Chapter 2

Safely hidden underneath the nondescript clothing assigned to her when she entered the remote castle, Alice was certain the only one who suspected her true identity was the blade tutor Anton and he was sort of fellow that would take a secret to the grave and never issue a whisper of a hint to a living soul.

She followed her two guides to the next chamber without lifting her head.

The young swordplay student never gave her a second glance because her form was completely hidden under the shapeless cloak and the hood on her pretty head. She was basically just a black blob passing and of no interest to a young lad with curves and ruby lips forever on his mind like some litany of unknown Saints.

At least, she was safely out of the hands of the chief interrogator, a man reputed to have no limits on his capacity to inflict pain. It was unlikely she would become victim of some sexual dalliances whilst attired in such drab and unsightly clothing. Of course, that was the strategy of Sir Alfred, who wanted her to draw no attention within the castle walls.

Alice had never met Sir Alfred personally because he was one of the many titled persons that stayed in the sway of the royal family providing services and fealty that kept them in power as long as possible under the contentious atmosphere of a realm in transition. The royal family was surrounded by such necessary support but they seldom would treat with support staff unless it was a matter of some import.

She had been advised by her first cousin Lord Tinder, often referred to as the “Lion hearted” that Sir Alfred was a charming sort of fellow, but never to play cards or chess with him because he hated to lose and was the most annoying of creatures whenever he won.

Alice remembered that specific warning because it was shortly after that short bit of advice Lord Tinder was relieved of his handsome head in a public execution. It was the sort of anti-royal family affair that made the jealous males laugh in derision and the young ladies sigh in disbelief because he was touted to be an exceptional swordsman under the blankets as well out in the open fighting an enemy.

She followed the two young guides to the courtyard market and asked one of them to purchase a plain black comb for her to brush her hair. The fact that it had a sharp handle that ended in a point was her secondary reason for wanting it because it made a good innocuous weapon in a struggle for her honor.

The girls had tried to convince her to wear the bulky underwear that the high-born females wore to set them separate from the common girls and women that seldom wore anything underneath their thin fabric dress. Those simple dresses tended to cling to their feminine curves in a way that left nothing to the imagination.

It was a boon to the libidos of the males in close concert because they could almost see the shape of the pubic bush that covered their female parts.

The poor girls in the pubs had to ignore the constant feels and pats of their rumps and other places because it was a lot easier to walk around without the bulky confining layers of clothing that supposedly protected a female from male interference.

The young Princess knew from careful contemplation that a lone woman regardless of being safely clothed in layers of clothing or almost as naked as a babe could be easily stretched over a table or a random log in the woods when she was faced with superior male numbers or a male with a sharp pointed dagger and a blunt hardened shaft to drive home his manly needs in a way that needs little explanation or further discourse.

She had come close to being raped on the morning she made her escape from the royal castle by a pair of dunces that tried the old trick of holding her arms out wide and the second one spreading her legs for the dreaded insertion of an unwelcome cock without permission. At first, she was just merely annoyed, but then she was aroused to anger.

Fortunately, she had been schooled in such a maneuver and she brained the arm holder with her little dagger before he could lock her hands down. After that, the other one took to his heels with her slashing swipe blooding his posterior with a deep cut that mollified her anger at being so violated by such a pair of fools.

Then, she had traveled for a number of days to reach an area that was little involved in royal business and she blended into the background as a bar maid delivering ale to the common folk with fast little feet and an attitude that accepted the many verbal insults and the touch of common hands and finger on her royal person.

Despite all her precautions, she was eventually discovered and she was trussed up and delivered to the dungeon of the chief interrogator like some biblical offering to an invisible God.

Now, she was on the run again, albeit aided by the minions of Sir Alfred and she had no time for tears or recriminations about what she might have done differently.

The news from the main castle was not good in Alice’s point of view.

It appeared that most of the royal family was already executed or held prisoner in the torture dungeons of the newly splintered leaders of the shattered realm. She heard of this cousin or that cousin and each time their demise was described in horrible rhetoric that sent a shiver of fear down her spine because she would much rather go down fighting than like some chicken being beheaded and gutted for her trip to the dinner table.

Besides, she had vowed to God on high that she would give her virginity to her intended either before or after marriage in his name and without any need to give contrition for her joyful opening. A vow like that should be fully consummated before one left this plane of existence for another universe.