"In Pursuit of a Princess" (closed game)

[CarlyConners]

"In Pursuit of a Princess"

CLOSED

NOTE:
While this particular game is closed,
I might be willing to begin another one
with different characters and goals
should another writer be interested.​

The Great Hall had served many events over the years. There had, of course, been the coronation of the King, who at this moment sat in a magnificent throne on a dais at the top of a dozen stone steps. The King had been married here as well. Many a Knight had been awarded his titles here, too. And, of course, his daughter, Princess Paula, had been presented to the Nobility here almost two decades ago.

Today's event was something knew for this hallowed space: an execution. The four prisoners were led into the Great Hall single file. Their wrists and ankles were shackled by heavy steel. Thick black hoods covered their heads. They were stopped short of the dais, arranged side by side, and forced to their knees upon the granite floor.

"Remove their hoods," a deep voice boomed. Each of the prisoners recognized the King's voice.

As their hoods came off, the prisoners found themselves facing four wood execution blocks. Each had deep cuts in them and dark blood stains from where the executioners ax had previously cut into them ... after having cut through a previously executed prisoner's neck. To their left stood a massive man in a black hood with a big ax.

"The prisoner known as Karl," the King said looking to the first prisoner. "You have been sentenced to death for theft and murder. Do you have any last words before you are executed by having your head removed from your body?"

The King listened to what the man had to say, if he had anything to say. Then, without registering any response, the King looked to the man next to Karl.

"The prisoner known as Sting. You have been sentenced to death for poaching and murder. Do you have any last words before you are executed by having your head removed from your body?"

Again, the King hesitated for any response, which again he ignored before moving onto the first of two women on their knees. "The prisoner known as Shanna. You have been sentenced to death for treason and murder. Do you have any last words before you are executed by having your head removed from your body?"

And then on to, "The prisoner known as Maura. You have been sentenced to death for the practice of black magic and treason. Do you have any last words before you are executed by having your head removed from your body?"

 

[aSimpleMan4U]

"The prisoner known as Karl," the King said looking to the first prisoner. "You have been sentenced to death for theft and murder. Do you have any last words before you are executed by having your head removed from your body?"

Karl stared in silence for a long moment. He couldn't believe that the King was actually giving him an opportunity to air his anger. The King had taken a lot more from Karl than he had taken from the King. Almost a decade earlier, Karl's father -- Earl William -- had had his titles and lands taken from him for not providing troops and financial support for the King's latest war. Then, when William attempted to raise troops in rebellion, he was captured and executed. Karl and his family fled, but over the years to come, tragedy followed close behind them. One by one, Karl's family members died: disease, accidents, violence, and more left him the last member of his family. Somewhere along the way, Karl began the career that landed him here on his knees, about to have his head cut off with a big ax.

"It is my hope, you highness," he responded with a seemingly respectful tone, "that one day you will suffer the same heartbreak that befell my family because of your actions."

Karl waited for some sort of reaction from the King, but instead the royal simply moved onto the next prisoner.

Sting was here on his knees simply because he had tried to feed his family by killing a deer. Okay, so the animal had been on the Crown's side of the forest and not within the boundaries of the village and, therefore, Sting's actions had been poaching. But who knows, maybe the deer would have come west to eat the next day, so ... who cares?

"The prisoner known as Sting. You have been sentenced to death for poaching and murder. Do you have any last words before you are executed by having your head removed from your body?"

Sting didn't have to hesitate to give his response to the King, though. No sooner had the King stopped speaking then he said with a tone that was definitely not respectful, "It is my hope, your highness, that on one of your hunts in the future, one of those deer that you treasure so much more than your subjects will put an antler deep into your asshole."

He bowed his head in feigned respect. And while he expected the King to advance his execution to right now, the king simply moved onto one of the two women.

"The prisoner known as Shanna. You have been sentenced to death for treason and murder. Do you have any last words before you are executed by having your head removed from your body?"

Shanna actually smiled to the King. She deserved what was coming to her. She knew that. For almost a decade, she'd been killing people. Oh, sure, most of them had deserved death. The first man she'd killed had tried to rape her, and she'd only been 10 years old! After the first one, killing bad men had been easy. Instead of speaking up, Shanna only blew a kiss at the King.

"The prisoner known as Maura. You have been sentenced to death for the practice of black magic and treason. Do you have any last words before you are executed by having your head removed from your body?"

Maura's reaction was entirely different than the others. She flopped to the floor, begging, "Please, your majesty! I am not guilty of the crimes of which I have been accused and sentenced! I am not a witch! I don't know any black magic! I know a couple of parlor tricks, is all! This has all been a misunderstanding. The Princess mistakenly believed that I--"

She went quiet. It suddenly came to Maura that putting the blame on the King's daughter might not be the best way to prevent her execution by the King! But she really hadn't done anything wrong. All she'd done was show interest in a boy who the Princess also had an interest in. And suddenly, she was a witch! It wasn't fair.

 

[CarlyConners]

The King studied the last of the prisoners for a moment, confused. His Chief Prosecutor had handled all four of the cases. He'd told the King only what he needed to know about them. All four were clear cut cases of the need to cleave a criminal's head.

But this last prisoner, this woman, this witch. She'd invoked the name of his daughter. Well, she'd said The Princess. What did her case have to do with the princess? It was only now that he recognized the young woman as someone who he'd seen in the castle often. A courtier? No. A friend of his daughter, the Princess?

"Your highness...?" a voice said softly, drawing him from his contemplation. He looked to his Chief Prosecutor, who said softly, "The executions."

"Yes!" the King said firmly, back to the moment. "Execute the prisoners!"

But the four before him weren't moved to the chopping blocks. A ruckus arose from a side hallway. Four other hooded prisoners were manhandled into the Great Hall. They were forced to their knees opposite the original four. And when their hoods were removed, their identities likely shocked everyone in the room: the Captain of the King's Guard and his three most senior Lieutenants.

The King named off one of the Lieutenants, then told him, "You have been sentenced to death for dereliction of duty to your King. Do you have any last words before you are executed by having your head removed from your body?"

The man began rambling on about how he had not failed his king. But unlike with the original four, the King didn't wait for him to finish. With a hand signal, the executioner stepped forward and did his job. The man's head fell to the floor, then rolled over to settle near Karl.

"You have been..." the king went on with each of the others. And after each attempted to speak his piece, his head fell or rolled before another of the original four prisoners. The granite floor of the Great Hall was painted with the blood of the dead. Without removing the bodies of the heads, the King went onto his next order of business.

"My daughter, the Princess, has been kidnapped," he announced. He hesitated a moment. "She has been taken into the Great North Wood by forces unknown."

He looked to the bodies before him. Blood still leaked from both portions of the disrupted necks. "These men were tasked with bringing her back alive. They failed."

He looked to the other four prisoners. "I believe that the four of you have what it takes to locate my daughter ... and bring her back to me safely. If you do this ... if you can bring my daughter back to me safe and sound ... your sentences will be vacated ... and you will be rewarded handsomely ... with gold ... land ... titles if you wish."

By the time he'd reached the end of what he had to say, the King's eyes were beginning to glaze over. He stiffened tall, though, and blinked away the threatening tears.

"Do you wish to take on this task?" he asked. He glanced to the executioner. Blood dripped from the blade, forming a small pool near the toe of his boot. He looked back to the prisoners. "Or shall we continue with the executions?"

(Sending you a PM. Read it before you post.)

 

[aSimpleMan4U]

The King studied the last of the prisoners for a moment, confused.

Maura thought she saw recognition in the King's face. But before she could even contemplate continuing her plea for help, the most gruesome thing she'd ever experienced occurred right before her. She watched in shock as the executioner's ax came down upon the block. The Guardsman's head rolled over close to her, his eyes and mouth both wide open before her as if ready to scream at her. Maura tried to scream, but nothing came out.

The ax came down three more times before the King explained what this was all about:

"My daughter, the Princess, has been kidnapped," he announced. He hesitated a moment. "She has been taken into the Great North Wood by forces unknown."

Maura reaction was to raise her shackled hand to her mouth to stifle a cry of grief. She had been the daughter of the Queen's chamber maid, a peasant. And yet she'd practically grown up a Princess. The actual Princess had adored Maura. They'd become best friends despite their class difference. With the Queen's tolerance, the two girls had essentially been raised together. They'd been tutored together. They'd ridden together in the Queen's carriage when the monarch and her daughter traveled. Maura went on the royal family vacations.

Then, the two became lovers. And the Queen's tolerance for the relationship came to a swift end. The Queen had discovered that Maura had magical abilities some time earlier, and now she used it to have Maura declared a witch. In the middle of the night as her daughter slept, the Queen had Maura taken away and jailed. She told her daughter a tale about how her friend had run off to a distant land with a young noble who'd shown her some romantic attention. The Princess hadn't wanted to believe it, but feigned scout reports about the noble and Maura continued to come in every few weeks.

Of course, Maura knew nothing of this. She only knew that she'd been thrown into a dungeon and, later, been sentenced to death for black magic. And now, of course, she knew that the woman she'd loved for all her life was now missing.

"I believe that the four of you have what it takes to locate my daughter ... and bring her back to me safely. If you do this ... if you can bring my daughter back to me safe and sound ... your sentences will be vacated ... and you will be rewarded handsomely ... with gold ... land ... titles if you wish."

"We'll do it!" Maura called out before any of the others could speak. She looked to her right, to the others, with a desperate expression. She said to them, "We'll do this ... right? Please!"

The King continued:

"Do you wish to take on this task?" ........ "Or shall we continue with the executions?"

The other three were thinking different versions of the same thing: we begin this job, then run at the earliest opportunity.

Karl had grown up in a noble home, close to politics and those who used them for their benefit. He asked the King, "How do we know you will keep your word and clear our names?"

The King responded.

Sting jumped in with his own question: "Such a mission may require us to do some of the very things for which we were jailed. What is our protection against simply ending up back here in chains again, facing the block?"

Again, the King responded. He looked to Shanna, who was the only one of the prisoners who hadn't yet spoken. She only smiled and said, "Okay."

 

[CarlyConners]

"Take them away," the King said after studying the prisoners for a moment.

The Guardsmen returned the hoods to the four, lifted them to their feet, and paraded them out of the Great Hall again. They were warned that any resistance or escape attempt would result in all four being killed and left naked in the road for the animals to feast upon.

They walked out of the castle, off the grounds, and out into the city. Soon, the sounds of the city faded behind them. A chill signaled the coming of night. In the dark, their hoods were removed one at a time, allowing each an opportunity to eat a very basic mean, then -- if needed -- evacuate behind a nearby tree or in the nearby bushes.

They were allowed to sleep on the ground...

And this repeated the next day...

And the next...

Until finally six days had passed...

The landscape around them began to turn white and cold as the road climbed higher and higher into the mountains. Finally...

"Your shackles will now be removed," the new Captain of the Guard said after all four were forced to their knees. He repeated the warning about one escape harming all, adding, that to remove your hood would result in the same punishment.The Guardsmen removed the shackles and, by the sound of it, began to move away. The Captain said, "You will remain on your knees until you are told to do differently."

And then, apparently, he left as well. The sound of the movement of men was finally replaced by nothing more than the wind and animals in the trees. Then...

"Remove your hoods," an unfamiliar voice told them. When they did, they found themselves facing...

https://i.imgur.com/KXJevdI.jpg?3​

"My name is Lord Carver," he told them. "This is my land."

He gestured to left, the right. To left was nothing more than thick forest. But to right was a small leanto built into the side of a high rising, forested hill. Smoke role from a hole in the side of the hill, apparently from a fire burning within.

"Please," he said standing and turning toward the structure. "Come ... get warm."

Inside, the shack turned out to be much more than the tiny leanto it appeared to be on the outside. It opened up into a roughly round cavern, thirty feet across, twenty feet deep, with a roof reaching up to more than a dozen feet. The original rocky floor had been filled in with dirt, packed almost to the hardness of stone. Fresh water leaked through a crack in the stone roof, filling a large cask container that, when overflowing, drained out the front wall to a garden that, this spring, would provide vegetables and berries to their guest.

The home was well furnished with all the comforts of a peasant's home. All were made by hand of what the surrounding forest had to offer. But then, in very specific locations through the space, there were four piles of items.

"Karl," Carver said, gesturing the warrior toward one pile. It included all of his personal possessions -- retained from the day of his capture -- as well as additional arms, armor, and other needs. Carver looked to each of the others, one after another, and gestured them to their own pile. "Please. Equip yourself as you wish."