Lyra is busy, and what she's doing confuses Marcus

The castle loomed above as Jack led the young prince by the throat through the open gates. Where once his home had been a place of safety, a shelter from the scary things about the world beyond these walls, now it had fallen to the enemy, and he knew there was nothing good waiting for him back here. Jack's plodding footsteps guided him forward no matter what he wanted, even if the older man was being careful not to tug his collar too hard. Marcus found himself walking a little faster so he could stay nice and close to the one person who'd done him any kindness at all.

There were two of Lyra's ruffians waiting at the doorway into the keep, kneeling in the dirt and playing some kind of game with dice and tokens. Jack coughed loudly as he approached, and both jumped to their feet, looking sheepish. Marcus felt like laughing. None of his Father's guards would have ever been so unprofessional, even if these guys had somehow managed to overwhelm them. He wondered how a bunch of dirty peasants had even taken the castle. It had to be through some kind of nasty trick!

"Heya Jack." The nearer one, a skinny man with a cleft lip rubbed his arm awkwardly.

"Don't let me catch you doing that again." Jack sighed, pointing at the dice still scattered over the dirt.

"Well, you won't catch us." The other ruffian, a dark-skinned woman, chuckled loudly. Jack was laughing too, shaking his head. Still hiding behind the brawny man, Marcus frowned in confusion. If his Father had caught some of his guards slacking off like this, they'd have been flogged for sure!

"Holy shit, look at her!" The skinny man gasped suddenly, pointing at Marcus. With a squeak of shock, the young prince shrank back behind Jack's big torso, struggling to hide his naked body with his hands.

"That's a boy, you moron." The girl ruffian sighed. "The prince, right?" She glanced at Jack, her eyebrow raised.

"Yeah." The brawny man nodded. "I'm getting him back inside for Lyra."

"She selling him off yet?" The woman asked, her dark eyes flickering up Marcus' bare legs. "Cause I'd like a piece."

"No." Jack replied coldly. "And it's not so you can hurt him, alright Lily? She doesn't want him harmed."

"He wouldn't be, at least not permanently." The woman scowled, her dark lips curled. "I just want to get some justice, that's all." A strangled whimper escaped the young prince's lips at the vicious look she gave him. If this was his other option, he'd gladly stay with Jack all day if he had to.

"Well you're not going to get that chance." Jack growled, his low voice rumbling in the air. "He's paying for what his family did already, the fair way. Now out of my way, both of you." The two ruffians darted to one side. Even though the woman still looked mad, she was clearly too frightened of Jack to do anything, even when the brawny man pulled Marcus past her and through the doors into the castle's entrance hall. The young prince darted to his savior's side, panting with relief. That had been way too close! He didn't know what that awful woman wanted with him, but she seemed so very angry!

"Thank you." He whispered softly, as soon as that awful pair were out of earshot. Jack just shrugged, but he loosened his grip on the chain so it wasn't pulling quite so tightly on Marcus' neck. They were headed to the throne room, the young prince realized. He swallowed anxiously. What was waiting for him there? He really hoped Lyra was just gone or something, so he could stay with Jack instead. If he had to be a prisoner, let it at least be to someone nice.

The door to the throne room was open, and there was a small crowd of people waiting inside. Lyra was standing on the dais next to the King's throne. She was pointing and shouting orders, directing a few of her ruffians who seemed to be carrying sacks into the room and dumping them on the floor. As Marcus watched, a very grubby looking young girl in a tattered dress scampered forward, standing in front of the awful rebel. He couldn't hear what she said, but Lyra nodded and smiled, waving one of her men forward. The girl jumped for joy as she was handed a small bag full of what looked like gold coins. Marcus lent forward, trying to see better. Just what was going on here? Lyra was awful, why was she giving away money?

"They're petitioners." Jack answered the young prince's unasked question. "Anyone from the town can come here and explain what they need the gold for. She decides if they deserve a share, mostly the beggars or infirm. It was the fairest way we could think of to use all that money your Father had locked away. We'll do this for a couple days, as well as sending out a few riders carrying food and supplies to find the isolated villages where people are in the greatest need. Then, once we're sure the people aren't suffering, we'll start setting up a fairer way to get this country running again. No-one's going to starve just to pay their taxes anymore."

Marcus frowned in confusion. This still didn't make sense. His Father would never have let anyone starve just to get more gold out of them. But that was what all these people were saying happened! He didn't get it! Why were they all so angry with his family anyway? Even Jack still spoke like he deserved to have these terrible things happen to him just because of who his parents were. It wasn't right! Only he couldn't even argue back and just hearing it over and over was making him question things anyway.

He froze when Lyra glanced up, her one good eye finding him cowering there. She smiled thinly, then waved one of her men over. He seemed to take over handing out the gold, while she stalked past the crowd, dragging her bad leg behind her. Trembling like a leaf, Marcus shrank back against the dubious safety of Jack's huge body. The brawny man had saved him from her once...please let him do it again now!