Gild

Auren remembers walking through Highbell Castle for the first time 10 years ago. At that time, she was 15 years old, and Midas was not yet king. He took her to the castle and explained that he was going to offer to marry the princess. The kingdom sat in the “frozen wasteland at the tip of the world” (103), with no farming and little to trade, and was burdened with enormous debt, so Midas intended to offer the help of his gold touch in exchange for the princess’s hand in marriage. However, he promised Auren that he would always keep her by his side, safe and cared for. He called Auren his “Precious,” and Auren felt no doubt that he loved her, no matter who he married for political reasons.

Now, she walks into the banquet hall and reminds herself to trust Midas. The hall is a scene of debauchery. As musicians play in the center, some people dance, while others recede to the alcoves to indulge in sexual pleasure. At the far end, Midas and Fulke sit on a dais. Three saddles are sitting on and around Midas, while Rissa sits on Fulke’s lap, working hard to keep his attention.

Midas announces that the alliance between Sixth Kingdom and Fifth Kingdom has been solidified by their great victory in Fourth Kingdom. He officially gifts Fulke a single night with his favored saddle, Auren, who steps forward and bows. Midas takes in her altered dress with a mixture of disapproval and amusement and then orders her to “be a good girl” and sit with Fulke (110).

Fulke orders Auren to feed him with her fingers and grows amused when she tries to resist his groping. He lewdly promises to make her pay for her “naughtiness” (114). Eventually, Fulke drags Auren into his lap and presses her hand to his crotch. Suddenly, Rissa offers to dance for Fulke. As she begins to dance, Fulke orders Auren to watch and learn how a saddle should behave, and he soon becomes distracted by the display. Auren is unsure if Rissa is jealous of the attention that Auren receives or if she is merely trying to give Auren a reprieve. Auren notes that Fulke clearly enjoys Rissa, who is beautiful, blonde, and elegant. Auren does not have the elegance and professional bearing of the other saddles because she has only ever been expected to satisfy Midas.

As the evening continues, Fulke pets Auren’s head and continues making lewd comments, as if trying to goad Midas into a response. Midas ignores Fulke’s behavior, and Fulke finally announces that he will take Auren to his rooms. Auren looks to Midas, hoping that he will change his mind, but when he only nods, Auren feels cracks run through the foundation of her trust in him. Fulke grabs her arm and pulls her toward the doors as the men in the hall call out vulgar encouragements. Auren decides not to “behave.”

In the middle of the hall, Auren halts and refuses to go with Fulke. He furiously turns to Midas, who storms down from his dais to confront her. Auren insists that she is worth more to the king than this, and Midas leans down to threaten her, saying, “I still own you, and I will spend you any way I see fit” (125). Auren feels her heart shatter, and as Fulke tries to drag her away, she fights, kicking and screaming as his guards haul her out of the banquet hall.

In the corridor, a messenger arrives, distracting Fulke. The messenger says that he has come from Fourth Kingdom’s border with news. They all move to the library, where the messenger explains that Fulke’s army has been destroyed because Midas’s army never arrived. The previous news of victory was a lie: Midas has betrayed Fulke.

Everyone falls silent and turns to Midas, who calmly explains that Fulke should take this lesson to heart, as it was his own fault for believing that a single night with a saddle was worth an entire army. Auren is even more shocked than Fulke as she realizes that Midas has spent years befriending Fulke and taunting him with Auren’s presence so that he might finally orchestrate this trade. Meanwhile, Fulke realizes that Midas never intended to attack Fourth Kingdom at all; the plan was merely a ruse to remove the bulk of Fulke’s army so that Midas could invade Fifth Kingdom instead.

Now, Midas’s men kill Fulke’s guards, and in the confusion, Fulke grabs Auren and presses a knife to her throat, threatening to kill her. The knife digs into Auren’s throat, making her bleed. Suddenly, Digby rushes forward, pulls Auren out of Fulke’s arms, and stabs a sword through the man’s chest, killing him. Midas orders Digby to take Auren to her rooms. Digby carries her through the corridors, and she buries her face in his neck. Finally alone in her room, Auren sits covered in Fulke’s blood, stunned.

Later, Midas unlocks the door of her cage and walks in, offering to help her clean up and take care of her. Auren stares at him, remembering a previous moment in which he offered to take care of her. In the past, after bandits destroyed Auren’s village and enslaved her, she eventually escaped and resorted to begging on the streets. One night, she took refuge in a kind family’s home, but they were attacked by looters and captured. Suddenly, Midas rode in on a horse with his men, acting as a vigilante to fight bandits and criminals. He saved Auren and the others, and when Auren cowered from him, he promised that she was safe.

Now, she lets him undress her, place her in a golden bathtub, and wash her. He cleans the knife wound on her throat and apologizes for the injury, and she says that the wound is the least of her hurts. Midas then insists that he was never going to let Fulke touch her. He explains that he learned that Fulke was a “flesh trader” and that he devised this plan to stop him (150). He claims that his plan was meant to save others from suffering the same fate that Auren had endured as a child. He begs for her forgiveness, and Auren forgives him unquestioningly. When he reminds Auren that she is his, she agrees. As they have sex, Auren delights in the way that Midas claims her, but later, when he leaves in the early morning, she sobs into her pillow for reasons that she is not yet ready to name.

Auren watches guards carrying trunks full of clothes and other belongings out of her rooms. Three days after Fulke’s death, which Midas blamed on a dissident within Fulke’s own ranks, Midas traveled to Fifth Kingdom under the guise of offering his aid following their king’s sudden death. Only Auren knows that Midas plans to take over the kingdom completely. Now, several weeks after Midas’s departure, he has summoned Auren and a dozen other saddles to join him.

Auren faces the prospect of leaving the castle with trepidation and excitement, although she also feels a sense of loss upon leaving her cage, which she views as a place of safety. Though she has often resented her isolation, a part of her chose to hide from the world that had rendered her a battered, terrified girl. Now, she will be outside for the first time in 10 years, and she is afraid, knowing that many would kill to capture the king’s favored saddle and either keep her or sell her for ransom. Digby has hired several new guards to protect her on the journey. The guards lead her to a carriage, and she pauses to enjoy the cold wind and the single star that is visible through the clouds.

Auren enjoys riding in the carriage with its plush velvet and leather interior. She has a carriage to herself, while the other saddles share a different one, and guards ride horseback around them. The trip is treacherous amid the snow and ice. Highbell Castle sits at the top of an icy mountain in the frozen terrain and constant snows of Sixth Kingdom. The way down the mountain is dangerous and difficult. Not far from the castle, partway down the mountain, lies Highbell City.

Auren becomes restless and asks Digby if she can ride a horse. Digby agrees, and as she mounts the horse, the other saddles laugh at her for riding astride rather than side-saddle like a proper lady. Another guard, Sail, kindly tells her to ignore them. Auren makes conversation with Sail as they ride through the city.