Gwen got up bright and early the next morning so she could saddle up her horse, Montague, and get ready for her journey to Jualaline. Last night’s dinner had been quite interesting. Elisabeth explained what Jualaline was and how to get there. When she heard it served as both a school and orphanage, Gwen’s curiosity went up a whole other level. This was very different than the monastic schools. Then again, the turn of the century was just around the corner.
During her mother’s explanation, Gwen asked herself why she didn’t send her there. Whatever. Perhaps she would learn the reason one of these days. At least she finally managed to convince Elisabeth to let her live her dream. Boy, was Gwen excited! She slept not a wink overnight, but she was wide awake.
She and Montague stood in the farm’s barnyard, and Gwen put the finishing touches on her horse’s saddle bag. A beautiful animal, Montague stood about sixteen hands, had four white socks, a white, star-like design on his forehead, and a brown body. Gwen wore her training uniform, with her musketeer hat on her head, her shield-like mirror on her back, and her sword on her hip. She was all ready to go.
Just as she finished tightening Montague’s girth, Elisabeth walked out of the farmhouse with a satchel over her neck. She came within reach of her daughter and smiled at her.
Gwen smiled back and admitted, “All right, I’m already to go. Ooh.” Her eyes landed on the satchel her mother carried, “Whatcha got there?”
“Don’t forget your lunch,” spoke Elisabeth’s motherly voice, and she held the satchel out to Gwen. Chuckling, she accepted it.
The young girl flipped up the satchel’s top, saying, “Mmm, yummy. You packed my favorite – prune rolls! Thanks, Mom.” Elisabeth chuckled and brought her hand to her cheek.
As Gwen put the satchel over her neck, she explained, “You should reach Jualaline by early afternoon. Hopefully, that will hold you over until you get there.”
“I’m sure it will. Well then.” Gwen stood tall, “I guess I’m off.”
Before climbing aboard Montague, she and her mother shared a nice, long hug.
“I love you, Gwen.” Elisabeth spoke in a slightly choked voice, “Stay safe.”
“I will, Mom. I love you too.” Gwen gently pulled her body away from mother, and Elisabeth rested her hands on her shoulders. She rubbed a tear from her mother’s cheek and said, “It’s okay. I know this is the right thing to do.” With that, she kissed her mother’s cheek and approached Montague’s left side. Lifting her left foot, she placed it in the stirrup. Pushing off with her right leg, she mounted him and picked up the reins.
Elisabeth patted the horse’s cheek and told him,
“Take care of my little girl, okay, Montague?” Montague nodded. He rubbed his forehead up against Elisabeth’s side, and she laughed.
Finally, after about two minutes, she pushed the horse’s head away from her and gave his rump a slap,
“Off you go.” More tears ran down Elisabeth’s cheek as he trotted forward, carrying her little girl on his back.
As she started towards the main road, Gwen peered over her shoulder and waved to her mother, calling, “Don’t worry, Mom! I’ll bring back my brother!” Elisabeth waved back.
She rubbed her eyes with her free hand and said in a low voice, “I know you will. You are the daughter of a musketeer. All for one, and one for all.” She felt like any other mother who had to eventually let their child out of the nest. It was both a happy and sad moment for her.
With one last wave, Gwen picked up Montague’s reins and said in an excited voice, “Montague, I’m going to become a musketeer! Yes!” She flicked them, and her horse took off at a canter. Behind, Elisabeth continued to wave goodbye. As she watched her daughter start down the main road of the country landscape, she hoped and prayed that she would bring Arthur back to her.
Gwen had the time of her life traveling to Jualaline. It felt great to finally feel freedom. Every once in a whole, Gwen would hop off her horse and practice her musketeer moves – cartwheels, back flips, and front flips. As she did this, Montague pranced like a dressage horse next to her. He looked very regal. An hour into the journey, they stopped for a snack break. The path Elisabeth told her to take cut through the forest. Gwen followed her directions, and the first thing she saw when she entered the forest were clusters of berry bushes and apple trees. Licking her lips, Gwen stopped her horse in front of a berry bush and dismounted him. While she snacked on the berries, Montague snacked on the apples. Smiling at him, Gwen cocked her head and picked an apple of her own. She ate it as they continued their journey.
After about an hour and a half, they passed a wondrous, sparkling waterfall that shimmered in the warm day where they took another break. Why rush to Jualaline? It was so beautiful today, and besides, this was Gwen’s first taste of freedom. She took off her hat and went for a dip in the waterfall’s pool. The water felt wonderful. It was hard to believe she was living in the Little Ice Age. Montague also went for a swim. After all, horses are very powerful swimmers. He circled Gwen like a dog expecting its owner to throw a stick for them, and Gwen playfully splashed him. She free-styled over to the waterfall and stuck her head under it. This was just the shoulder massage she needed.
Aside from the swim, she and Montague also enjoyed a nice lunch at the waterfall. Gwen ate her prune rolls and gave Montague a few more apples she picked earlier. Lunch was so delicious that the two settled down for a thirty-minute nap afterward. They woke up around 1:00pm and walked on, even though they were slightly disappointed about leaving the beautiful waterfall behind.
One more hour passed, and the path took them out of the forest’s main section. They now hit a huge field, Irodia Field, which had green grass and small clusters of trees. Aside from forest, a small but beautiful mountain range surrounded the friends as well, but not just them. Gwen pulled back on Montague’s reins and reached into her satchel again to pull out the juice her mother packed for her, but before she could pull it out, her blue eyes landed on a huge castle at the end of the field. Behind it, the forest continued, but eventually it would hit the Great Hungarian Plain, as well as Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Geographically, Hungary was only 2,100 miles from Arabia (the length of the Appalachian Trail).
At the sight of the castle in front of her, Gwen’s eyes widened, and grin stretched across her face.
“There it is!” she excitedly yelled, “Jualaline!” Sure enough, there it was. Directly in front of her rested the school/orphanage. The teenager could not contain her excitement. She slapped her satchel shut and urged Montague to a full gallop. Together, the two friends hurried down the hill and hopped over a small creek, in the direction of Jualaline.
When they reached the castle’s drawbridge, Gwen pulled back on the reins and stopped Montague. She read the sign above it, “Jualaline,” which told her she was in the right place, and she and Montague peered forward to the torchlit corridor. Why did Guinevere suddenly feel extremely nervous? She guessed it was because she did not know what to expect. This was an entirely different experience for her. Never in her life did she attend school. Tutors and her mother taught her, so in a way, she was homeschooled. Gulping, the young lady gave Montague’s reins a small flick, and he pranced into the torchlit corridor. Gwen shivered in the cold, but she immediately warmed up when she reached the other end. What she saw in front of her was amazing.
It was the school’s main courtyard, and roaming it were tons of teenagers, just like her. This told her that she entered from the older children’s school. At the sight of the new girl, children waved at her, and she waved back. She looked to her right and saw two kids practicing their moves for knight class, then to her left where two more rode on early versions of the unicycle. They technically were just running in place on top of a wheel. One boy was obviously a professional wheel rider, but his friend was nowhere near as good as him. Gwen flinched when CRASH! The less-experienced rider crashed into a bunch of barrels and crates.
His friend approached him, and he circled the downed boy. “Bro, you call that wheel-riding?” he asked his friend.
“I was just getting started!” the boy fought back. Gwen chuckled and passed a few girls who were practicing a cheer for the Friday Knight Strike. They tossed one girl in the air, and at the same time, announced, “Jualaline vs. the E-Otto!” before catching her. It did not take long for Gwen to realize that “E-Otto” was referring to the Ottoman Empire. Is this really what school was like? Not far from her, sitting on a bench, were two teenage boys playing a game of chess.
The loser groaned and smacked his fists on the board, announcing, “Bro! That’s three games in a row! What am I doing wrong?!”
“Allow me.” Gwen said from off to the side. She stopped Montague next to the bench and dismounted. Both boys looked up from their game and stared at her. Who was this new girl? She came between them and examined the chess board. While she did so, she tapped her chin. “Ah ha,” she said after a bit, and she made her move, “Checkmate.” The boy who’s won all the games up to this point – his jaw dropped. Did a girl seriously just beat him after merely one move?
His opponent burst out laughing and pointed at him, “Ha! She got you!”
“You’re welcome.” Gwen said with a small curtsy.
“Thank you!” admitted the boy who usually lost, “After two years, I can finally take the hottest girl to the dance!” Chuckling, Gwen returned to Montague and pulled his reins over his head. With a smile glued on her face, she steered him through the castle’s courtyard and tried to find the stables. First, she wanted to take care of her horse. Then she would look for Artie. Something inside told her that she would find him here.
The next teenagers she passed were two girls, Eszter (Ehs-ter) and Jazmin. They sat on another bench and were chitchatting with each other about boys. How typical.
Jazmin, who had short, black hair like Snow White, fluffed it as she listened to Eszter, “So, he asked me, ‘Would you like to go to the dance with me?’ and I was all like, ‘I’m not interested in younger men. I’d rather slam my face in a carriage door.’”
“Ugh! What a loser!” Jazmin scoffed.
“Totally,” her friend agreed with her.
Guinevere lifted her hand and called to them, “Excuse me!” At the sound of her voice, the girls stopped conversing. They each turned their heads and faced her. Nervous, Gwen rubbed her sweaty hands together and added, “Sorry to bother you, but can either of you point me in the direction of the stables?”
“Eniko!” Eszter suddenly shouted, “You’re here! Where were you?!”
“Um…,” Gwen started, but before she could finish, Eszter leaped up from the bench and grabbed her hands, dragging her away from Montague. She pulled her over to the bench and plopped her down in between her and Jazmin.
Eszter ran her fingers through her golden-brown hair and asked, “Have you seen Percival today? He was super-hot!”
“I’ve heard he’s a great kisser!” Jazmin excitedly piped up. She brought her hands to her lips and let out a flirty laugh, “I’d go out with him any day instead of that loser Artie!” The name caused Gwen’s hair to stick up on end. This girl just confirmed it.
Artie did go to school here. “Wait, Artie?” she asked, “You know him?”
“Um, and why are you interested?” Eszter wanted to know. She crossed her arms, “I thought you were in love with Percival.”
“Look, girls.” Gwen sarcastically laughed, and getting up from the bench, she backed away from them, “I just got here. I am not this Eniko you speak of.”
“Hm, well now looking at it,” Eszter admitted with her arms still crossed, “you do have a bit more of a muscular body build. Dost though work out with Percival?”
“I’ve never been here before. Please, my horse and I have been traveling all day, and I need to find a stable to take him in for the night. Please say you know where one is.”
Jazmin nodded and pointed to the right, “There’s one in the West Wing.”
“Thank you.”
Gwen’s eyes moved over to where Jazmin pointed, but she gasped when she saw a familiar figure hiding under a stone, torch-lit arch. Artie! It was him!
Eyes widening again, Gwen called to him, “Artie!” Artie turned from where he stood, and his own eyes landed on her. Instead of running over and saying hi to her though, he took off running in the direction of the West Wing of the castle, as well as the second half of the courtyard. Gwen quickly mounted Montague again and patted his cheek. She gave him a kick, and whinnying, the horse took off after the frightened, cursed boy.
ns216.73.216.131da2
and then Add to home screen.