BACHUÉ:
During the first week of travel, I tried to ride at night and rest during the day, secluded in camps far from the Royal Road. I tried to take precautions. I even exchanged the clothes I was wearing with a peasant woman for ones that she just dried in the sun. She exchanged excitedly, not asking many questions. My classy clothes were fine. I would have loved to wear them for longer, but I would be easily found. It was not so common to see a dark-skin with expensive clothes.
There was also the problem of the color of my eyes. It is not common to see someone with red eyes. But there was no way to exchange them as I did with my clothes, so I just opted to try not to see people directly in their eyes.
I took money with me. To save as much as possible, I only ate twice a day. One very early before going to sleep and one very late at night before resuming my journey to the North. While I fed the horse with grass from the forests surrounding the Royal Road.
I wondered what had happened to my parents. If Marco had hurt them, if perhaps they had sent soldiers after me. Would they give me up for loss or would they come looking for me?
It seemed strange to me that I had not seen soldiers for days. Maybe I was hiding really well or Marco had decided to let me go. But that was not the Marco I had known. No. The one I knew was capricious and he would go out of his way to get whatever he wanted. And I was the latest and greatest craving for him. One that he hadn't been able to have.
On the morning of the eighth day of travel, almost at the border with the Green Wall, I reached the shore of a stream away from the Royal Road to eat and sleep.
There, the spirit of Queen Catherine was re-materialized. She hadn't appeared in days.
"I see we are approaching the Green Wall," she pointed out.
"Yes. We should be there in a day or two," I said as I took off my shoes to rest my feet in the stream.
"Well. At this rate, we will be able to reach the North in four weeks. "
"I want to reach Duque Soto's caravan first," I said.
"Really? Well, it wouldn't be a bad idea. So you would be protected without having to travel the entire Kingdom. Alone and defenseless. "
I nodded.
"Your Majesty ...," I said, "since you are here ... I would like to ask you ... to please explain me the plan in more detail."
"The plan? The plan is to make you Queen. "
"Yes, I know, Your Majesty, but… how?"
"It is very complex to explain it, but you are going to have to trust me. There are several steps to complete before, and I could gladly explain the first one. The one that takes us to the North. "
"I hear you, Your Majesty."
"Rule number three of my rules of power struggle: There is no isolated power. Nobody rules alone. Allies are needed, "she pointed out.
"That means…"
"That means what it means. That you need allies. Allies with real power, and that ally will be Duke Rufius Soto. "
"And why couldn't that ally be Marco?" I asked annoyed.
"Marco is not a valuable ally. His family doesn't even have an army. Dark-skin, if you are going to fight for the Crown of Alba Terra you are going to need an army, and Rufius Soto can give one to you. "
"How?"
"You're going to have to make him fall in love with you and marry him."
What?
"Seriously, Your Majesty?" I angrily asked, "Escape from an unwanted wedding only to get into another with someone worse? I thought I could marry whomever I wanted! "
"Don't be silly, dark-skin. You are going to have to make some sacrifices first before marrying whoever you want. When you are Queen and you want to cancel your engagement with Soto, who is going to stop you? What you order will be done. "
"And wouldn't that be a betray to Soto? I thought that no one governs alone and that allies are needed. "
"Well, in your rise to power you will make more allies that you can convince to go against Soto. Rufius is only the first of many. "
I thought about what she said and felt disgusted just imagining Soto touching my hand. That guy deserved all my hatred and revulsion. Would I really be able to achieve what Her Majesty expected of me?
I closed my eyes and began to pray to the Saint of Travel to protect us. In those difficult moments, I only had my faith.
Suddenly I heard footsteps behind me, I was startled and came face to face with a dark-skinned man in his fifties, with a long white beard, tall and stocky. He had his hands up.
"Easy, easy, I just came to rest," he told me.
I scrutinized him with my eyes, at first glance he did not carry a sword or any other weapon.
I looked behind him.
"I don't bring a horse. It's just me and these," he said, pointing to his feet.
I turned around and sat down on the shore again.
"I understand," he said, "it must be very difficult for a beautiful young woman like you to travel alone."
I nodded.
He sat down next to me, took out his canteen and began to fill it with water.
"Dark-skin, get up and let's get out of here," Queen Catherine told me. It sounded like an order.
I freaked out and looked at the man, waiting for him to react to the ghost of Her Majesty, but he didn't.
«Oh right, he can't see her», I thought.
The man finished filling his canteen and then pulled out a knife.
My first reaction was to get nervous.
"Easy, it's not for you," the man said with a wide smile, as he pulled a small carved wooden horse from his pocket.
The man began to carve.
"The southern horses are amazing, aren't they?" Said the man. "They say they are the fastest in the Kingdom."
He glanced at my horse.
I gulped.
"Dark-skin, let's go," the Queen insisted.
"Do you want to steal my horse?" I asked for.
The man burst out laughing.
"Not! HA, HA, HA, HA I don't want to steal your horse! "
"Dark-skin ... I warn you ..." insisted the Queen.
"My name is Tobias, nice to meet you," she introduced himself, giving me a wide smile. "What's your name?"
"Do not reply," Her Majesty ordered me.
"Delilah," I replied.
The man nodded.
"And where are you from, Delilah?"
"From Barranca, near the capital of the South," I replied.
"By all the Saints, Dark-Skin, what are you doing?" The Queen sounded frustrated.
"I know Barranca," said Tobias. "Beautiful town."
I nodded.
The man made me feel confident. He didn't look like someone with bad intentions. Maybe he just wanted company. Up to that point I had already experienced the loneliness of a long trip firsthand.
"Dark-skin, I warn you. It's not a good idea to stay and talk to this guy," the Queen insisted again.
"He seems like a good person," I replied.
"Don't be naive, dark-skin. Stop believing in the goodwill of others. "
"Who are you talking to?" The confused man asked me.
"With myself," I lied.
The man nodded.
"The Count of Barranca is Lord Derderián, right?"
I nodded.
Tobias was silent as he looked me straight in the eyes.
"Wow ... I've never seen crimson eyes like yours," he said. "Wonderful."
"Dark-skin ...," the Queen did not shut up.
"There aren't many like you, right?" The man asked suspiciously.
I gulped. The man continued carving.
"You know? It's funny, because they say that Marco Derderián's fiancée is dark-skinned with red eyes. "
My body reacted very fast. I got up and ran to my horse, but it was too late, I was surrounded by at least seven men without armor, but armed with swords.
«Bounty hunters», I thought.
"I warned you, dark-skin I WARNED YOU!" Yelled the Queen.
"Do you know how much Duke Al-Thule is offering to bring you back?" Tobias asked.
"Are they looking for me?" I responded with another question.
"Oh yeah they are looking for you. They are furious. A dark-skin has never offended them as much as you. Perhaps they will cut off your head, if they are merciful to give you a quick death. "
The man got up and walked slowly towards me, pointing his knife at me.
"Tell me something," he said. "How did you make a noble fall in love with you?"
I did not answer.
"You must have used some kind of witchcraft. No noble would be able to mix his pure blood with ours. "
I said nothing.
"Or maybe ...," he continued, "your secret is something you have between your legs."
He tried to pull up my skirt, but I quickly pushed his hand away.
"I'm curious ... surely you must be the best lover that can exist among the dark-skins."
His men laughed. He tried to grab my hips and I kicked his balls. He fell to his knees, while he lamented the pain and I took the opportunity to run.
His men were quick to follow me. I tried to run as fast as I could, but it was of no use. One of his men jumped on me. I tried to get away from him, but couldn't. He was very strong. I struggled, I kicked.
Nothing.
"Hey, hey, take it easy, we promised to return you uninjured," the man above me warned.
I heard the other men approach.
«For all the saints!»
"HEEEEEELP!" Scream with all my might.
The men laughed.
"Do you think someone is going to come?" I heard one of them asked me.
Suddenly, the blade of a sword dug into the skull of the man above me. Blood splattered on my face.
I went into shock. I didn't have time to process what just happened when his body crushing me.
I heard swords clash and howls of pain.
"Damned! Who are you!" I heard Tobias scream.
And then the silence.
Someone removed the corpse from above me and I found who had rescued me.
«IT Can't be!»
What was he doing there?
It was the black knight, the same one who had been in the Al-Thule house tournament. The one who had given me a rose.
"You?" I asked confused.
He held out his hand to me. I took it and he helped me up.
I looked around and realized that we were surrounded by the corpses of the men who tried to kidnap me and that the spirit of the Queen was missing.
"Who are you?" I asked.
He took off his helmet.
I almost fainted from the shock.
"Da ... lilah?" I asked in a shaky voice.
She looked at me with those big brown eyes.
"Hello, Bachué."