Taxing Beauty

"Taxing Beauty"

Chapter Two

The warm, solid flesh of the horse against her spread legs, and nobleman's strong body against her back, made the ride to her cottage the most enjoyable quarter-hour of her life. Julia entertained visions of herself a noblewoman of the castle, riding back to her humble beginning, in a rare fit of nostalgia. She would be clothed in the finest silks and satins and her men in attendance would be bearing gifts for her mother and father. Former neighbors would stop and stare, later gossiping how beautiful and regal she looked. She would charitably wave as she passed on.

They soon alighted upon her family's house, "Whoa there!" The men signaled the horses to stop and dismounted. Sir Roger grabbed her securely around the waist and swung her onto her feet, "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"No, not at all," Julia looked into the man's laughing eyes and blushed, looking away.

"Well, then, on with it, shall we?" The prince pushed his friend forward. Sir Roger rapped loudly on the wooden door.

It opened immediately and her father looked fearfully past the well dressed man, to his blood stained daughter, "Julia!" her mother gasped, pushing past her husband. She made to grab her and usher her inside, but was subtly blocked by Sir Roger's right shoulder.

"Greetings, My Lady, Sir, may we come in? I am Sir Roger and this is, of course, Prince Sebastian," the prince nodded his head slightly. Julia's parents took an involuntary step-back, allowing the men to pass into their front room. The prince swept his eyes quickly over their meager, but immaculate belongings. Julia noted her mother's discomfort, and suddenly felt both protective and ashamed. Standing in between the two large gentleman, she saw her mother's anguish as she was blocked from tending to her daughter.

"Please have a seat," Julia's father said hospitably, gesturing to his best chair. The prince quickly sat, and left Sir Roger standing next to Julia, looking quite at ease. The prince crossed his legs grandly and motioned for Julia's father to sit across from him.

The two men thus preoccupied, Julia's mother rushed to her, "My child! What happened!"

"I'll tell you what happened. Your daughter almost caused me bodily harm by falling right in front of my cavalry. We were then kind enough to escort her home," the prince looked Julia's father in the eye during this speech,

making him squirm slightly in his chair.

"Julia! You clumsy girl!" her mother scolded nervously. "Thank you for your generosity, My Lord. I promise I will punish her this carelessness!" Her mother yanked her hair roughly, to demonstrate.

Chuckling lightly, Sir Roger turned to the women, "That is not necessary, I'm sure."

The prince added, "No, not at all. I believe it is my duty, and right, to teach her that lesson. After all, it was my life, the very security of our kingdom, that she so recklessly endangered," the prince said overdramatically. Julia would have laughed, but felt a small shiver of fear pass through her, as she began to suspect this was not a game.

"Sir, I have the utmost respect for you and your position. I would never burden you with our petty household affairs. Don't give us a second thought. You have done so much already, returning our daughter safely back to her home."

The prince rose from his seat and towered over her mother, "My Lady, this is no burden, I assure you. Furthermore, if you did indeed have respect for my position, you would not deem any of my undertakings 'petty.' Sir Roger, would you please remind these people of the Taxation Laws?"

"With pleasure, Sir," Sir Roger replied, "The Taxation Laws state, that any citizen, found in breech of a law of the land, is thereby bound by decree to submit to any and all appropriate taxation the prince shall see fit."

"Wait just there," Julia father tried to laugh casually, "I know our prince is not saying that clumsiness is a breech of a royal charter!"

"No Sir," the prince said calmly. "That would simply be cruel and unusual, wouldn't it? That would tax every living child or elderly member of the kingdom, wouldn't it? What kind of tyrant would I be if I imposed such a ridiculous decree? What you, Sir, Madame, are in most severe breech of, is my simple decree that every, EVERY, member of the household is presented onto me upon every village inspection. My men have written records of all of my visits to your village, and never, ever, has this young lady been presented. Am I not good enough to face your daughter, or are you ashamed of your own flesh and blood!"

"Your Highness, it is none of these, I'm sure!" her mother rejoined. "You see," she began, "Julia has a very delicate constitution. At every visit, My Lord, she must have been prone on her bed, resting her poor frail body. I'm afraid I've never had the heart to pull her from her gentle repose, in order to greet you, Sire. Plus," she whispered, "her condition might be contagious. The doctor was never quite sure about the origin of her distress."

"Lies! Lies! I will hear no more! Woman, do you not think I am privy to all medical records of my kingdom? Do you think I would allow some heinous contagion to leak its way into my land? What nature of idiot do you take me for? No, you have broken the law, and hidden a member of your family from my view for years and years of deception! I can only suppose you were purposefully evading paying your rightful taxes for a family of three. You have deceived this land for too long! Listen now! You have failed to pay for your daughter, or acknowledge your daughter to the court. Thereby, she has been living illegally in this kingdom and you must pay all back taxes, or have your daughter seized by the court. Roger, ask this young woman her age and calculate the amount owed immediately!"

Sir Roger spoke gently to her, and then began making quick, figures in a notebook produced from his waistcoat. Julia's father held her mother protectively, as she wiped panicked tears from her eyes. Julia looked to her mother and father, and to the prince and Sir Roger, and felt terrible! What had she done? Sir Roger whispered a figure into the prince's ear and the prince suppressed a laugh.

"Looks like you're financing the new royal stables!" He announced the price and Julia's mother nearly fainted.

"We don't have that kind of money, My Lord. Please be reasonable. We'll do whatever we can, but that figure is simply impossible," her father said.

"Sir, you leave me no choice then, but to extract your payment in another fashion. You will pay your debt to me in service instead. I have been long looking for a lady of your daughters obvious, um, grace, to attend to me in my domestic matters. It seems quite fair that the member of your family who created your debt, will be the one to pay it off. Roger, seize her immediately. I have no more time to waste here!"

Sir Roger held firmly to Julia's arms and pushed her towards the door, "Mother!" Julia gasped and her mother cried out. Julia's father stepped up to grab the prince and the prince quickly knocked him to the ground with one blow.

"Another move like that and I will seize your wife as well. You watch yourself! We will send word regarding your daughter's new whereabouts and length of sentence, by messenger in the morning. For now, I pray you keep your senses," the prince warned.

Then men exited the cottage with Julia in tow. The prince called out to his men and their horses were brought forward. Sebastian leapt onto his steed and Sir Roger quickly lifted Julia onto his. After the two were settled, the prince shouted, "Bind her wrists and hold her tight, Roger. I don't want the poor maiden to suffer another messy fall."

Sir Roger produced a length of rope from the saddlebag and before Julia could believe what was happening to her, her wrists were pulled back behind her and tied firmly with soft rope. She felt Sir Roger's large hand encircle her waist and the other grabbed the reigns. A whip cracked and the prince's horse jolted forward, the rest of the cavalry following behind. It was all happening so quickly. Julia looked behind her and saw the figure of her parents getting smaller in the distance. She cried then, mourning about the birthday party she would never have, in relief for boring husband she'd never meet, and in fear of what lay before her.