The Stolen Princess And The Blind Prince

I hate this carriage.

It's creaky. It smells like horse dung. The axles are worn. The seats are in tatters and the wood is stained.

Every bump up this damned mountain is amplified ten times!

Ah, but I have no choice. It's this or death.

That's what our new Emperor decided. They were the victors in the war between our kingdoms five years ago. My father, the King, was slain in cold blood. He was lied to, just like my brother, mother, and I were.

In the treaty, it was agreed that we would trade my life, I would live in the capitol, marrying into the Emperor's family. In return, my family would be allowed to live in our former territory. We would be lower nobles, owning a small plot of land somewhere, but at least we would be together, even under the rule of the infamous Empire of Peaches.

Just as my father signs the treaty, his head separated from his shoulders. Executed by one of the Emperor's axe-wielding generals.

That's what my brother told my mother and me. He returned to us, pale and covered in blood.

"We have five years," he told me, as my mother had (rightfully) fainted onto a couch, "No later than three days after your twentieth birthday. That's when you must be delivered to the…"

"But what about you and mother?!" I rushed over to him, gripping his trembling hands, "He just killed our father! How do we know the fiend will let any of us live that long?!"

I still remember the look on my brother's face. His eyes were too-wide, wet with coming tears. His cheeks were washed, a sick gray color. His mouth a straight, thin line.

"We don't."

---

Those next five years were hard.

Our castle, was ransacked. We were moved down into the empty servants' quarters, with just the clothes on our backs, eventually having to sell those for money.

Family heirlooms were torn from our walls, and swiped from our cases. To be sold off to who-knows-where. Same with our precious jewels, and horses.

We had nothing now, save for the family hunting dog, Kyu. A pet my brother had somehow saved from the poaching. My mother just saw him as another mouth to feed, but I proved her wrong! He and I would go out to hunt ducks during the winter, and rabbits during the spring. Kyu and I made quite a team. My bow crippling them, then Kyu endlessly chasing, eventually returning with… food!

He's such a good dog. But I wish he was with my brother and mother now. They had been banished north, past the edges of the mountainous Empire, into barbarian territory. The winter's there were harsh.

"Please live," I whisper a single prayer, as the carriage hits a bump. "Ow!" My shoulder bounced off a wall. Hard.

"Sorry ma'am!" the coachman said, explaining the bumpy ride. "This here road is unpaved," his thick accent made my ears itch, "but we can't afford to slow down, it gets dangerous at night!"

Petting the sleeping Kyu, I couldn't help but think…

I hate this country!

---

Two more hours had passed, the sun disappearing behind the towering mountains.

Mountains that used to be so far away.

The road didn't get any better, if you'd been wondering. The incline had increased, my back fused with the rotting dusty cushions. If it anyone else but my brother had tied my luggage to the carriage, I was sure they would've fallen off a long time ago. Just as my behind was getting sore, and my brains began to leak from my ears, we passed over a rather sharp hill, stopping suddenly.

The horse w.h.i.n.ed, followed by the coachman cursing loudly.

With the rattling finally gone, my mind filled with curiosity. What was going on?

I looked out the tiny window, squinting at the sky. The stars could be seen, but, just barely… We were running out of time.

Looking at the horse I saw that one of the wheels had gotten stuck on the road. The hole had caught the back wheel, the worn wheel bulging from the strain.

I could hear him struggle to get out of his seat. The sides of the carriage banged as he rapped his knuckled along the side.

"For luck!" He must've caught me staring…

I hadn't got a good look at him since I had hugged my mother goodbye. The bags under his eyes were dark, showing just how tired he was. His bloodshot eyes looked firmly at the wheel. Then the hole. Then the wheel. Kyu was curious too, and we watched from the window.

He looked like he was mustering up for something big…

He pulled up his belt, with bellow, he kicked the back of the carriage.

BUMP!

My world lurched forward, Kyu's cold snout brushing my cheek. Kyu, now bored went back to lazing around. How can he be so relaxed?

I returned to my seat, Kyu resting his head in my l.a.p. Ugh, dogs tolerate such strange things…

Now, I exhale….

Finally, we can get moving again.

Wait! I don't want to marry a stranger!

But we can't stay here, can we?

---

The coachman smiled as he wobbled past. His steps were uneven, the kick turning his legs to pudding.

I had noticed before how thin he was, but I had never considered the type of man who would make this kind of trip. My mother must've told him where he was going…

"Are you sick?" I finally asked.

The coachman was silent for a second, I heard his whip crack.

"It happened during the war," his voice was low. "There was some sort of gas. It destroyed my lungs."

"You were a soldier?!" I asked.

This was a surprise. This scrawny, dirty man used to serve in my father's army?

"Yes, I was a cowardly man. Just as the castle was attacked, I took Red here," the horse I assumed, "and ran."

He chuckled, it soon turning into a wet, burning, cough. I heard the fluttering of a rag, and the coughs became muffled.

This man wasn't in any condition to be driving a carriage... He should be at home resting!

"Why come back?"

A purebred royal horse sells for quite a bit, more than enough for this man to afford the medicine he needed.

"Guilt? Pity?" he coughed again, spitting somewhere. "After the war, I finally mustered up the courage to come back… I-I honestly don't know what I expected?"

The horse slowed to a trot. Red wanted to hear her master's story too, it seemed.

"All my friends had gone. Many of them dead or missing. More people lived on the street than in their former homes. And then I heard that no one could leave! What kind of man takes everything, and forces people to somehow live with… with nothing?!"

Yes, after the war had ended, the Emperor had decreed that all residents in the former Royal City had to stay there until the royal family – my family, left.

It was disgusting. He strips the castle, the city and the people of everything. Many people had died of starvation, as the city was swept of almost all weapons.

"Then I met your mother," his voice was hot with anger, "Our queen. She was working as a seamstress. Mending u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r, washing clothes! It was beneath her! Our capitol city had turned into a rotting cage! I decided, then and there, that I would help her in any way I could!"

His voice was sharp. This was the most energetic I had seen him all day!

"I took on this mission," he continued, "promising your mother that I would take you up this damned mountain, even if it was the last thing I did."

I liked this man; I was a bit ashamed that I had thought so little of him before. All of us had lost so much in the last five years.

"What's your name soldier?"

"It's Pa, ma'am."

"Pa, thank you. You are no coward."

Pa didn't respond. The creaking carriage and rustling forest was enough.

The sky was dark now, the orange light nearly eclipsed by the dim moon light.

My home was once a bustling metropolis, now it was a starving city, a cage full of the sick and starving.

And it was still better than where I was going.