Breaking a tale

Dawn - No dragons allowed

We were doing the weekly walk through the market on the way to the tower, when I first heard the rumour. The words flitted around the street, passing from mouth to mouth. In every conversation, you could hear the words prince and princess. Men who would usually be shouting about their products were in hushed conversations, planning how they were going to get the prince to buy their items. I went through the day in a puzzled excitement. I knew something was happening with the prince, but we hadn't stood still long enough for me to hear the full rumour.

We got back from the tower earlier than usual that night and Guinevere gave me permission to go to the market. The weather was starting to worsen, and she had realised that my flimsy pumps were not suitable footwear so she gave me some money to buy new shoes, she also gave me a list of groceries to pick up. I strolled down to the market just as the torches were being lit. The market went on for a while after dark and once it reached sunset they used large wooden torches to illuminate the street. I loved coming to the market after dark as it gave the whole place a mystical feeling about it.

I made a beeline for the travelling store; the store came to the village every Monday and I had visited it several times. I had never been able to buy anything, but I often talked to the boy running it. He was intimidating to look at as he was incredibly tall, but when I got talking to him he was one of the nicest people I had ever met. I discovered his name was Orion and he had also been bought here by the Talemaster. He was from the capital of Artagon and most of our conversations were us reminiscing over our homes. I desperately wished I could have gone home, life was much harder in the tale that I had been led to believe. When I approached the store, I could see Orion was more excited than usual, I supposed he already knew the news about the prince. I scowled, why was it that I was always the last person to find things out?

"What do you mean you don't know!" he exclaimed, "The prince is visiting the village next week on his way to fetch the princes!"

I was shocked, this was the sign I needed, the tale had begun. I grinned, not only did this mean that I now had a limited number of days in the tale, but it was also a chance for me to steal my destiny back. If I could persuade the prince to take me with him, I could make him fall in love with me and I could take the princesses place! I turned back to Orion and asked for him to bring out the boots I had reserved. I had almost forgotten about the main reason I had come to the market. I gazed at the boots, I had fallen in love with them the first time saw them and finally, I had the money to buy them. I handed over the coins and placed the boots in my basket. One thing I was liking about this world was the fact that I could walk around with a basket without anyone even looking my way. I had borrowed one of Guinevere's magical basket to make sure I could carry all the groceries, so the boots disappeared into the bottomless abyss.

I then continued around the market buying groceries, occasionally chatting to villagers and trying to get more information about the prince's visit. I had become a recognisable figure in the market, the pretty girl who wore trousers, I had discovered that all of the women wore dresses in this world on my first trip to the market, but by that time my pride made it impossible for me to back down, anyways the trousers were far more comfortable than any of the brown dresses in my wardrobe. As I was heading back to the cottage I passed a cloak store. The days were getting colder so I needed more layers, but the main reason I wanted a cloak was that I wanted to look my best for the prince. I gazed at the cloaks longingly but as I counted my coins I realised I didn't even have enough money to afford the cheapest one, let alone the nicer looking ones. I went home disheartened, but Guinevere was at the door waiting with some hot soup that cheered me up greatly.

For the next few days, the village was a flurry of activity. Banners were being built, streets cleaned, and gardens trimmed. Even mine and Guinevere's workload increased. We split off, she did the normal rounds and collected her mushrooms and leaves, while I got to collect bundles of flowers and berries to decorate the village with. It was nice to see the heaps of flowers I had picked being hung up around the streets. I even earned a little extra money from it which I saved away towards buying a cloak. The final day before the prince was due to arrive was probably the quietest day of the week. All decorations had been hung and the village was the cleanest it had probably ever been. Everyone was inside making gifts from the prince. As I walked back home with Lantern in my basket, I could smell the faint smell of bread baking over an open fire.