a Fortnight's Work
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 15902
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As Frederica walked down the mountainside, through the forest of
evergreens, she revelled in every breath of fresh air. She was high up,
who knows hown many miles from the level of the Aryn Sea... The air was
brisk and the Princess couldn't help but be amazed by her sudden freedom,
her liberation from a magical trap that had made her a prisoner of sorts
for five years.
After a few hours of this exultation she realized how tiresome it would be walking all the way back to Caemlyn, all the way back to her parents, King Emry and Queen Sovay. She was also extremely tired of the now-dirty pink dress and her long curls which seemed to get caught in every low hanging tree limb. Her frustration was replaced with surprise, however, when she heard some voices and came into a glen filled with the dirtiest children she had ever seen! They were, indeed, the progeny of the grumpy miners and their grumpier wives who lived in the farthest outpost in the emptiest fief within the Liegelands of Allaria. They couldn't believe their eyes: a diminutive young girl, probably only 17 years of age, a cascade of long, tangled blonde curls running down her back and wearing nothing but a pink silk dress, one punctured by twigs and needles. They took her to their home, the village of Mudspot. Once there she went into the only pub in the place, the Boar's Head and asked for an ale. When the barkeep learned she could not pay for it, he drank it himself! What was Frederica to do?!? She thought about letting them know who she was, but she didn't think they'd believe her story... she had a hard time believing it herself. She decided, right there and then, to not return to her ancestral home as simply 'daddy's little girl.' She was going to be a woman by the time she returned! She asked around and learned that one of the women, a Widow Shemproch, needed some help. Frederica went to her and said she would like to work under her for a fortnight (as a page, armor-boy, and knight, Frederica had learned much of service to others and found helping a widow in her womanly duties was not a terrible burden). The miner's looked at Frederica with curiosity and lust, the miner's wives looked at her with curiosity and envy, the children just looked. The widow immediately gave Frederica a pair of working clothes - the grey long-skirt and beige blouse customary for the women here. After one day Frederica became accustomed to being called Frey by the locals (it did have so many less syllables!). After two days Frey decided to have her locks cut off. By the fourteenth day no one would have recognized her: Fred was gone, the figment of a cruel mage's imagination, but Frederica was gone too... gone was the easy- go-lucky 12 year old that used to sing to her daddy and sew for her mommy, gone was the seventeen year old that "reappeared" only a fortnight ago... replaced by a young woman with the memory of knighthood and the truth of womanhood. With goodbyes received by "see you soon!" from the men and "good riddance!" from the men's wives, 'Frey' left the mining village. She was now wearing the garb of travelers - grey pants and beige blouse and armadillo boots - as well as had some silver in her pocket and a pack with some supplies. Her goal was to get to the fieflord of this fief and then to the Duke who was his patron.
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YY
2/17/2002 8:21:31 AM
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