Oriana’s gown made shuffling noises on the marble tiles of the palace. She had initially thought of going to the kitchen to help out Louis, but then she remembered the men they had brought to the palace. So, she turned and made her way to the dungeon where prisoners were kept.
Rowan was with the prisoners. When he saw Oriana, he moved aside and bowed.
"Her Majesty."
Oriana nodded with a small smile. "What is going to be their fate now?" She pointed at the two men.
"The swindler has been—"
"I’m not a swindler but a great charmer," the man interrupted with a sigh.
Rowan continued, "His stall will be brought down since many people have accused him of the same act. And the other man will have to sign never to hit his wife again."
Oriana hummed, looking at the man who was charged for hitting his wife. It made her remember when her father used to hit her mother. Though Curtis was not her real father, as she had come to know, he was the only father she knew while growing up, and it was scary watching him go rampant. It made her feel bad for the man’s wife.
"Why did you hit your wife? She had only come to the swindler because you started hitting her."
The man puffed his chest up and down. "My wife works in an inn, and she used the money she got to take care of me and my mother since we don’t have any children. Then recently, some men started visiting the inn and she—"
Oriana narrowed her eyes. "And she?"
"She wouldn’t come back the same day, and when she does, she’ll be drunk. I started hitting her to tell me the truth!" The man completed with a low voice.
Oriana pressed her lips together; that was the only explainable reason. The woman was probably having an affair with another man, and that was also the same reason her father had hit her mother in the past. Queen Saline also had an affair, and she, Oriana, was the product of that. She raised her face, looking at the man.
"How sure are you that she had something to do with the men you’re talking about? What if she has been busy?"
The man shook his head. "I know my wife well. She used to adore me and take care of me, but then suddenly, that changed, and it was because of these new men... I don’t even know which town they came from, but they’re big and different."
"If you see them, will you recognize them?" Adric’s voice was heard from the other end of the corridor, and everyone turned to look at him.
Oriana found herself blushing when she saw Adric. She was moving her leg mindlessly on the ground when she realized that she wasn’t alone. She cleared her throat and acted like the Queen she was, with her hands on her chest, she bowed.
"Your Majesty."
Adric smiled at her, going to stand beside Oriana. He turned and continued with the man. "These men you talk about, will you be able to recognize them?"
The man nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty, I can try because they’re built different from the men in the village; they’re bigger. I’ve seen them once, and I’m not the only one complaining. Other men say the same about their wives, and lately some of your young maidens too."
Adric sighed. He knew something like this was inevitable. The days he had gone to war in the past, his men often went to the towns of the villages he conquered to have fun with their own. Though he had it controlled and made sure none of their affairs were forced, he couldn’t say the same about the new soldiers.
"Is there any problem?" Oriana asked, seeing the look on Adric’s face.
Adric nodded slightly. "Not sure yet, but we can confirm." He turned to Rowan. "Bring the man to the camp."
Rowan bowed, getting ready to drag the man with him when he remembered the swindler. "You too, come with me."
"But His Majesty didn’t ask me to join, I don’t want to go!" The village charmer tried to move back, but Rowan caught his neck and dragged him forward.
Back at the camp, Adric pointed at the soldiers that were training. "Do you recognize anyone among them?"
The man squinted his eyes, looking at the soldiers. When he recognized someone, he pointed. "Him! I’ve seen him showing some women the scar on his stomach."
General Malcolm, who was watching from afar, saw the man pointing at one of his soldiers. He joined them, bowing to Adric and Oriana first. "Is there a problem?"
Adric twitched his lips. "I just hope not. This man has said that some of your soldiers seduce their wives."
"My soldiers? I’m not sure. They’re well trained, though they can have fun, but they’d never bed another man’s wife," Malcolm defended.
The man from the village shook his head insistently. "I know what I’m saying. I’ve seen him in the village, and he’s very popular. Your Majesty, if you don’t believe me, you can come to the village and ask other married men."
Malcolm chuckled. "Then let’s ask my men too. We can’t have the story just from one side." He waved his hand and shouted the soldier’s name. "Tomas, come over here."
The soldier named Tomas ran to where his leader was and bowed deeply.
"Tomas, this man here claims to have seen you seducing married women. Is that true?"
The soldier gulped hard, seeing that everyone was looking at him. He got down on his knees quickly. "I deserve to be punished. I swear I didn’t know the woman was married. We had a few drinks, and strangely, I got drunk. When I woke up, I was in bed with her. That was when she told me she was married, but she swore that if I should pay her, nobody would ever find out about it. Forgive me, General. Forgive me, Your Majesty."
"See? I told you! These men have been seducing our wives. Your Majesty," the man pointed accusing fingers at the soldier who raised his face angrily.
"It wasn’t my fault! For some reason, the alcohol served is always strong and..."
Adric turned to look at Oriana. Things were starting to get ugly between the soldiers and the villagers, and it was something he needed to solve, or it would be used against him. Bringing in men that would destroy the morals of the villagers would also taint more of Oriana’s image.
"General, can we talk inside the tent?" Adric signaled, moving to the side with just the general while Oriana followed him. When they got to a place far from earshot, Adric said,
"I believe there’s more to everything going on. I think I should go to the village and find out what’s happening."
General Malcolm nodded. "I agree with you. My men are not so crude to force any married woman to bed. Something is wrong somewhere. And I’ll be going with you since the trouble is from my camp."
Adric nodded. "Fix up a match like you usually do. Let the winners have access to leaving the palace and going to the village, then we can follow them and find out what’s happening."
Oriana nodded approvingly, immersed in the plan. She couldn’t wait to uncover the truth and find out what was going on. When she felt someone’s gaze on her, she raised her face and saw Adric looking at her.
"You’re not going."
"Please," Oriana begged, "I promise to be on my best behavior if you’ll disguise me as one of the women. You need someone working with the women, and who is the best performer you know?"
Adric wouldn’t deny that Oriana was good when it came to acting, but he wasn’t going to have his wife join in serving while being ogled in a room filled with men.
"I’ll find someone else. We don’t know what’s going on out there. It’s going to be dangerous."
Oriana raised her hand. "It’s me. I’ve been through more dangers than we can count. And you’ll be there to save me. Please, let me help. They’re my soldiers too, and if someone is trying to taint their image, I want to help."
Adric rubbed his temples tiredly. "Ana," he muttered.
Malcolm added, "I think the Queen is right, Your Majesty. If something is really going on there, we need our eyes not just on the soldiers but on the women."
"Bless your soul, General Malcolm," Oriana clapped with excitement. The truth was that she didn’t want to leave her husband all alone, and she wanted a reason to always stay around Adric.
Adric sighed, looking at the little ball of trouble that was the love of his life. "Fine, but I’m not sending you in there alone."
"Umm," Oriana hummed, "I have just two women that can help. One is experienced enough."
Seeing that there was no backing down with Oriana, Adric finally agreed. "Fine, get them ready, and let’s meet by nightfall outside the palace." He turned to Malcolm, "And make sure your men don’t know about this. It’s okay to be a secret."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Malcolm bowed.
Adric nodded. He hoped that he was going to be fast in settling the issue before it grew into something bigger.
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