Chapter 9 Letters

 The king was walking around the chamber (he had moved to another, smaller room in order to avoid the stench of the magical heap) and dictating letters to his royal scribe. 

‘... and for your help, I will offer you the hand of my only daughter, the beautiful Princess Karina and thus the right to the kingdom when I’m gone.’

‘Haven’t you already promised her to knight Gwidon, my King?’

The king coughed. 

‘Times are hard. I need help, people, knights, armies. I give what I can.’

‘And you promise her to all twelve possible princes? Isn’t that quite impossible?’

‘It’s not your task to comment on my decisions and ask questions. I need you to rewrite these letters, give me them to sign and send them as soon as possible. I hope that kings will send the troops immediately.’

The scribe shrugged and did his duty as he was told.

In the meantime, Princess Karina was standing behind the curtain. She waited until the chamber was empty before she headed towards one little room at the top of the castle’s tower.

‘He’s out of his mind!’, she thought to herself, ‘He treats me like a commodity. A thing which he can sell to everybody! It’s unspeakable!’ 

Furious, she stormed into the room and saw Erwin, the Royal Wizard, hunched over an old manuscript and eating a cauliflower soup from a clay bowl. 

‘Wizard! I need a potion!’

Erwin wasn’t quite used to the presence of a woman in his modest room, not to mention the beautiful and irresistible Princess Karina. He was aware of her reputation. He was also aware of how despicable and revolting he was these days. Being a royal wizard had been hard on him, deteriorated his health and made his eyes weak and covered in white. 

‘What potion?’

‘I need a potion which will make women stronger. Physically stronger. I need a lot of it and I need it to be effective.’

‘What would you use it for?’

‘For war, isn’t that obvious? Our knights are currently on the Turkish border, but their women stayed behind at home. I don’t have time to train them, I need something which will make them unbeatable.’

Erwin sensed from the tone of her voice that she made up her mind and there was no discussion on the subject. She didn’t need his consent. He opened his cupboards and began looking for ingredients. 

‘I need you, scribe!’ the princess entered the room of the royal scribe, again not bothering to knock, ‘I need to dictate a letter!’

The scribe was currently finishing rewriting the last of the king’s letters which were about to be sent to neighboring kingdoms.

‘Now!’

He took another piece of parchment and waited, holding his scribbling feather pen, listening with his eyes wide open. 

‘To the Women of the Kingdom, 

For years, you have been taking care of the household, bringing up children, and letting your men fulfill their ambitions and defend their honor on the battlefield. You were never certain whether they would be killed, skinned, beheaded, or would meet on their way someone younger and more beautiful, leaving you heartbroken. You lived in fear of being abandoned and without means to live. You entrusted those who didn’t treat you seriously and had more important matters to take care of. Your fathers, brothers, husbands, and sons were the center of your attention and you put them first. Now you have to think about yourselves. Things have to change. Our kingdom is going to be attacked by the army of Goblins. They want our land, our food, and our most precious possessions. They have their reasons to hate us but we have our reasons to fight back. Should we allow them to destroy everything we built and believed in? Should we allow them to rape us and make us raise their goblin children? Should we watch helplessly as they plunder our kingdom while our men fight with the Turks? We shall not!

We need you more than ever. We will provide weapons, but you are welcome to take with you anything that could be of use in the fight with Goblins. Don’t sit and wait, come!

The Royal Princess, Karina”

‘I need you to rewrite it and send it to towns and villages as soon as possible.’

‘How many times?’

‘Let’s say, one hundred and twenty.’

Karina left the room and left the scribe with a heap of work. It was the first time in the scribe’s life when he thought about a pay-rise but was afraid to ask as his income was regulated by the king. 

‘Why does it taste like cauliflower soup?’

‘I thought I should give it a taste which would be commonly recognized.’

‘And how will I know if it’s working? Should I attack you?’

Erwin covered his head with his arms afraid of being hit by the princess.

‘Wizards!’ Karina rolled her eyes in a disappointed manner, ‘Fine, I will find somebody else.’

She walked out into the corridor and after a while saw a knight.

‘Knight! I need your service!’

‘Yes, Princess. Shall I dust your chamber?’

‘Zachary, it’s you. No, I want you to attack me.’

‘Excuse me?’ 

‘I want you to attack me. Quickly, Zachary, I don’t have time for discussion.’

‘But I cannot attack a princess!’

‘It’s an order, Zachary. If you don’t fulfill an order you are going to be beheaded.’

Knight Zachary opened his eyes and, even though unwillingly, he rushed onto the princess with all his might, sure that he will defeat her in a second. As a matter of fact, he himself within a second was lying, defeated, in his armor, on the ground, heavily bruised and with a headache. 

‘Thank you, Zachary’ the princess clapped her hands to wipe the dust, ‘It’s really working!’

With a genuine smile of satisfaction, she left bruised Zachary alone and rushed to the courtyard.