Looks like it’s up to me to get myself out of this.
“Look, I’m not really a witch—” I begin.
“Then why did you say so?” the man with the red beard still sitting at the table interjects. “Said she was going to see the Lady of Thornmere, so she did!” he exclaims, and the rest of the room murmurs in agreement.
Great, now I’ve been branded as a witch, and it seems that no one around here likes that. In fact, the looks I’m getting are positively hostile.
“Come with me,” Maud says, giving me the most dire glare I’ve seen yet. “Fine lady or not, I think it’s time you left my establishment.”
“But…but you told us we could stay as long as we liked,” I protest, as Valen and I follow her back to the “Deluxe Suite.”
“That was before I knew you was a witch—and before you accused my husband,” she snaps. “So I’ll take my payment now, and the two of you can get out of my inn!”
“Payment?” I’m covered in confusion. I know I should have expected this, but somehow I didn’t. When she first found us lying on the grass, Maud was so eager to bring us inside and so kind to us. I guess I thought she was doing a good deed, taking us in from the cold so to speak.
“Yes, payment!” she snaps. “A fine lady like you, dressed like that, can certainly afford to pay. So that will be ten gold and out you go.”
“Ten gold?” I’m aghast.
I haven’t had to deal with money much—being a princess has both its perks and its drawbacks—but I do know how much it costs to stay the night somewhere and have a meal. Even the nicest Inn with the most expensive restaurant back in my kingdom wouldn’t be more than two gold—three at the very most.
And though The Slaughtered Lamb is warm and has running water and good food, there’s no way the accommodations here are worth ten gold.
“Yes, ten gold and not a centine less.” Maud narrows her eyes at me.
“But this room and the food you gave us isn’t worth ten gold, even if I had it—which I don’t!” I exclaim, angry at her attempt to overcharge me.
“Are you saying you can’t pay? Because we may be a small town, but we have a debtor’s prison, right enough,” she snaps. “And the Head Constable is sitting in my common room eating my beef and mushroom pie—which happens to be his favorite. He’ll be happy to haul the two of you off for non-payment if I ask him to.”
“Surely you can’t be serious!” I protest. “You’re asking too much!”
She narrows her eyes to slits.
“I’m asking a fair rate, and you’d better pay it now. If you don’t have any gold on you, you can give me your hairpins and dress.”
“What?” I take a step back from her, shocked at the absurdity of her request. “My mother gave me these hairpins for my sixteenth birthday. And this dress was specially made for me by a very famous tailor!”
“And now you’ll give them to me to pay your bill!” Maud insists. “Or it’s off to debtor’s prison with the both of you!”
I’m about to argue more but at that point, Valen steps in.
“All right—enough of this,” he growls. “We’re grateful for your hospitality and the room and food you gave us, but you know it’s not worth ten gold. I could rent a room in a castle for that.” He gives me a meaningful look as he speaks.
Maud gets a mulish expression on her face.
“It costs what I say it costs!” she insists. “Now are you going to pay or am I calling the Constable?”
“Fine—we’ll give you the dress, but Irena gets to keep her hairpins,” he says.
“What?” I’m shocked all over again. I stare up at him. “What are you talking about? I can’t take off my dress!”
“You can and you will,” he says firmly. “You’ve got another dress on under it, don’t you?”
“I have a shift!” I protest. “And some undergarments—I can’t be seen in public like that!”
“You’ll have to be.” Ruthlessly, he pulls off my cloak and lets it drop to the floor. Then he turns me around and begins unbuttoning the myriad tiny mother-of-pearl buttons that go down the back of my dress.
“Hey—stop it!” I cry, but before I know it, he’s stripping the dress down and forcing me to step out of it. I’m left shivering in my thin white shift which barely covers my breasts and only comes down to my knees.
