After a few hours of riding, I was getting tired of the repeated motion of a running horse and was starting to feel nauseous. 'Ugh. Imagine if I had walked, I would only be a fourth of the way to where I am now.' I decided to take a break under a nearby tree and river so I could get Bruzey and myself some water. I jumped off of the horse and cupped some of the water in my hands. It was clear that this water wasn't the cleanest, but it was still water.
I started to drink and so did Bruzey. With the cool liquid falling down my throat, I realized that I hadn't had water for several days. But that is normal when you are a slave. I looked up and saw the sunlight through the tree above me and the wind faintly moved its branches. It was a beautiful day and I wish I had the time to enjoy it.
But there was no point in wishing for the impossible. I stood up and got back on Bruzey, bracing myself for the pain in my back once again. "Okay. The sooner we get there, the sooner we get back." I pulled the reins and led Bruzey onto the path again, only for him to go running as fast as lightning. 'How does he have so much energy?!' I thought.
A few more hours later, I was sick to my stomach. But it went away as soon as I saw the city of Mavington on the horizon. "I know I'm going to regret this, but Bruzey? Can you go a little faster?" As soon as I said that, he went flying. I held onto his mane tightly, hoping that I had enough grip to stay on. Luckily, I did and we were entering the city before I knew it.
But there was a problem. He wasn't stopping. We ran through the town, making people jump out of the way and chickens fly all over. "Whoa! Bruzey! Stop!" I yelled, but he didn't listen. I apologized to anyone I almost trampled until I finally pulled the reins as hard as I could. He immediately stopped, but I didn't. I flew forward off of the horse, butt first into a barrel of seeds. "Ahhh!!" I looked up and there was a crowd looking at me. "S-Sorry." 'Could this possibly be more humiliating?!' I thought as I was trying to get out of the barrel. But as soon as I thought it, I slipped and the barrel fell over. "Whoa!"
Later, I had finally gotten the material for the dress and had packed it away in Bruzey's saddlebags. I wondered If I could work on the dress while I rode, but there would be no way because of how bumpy the trip was. My hands would be covered in blood before I could even make the first stitch. 'I guess I'll have to make it back as fast as I can.' I was about to jump back onto Bruzey when I heard a scream.
I looked behind me and saw some guards beating up a little boy. I froze in shock when I saw one of the guards pull out a sword. Then, without thinking, I ran over and blocked the guard's hand right before he swung. "What the-?!" The guard shouted in surprise. He then pushed me to the ground next to the child. "This is no place for a slave!" I then pulled the boy behind me as I shouted back. "Don't you dare hurt this little boy!" The guard paused, then started to laugh. "And what are you going to do about it?! You're nothing but a pathetic woman! But if you insist on dying today, so be it!"
He raised his sword again and I braced myself as he swung. However, he suddenly dropped the sword as Bruzey headbutted his back and made him fall to the ground. I quickly grabbed the little boy's hand and ran through the other guards. I didn't have a chance to look back, but I heard one guard say, "Get them!" so I ran faster. Bruzey ran up beside us, so I stopped to lift the boy and myself onto his back. "Go! Go! Go!"
With no hesitation, Bruzey went speeding through the city, quickly losing the guards. We kept going until we were at the edge of the town and back onto the path to make sure we lost them. Bruzey came to a stop by a tree and I helped the boy get off of the horse. "Go home now, before they find us." The boy looked down, then back at me. "You saved me even when you didn't know what I did." He then took some bread from his bag and held it out to me. "I stole this. I know it's wrong, but it's all I can give you." As I looked at him he reminded me of me when I was his age.
"I'm sorry, but I cannot take something that was stolen. Besides, you need it more than I do." The boy smiled at me and put the bread back in his bag. "Man, no wonder you're skinny." He laughed and started to run back into the city. "Thanks!" I watched him disappear into the town and once he was no longer in view I looked to the path back home. "I guess we better get going," I sighed and Bruzey started to run again.
By nightfall, we finally made it back to the palace. Bruzey and I were so beat that we both passed out onto the hay in the stables. I quickly got up again before losing consciousness so I could keep on task. 'All I need to do now is make an entire dress before the ball, and then I'll be able to sleep.' I quickly got the material and supplies out of Bruzey's saddlebags and went to the courtyard for a clean place to sew.
I sewed as fast and efficiently as I could, hoping that I could finish in time. I didn't know how, but I finished five minutes before midnight. Probably because of all the many other times Princess Mary assigned deadlines for her dresses. There was no time to lose. I ran back into the palace, hoping to make it before the guests started to arrive. I went to Princess Mary's room and knocked on the door. A voice from inside said, "Come in," so I opened the door and saw Mary who was sitting on her bed and brushing her hair.
"Where have you been?" I stopped in the doorway and held out the dress to her. She stood up and looked at it. "Blue and orange? I said I wanted purple and gold!" My eyebrows fell to a crease. "No, you didn't." I quickly realized what I said and looked down. 'You idiot!' I thought. Mary took a step towards me and crossed her arms. "Are you calling me a liar?! How dare you disrespect me!! You will regret ever speaking to me that way!! You will be flogged!!" I looked up, quickly. "What?"
She walked over to me and took the dress out of my hands. "Guards!" I was frozen as two guards came into the room and took me by the arms. Mary turned away as she spoke to them. "Thirty lashes will do." With that order, the guards began to drag me out. I tried to struggle but I was too weak from the journey to move. When they were done, I fell into the hay of the stables by Bruzey, crying my eyes out from the thirty fresh cuts in my back.