“Are you sure that this is absolutely necessary?” The young woman gazed dubiously at the vial filled with green potion in her hand, as she questioned her trusted advisor.
“It is, your Highness. Unfortunately, the rebels almost breached the castle’s defences once today, and it’s only a matter of hours before they storm the keep. The loyalist army is still days away, and with no supply line or enough men at arms it will be impossible to prolong the siege. After the death of your father and the assassination of your mother you are the last legitimate heir to the throne, something that the pretender surely know. If he can capture or kill you the man will be unstoppable in his bid to the throne, and without a figurehead most of our armies will likely abandon the cause. In a stroke of luck the commander of the besieging army offered amnesty to all the soldier that resign their post in the next hour, promising afterward that every remaining defender would not survive the day”
The advisor in a rare show of comfort placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed softly “They will surely control every man and woman that abandon this fortress, but in the chaos no one would spare more than a glance to the mount of a seemingly random knight”
“I know this perfectly, but surely there must be another way! This is a punishment reserved for thieves and criminals, not for the heir of the country! With this plan I will be relegated to a beast of burden, robbed of the ability of speech, and forced to strut around naked like a common woman of the night!”
The advisor tried to mitigate his liege fear with a placating wave of his hands and a firm explanation “My princess, this plan is the most suitable because nobody would suspect a thing. You would be a mare among all the other horses, and under a trusted and discreet individual we would be able to smuggle you with the other caravans that are even now leaving the city as we speak. It would be very easy to administer the antidote to the potion outside of enemy territory, so that the loyalist could keep on fighting with their ruler. Besides you would be a mare for the journey, something that doesn’t wear garments normally, and no one would find it strange”
“You don’t need to repeat those reasons, I already heard them all, but what happens if something goes wrong? We have only the words of a man that follow an usurper, how trustworthy can his words be?”
The man hesitated as his liege almost started another rant against the idea, but was able to interrupt her “I know that the risks are many, but this is our best chance. Doing nothing will only see you as a captive, and will likely establish the enemy’s victory. Our options are few, and all of them are unpalatable”
The princess mulled the plan one last time, before with a deep sigh she nodded reluctantly “Very well, I will trust you. How will the loyalist recognize me then? I suspect that only the rider will be informed of this trick”
“Don’t worry princess, we will send a hidden code in a seemingly mundane letter to let them know of your new physical appearance and to look out for a different kind of barding that you will be fitted with. And remember: when you are a mare you must never let the enemy suspect a thing, so you must hid your intelligence and behave like a trained horse, and it means no biting and bucking if a soldier does something that you do not approve. It would be very suspicious if a trained horse behaved like a wild filly, after all the alchemists in the enemy’s service know about the potions and it’s only the daring and demeaning nature of the plot that will not make it obvious. Before drinking the potion I would advise to remove all the clothes from your person though, your highness”
The maiden blushed at the suggestion, before moving behind a divider placed exactly for the woman’s privacy, and started to disrobe. As the clothes fell to the ground one by one the heir to the throne let her hands glide above her skin with a bit of longing, inwardly scared to leave behind her beautiful visage. How much time would pass, she wondered, before she regained her true appearance?
“Very well then, I hope that this plan will succeed. Bottom up”