As my disoriented mind begins to realize I am someplace in the top floor inside the palace. A few seconds ago we were all running across the start line in the center of town. I hear familiar voices coming from the next room. It seems we have all appeared inside the palace by magic, but scattered enough that no one is within my line of sight. I shake my head as to clear my fogged mind, magic always leaves my thoughts clouded. The competition has begun. I tie my long blonde hair back as to let my body know to get ready for what is coming. I counted twelve contestants in the inaugural ceremony back in town, only three women, plus me. It is strange they have allowed women to complete, but I am not one to miss this opportunity. Thirteen contestants all competing for the same noble title.
The voices in the adjoining room become clear, seems a few of the male contestants have partnered and decided to start by finding the women, as I hear them mention me by name: Sarcina. I see the door handle of the large room I am in begin to move, and without giving a second thought, I jump into the nearest door and lock myself in. Being careful to not make any noise while I turn the key. With only the light coming from a small ornate opening on the top of the door, I cannot tell if this is some kind of storage closet. It definitely feels small as my arm reached the back wall without me having to step back. I see shadows pass by, one even comes close to the small ornate opening at the top of the door and peeks in. I plunge to the floor and hold my breath. Do they really see me as a thread or have they decided to test allegiances first with an easy hunt?. Thankfully the shadow keeps walking. From the steps I make at least three of them.
As they exit the room, I make my way out through the door they came in. To my disgrace, the last of the males, with a bushy brown mustache, large nose and Viking-toned body turns around to see the last of the door closing. He notices the movement and calls back to the others. I appear to be inside the kitchen storage room. How many rooms can a palace have? It is a round room with shelves on all the walls going all the way up to the ceiling. Servants continue their work around me as if I were invisible, coming in and out of the storage room with produce I have never seen before. I am sure the King has gave them orders to ignore us and even threated with some kind of punishment if they aid us. I make my way up the shelves. Which seem to be made of the same stone as the walls, all fully packed with all sorts of food.
The males rush in, there are four of them. One must be really light on his feet for me to have the count wrong before. I keep climbing and the Viking looking male spots me. How high can this get? How much food does the royal family eats? They all begin climbing, knocking items down which splatter on the floor. I reach the top. No way out. I do not have much time to come up with a plan. My mind races. And that's when I spot it. There's a cart around level 3 attached to a rope leading all the way to a pulley attached to the ceiling. I am guessing servants use this to lift all these items up the shelves. I wait until all males are close enough. I can now see their angry faces reaching. And I make the jump. Grab one end of the rope and descend to the floor as the cart quickly pushes up with force, making all four males loose their balance and fall into it. I wrap my end of the rope with a nice bow to the hinge on the floor, leaving them disoriented and 20 feet up.
I exit the storage room and make my way to the main dining room. An elegant long glass table with ornate red chairs that match the carpet is at the center of the room. Tall velvet curtains of the same burgundy red cover the ceiling-high windows. I proceed to use all my strength to open the center window which overlooks the main garden from at least four floors up. I spot my target in the distance, pull the curtain down and throw the end out the window. I step out to the window's stone frame, let them think I made the deadly jump to the garden and actually walk alongside the frame of the structure of the palace until I find the next room. This should buy me some time.
I have made my way to the kitchen unnoticed. Or so I thought, as a short round-shaped woman calls my attention. Her eyes signal me to follow her. And I do. And without any other servant noticing she leads me through an opening in the wall the common eye could not make out. We find ourselves inside tall gray stone walls, which go all the way up to create one of the four corner bell towers of the palace. The woman motions towards a swirling steep set of stairs and only speaks to let me know she will be waiting for me when I reach the end. With no other possibilities, I decide to trust her. And begin my descend through the musty dark cold passage until I reach a wall. As soon as I do, as if she has timed this before, blinding light comes in and the wall opens. I glance through it and see the short round-shaped woman who does not even take one look at me and keeps walking.
I step out into the first floor hall. Seems I have come through the same style of opening on a wall no one who does not know is there would notice. I quietly make it to the end of the hall, where a glass door separates me from the outside terrace. I see my goal through it. At the end of the horizon, past the main garden, through the forest and grass hills: The Gravida. A small gray fortress made of huge blocks of stones coming out of the green landscape.
I make a run for it. As I reach the outskirts of the main garden and into the surrounding forest, I see figures coming out of the castle. One of them, a black hair male, sprinting surprisingly fast through the distance between us. He is now close behind me. To my far right I spot a sand-colored horse with black hair resting in the grass and abruptly change my direction towards it. I keep running. The horse, which to my surprise has a huge set of gray feather wings tucked in, gets startled at my approach. I begin to regret my decision but after a few seconds the horse seems to recognize me and kneels as to let me know to mount. Why would he want to help me?. With no other options I do. As I lock my position, he stretches his beautiful wings and glances at me as to prepare me for what's coming.
As we are about to take off into the skies, an arrow goes through his right wing. The horse hauls and falters. That black hair male that was close was now only a few meters behind us with a bow. Any kind of arms were illegal in this competition. How did he get a bow an arrow?. The horse seems to use all its strength and takes a turbulent flight anyways. Grabbing on with all my strength, one wing clearly hurt and struggling to move, the horse begins panting. He has, for some reason above me, decided to give all he has to take me to the Gravida. I look back for any signs of the black hair male and spot a second winged white horse racing towards us carrying a wavy brown hair male in silver armor.
We somehow make it to Gravida. My horse looks at me and I know. I know he has given every part of him to bring me here. I gently lie his head on the green grass hill stroking his long black shiny hair and whisper a prayer. I make a run towards the fortress. My legs tremble with each step. That second horse lands and the brown hair male is now only a few steps behind. I reach the entrance to the fortress and go in two big wood heavy doors. A large empty dark room with only a set of white marble swirling stairs in the center. I ascend, my legs now refusing to move with each step up. The small walnut door at the top has an inscription carved in beautiful handwriting: "She must now descend into the ground" along with a figure of a two-faced dragon. Confusing. As the path has led me up the stairs.
I push the small door and find myself standing outside on the top of the fortress. In a square-shaped balcony. No exits other than the door I came in. The right wall has two thrones made out of the same material as the small access door and directly across it, to the left, another throne. All three with intricate hand carved details in beautiful walnut. I know my place. And I take it.
The brown hair male reaches the small access door to the balcony, takes one look at me and takes the seat beside me on the right wall. A third panting male, the black hair cheating male that killed my horse, takes an enraged look at both of us and takes the seat in front of us at the left wall. Now what?. The black hair male calls out: "now we bury Sarcina". How does he know my name?. I have not seen him before. "the inscription said that she must now go into the ground". I quickly respond, all three of us still seated in the three thrones as if waiting to see what happens: "while I know you cannot wait to drop me in the ground, the inscription is calling for something else. Check your seats there must be another clue". We all move around, touching the surprisingly cold stone behind us and every part of the intricate patterns that make these high chairs.
What happens next is hard to explain. The black hair male in front of me kicks the bottom of his seat in frustration and quickly pulls up his legs as a drawer opens on his feet the length of his entire side of the wall. He puts his feet in the drawer as if he sees what to do next and starts pushing down with his feet using all his strength into what I know realize is a hidden mechanism. A log of wood appears right in front of the upper section of my stomach, leaving me without air for a few seconds. I yell for him to stop pushing down on his feet, afraid the log might squash me but the next movements happen so fast none of us are able to react on time. Two deep lines appear parting the ground. One in the middle of the square, separating me from the black hair male and another separating me from the male sitting beside me. My throne turns 90 degrees towards the inside of the fortress and I disappear from their sight. The wooden log stopping me from falling off.
I am now inside Gravida. And I realize why the King has set up this competition. Why he has included me in the roster, along with the other women. The legend is true. I am greeted by a mystic lake surrounded by fog and shadow. I am not sure where the light comes from but it reflects on the water causing the entire place to be shades of blue and green. I feel underground and outside at the same time. The wooden block restraining my body from falling retracts the same way it came from and somehow my body glides close to the water, I don't dare reach out to touch it. I fly. Am I flying?. More like levitating. I follow the body of a huge two-headed dragon shape made out of green moss and branches. I feel a non-threating presence there. Whatever or whoever is holding my body in the air. I come to a halt and with straining eyes due to the intensity of the light coming at me, I realize I am back on the palace's terrace. The tour along the dragon shape was a test. A test I passed as I did not dare to touch the water. A water who is known for providing eternal youth.
Two long-haired clearly pregnant naked women appear next to me. They are identical except for the color of their hair, hazel and silver. They seem human but something inside me knows they are not. They whisper an ancient language between them and I realize they are not watching me. They are intensely focusing on my stomach. And I see their faces slowly turn from hostile to genuine admiration. As if they expected someone else but realized they were with me. They both look directly into my eyes for less than a second with stunned faces and disappear.
Disoriented as I have just woken up from a dream, that fog on my mind after you have been in the presence of magic, I see the short round-shaped woman reaching out her hand for me to stand. I tell her I understand the Crown Prince, the black hair male sitting in front of me just moments ago, has not been able to have a child. I tell her I can confirm the legend of the ringers of Gravida is true. That I think they only allow women in which is why the King for the first time has allowed women in the competition for the noble title. "We should let the King know of their magic". She sees me with understanding in her eyes. But I also see concern on her face. And I realize the royal lineage will stop with him. The ringers' eyes has shown me a glimpse of the future: the King will not have a successor after him. Me and the brown hair male in silver armor seated next to me on that throne atop the Gravida will be the next ruler of the kingdom. And we will be Blessed with a son. This last part no one must know and I do not dare to speak it aloud. The ringers have been kind enough to show me a glimpse of the future before us. A frightening yet hopeful future. And that is when I see him. The wavy brown hair male in silver armor flying back to the palace with his white horse. How cliché. Who the hell is he. And why is he part of my future.
Prologue:
I am being dressed by Glenda, the short round-shaped woman, in my quarters. Getting ready for the evening celebrations with my newly given noble title. Long gold sleeves are attached to my wrists with tiny buttons, proper of a Lady. Glenda has dressed me with a lilac dress with small flowers embroidered to the chest and matching slippers. A gold metallic frame outlines the collar of the dress. Ready and nervous, I step into the hall for one last look into a small oval mirror hanging on the wall. I put my hands on my pockets and pull out a necklace of a two-headed dragon. When I turn to ask Glenda, I see her already running down the hall. That short round-shaped woman always has somewhere to get to. God knows what she is up to. Another Lady passes by me on the hall, looks at my reflection and tells me to ask my servant to tie the necklace on me as it is a valuable piece of jewelry. She has mistaken me for a Lady. Is this my life now? Only time will tell.
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