"The Revolt in Ashdale" Chapter 9: A Dawning Realization

Anna had been dozing off, her head resting against Paul's shoulder. The wagon’s swaying movements had been so soothing and monotonous that she could no longer keep her eyes open.

Now Paul touched her shoulder and called her softly. She jolted upright. Was there danger? Were they about to be attacked by hungry vagrants?

“Easy, easy,” Paul whispered, “Anna, you better hide under the wagon cover; we're approaching the mill, and I’m not sure it’s wise for anyone to see you!”

Anna sighed. “Yes, you’re probably right. I must remain as invisible as possible for as long as I can.”

Again she thought about what she actually had to do. She was supposed to talk to Lady Elara. Yet she had the feeling that there was something more. Something about Lord Roderic. It wasn’t entirely clear in her mind what she was seeking. However, she had a strong sense that Lord Roderic was the root of the problem. He must be the main force behind the corruption that had twisted the once harmonious kingdom. She had to find out more, but how? Who exactly was he? Perhaps Lady Elara could answer some of the questions she was beginning to weave together.

“I’ll park the wagon here. Stay where you are until I can see the coast is clear,” she heard Paul whisper. She didn’t dare respond. She just lay completely still. It was quiet. No sounds could be heard except the desperate struggle of the river trying to flow backward.

Paul walked stiffly toward the mill. Soon she couldn’t hear him anymore. She was alone. The bracelet was cold and smooth. So there was no immediate danger.

Some time passed before she heard footsteps approaching again.

“You can safely come out now,” said Paul. “The miller is up at the manor house, and the lady has gone to bed, as she suffers terribly from hunger. There’s no edible food left here.”

An overwhelming silence hung over the area—no people in sight or earshot.

Anna jumped down from the wagon. It felt good to stand on solid ground again; the wagon’s swaying and jolting movements had given her a few bruises, as the bare boards had been her only bedding. She was almost more seasick than she had been on the great ship at sea.

“What will you do now?” Paul asked.

“I’ll go up to the manor house and hide in the bushes near the kitchen entrance. There’s the least risk of running into the Lord. I have a strong feeling that he definitely doesn't want to see me,” she answered.

“Take care of yourself. I’ll stay here until I’ve spoken to the miller and delivered his payment from The House of the Swallow Shield in Elyndor.”

“When I’ve spoken to Lady Elara, I’ll come back!” said Anna, giving Paul a quick kiss on the cheek as she took her leave.

She walked toward the manor house. There were no people to be seen in the fields or on the road. It looked nothing like the Ashdale they had left just a short time ago. It felt like an eternity, but she knew it had only been a few days.

She still tried to stay hidden behind trees and hedgerows whenever possible. In the end, there would only be a short stretch of open ground, but with the eerie stillness that had fallen over the land, she wasn’t very afraid of being spotted. And if it happened, she still had the bracelet to rely on. It sat cold and loose on her arm, so there was no cause for worry.

Anna reached the last trees close to the river and near the kitchen entrance to the manor. She hoped the kitchen maid Thora would be the first she encountered. Thora could give her news from the house and could help bring Lady Elara out to her.

She waited a long time; nothing happened at the house, and there was deathly silence. No birds sang, no stable hand whistled, no horses neighed. She grew drowsy in her hiding place under the bushes and dozed off lightly.

Suddenly she finally heard a sound that tore her awake again. The kitchen door opened. Thora came out with a tray of indescribable, porridge-like slop and dumped it on the kitchen midden.

Anna jumped up and approached her. Thora looked up in shock.

“Anna! I thought you were long gone, especially since there’s nothing edible left here. I’m trying with all my strength to cook something, but it just doesn’t succeed. I’m so tired and faint from hunger I can barely hold myself together.”

Anna replied: “Thora, I’ll make sure you get real food, but you must do me a favor first. So much has happened, and I’ve come to try to make sense of it all. I must speak with Lady Elara. Can you, very discreetly, ask her to come out here behind the bushes?”

“Yes, if you can get food that’s actually edible, I’ll do anything for you!”

She went back into the kitchen, and Anna hid again.

Perhaps half an hour passed before the door opened again, and Anna saw Lady Elara cautiously looking around before she began to walk, seemingly by chance, toward the river and Anna’s hiding place.

“Anna,” came a faint voice, “where are you?”

“I’m here.” Anna stood up and brushed the dust off her dress.

Lady Elara approached and greeted her warmly.

“I have now found out who I am!” Anna began.

“Oh? And who are you really?” asked Lady Elara, who had already the night before Anna fled told her what she believed was the truth about her.

“You were right. I am the great-grandchild of King Arannis. His daughter Louinis—or Louise, as I’ve known her name—is your oldest sister and my grandmother. My mother Ingeborg is your niece, and here I am: Princess Anna, heir to the throne of Elyndor and the innocent young woman who alone can save Queen Althea, who is your sister and my grandmother’s younger sister. I have taken on the task, together with my childhood friend Paul, whom King Arannis has now elevated to Count of the Sunflowerdale. My first mission is to find out where the Queen is, and at the same time, I am to investigate the source of the inequality that has taken root in the kingdom. It seems that inequality stems right here from Ashdale.”

Lady Elara turned to Anna and curtsied. “Welcome back, Princess Anna. It is truly an honor to be related to such a determined and righteous woman as yourself. However, I cannot help you find where Queen Althea is; otherwise, I would already have set out to try to help her. As for the inequality in the kingdom, I’m afraid you are right. It has started here in Ashdale. First, there were small signs, then it became more evident. And now look where we’ve ended up. Hunger and misery are all we have left.”

Anna asked: “What is the Lord doing?”

Lady Elara answered: “He stomps hard around the table and keeps hurling angry words at his father.”

“Why is he angry with his father?” Anna wanted to know.

Lady Elara collapsed slightly. “You had better hear the story. I only came to know the full truth in recent days. When I came here to the manor as a young girl to marry Sir Roderick, it was said that he was of good lineage, but both parents were dead. He was rich and a handsome man, but I always felt he was hiding something from me. We had no children, as you know, and now the time has thankfully passed. I can only be glad it didn’t happen, for the fine gentleman has revealed that his mother is Queen Althea, and his father is the dragon Tharnak, who was not always a dragon. Tharnak assaulted Queen Althea before she became queen, and the child, Sir Roderick, was born in secrecy in Elyndor by a witch in Lillavand. My sister was furious when Tharnak refused to acknowledge the child, and with the witch’s help, she had him cursed into a dragon’s existence, forever bound to Mount Grimfire. I have thus been married off to my own nephew. I am infinitely sorrowful about this; it could hardly be worse.”

It made Anna’s head spin. Incest within the family. How could such a thing happen?

She said: “But Lady Elara, you couldn’t have known. No one could have known, except perhaps the witch in Lillavand.”

“Yes, my child, you are right—I bear no guilt for this.”

Anna thought that the source of the inequality between the valleys might have arisen as a kind of resentment in Sir Roderick, who had grown up without parents, with only a witch as a parental figure. He had exploited his power to think only of himself. Somehow, it had to come to an end!

Anna now asked Lady Elara to fetch a large basket from the kitchen. She did so, and Anna rubbed the bracelet and wished for the basket to be filled with the finest foods. Before their eyes, it filled up, and Lady Elara and Anna carried it into the kitchen, where they agreed to hide the contents together with Thora. The food was to be eaten only in the kitchen — and must not find its way to the Lord’s table! That would be the first step in his punishment!

“What are you going to do now?” asked Lady Elara.

“I know who I need to talk to now. Paul and I will leave together this evening, back to Sunflowerdale — I think I need to straighten a few things out with my grandmother!”

She returned to the Mill, where she carefully walked to the door of the farmhands' quarters and knocked. The door opened, and Paul stood there, ready with his strong arms to pull her into a big hug.

“Paul — it’s so good to see you. Are you ready? We’re going home.”

«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»

If you missed the Prologue and the first chapters, you can read them here: