wear or use it.  And she would be forced, tortured perhaps, to give it to him.  Possibly he would offer a bribe, spare her life, let her live somewhere in Greenwold, no doubt under his power.  But, she would never see her father, Peter or Grandfather Martin again.  Grandfather Martin, she wished he were here.  

She covered her head with the blankets.  She heard footsteps outside the room, no doubt a guard who was out there but the door was not being unlocked, not yet.  She searched in her clothing and found the sheath and slipped out the medallion.  Moving very closely in case someone was watching through a peephole she put the medallion around her neck.  

Prudence knew that Peter could sometimes, in his thoughts before sleep, direct the medallion to take him somewhere else that he had chosen.  At other times, the medallion had a mind of its own, it seemed, and would take the wearer somewhere else entirely.  She thought about her bed in the cottage, about her father and Peter, the lake they so often visited.  But she could not go to sleep, even though she was completely exhausted.  The medallion was not helping! In desperation, she re-imagined Peter's adventures in Greenwold, and thought particularly about the girls and the woman who had helped him find the Jewel of Aurora.  She wished they could help, somehow, but what could they do with her in the castle, locked up and unable to . . . but she did, in fact, fall asleep.     

When she woke, she guessed that it was around the middle of the day and she was no longer locked in a room but out in the country near a river.  Could she have merely had a dream and then walked in her sleep from the cottage?  No, there were no rivers like this one near the Jamieson summer cottage and she discovered as well that she was no longer dressed in court finery but in coarse working clothes.  In the distance, she saw some old run-down buildings.  Where to go?  As she thought more about it, she decided there was something familiar about this place because of the stories that Peter had told.  Prudence slipped off the medallion and replaced it in the sheath before hiding it away.  She walked towards the settlement.  

Before long she came to a little hut.  It could belong to anyone, perhaps a dangerous man who would not appreciate intruders knocking on his door or who might even harm her but she hesitated and approached the hut.  There was noise inside, like something rubbing or turning.  Could the man be sharpening a knife?  No, it was not like metal on stone.  Prudence knocked.  The noise stopped but no one came to the door immediately.  After a short interval, Prudence knocked again on the door.  This time she heard a voice that was deep and growly but sounded disguised.

"Who knocks so loud and disturbs my work?" the voice said.  

"Please," said Prudence.  "I don't want to bother you.  I'm lost and I merely would like to find out where I am."

"That sounds like foolery to me.  Are you one of the children of the village come to mock me?" asked Mr. Growly.  

"No.  As you will see if you open the door I am not anyone you have ever met before and am not from around here."

"Hmmm.  I wonder.  What is the password?" said the person on the other side of the door with a voice that was more like that of a woman now.

And then Prudence guessed that this was someone Peter had met in Greenwold.  

"The river runs deep," Prudence said and then she heard latches being undone on the other side of the door. She smiled.

"Why didn't you say so at once?" said the dwarfish woman when she had finally opened the door. 

"Hello Rula, it's nice to meet you," Prudence said.

"I can see by the look of you that we have met before through stories.  And so how is Peter?" Rula said, laughing and ushering Prudence inside before doing up the latches once again.

"You come at an opportune time.  Just in the nick of time someone might say," Rula continued.

"Why is that?" Prudence said, not yet sure if she could trust Rula.

"While, first, the kettle is about to boil and we can have tea together.  Second, I have a deep, exciting secret to tell you but I won't reveal a word of it until we are sitting down and you have warmed up by having a bit of warm fluid inside yourself."