Chapter Text
“Mama, Mama, the King and the Princess’s are coming into town!” I look behind me to my Mama and she looks tired, it’s the middle of the day and a farm doesn’t work itself. That’s what she always tells me anyways.
“Sweetie, I can’t take you into the city to go see the King and his daughters. I need to stay here and work. Your father needs to stay and work, your older brother needs to stay and work. You are starting to work next spring, you know that. Now, sit down and practice your name.” I sigh and sit back at the table and grab the quill from the table, I dip the end in the ink and start to write my name on the parchment. Nicole Haught, it comes out all messy and sideways. I furrow my brow and keep writing. I look up and no one is in the house. Papa, the alpha of the house never said I couldn’t go so I can go.
I walk out of our little house and onto the farm. I look to the wheat field and nobody’s there. Then to the barley field and nobody's there. I sprint down our road and towards the city. The walk into the city is about an hour on foot. I don’t mind. I look around me and the woods are getting thicker and thicker. I have only ever been to the city twice but I know the way home is through the very last gate with the big F on it. I keep looking behind me to see if anyone is following me.
They would send Jon to come and get me, Jon is twelve. He’s only six years older than me but he thinks he is so much better than me. He’s not. I know I’m only six but that doesn’t mean I’m dumb. Jon can’t even write his name and its three letters. I grumble to myself and keep walking. Jon is an alpha like Pa, that means once he’s fifteen he will be married and he will either stay on the farm or go and help his wife’s family. I want him to go, he’s mean to me and calls me a runt. I ain’t no runt. He’s a runt, Jon is nearly thirteen and he can just lift a hay bale over his head. I heard Pa saying that he better not get into no fight because he’ll lose.
I look up and I see the gates to the city. I run towards them and get in. The city always smells gross. Mama says they empty the chamber pots in the streets. That doesn’t sound very good to me. I weave my way through the people until I finally find the crowd. I smile wide and run towards it.
“Boy!” I keep running, a hand on my shoulder and I turn. A big man just spin me.
“Where is your Mama or Papa?” I get my shoulder out of his grip and run into the crowd. He’s screaming after me, “Boy”. I know I look like a boy, Mama said it’s easier to keep hair chin length. Pa said it’s cheaper to reuse Jon’s old clothes. I make my way to the front of the crowd, I look on and lines of soldiers are marching through the street. All in the gold and silver armor. The royal crest of a horse on their chest. That is the crest of house Earp. They are the rulers of all five kingdoms. We reside in the center. In the North is the House McCready, the West is the House Gibson, the East is House Holiday, then to the South is House Gardner. Each house is the warden of the land and each house has a crest. Earp is the horse, McCready is a tomato, Gibson is the bull, Gardner is the shovel, and Holiday has the pine tree.
The horses, after this line of horses the King and his daughters will walk by, well not walk, they’re on horseback but we get to see them! The horses go by and you can hear the people screaming and booing. Why are they booing? I look up and the youngest Princess looks sad, the middle one looks uncomfortable and the eldest is sitting tall and proud like her father on the horse. Lettuce and tomatoes are being thrown at them. One hits the youngest Princess in the face and she falls off her horse, the crowd goes silent. The march stops and none of the Kings Guard is helping her up. The horse is stomping and getting restless, getting closer to her. I duck under the line of knights keeping the crowd away from the royals and help the Princess up. I hear armor clamoring towards me. I help the Princess up and look into her eyes.
“Your Grace,”I look down and hold her hand. I grab the reins of the horse and pull it to a stop. I’m not looking up or around hoping they will just ignore me. I hand the reins over to Waverly and go down on one knee. I hold my hand out for her to step on an get back on her horse.
“It’s not your Grace, it’s my lady for a Princess and your Grace for the King and Queen. For you, it’s just Waverly.” I look up and she is looking down at me with a huge smile on her face. The princess is beautiful, hazel eyes, long brown hair. She steps on my hand and gets back on her horse. As soon as she’s back on the horse I duck through the knights trying to grab me and run through the crowd. The knights are following me but I don’t care, I run through alleys and small patches of grass, even through a house to get them off my tail. I find the gate with the big F and turn back, as I face forward I hit into a man. I fall on my back and look up, my Papa is staring over me. Anger written all over his face.
“Nicole! You have any idea how dangerous it is for a little girl to be out in the city?! You could have been taken and sold into slavery! You need to be more careful.” I stand up and wipe my hands on my pants. Jon can never look at Pa when he yells, I don’t care. Pa doesn’t scare me.
“It was fine, everything went okay. I saw the King and his daughters then left. I came right back here, even ran home so I could get home faster.” Pa squints at me and grunts. He turns and starts to head back home. I follow him, trailing behind. Keeping my eyes down on the road. Princess Waverly seemed sure nice and pretty. She even taught me a few things. I’m pretty sure she is a year younger than me. I sigh and look up, Pa is standing still holding his hand up to me to stop. We both listen and hear rustling coming from the woods. We both look to the left at the same time, just to see a bunny jump out. We both relax and keep walking. Pa took my hand though and is keeping me closer.
“Did you at least have fun in the city?” I look up at him and he has a slight smile on his face. I grin and look ahead.
“I love going to the city, Pa. I love seeing all of the people and the blacksmith. Can I get a sword, Pa? I would love to have a sword.” He let go of my hand and messes up my hair.
“I’ll get you one of them practice swords. They sell them in the city for cheap. I know a thing or two so I’ll teach you alright?” I look up at him and nod. He stops walking so I do too.
“A lot of people are gonna tell you a lot of different things in this world, Nicole. Don’t let them get to you. A lot of people are gonna tell you that girls belong in the house and you need to tell them no. You understand me?” I nod and agree. We keep walking and once we are close to home he speaks up again.
“At day break is when I’ll teach you how to fight and night fall. We don’t tell your mother okay?” I laugh and nod. If anyone is actually scared of anyone, Pa is scared of Mama when she is mad.
Once we get home Mama runs out of the house and checks all over me to make sure I’m okay. She treats me like a baby. Mama has always treated me like a baby. Pa doesn’t, I like that he doesn’t. I think Pa babies Jon more than he babies me and I like that. I think I can handle more than Jon can. We go inside and I help Mama make dinner. I hate that she makes me do the woman stuff. I don’t want to do any of that, I want to help Pa and Jon on the fields. I can be more help there than here. I was playing a game with Jon and I just got the hay bale off the ground. That’s only a little less than Jon. I should be helping them out. We eat dinner as a family then Jon and I get washed up and go to bed.
“Nicole, wake up.” I open my eyes and Pa is standing over my bed with a big stick from outside in his hand. I smile and sit up more.
“Get dressed. We are gonna practice till Mama and Jon wake up.” I nod and scramble out of bed. Pulling my pants on and getting a shirt from the pile in my room. I go outside and Pa is waiting for me near the big tree next to the barn. He throws me the stick and I catch it with ease. He has his feet shoulder width apart and his writing hand is holding another tree branch. I copy him and stand the same way.
“This is proper fighting stance, generally. When people are fighting it is usually life or death and all properness goes away. Always start out proper and then follow how the other fighter fights. If they fight proper then you fight proper. If they fight dirty, well, you fight dirty.” I nod and he takes a few steps. I follow his steps and we are going in a circle. He shows me how to step and what steps to take if someone is taking them. His right foot goes forward so I take my left foot and go back. He is teaching me the rules and not the fighting which is boring. Mama calls out for Pa so it must be breakfast. He takes the stick from me and hides it behind the barn. We both go back to the house and start to eat breakfast.
“I think Nicole is ready to start working on the farm. She isn’t gonna work in here with you she is gonna work out in the fields with Jon and I.” that makes Mama and Jon talk real loud. Jon is saying that I’m a girl and my place is inside with Mama. I won’t be able to help because I’m not strong enough. Mama is saying that I’m too young and that I should be helping her because Pa gets help from Jon. My head is spinning from all of the talking.
“Joan, she is clearly an alpha. She needs to be treated as such. Nothing about her screams omega or beta. The kid asked me to sword fight. Maybe she is the alpha and Jon is the beta. He’s twelve and can’t even lift a whole bale of hay for longer than a minute, Being a beta isn’t a bad thing. You still are getting married at fifteen.” Jon nods and looks down at his porridge. Pa nods at me once and then we all continue to eat breakfast.
Pa takes me to the barn and we each get a horse. He tells me we are going into the city for some stuff. We get there in a half hour and the first place we stop is at the sword shop. It’s just a store with a bunch of practice swords. Pa helps me pick out a one handed sword and a two handed sword. I get both of them in the saddle bags.
Next we get me some clothes for working. Things I can get dirty in. I don’t know where Pa got all of this money from because we don’t have much. Maybe this is an investment. That’s what he calls the ox we got. We head back home and the first thing he does is have me push hay. That’s it. I have to push the hay to the horses then bring the buckets of oats to the pigs. I don’t mind this work. It’s east and it’s fun.
Mama does all of the boring stuff, she washes laundry for the nearby farmers who have no wives. She takes care of the chickens, she cleans the house and keeps the fire going inside. The first thing Mama does every morning is get the fire going. She taught me how to make a fire when I was real little so I can take care of myself when I’m older. Mama also cooks all of our meals and she took care of Jon and I.
Instead of having only two shirts I have four like Jon. Two for work and two for after I bathe. I now have an extra pair of pants and actual undergarments. Pa said all alphas wear them but I just think he means men because Jon wears them too. I like living on a farm, most people don’t but I do. I think it’s nice to be able to work, eat, and sleep. Jon would much rather be a knight, or even a squire but I disagree.
Thirteen years later
I still love working on the farm. Jon got married and left just like he was supposed to when he was fifteen. I couldn’t get married off because no omega wants to marry an alpha woman. I get it, so I just spend my days working on the farm with Pa and Sam. Mama passed away giving birth to Sam. Sam is now ten years old and he does great working on the farm. Pa and I love having him around. It makes our life so much easier having another hand around. It just makes everything easier having him around. I had to take up some of the womanly duties like cooking and keeping the fire going but Pa isn’t as strong as he used to be so occasionally he’ll do those things and have me continue to work on the farm.
“To the people of Purgatory,” I walk out of the bean field and look over at this squire from the Earp Kingdom. “In three days time, Queen Waverly is having the trials. The trials are the tests that will find her mate, her king. Any alpha may join the trials seeing that Queen Waverly is an omega. The following will me needed, no more no less. A suit of armor, and a long sword. That is all. The Queen will provide the rest.” He finishes speaking and rides back off the way he came. He’ll probably stop at another farm on his way. I have a suit of armor, we were told about a draft coming in a fortnight so Pa and I decided to go and get one for me. I also have a long sword, a short sword and a dagger. I know the basics, enough to keep my head above water in a fight. I turn, Pa and Sam are looking at me. Both have wide smiles on their faces.
“We’ll talk at dinner about it, Nicole.” Pa walks back into the bean field with Sam on his tail. This month is the harvest. We need to harvest the beans and the rye. We have plenty of wheat for the rye to make bread and sell it in the city. A small portion of all of our crops goes to the Earp Kingdom. That’s how all of this works, we got our land by killing the owners and we aren’t vassals anymore.
House Gardner owned this land and we killed off the owner and pledged our allegiance to House Earp. Pa always said the King was rotten but he always made sure they weren’t in debt and they did it the right way. He had mercy on his subjects. The Gardner’s killed my grandfather for a stupid reason and had no mercy. I head back into the bean field and gather the crops with them. With the three of us we can almost get our two acre field done in a day. We will have a little to do tomorrow but it won’t create a loss.
Tomorrow I am to get the ox moving to till the fallow land. The land we don’t use until the next season. Pa and Sam head for the house and I continue to work on the field. I stay out there for two more hours, dusk turning into night before I get called in for dinner.
I walk to the house and when I enter we nearly have a feast of food on the table. So much food that it could feed us for a week.
“What is all this for?” We have roast chicken, some potatoes we traded for some oats a night ago, bread, ale, and some figs. Pa and Sam sit so I follow and sit with them.
“This is for you, you are leaving in three days time and we should celebrate. When you come back here you are gonna be a visitor, the King? The King of the four kingdoms not including Earp.” I chuckle and shake my head at how he said King, I’m a woman so I would technically be a Queen but no one actually sees me as a woman anymore. Not even the local farmers, they see me as a worker. But their daughters as I said see me as a woman. We dig into the food and we eat it quick, Mama taught me the proper way to eat food when I was younger.
Before her and Pa got married she worked for Lady Gus in the Gibson house. She was married off to Lord Curtis and Mama was out of a job. She came to Purgatory and met Pa. Lady Gus taught Mama how to read and write. She taught her how to be proper in a world that didn’t want her to be. Then she taught Jon and I. I taught Sam. Sam is very good with the hard work and the reading and writing. A very bright boy.
“To Nicole, the next ruler of our fine Kingdom.” Pa holds up his ale and so do I. Sam holds up the little ale he was given and we all slam the cups together while laughing. Ale going everywhere.
The last two days are very exhausting, I had to make sure the rye field was harvested before I left and the fallow field was still tilled and ready to go into fall. Pa is gonna have a lot of work on his hands. Hopefully him and Sam can handle it. Tomorrow is the day I will be leaving. At daybreak is when I will be going to get to the castle at midday. Many lords and knights will be there, all from across Purgatory. The chances of me winning with the minimal skill I have is slim. I also have never been with any other alphas than my father. On the pole of intimidation I could be at the bottom. I sigh and look around the farm. Everything looks to be in perfect condition. I walk to the barn and saddle up my horse. I get the armor in the saddle bags. I have my long sword on my waist. I get the horse ready and set off to the city to get my sword sharpened and my armor shined.
The trek into the city only takes a half hour on horse. I get there and the city is buzzing with talk on who they think the future King is. Many saying Lord Champ, they are also say Lord Perry. Maybe even one of the York brothers. I understand how no one thinks anyone but a Lord is gonna win. I don’t know how I’ll fair against these Lords who have years of training and I none but from my father. This could go very well or very poor. Only time will tell and the magnitude of the trials.
Once at the blacksmith shop I tell the man, Nedley what I want and he gives me a price. Four silver pieces. That’s low considering all of the men who are asking.
“So you are trying your hand for the Queen’s hand?” I laugh and nod. I pet the side of Spots nose as he talks, Spot is the horse.
“The squire said any alpha, this could be my only chance of marriage.” The blacksmith looks at me and squints.
“I told you time and time again my daughter Chrissy would be a fine wife.” I nod slowly and smile up at him.
“I’ve met your daughter and she is a fine woman. Sweet and kind, however, she has her eyes set on a Lord. I am not a Lord. I’m not even a lady. I’m a farmer. Your daughter is smart, kind, beautiful. She can do much better than a farmer.” The blacksmith shakes his head with a gruff smile on his face. I watch him sharpen the sword and what he is using. We don’t speak until he is done with the work I gave him.
“There is one problem with your logic, Nicole. You have more honor than many of the Lords I’ve seen today. All of them telling me to keep my bastard mouth shut. That my whore daughter will get what’s coming to her. You know the people and what they want from a King. Those Lords, they have no clue. You could win this whole thing and be the savior this Kingdom has been waiting for. Fight for her but also fight for the people. If we have a Lord like Champ as our King we will be doomed.” He clasps me on the shoulder and then goes right back into the shop. He leaves before I can even pay him.
I get on my horse and just walk through the city. Many of them complaining about the large tax. Many sitting on steps begging for money. I see a handful of people just looking for medical attention. This kingdom needs more work than I thought.
Today is the day I’m leaving, it is daybreak. I have my armor on and my sword on my waist. The only thing I don’t have is a helmet and a shield. I look around me again and breath in the fresh air. Yesterday in the city I bought some clothes that show higher wealth but it is only one outfit and it was of a dead man. I don’t need to be more of a target than I already am as a woman. I turn, Pa and Sam are in the doorway, looking happy for me.
“Today, is the first day of the rest of your life. How do you feel?” I smile at my father and shrug. I feel, nervous. I’ve never left the farm lands to go overnight. I left all of my extra money I earned with my Pa and Sam they are gonna need it more than me.
“I’m nervous, but who wouldn’t be nervous. I’m going to be fighting for the Queen’s hand of marriage. If I win, I will be King and Your Grace. It’s some big shoes to fill for a simple farmer.” My father puts both of his hands on my shoulders.
“Nicole, if you become King, this kingdom will become prosperous. We need that, people are dying in the city. We need someone who understands the people. You are the people, you can make a change. Fight your heart out, my child but don’t come back to me dead.” He smiles and hugs me tight. The armor clanks and I hug him back. I pull away and pick up Sam.
“You need to work hard, little one. You need to be there for Pa. You need to stay and take care of this farm. Okay?” Sam has this tough face on and is nodding. I kiss the side of his head and place him down. I get on Spot and look at my family. The Gods only know when I’ll see them again. I turn and start my way to the Castle.