The gusts of wind picked up clumps of dirt that whipped violently through the air, smashing to bits upon contact with anything solid. Unluckily for Hermandine, she was solid, and being pelted by dirt was the least of her problems. She had tied her long wheat colored hair back more times than she could count, and her eyes were strained from the permanent squint she had acquired in an attempt to shield her eyes from the dirt. She couldn’t see much before her, and she hadn’t since the storm started. Her father was long gone, the horses that drew their carriage had disappeared too. She knew that hard times had fallen upon them, but she had never expected her father to abandon her amidst a barren war land. She barely had a thing on, her fanciest dresses had long been sold to put what little food on the table they could procure. She had lost her jewels, her hats and her maids. Everything that made her a duke’s daughter had been stripped from her the second her family fell from nobility. She cursed her mother for spending so lavishly and she cursed her father for resorting to this, to save money? To conserve food? What did he gain by abandoning her here? She wondered but the thoughts left her spiraling.
She tried to focus on her feet, bare and nicked, crusted with fresh and dried blood and layers of dirt. The hem of her once pristine white gown was stained a dark red and her hair clumped together as it fell into her face. Her lips cracked painfully as she tried to moisten her mouth to no avail. She hadn’t kept track of how long she’d been out there and she began to regret her decision to leave the carriage in the first place. At least she had shelter there, though she wouldn’t have fared better there than out here in the long run. Her father hadn’t left her with much more than a thin scrap of cotton that she had used as a blanket to sleep with while they had traveled here.
She stumbled over her own feet again, this time taking a nasty fall. She sputtered, spitting out dirt and rubbing her dried eyes. They burned with vigor and as much as she wanted to cry, she wasn’t sure she had enough moisture in her body to even produce tears. Hermandine coughed violently, finding she had no energy to pull herself up from the sandy pits. She could feel the dirt rattling around in her chest and a layer of it stuck her tongue to her teeth. In frustration, she brushed her hair from her face with force. Cursing herself this time, for wanting to grow it out solely to impress the other noble ladies. She didn’t know how far she had made it, but she couldn’t see the carriage anymore and for that she cursed herself again. She had started out thinking that she might run across something, or someone if she kept walking, but maybe she should have stayed put, not that she wouldn’t ever know now. The dirt shifted, falling over her in mounds but she didn’t open her eyes. By now she had just about accepted the fact that she would be buried here, long forgotten by anyone who mattered. Her eyes flung open however, when she felt hands grip her. One stationed itself below her rib cage, leaning her upper body to limply lay across a broad shoulder, the other hooked itself under her knees. She didn’t falter, it was a sturdy grip and she found herself almost melting into it, no one had dared to carry her before, not even the knights of her manor when she once fell and twisted her ankle. Instead she was left to limp sorely back to her chambers, wanting to disappear underneath their judgmental stares.
She looked up, seeing nothing but darkness behind a steel mask. The stranger wore chainmail, lots of it and plated armor that was as dirty as she felt.
“You’re awake?” The stranger’s voice was loud enough to hear over the howling wind but still quiet and melodic in a sense. It was higher pitched than Hermandine expected but still deep, reverberating behind the mask of metal. She knew she had no voice to speak and so she just numbly nodded, casting her gaze downward, forgetting for a moment her etiquette. She was no longer a duke’s daughter and so even a nameless knight had more position than she did. The knight said nothing more, moving confidently forward as if he knew where he was going and as Hermandine soon learned, he did in fact know where he was going. He easily found a war horse as black as night and shifting Hermandine in his arms, placed her upon the steed. She had never ridden a horse before and she swayed uncertainty atop the tall animal. Her nervousness all but subsided as the knight took a seat behind her, holding her steady as if it were second nature. Again the stranger said nothing as Hermandine watched the windy storm slowly disappear behind them. She hadn’t meant to close her eyes for more than a moment, to find relief from the dirt stinging her eyes. But she came to realize that she had fallen asleep in the stranger’s arms, awaking to a bright white room, gold trim tracing the walls and every piece of furniture. A sheer canopy surrounded the four posts of the bed and draped to the sides where it was tied back. Hermandine hadn’t seen familiar extravagances in nearly two years, while they were comforting, she found herself again spiraling in thought, worried she had hit her head somewhere in her trek through the endless dirt.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
She found that her formerly dirt caked hair was clean and tied into a lengthy braid that trailed down her back as she sat up. Her dingy dress had been replaced with a thin silk nightgown, its sleeves billowing around her every movement. She carefully admired the lace trim of the sleeves and the cleanliness of her nails. Someone had not only cleaned them but trimmed them. She did not have long to find more things to admire as the dark wood door clicked open. A maid in a simple black uniform scurried in, pressing the door closed behind her. She had orange and red leaves intertwined in her chin length coils, and small smudges trailing her apron. She smiled widely when she met Hermandine’s eyes, and she quickly rushed over to prepare a glass of water.
“I’m so happy you are awake, my lady!” She said brightly, pushing the water into Hermandine’s hands. “My name is Marie and I will be assisting you for your stay here.”
Hermandine gratefully sipped the water before learning her throat, “I think there’s been a mistake.” Marie tilted her head, so Hermandine clarified, “I’m not a noble.”
“It’s not my place to speculate why Her Grace brought you in, My Lady. But she would like you to join her for lunch. I''m sure you''re hungry, you slept through the night and the day!" Hermandine bit her tongue and said nothing more. She didn''t know why she was invited and she wasn’t sure who this maid served but she would surely be asked to leave when they found that her family no longer held status or wealth. Whatever knight had brought her here must have mistaken her for someone else or simply not heard news of her family’s downfall yet.
She mutely followed Marie, and held herself still as she was clothed in a bejeweled emerald green gown. The sleeves were too short and the bodice squeezed her tightly despite the corset that Marie had laced snugly. Not as tight as the maids from her manor used to lace it and Hermandine wondered if that was the reason the dress wouldn’t fit. Maybe Marie had never had to lace a corset quite so tight, the lady in the manor who wore these dresses wouldn''t have needed such a fit.
Marie didn’t seem to notice however, continuing to fit the dress around Hermandine. The hem of the dress rose too high, tickling her shins and Hermandine found herself flushing in embarrassment and memories of the teasing of the other noble ladies. She had always been ‘too tall’ and ‘too wide’ as they put it, despite growing her hair out and dieting until she was faint, she had never looked good enough to fit in. She glanced at herself in the mirror, something she rarely did even before all her belongings had been confiscated by the empire. She still saw a frumpy girl, desperate to fit into clothes that never fit, trying too hard to impress those around her.
Marie was frowning by the time she was done with Hermandine’s hair and she quickly excused herself. However, before Hermandine could ask about it, another maid filled her place and led her to the dining hall.She was sitting near the end of the table, a place reserved for guests of high honor, which she was most definitely not. She found herself fumbling with the hem of one of her sleeves as chatter filled the air, she picked up on Marie’s voice, she seemed mad as she was rambling on about someone deceitful.
Hermandine kept her gaze locked onto her sleeve as the footsteps approached and a chair was dragged across the marble floor with a loud screech. Marie’s voice had halted at the door and she could no longer hear any talking at all.
“I apologize that the dresses we prepared for you are lacking, I will have that remedied at once.”