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You can look at the previous “Sign of the Timez” by searching my profile for;
- Child of the Cave
- Were you there?
- Princess Hostage
It looked as if I escaped death one more time. I was now in a big bed in what appeared to be an old room. I looked around and wondered where I now was. It did not look like I was someplace that was bad. The bed was very comfortable and when I looked around I could see very old dolls and wooden toys.
A girl a bit older than me said politely that it was time to wake up. I did as she said while wishing her a good morning. She smiled and told me to stand still while she would dress me. This was strange. I could dress. When I told her that I could do it myself, she just laughed and said that it was her job. So I just stood there, as she undressed me and put on the prettiest dress I had ever seen. It was like one of the dresses I have seen once in a medieval film. It made me think that I was a princess.
I went down to breakfast and sat with a lady. I knew that she must have been my mother. She also had a nice dress on, but she looked so old and tired. She smiled when she saw me. The breakfast was like porridge, so it was nothing that I liked. I did not want things to go bad as they did in my previous adventures, so I ate it up. After breakfast mom took me to a small chapel where we prayed.
Then I had a tutor that tried to teach me Latin. I noticed other children my age around the house. They wore simple clothes, so I figured that they were servants. They were too busy to be in this small classroom. It was obvious that I was an upper-class child that had a life of luxury and did not have to worry. It was a nice change that my life was not in danger. I could live here and be spoiled. The thing was that the book saved me before when someone was about to kill me. How would the book save me this time?
One thing I did notice was that it seemed that I had no dad. I met my mother and all the servants, but I did not see any man. It was not as if I had time to ask, as, after my lessons, I had to take music lessons and then learn how to sew. I wanted to ask If I had a Dad, but it seemed like I was always busy doing something. I guessed that we were in medieval times and my dad was probably a knight. Maybe he was a hero that died in a war.
The book did not send me to a bad place. I lived in a castle and had servants to help me. One of the servants told me that I was lucky I had a tutor. Most children did not have an education and had to work all the time. I was told that soon, I could be sent to a noble house and learn how to be a lady. This did not happen because I was special. I was not told why I was so special.
I got used to daily life as a noble girl. I was helped in every way. The food was nice, although I did not like the porridge or soup. The lessons were hard. Latin was impossible to learn and I had to learn a lot about the Bible. It seemed as if I was always busy. When I observed what was happening around me, I noticed that children seemed to be treated like small adults and not children. I felt sorry for the children that worked here. They were given hard chores and worked many hours. I had no brothers or sisters, so this means that I was often left alone.
I did notice that others gave me some strange looks. I would often hear them whisper to each other when I was close by. They had facial expressions that showed disgust and disapproval. I knew that they were talking about me. I did not know why they were not happy with me. I treated the lowest servant with respect. I never protested when I tried to do something. Despite this, it was obvious that I was not liked. This made me more desperate and tried to be more friendly with them. When I tried to converse with them, they would answer politely but not talk with me. All this treatment made me think that I was lonely. Was it because they were jealous?
I knew that mom was not happy. She always looked so sad and at times I could hear her cry. It made me think of my real mother. I remember when she would worry or even cry. She tried to hide from me, but there are some things you cannot hide from a child. It always was tough to see when she was this way and it made me feel so powerless. It was the same for my medieval mom. It was hard to see her so sad and crying. The only thing I could do was hug her. This made her smile for a bit and tell me how good I was as her daughter.
In my previous experiences that the book sent me, there was always a lot of drama and my life was always in danger. I was hoping that this time it would be different. I was relieved when I came here and thought that this would be a safe experience. I even did my best to be obedient and well behaved. However, I could see that there were troubles and this could mean that something bad could happen to me.
A well-dressed man visited us one day and wanted to speak with us. I should say that he wanted to speak with mom. Despite that I was there, he treated me as if I was invisible. He was mad at mom. This must have made mom very defensive as they were both mad and shouting. The rich man said that he had a message from the king. The king would not acknowledge me. He wanted mom to stop her allegations. Mom was reminded that the king had given mom a substantial allowance and gave both of us a comfortable life. The king was losing his patience and demanded that mom would be silent.
Mom would not listen and shouted that the truth should never be silenced. The king had taken advantage of her and it was only right that he took responsibility for it. This meant that he had to acknowledge my existence and where I came from. The rich man warned mom that this would not happen. She had to understand that I would never be accepted or respected. Mom was asked if she wanted me to be the subject of ridicule and gossip, where I would never be respected. The man stormed out.
I was confused. I knew that the argument was about me. I asked mom why they were arguing about me.
“It's about time you knew,” Mom started to tell me, “When I was young, I was in the Royal court. I was a God-fearing woman but also extremely innocent. The king had a crush on me and started to seduce me. He wanted an intimate relationship with me. I did not want this, as I knew that an intimate relationship outside marriage was a sin. The problem was that my dad was very ambitious and could see that an intimate relationship with the king could make our family richer and more powerful”
Mom made a sign of the cross and continued, “I obeyed my father and let the king have his way with me. Then I became pregnant with you. I have hoped that the king would marry me, but he did not. So I was disgraced because I suddenly had an illegitimate child. This meant that my reputation and virtue were ruined.”
Mom then wiped her tears as the story was not finished, “I was not so worried about myself but worried about you. Being born out of wedlock is the worse start you could have. This would follow you for the rest of your life. The king knew he was your dad but would not admit to it in public. It did not matter that everyone knew you were a princess. If the king did not admit it, then you were considered born out of sin. The king then banished me from the court. We were sent here and he tried to make amends by making sure that we lived in luxury.”
I honestly did not understand what the big deal was. This story just showed how bad the king was. I remembered some children at my school in 2020 that had no dads and had no clue who they were. This did not mean the children were bad. Why should It be so bad if someone was born out of wedlock? A baby is a baby. A baby is always a miracle and a gift from God.
A few days later, a priest tried to come and convince mom that she should keep quiet. Once again mom protested and said she was just telling the truth. The priest said I was a “bastard” and born out of sin. He advised mom that she should concentrate more on my soul than on who my Dad is. This outraged mom, as she argued that I was the most saintly child she ever met, and she did not like when someone called me a bastard. I had a father, a father that would not recognize me. This in turn outraged the priest as he told mom that all children are born sinners and it is a mother's responsibility to cleanse our sins.
As he went, the priest said mom would be punished if she did not obey the king. This worried mom for days. I remember stories from history classes about how kings liked to behead people, including their wives. So I was afraid that this was a possible punishment. It made me wish that I had two heads.
I could see that mom was worried about this punishment as well. She was in a dilemma. She did not think it was right to be silenced and at the same time, she did not want to lose her head either. She told me that we would be moving to a hiding place. I do not think she thought about this clearly, as to how would we live? This meant that we would lose our life of luxury and I would end up being a servant or working on some farm. I knew that the magic book would give me problems. It would not allow me to live a normal and peaceful life. Maybe it would transport me home before this all happened.
We spent weeks planning as I was hoping that the book would do its magic any day. This did not happen. I was slowly getting used to the fact that there would be a major change in my life.
My prediction came true. A day before we would move, the rich man came with some soldiers. One of the servants was a spy and told the king that we would move. The rich man told mom that she was warned and that I would be taken away. The soldiers grabbed me and started to lead me out to a waiting wagon. Mom was hysterical and tried to cling to me and beg the soldiers not to take me. The soldiers pushed mom back and put me on a wagon.
As we rode away, I could see mom on her knees praying and crying. I was also crying.
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