Knight for the Prince

Chapter 2 - The Gauntlet

The horse sees her and starts to slow down but not fast enough. As a last resort, the stallion rears on its hind legs. Forcing Marilyn to retreat to keep herself from being bludgeoned by the stallion's hooves. The horse comes down on all four and Marilyn finds herself face to face with the stallion. She looks behind her and is glad to find herself off the drawbridge and on the dirt road passing by Grimston's keep.

"You there! Keep that horse where it is!" One of the guardsmen shouts at her.

She has a good mind to mount this horse and make a run for it. "I have to keep suspicions low," she grumbles under her breath. The stallion nuzzles her and she instinctively reaches up to it.

Instinct her father drilled into her.

She rubs it gently over its neck, taking care that her gauntlets don't cause him any harm. "Shhh, big boy. You know that if we run they will just catch us so why don't we just play along?" She whispers to the horse and it nickers softly in response to the soft tone of her voice and it does not take long for the horse to calm down.

Two of Lord Grimston's guardsmen come to relieve her of the horse. The moment they try to take its reins the horse buffets the two guardsmen, nearly throwing them off the draw bridge. Then the horse turns and chops its teeth at the guardsmen, nearly biting into the arm of the guardsman closest to it. It turns its hindquarters in their direction and aims to kick at them. Fortunately the two guardsmen, aware of the danger, quickly scramble away from the horse and its hind hooves meet nothing but air.

"Ya head'n for Eastcroft, for de annual recruits?" The first guardsman asks as he approaches with care.

"Yes," she replies. Even though it is not her plan to join the recruits. She does not want them to know her plan to take the road to Zealot City. She can find a job as a mercenary there easily enough. When she has made enough money, she can chuck the disguise and live her life free of marriage and all the responsibility that goes with it and just be herself.

"The horse has taken a liking to you. We are heading there with several recruits. As a thank you for keeping this beast of a horse from getting away, you can ride with us. We could use your help in controlling the beast," says the second guardsman.

"What is the stallion's name?" Marilyn asks as she leads the horse to the open cart, which is already packed with several recruits. She keeps her voice low to sound more like a boy.

"Grendelow. He has been giving lord Grimston grey hair. So he is giving the horse away to the recruit which makes it the furthest in the gauntlet. Here we are. Just tether his reins to the back of the cart and hop on," the second guardsman informs her.

"Thank you," she replies gratefully.

"Ye comfortable?" Ask the first one.

"It's fine. Thank you for the ride. It saves me some time." The second guardsman takes his place on the cart next to the first on the driver's side and the cart lurchs forward gently as the cart horses start to pull the cart.

The cart makes its way out of the keep and Marilyn watches for some time as it becomes smaller with each stride the cart horses take. She vows to herself never to return to this keep.

She watches and listens to what the men are talking about along with their behavior and copies some of it as best she can to avoid suspicion yet again. She starts by sitting like them. She finds it very uncomfortable, but a minor sacrifice towards her end goal. She knows that she is not out of the woods yet.

Eastcroft quickly comes into view by mid-morning. A cool autumn breeze with the promise of the first winter snow greets them as they enter the small village. Shack-like wooden buildings line the street with a few stone buildings in between on either side of the street.