The man and his child were talking with a farmer who was pushing a wheelbarrow with a moderate amount of potatoes.
“I might only have one arm, but I can still sling hay!” the man said. “And my daughter… she’s small, but she can work a field fast as any man!”
The merchant was already shaking his head.
“I don’t have the money for wages,” he said bluntly. “Here, take a few of these.”
The merchant grabbed a handful of potatoes and tossed them towards the sack. As the man and his daughter flinched to catch the potatoes, the merchant lifted his wheelbarrow and continued on his way.
“Well, good morning,” she said to the father and daughter. She placed her hands on her hips, playfully pleased at making the acquaintance of the little girl. The child snapped her head up, stunned but intrigued by the stranger’s greeting. The man’s eyebrows lifted in hope.
“Good morning, miss!” he replied. His voice lilted with kindness and sincerity. “Need anything? Is there any work that needs doing, or anything at all we can help with?”
“Well, I’m not in a position to employ anyone,” Jularra rushed to say so she could make her next point. “But I can certainly ask the master fletcher down the way. I’m his apprentice, and his wife!”
The man shifted and started to get up.
“Oh, my lady, that would be an absolute blessing!”
The disguised queen smiled and motioned for him to stay seated. She then knelt.
“Now, I can’t promise anything,” she said candidly. “But let me check. I’ll come back if we can make something happen.”
“Thank you so very much! We’ll be right here!”
Jularra stood. She brushed the hair of the little girl with her fingers and followed with a touch to her chin. After a departing wink, Jularra made her way down the corridor.
She felt horrible as she walked. She had of course lied to them, and had no immediate ideas on how to find them work—at least in her current persona. And though she could, as queen, order some food to be given to the father and daughter, the fact that there was such destitution in her city made her stomach turn with a hollow regret.
I need to get down here more. I want to know our people better.
Pieces of the previous day’s argument with her council shot through her mind like shrapnel. Her country should not need to worry about food.
Hundreds of queens before me didn’t give their lives to perpetuate a failed state, she thought angrily. Its citizens should not need to worry about food or work. And if we can’t provide either, then we must do what needs to be done to guarantee the health and prosperity of our people.
Jularra looked back to her new friends. It took her a moment to place them again through the layers of foot traffic, but at last she saw them. The little girl was looking up at another passer-by, holding out the sack, hoping for another gift. Her eyes exuded the burden of a sadness she didn’t understand, and the humility of poverty that no child should know.
Jularra’s chest began to heave as her adrenaline flowed, faster and faster. Her skin started to tingle. Anger thrust its way into her soul and shoved everything else out of the way, and suddenly her path became clear. She gritted her teeth and adapted to her new mindset, then turned and resumed her trek to the tower.
The streets narrowed with people as she continued on her way, though there was still plenty of room for those who would make their way to the market over the coming hours. Jularra dodged the crowd as she marched back to the state tower, her confidence in the plan she was devising growing by the second. After navigating the subsequent streets and reaching the tower courtyard, the sun topped the mountains and began to melt down the previously shadowed eastern tower.
She initially headed straight for the state tower, but remembered her disguise. She could return to her normal appearance easily enough, but her clothes would be hard to explain. With an abrupt swerve, she cut behind the eastern tower and started jogging for the residence. Hood pulled down, she shuffled through the portico and ducked into the alcove beneath the portcullis. She touched her face and closed her eyes. With a quick jolt from her fingertips, her normal appearance returned. As soon as the enchantment disappeared, she spun out of the alcove and skipped up the stairs.
The few servants and guards she passed on the way made no effort to interrupt her or question her actions. Soon enough, she returned to her bedchamber, washed, changed, and set back out for the state tower.
She brimmed with anger and the passion of her intentions as she made the familiar walk across the tower courtyard, where the reassuring calm of early morning yet remained. The merchants and entertainers hadn’t made their way to the tower area yet. Jularra took the few extra seconds' peace to further solidify her plan.
Her pace quickened as she neared the state tower and saw Korden step out to meet her. His face was relaxed, but his head was tilted in curiosity. She watched him open his mouth, preparing to speak, but Jularra saw something in his expression that she didn’t like.
“I don’t want to fucking hear it,” she snapped as she marched past him. Her anticipatory reprimand came with a pointed finger.
“I’ve been awake for approximately seventeen minutes,” he said flatly. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
She shot a glance at him over her shoulder before admonishing him.
“I saw that face you were giving me.”
The distance between them grew as she marched on. She stepped up into the tower's portico while Korden rolled his eyes. He fell in behind her before replying.
“Yeah, I still have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said with dismissive
