Raised wild

Chapter 23

I gripped my posters, ready to come up stage now any second. The last Lady was wrapping up her speech.

''It's time, you'll do great,'' Hayz whispered before opening the tunnel exit. We both got out and stayed hidden behind the stage.

Lady Dorothy started walking towards the seats with the others and the King slowly got up, a smug smile plastered on his face.

''Go now!'' Hayz whispered hotly and I ran upstairs and onto the stage, my heart beating furiously. The King stopped dead in his tracks, the smile dropping and I caught sight of Prince Oliver's eyes widening. This was now, there was no better time than now to make my voice heard for once. I had to stop caring about my image, about what people thought of me, and simply think about the benefits for the people.

The grin couldn't be helped on my face as I went in front of the stage where I could put my posters.

''Hello everyone, sorry for my tardiness. The makeup took a bit longer than intended.'' I pointed to my face to demonstrate, ''I am very glad of the opportunity the Queen gave us with that project and I've tried my best to find something useful.'' Whispers spread like dead leaves in Fall.

''As many must have seen in pictures, this was my attire when I came here a few weeks ago. The truth is I was- am poor, I live in a poor village and clothes aren't things we use our money for. People in the higher society have more money, buy themselves clothes often and sometimes throw them in the garbage after one use only. I've worn this exact attire at least five hundred times which is why there's a big hole in my left pocket. The goal of my project is to implant bins in every high-ranked village where people can throw their used clothes in. Those bins could be moved by the way of trains to the poorer. This way, not only would the poorer benefit of much nicer clothes, warmer or less dirty, there would be more jobs as well for transports and washing the clothes before distributing them.''

I took a deep breath and dug inside my right pocket, fishing out the clothe Grace gave me. I pulled on the burn marks and started to wash my face, careful not to touch my eyes.

''I think you can get rid of your makeup later, Lady Kaelie.'' I heard the King say and I smiled sweetly.

''Sorry Your Majesty, I am not quite done yet.'' After witnessing his pissed stare, I turned back to the audience and the cameras. ''It has come to my attention that rebels attack a lot, that people from everywhere can get drawn for war, but so few of us have the training to do so. It has come to my attention that Ladies - girls - can't fight.'' With that, I ditched the clothing on the ground and pulled off my former clothes, revealing a black suit, made of copper and some soft and elastic tissue that went from my wrists to my ankles. I switched the poster to show training rooms, ''I think everyone has a right to learn to fight, to know how to fight. Not only ladies and civilians, but the maids and cooks of the castle too, everyone should have that right if they want to. We can't retaliate if we can't even defend ourselves.'' I paused a moment to let it sink. ''Let's stop losing people, let's stop those unnecessary deaths and teach people how to defend themselves. The day guards won't be around, who do you think will pay the price?''

I smiled right into the camera, a determined look on my face, ''Let's fight back.''

The lights went out at that moment, the red light that indicated the cameras were on was now off. Just as I noticed it, someone grabbed my elbow tightly and pulled me furiously back. I looked up to see the King dragging me away from the scene, every Ladies' eyes on me. Some showed fear as others looked content of my faith awaiting.

His hand was encircling my arm, bruising it as he gripped harder with every single step he took. We finally arrived in a wide room which I recognized as the throne room and he pushed me on the floor. I fell hard, gasping in the process.