The False Princess

Chapter 3

Edited
I am immediately herded off the stage, and put in a crowded room. There's several others with me, making it hard to breathe.  I close my eyes. I have to get out of here. How do I get out of here?

The doors swing open with a loud boom, and all of us are pushed back onto the stage. Men in fancy clothes and snobby expressions come and collect us one by one. I set a deep scowl on my face in hopes of warding off unwanted visitors. When a man comes to grab me, I don't hesitate. I kick him in the shins, and take off running, but he must have shins of iron, because he catches me and swings me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I'm thrown down in the back of a open wagon.

"I think we should tie this one up sir." The man growls.

"Do it Mufar." A voice comes from the carriage part of the entourage. The man (now known as Mufar) gruffly ties my hands and feet, then tosses me into the open wagon. I glare sullenly at Mufar until he raises his hands defensively.

"I'm just doing my job!" I don't respond, and continue glaring. He bought me. He doesn't deserve to feel any less guilty then he is. He narrows his own eyes in response. We are at a standoff, until there's a disturbance behind me.

"Oi! Here are the others." A rough voice shouts harshly. Tossed into the wagon beside me are two other girls. One is Briss, the other is the bossy girl that came here with me.
Great.
She has blonde hair and grey eyes. She sits up straight and scowls. "It's you." She grimaces. in disgust.
"Glad you noticed." I mutter. "And by the way, my name isn't 'you'. It's Lynx-use it."

She scoffs scornfully.
"Kaone. Make sure you remember it." She hisses sarcastically.

"Kaone. Doesn't that mean ice witch?" I ask innocently. She yells in fury and lunges at me, but I swing my feet up and effortlessly kick her in the ribs. She coughs, and retreats to the other side of the carriage, massaging her ribs painfully. She glares at me murderously. I scowl at Mufar as he comes and sits in the back next to Briss, the only one not looking happy. Why she would be happy in this situation is beyond me. The wagon starts to move. I yawn, and settle against the wooden walls.

"Well ladies, it's been a pleasure, but I'm going to get some beauty sleep. Kaone, you might want to consider it." Then I close my eyes before Mufar and Kaone have a chance to register that I insulted them.

By the time I awaken, it's dusk. I stretch out my stiff joints and sit up. Kaone and Mufar are asleep. Briss is silently staring out the window, watching the world go by. I think I can trust Briss. In a any case, I trust her more then Kaone.

"Briss," I murmur. She looks at me with sleepy eyes.

"I'm getting out of here," I whisper. She nods and offers a soft side smile.

"Good luck." She mutters, before turning away quickly. I look at her for a moment, but then push the thought of the girl next to me out of my brain. I have to concentrate. I have a small pocket knife concealed in my sleeve, that I miraculously managed to hold onto. What? You can hide lots of stuff in sleeves! I shake it out, and begin to saw through the ropes binding my hands. As soon as I'm through those, I begin to work on my ankles. After what seems like forever, the last strand snaps, and I silently get to my feet.

"Going somewhere young lady?" Mufar asks from behind me, making me jump in surprise. I spin to see him leaning against the wall with a smug look on his face.

"Actually, I was just going for a stroll." I say calmly. If you can't beat them, make fun of them. Mufar narrows his eyes. He touches the hilt of his sword.

"Sit down. You can 'stroll' when we get to our campsite." He scowls. I figure that I've probably already annoyed Mufar more then what is wise, so I sit.
I cross my eyes and huff in annoyance as he reties my arms and legs, a little tighter then nessicary. He also confiscates my pocket knife.
Within minutes, the wagon stops. Guards from the carriage ahead of us hop into our wagon, looking around in disgust. One picks me up like a sack of potatoes, and jumps off the wagon.

"Take me to your leader." I command. Why not have some fun with this?

"No need. I'm right here." A deep voice comes from around the campfire. It's too dark to make out any facial features, but I look in the general direction of the voice.

"You need to speak to your men about handling girls. I'm getting very tired of being carried, and I can walk perfectly fine." I respond.

"You'll do well." Is all he says. I don't know what that means, but I'm not exactly sure I want to. It's never good what somebody says 'you'll do well'.

Once Briss and Kaone are seated next to me on a log close to the ground, the man speaks again.

"Greetings. My name is Gai Fynn. I am a Seatador in the kings court. I'm not going to waste time with pleasantries-I have brought you here for a important service. One that could save the kingdom." Gai states.

Save the kingdom? Now I'm curious.

"What do you mean?" Kaone asks curiously. Of course she would ask. She seems like a suck up.

Gai chuckles.
"I don't expect you to know this, but once the king and queen had two children. The oldest son Mithil, and their younger daughter Eadu. Their daughter went missing, maybe, 4 years back? She was engaged to be married to a prince from another country. When she disappeared, it broke the agreement. Barcudma, our sister country, and the one that Eadu was supposed to marry into, is angry, and refuses to ally with us. If Echidninare thinks that Baracudma is angry at Faiyria, then we will be destroyed. Utterly obliterated. We have no army. That's where you three come in. One of you will pretend to be a princess from Echidninare. I will place you on the throne, and if Baracudma attacks us, then Echidninare will be obligated to help since one of their own is on the throne. It's the only way to save us all. Don't get me wrong, they will attack. We need all the help we can get." Gai explains, as if he's telling us how to eat a apple.

We take it in shocked silence. Even I'm speechless. This is so crazy! It will never work! What happens if he doesn't pick me?
Only Briss asks what we're all thinking.

"What about the other two?"

Gai shrugs grimly at us.

"You better hope that you are chosen."

I know what that means. We all do. One girl will be a false princess-a pawn, under Gai's orders.

The other two will die.