“No, please, no! cried the old man. Don’t take my daughter away! Please, don’t take her!”
“Father, help me! I don’t want to go! Please, let go of me, my father is old and cannot take care of himself!”
“Shut up! the soldier said. You should rejoice, old man! Your daughter will live as a queen as a noble’s mistress.”
“No! My daughter is too young for this! Please let her go!” said the old man and tried forcing the soldiers let go of his daughter. But he was to slow and with a quick move the soldier pushed him back with a kick, hurting the old man. “He tried to stop me, the one sent by the nobles! This is treason! Take him to prison, guys!” said the cruel soldier and laughed.
“Stop, please, don’t hurt him anymore! I’ll come with you so let him alone!” said the young girl and started crying.
“Okay, okay, so stop crying!”
“Hmmmmmmmm”
They tied the girl’s hands and pushed her inside a covered carriage. There she saw other girls of her age. All of them were looking down, sad and about to cry. “Maybe they had been taken from their families, as well…” she thought. “What are they going to do with us?” Then she remembered what the soldier said : <<“Shut up! the soldier said. You should rejoice, old man! Your daughter will live as a queen as a noble’s mistress.”>> . “I wonder what a mistress is… maybe a slave. I shouldn’t trouble myself about that, I’m good at housekeeping. But what will my father do? He will be alone and can’t do anything by himself.” Suddenly she felt a deep despair. What was going to happen to her? Why she? Why was it happening to her? Just as she was sinking deeper and deeper into her thoughts, she was waken to reality as the carriage stopped.
“Everyone step outside the carriage. We’ve reached our destination.”
“Where are we?” the girl asked.
“At the Rose Royal Palace. This is where you will be chosen by the nobles to be either mistresses or slaves. Don’t worry, all of you should live a tranquil life if you will obey your masters. Now, come after me and do not try to run away.”
All the girls did so and were taken to the palace. There, they were aligned in the castle’s yard in front of a crowd of men, women, boys and girls, all of them being nobles. Some of them would approach a girl ask her something and take her with them or go back in the crowd to look for another girl.
The old man’s daughter looked at the crowd. “What beautiful dresses the ladies have! she thought in awe. I have never worn something like this. I wish I could…” Suddenly, a beautiful lady came closer to her and asked her:
“Girl, what is your name?”
“Claire”
“Claire…”
“Just Claire, milady”
“Well then, Claire, why were you looking at us so attentively?”
“Oh, please forgive me if I was a nuisance, but I couldn’t help it but think that your dress is beautiful.”
“Oh, smiled the noblewoman, would you like to wear one?”
“Oh, as I was poor, I could never wear something like that, but I pray to the mighty goddess to be able to at least once.”
“I like how you speak. Are you, by any chance, from a wealthy family?”
“No, milady. We were poor. My father was never married and he said he found me in the forest when I was a baby. So I’ve only lived with him. He taught me to talk like this.” said the girl honestly. Moved by the girl’s life she asked her with a kind voice: “Would you like to be my attendant? If you do so, you would be able to wear clothes like mine and have a better life.”
“Oh, I will gladly accept your offer. But can I ask you for another favor?”
“Please do, my darling!”
“My father is old and cannot take care of himself. May I go and take care of him sometimes?”
“Why, of course you can.”
“Thank you, milady. The goddess shall bless you for your kindness.”
“Thank you my dear. Then, shall we go?”
“Yes, milady”
“Call me Lady Augusta, Claire”
“Very well then, Lady Augusta”
A new life… The girl, once a peasant, is now a noblewoman’s attendant. What did the goddess prepare for her?
Once again, the young woman on the top of the mountain opened her violet eyes and muttered: “So it started…”
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