Chapter 2
The pain felt different in my body when I regained consciousness. The pain was excruciating, as if I had been in a fist fight and lost badly. I started coughing and that only made the pain worse. I opened my eyes reluctantly and frowned confused. I wasn't in the ministry of magic anymore, I immediately realized as I looked around.
I was lying on the ground in a very shady and almost destroyed little shack made of wood and straw. The scraps of the shack were around and on top of me, so I concluded that the pain in my body was due to them hitting me when the shack had collapsed. What I didn't understand was how I had ended up there.
I heard screams from outside the shack and saw how the other shack next to it was in open flames and its smoke made me cough again painfully.
I pushed the scraps off me and sat up to get better air. As I sat down, I noticed a new source of confusion. Someone had healed my wounds of the curse on me and my clothes had also been changed. The jeans, shirt, and jacket I'd been wearing at the ministry had been replaced by a coarse gray dress and a vague-looking brown leather vest fastened with a thick belt. I stared at my clothes in disbelief and then the shack I was in. I had never seen a shack in such miserable condition before, and I couldn't figure out why I had been brought there. Why wasn't I in st. Mungo, if the attack was over? I had been badly, if not almost mortally wounded by the curse. Maybe the Death Eaters had won and brought me here? That didn't make any sense either though, since Lestrange had clearly tried to kill me, so there was no point in first trying to kill someone and almost succeeding in it and then saving that person.
I stood up and rummaged through my strange clothes, hoping to find my wand. However, it was a vain hope and the wand was nowhere to be found. I let out a disappointed sigh, but left the shack before it caught fire as well.
The outside of the house didn't make any more sense. People dressed in similarly strange medieval looking clothes were running around and more than one shack had been set on fire. Confused, I looked at the people running and wondered if I had been taken to some muggle medieval festival where there had been an accident with a fire.
"Run, Renea!" a man running past me shouted and grabbed my hand, pulling me along.
"Let go!" I screamed and tore my hand away from the man's grip, startled. The man didn't care, but continued to run in a panic. I stared after the man, heart pounding and confused. What the hell was going on?
Then my eyes fell on the bloody man lying on the ground and I saw how his organs had partially spilled out of the stomach wound. Almost as soon as I realized that, the smell of death and blood hit me so badly that I threw up right in front of me. Something was terribly wrong. I wiped my mouth and started running with the others without even knowing where I was going.
The reason for the people's terror soon became clear to me. I ran past some sort of battle, but soon realized it was more of a slaughter than a battle. I watched in horror as men dressed as soldiers were waving swords to the people running away from them.
One soldier tried to hit me as well, but I managed to dodge and backed away. The soldier looked at my wrist and his eyes widened. “Mudblood! There's a mudblood here!” he shouted to the other soldiers.
I didn't stay to ask how he knew that and just continued to run away. I didn't run for long when I heard a scream behind me. “Stupefy!” And everything went dark.
****
“Renneverate.”
I came to consciousness again and opened my eyes in a big dark room. I lay on the ground in the dim light of candles and the fireplace. Standing in front of me were men dressed in soldier-like clothes and a few women. Before I knew it, someone brought me violently to my knees. My hands were tied painfully tight and my knees were hurting from the hard blow, so I whimpered in pain.
"Your traitorous lives have been spared for now, so I recommend you to be honest and save yourself from more pain before you die."
I raised my head in the direction of the voice. I was on my knees and about a dozen other scared looking people were kneeling next to me. In front of me stood a middle-aged, worn-out witch with a long sword on her belt and a wand in her hand. I assumed she had revived me. In front of the fireplace behind the witch, in a large wooden chair, sat a middle-aged, brown-haired, thin man with a dull silvery crown on his head. He had a solemn look on his face and looked at each kneeling prisoner on the ground in turn with a menacing stare despite his calm demeanor.
Next to him at the long table sat three other men. I didn't recognize two of the three, but at the third my eyes nearly popped out of my head. Draco Malfoy sat with the men and grinned mockingly in the direction of the prisoners. Like the other men sitting at the table, Malfoy was dressed in fine leather armor and had a long sword strapped to his belt. Malfoy looked a little different than the last time I'd seen him, but it had been over a year at least, and even then it was just a glimpse. His hair was longer than I had ever seen on him at Hogwarts and it reached his chin in a soft wave. I had never seen him so unkempt either. He seemed to have either gained more muscle mass or his thick medieval-style military clothing was making him seem bigger.
I swallowed in fear because for the first time in my life I didn't understand at all what was happening. Why is Malfoy with these strange people? Why is everyone dressed weird including me? How did I get here from the Ministry of Magic? I thought about how close I'd been to death at the Ministry, so none of the scenarios I came up with made any sense.
"We know that you were mudblood servants of Valdis and thus you are traitors. However, the king has decided to show mercy to those who help him apprehend the traitor leader Valdis and end this war of needless bloodshed,” the woman who had revived me spoke. I blinked in confusion, wondering if I heard wrong. I didn't know anyone named Valdis, but the woman seemed to think I was that person's servant. Was Valdis a new Death Eater we didn't know about yet? I was even more confused by the woman's talk about the king. There hadn't been royals in the wizarding world for hundreds of years and muggle England was ruled by a queen, but I couldn't understand a reason why anyone in the wizarding world would be interested in muggle royalty at all.
"Who wants to be the first to acknowledge the true heir and the king?"
None of us kneeling moved. A woman a couple feet away cried quietly and everyone looked equally scared, but no one answered the witch. The witch turned to look at the man in the big chair, from which I concluded that the man was most likely to be the king the witch was referring to, for he was sitting on a throne-like chair and had a simple crown on his head. The king nodded in calmly and the witch raised her wand and pointed at the sobbing woman.
"Crucio."
The woman's scream echoed so strongly in the hall that I startled violently. The tortured woman fell to the ground and writhed in her bonds, screaming at the top of her lungs. I swallowed in fear, but my mouth was dry. The witch stopped the torture after a while and the woman was left lying on the ground breathing unevenly. I glanced at Malfoy, who was watching the woman writhing in pain on the ground with a bored expression. When had Malfoy become so heartless?
I turned my gaze from Malfoy to the woman lying on the ground and when I looked up one of the men on their knees was looking at me with an almost sick look on his face, like he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw me lined up with the others. I frowned as the man seemed to recognize me, but I couldn't understand why he was so horrified to see me. Maybe he was afraid I knew too much valuable information and he was worried that I would crack under the torture?
"I'll take turns torturing you, so if I were you, I would start talking to spare myself from unnecessary misery. You'll be next unless you have something to tell your king?" the witch said menacingly to the woman next to the previously tortured woman. The woman's face contorted in fear.
“I—I wasn't a high-ranking soldier, so I never met Lady Valdis. I don't know—I don't know anything," the woman stuttered as tears streamed down her face. The witch didn't look pleased and raised her wand. The woman's eyes widened in fear and she looked around frantically, clearly trying to come up with something that the witch would consider valuable information. Her gaze fell on me.
“That woman! I don't know her name, but she was a close servant of Valdis. I heard how she was talked about among the other soldiers.”
The man who was staring at me earlier looked even more horrified when the woman shook her head in my direction.
"What was said about her?"
"She was said to be as dumb as a goat and knew next to nothing about magic, but it was said that this was exactly why Lady Valdis kept her as her servant, that she wouldn't even be smart enough to turn against her if it would ever come to that. It was said that Valdis knew that girl since she was a child and that she considered her like her own sister," the woman spoke in such distress that it was difficult for me to understand what she said. The woman was clearly lying though, because nothing she said was true. It was confusing why the woman even imagined that her words would go through as believable, because after the war I had been one of the most famous persons in the wizarding world, along with Harry, and there weren't many who didn't recognize me. The witch turned in my direction.
“Your name?”
I stared at the witch for a couple of seconds, confused. Didn't she really recognize me?
"Hermione Granger."
The others on their knees moved and looked at me strangely.
"She is lying! Her name is Renea Maga,” one of the men on the ground said. The witch raised her eyebrow at me. I stared at the man confused and couldn't reply anything. I glanced at Malfoy who was watching the conversation looking amused.
“Renea Maga, tell me what you know about Valdis,” the witch commanded.
I opened my mouth a few times in astonishment. Did they really not believe I was who I said I was? Since I didn't have a mirror to check, I assumed someone had given me polyjuice potion and I didn't look like myself. That would explain why no one, including Malfoy, hadn’t recognized me and thought I was some woman named Renea. However, the witch didn't wait for me to pull myself together and answer to her.
"Crucio."
The pain hit me with such force that every confused thought in my head left and all I was left with was pain. Every part of my body screamed in pain and I felt a dreadful scream come out of my mouth. Even though I had been tortured with the cruciatus curse before, it was still as much of a shock every time as how it really felt. The electric searing pain seared my body and mind.
The pain stopped as quickly as it started, but I couldn't tell how long I had been tortured. I was on the ground where I must have fallen into when the curse hit me, though I hadn't realized it myself. I heard a strange gurgling voice before I realized it was coming from my mouth.
"Let's try again, Renea Maga. Tell me what you know about Valdis!”
"I don't know anyone named Valdis," I said, silently praying in my head that she would believe me. Tears fell from my eyes, hot and desperate. What exactly was going on? I couldn't make any sense of what was going on.
"Either you or the other mudbloods are lying. Crucio!”
The pain hit me again, burning and painful. When the pain stopped again, I sobbed. I opened my eyes again. Malfoy was looking at me from the table with cold gray eyes. Malfoy had watched my torture once before, when his aunt Bellatrix was torturing me, but then he hadn't been able to look at me. But he had clearly changed since then, for now he looked at me with a cold, amused sneer.
"Please help, Malfoy," I begged Malfoy. "You know me…please, Draco."
Surprise flashed across his face when I said his first name and he frowned slightly, staring at me intently as if trying to figure out who I was. A dangerous silence descended on the room. The king next to Malfoy turned to look at him with raised eyebrows, an almost greedy look on his face as if he had caught Malfoy on something.
"Do you know this mudblood?"
Malfoy stood up looking irritated and walked in front of me and then crouched down. He turned my face with his hand so he could see it better. His gray eyes studied my face intently.
"Please, Draco," I begged again. Malfoy's eyes flashed, but otherwise he took no notice of my plea. Then he pushed my face away as if it disgusted him and stood up. He turned in the king's direction.
"I have never seen this mudblood before. I don't know why she thinks or how she knows my name.”
The king raised his eyebrows mockingly. "Is that so…maybe you've met her in some brothel?"
Malfoy’s face twisted with disgust. "I haven't been to dirty muggle brothels and I certainly wouldn't touch such an unpleasant-looking mudblood."
The king smiled in amusement and then turned his gaze to me. "Why do you claim to know Lord Armand, calling him so familiarly?"
I felt my brain get locked down by the king's words and I couldn't get a word out of my mouth. Had he called Malfoy Armand?
"The king asked you a question, mudblood!" the witch next to the king called out in warning.
"I-I was mistaken. I mistook him for someone else." I stared at Malfoy in astonishment through my tears. He stared back blankly and at the same time wiped the hand that had touched me on a dirty looking cloth.
The king let out a tired sigh. "I can't bear to listen to this torture anymore. Get the stone of truth.”
The witch nodded her head at the king and snapped her fingers at a soldier standing nearby. The soldiers turned and left my sight.
The stone of truth? I had read about the stones of truth in my Hogwarts days in Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. However, all three of them had been destroyed in the 16th century because of the danger they holded, so I didn't understand how these people thought they had a stone of truth.
After a while, the soldiers came into my view again, carrying a heavy wooden chest. Hands grabbed me from behind and violently lifted me to my knees again. The witch went to the chest and murmured quietly to it as the tip of her wand glowed faintly and the many locks on the chest opened with a loud click. She took the chest from the soldiers and brought it in front of me, without opening the lid.
"You can't lie to this stone and you can't cheat it. So before I open it, do you have anything you want to admit?” The witch asked with her hands on the chest.
From what I had read about the stones of truth, I knew that they were made with dark magic and had left gruesome destruction in their wake before they were destroyed. The stone recognized a lie and if you lied while looking at the stone, you would not be able to survive from it. According to what I had read, the problem and danger with the stones was that if the stones were used too much and for too long, they began to attract people to lie to them, which led to many unnecessary deaths. They mesmerized their viewers and made them crave them if they were looked at too long or too often.
I shook my head and wondered in horror if they really had a stone of truth which should have been impossible. The witch opened the chest and instinctively I closed my eyes.
"Open your eyes and look at the stone or die here and now, mudblood," the witch snarled.
I reluctantly opened my eyes and looked down at the chest. The stone was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. It glowed with soft blue light and I decided that I would never want to look at anything but stone again in the entire world.
"Where is Valdis?"
"I don't know," I gasped immediately. The stone purred with satisfaction, but for some reason it seemed to urge me to lie, to try its power on me. I wanted to please the stone so badly, but a voice inside my head reminded me that I couldn't lie to the stone, no matter what.
"How do you know Lord Armand?"
"I don’t know him."
"What is Valdis's plan?"
"I don’t know."
The answers just came out of me every time and I was relieved when the stone just continued to glow. The witch slammed the lid shut and I blinked in confusion. I almost asked if she could open the chest again.
Armand Malfoy. The name was familiar, but he couldn't be the same one I knew from the history books about the old pureblood wizarding families. It just wasn't possible. Armand Malfoy was known as the founder of the Malfoy family in England and probably its most famous member also. The Malfoy family was founded in England at the beginning of the 11th century by Armand Malfoy, who came to England with William the Conqueror from Normandy.
I turned my gaze to who everyone seemed to think was the king and he looked back at me with a hint of disappointment in his eyes.
Slowly my brain came up with an explanation for the strange happenings. If my guess was correct, the king must have been William the Conqueror and Armand Malfoy before me was really the ancestor of the Malfoy family, who just looked remarkably like the Malfoy I knew a thousand years later. It would also explain their strange way of dressing. And that they didn't recognize me.
I swallowed hard, still staring with eyes wide at Malfoy and the king. Why was I here? I feverishly remembered the events of the ministry. I had been dying and then I had touched the Veil. No one knew what the true powers of the Veil were and so it was kept safe and studied in the Department of Mysteries. If anything had been found out about it, it had been kept a secret from those outside the Department of Mysteries. Sirius Black had passed through the Veil and most likely died. However, I had not completely passed through the Veil, but only touched it.
Was this all just a dream and I was really lying down st. Mungo or had the Veil somehow transferred my soul into the body of this girl named Renea in the 11th century? So what had happened to the soul of the real Renea? My brain couldn't find an answer to my questions.
The king rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "So the other mudbloods were wrong about how close the girl was to Valdis. Or the girl is really as stupid as they say and hasn't understood anything about Valdis' plans."
"Renea was considered a bit simple, my king," the man next to me assured. I couldn't even feel hurt for Renea because I was still frozen in terror, if my guess that I really was in the Middle Ages was correct.
The king just smiled. No one had time to say anything else, when a soldier came running into the hall and went straight to the king and whispered to him something that only he could hear. The king's expression didn't change and he just nodded to the soldier who brought the message.
The king sighed heavily. "I will end the questioning here on my part. Thora, keep interrogating the mudbloods, even though I don't think you'll get anything useful out of them.”
"Yes, my king," Thora nodded and snapped her fingers at the soldiers again. The soldiers began to pick up those who were kneeling in front of the king and drag them out of the hall. I was also grabbed by a soldier who lifted me up. My legs buckled from the sudden change and I would have fallen to the ground if the soldier hadn't held me.
Someone cleared their throat softly. A man dressed as a monk approached the king. The monk was tall and looked very starved, almost resembling a skeleton.
"I'd like to remind the king why Valdis has gained so many supporters among the mudbloods, muggles, and half-bloods."
The king looked at the monk mildly irritated. "I know very well, so say what you really want, Johan."
"I think it would be worthwhile for the king and his troops to try to adapt those who have submitted themselves to you, because even a loyal dog may turn against its master if it is treated badly long enough. Valdis keeps getting more and more supporters and spreads rumors about how the purebloods treat muggles and mudbloods. There aren't enough purebloods, so the favor of muggles and lower wizards is needed. If the king would show himself to be merciful, then it will be easier for the new king to be loved also by these lower beings."
The king rubbed his forehead irritated, but didn't seem to disagree with Johan, more irritated that he had reminded him of the matter.
"So be it, Johan. Thora," the king said and the witch turned in his direction, "interrogate the traitor mudbloods and all those who swear their loyalty and submit to me will be allowed to serve their new king as slaves to the pureblood families," the king stated sourly and then turned his eyes to me and I had a bad feeling about his calculating cruel expression.
“Lord Armand,” the king called softly. Malfoy turned to face the king.
"My king."
"Since there are too few pureblood wizards and your wife has not yet given you an heir, I give you permission to take a concubine as a thank you for your loyal service to your king."
Malfoy froze, but remained looking indifferent except for the tightening of his jaw. "Who does the king want me to marry?"
"A close servant of Valdis would be suitable. She gets mercy that she wouldn't get from Valdis if the situation were the other way around. Moreover, under your watchful eye, her treachery will not go unnoticed if she tries to go back into Valdis. Or if someone from Valdis's forces comes for her. The girl may know more than she realizes and I trust that you will get the truth out of her," the king said, his eyes glinting, looking at me coldly, "she's not the most pleasing-looking, but maybe you'll find her amusing for a while and maybe have even an heir from her."
I was almost amazed how I could feel even more terror anymore. I had read about the concubines of the pureblood wizards from the wizarding history books and knew that in the Middle Ages it was customary for pure blooded and high born wizards to take concubines to ensure that the family would continue. Because of inbreeding, the birth rate of purebloods was already low in the Middle Ages and probably most of the pureblood families would not even have existed a thousand years later, if children born as half-bloods had not been recognized as heirs to the pureblood families.
I stared at the king and Malfoy in horror. The king was expressionless but Malfoy looked at me angrily as if it was my fault that the king even dared to suggest such a thing.
"Lady Raina will be delighted to hear that I have a new wife as spoils of war," Malfoy stated with a half-hearted smile. The corner of the king's mouth quivered slightly, but otherwise he hid all amusement.
I was amazed at how everyone in the hall seemed to have a neutral attitude to how the king had just gifted me – a human – as a spoil of war; as a concubine, as if I were some prize cow in the market.
"I thank the king for his generosity," Malfoy said quietly and bowed to the king.
"So the matter is clear. Other than the war council may leave," the king announced. Most of the people left the hall and I was also dragged out by the soldier holding me. I thought for a moment whether I should object to the whole thing out loud, but then decided against it since in the Middle Ages women were not likely to object to the king in front of him. Better to be a concubine than dead. Or be tortured and then die.I really didn't want to be tortured or killed again.
Anyway, the whole thing was so confusing that my brain hurt when I thought about everything that had happened today.
"Hey, where are you guy taking the girl?" harsh voice asked behind me and the soldier who was dragging me outside.
"To be interrogated as the king ordered," the soldier holding me said and turned, dragging me along with him. The man who spoke to the soldier holding me was dressed in rough leather armor and a long-sleeved mail shirt. He looked more high-ranking than an ordinary soldier, although he spoke in his austere style compared to the others in the hall. The man was maybe thirty and had a red face with long dark hair and a bushy beard. The man clicked his mouth disapprovingly, but the mischievous smile remained on his face.
"Well, the king didn't command like that, did he? This mudblood was ordered to be my lord’s wife, so now the interrogations will be left to my lord if he so pleases."
"But the mudblood must be interrogated," the soldier countered.
"Perhaps, but it will now be my master's responsibility to take care of the matter, since the mudblood became his property from the moment the king gave her to my lord, and my lord doesn't like you or your fellow mudbloods pawning his property dirty."
I felt even more like I was a prize cow in the market. Like I was not human at all to them. However, the situation wasn't such that I wanted to start preaching about muggle born rights to either of the men, I just stayed quiet.
"I cannot hand over the mudblood against the king's orders until she has been questioned!"
"Well, it's your life that is in question when the war council is released and my lord's new wife isn't lying on her back waiting for her new husband, but is being pawned by soldiers like you,” the bearded man laughed false heartily. I felt the blood drain from my face and it was hard for me to breathe. The tears that I had been crying since the torture now flowed profusely from my eyes again.
The soldier muttered something under his breath and pushed me violently towards the bearded man. The man grabbed me, still laughing in the soldier's direction.
"Well lass, let's go this way," the man said cheerfully and caught me when I staggered from the sudden movement into him, "could you feel like walking on your own two feet? The journey isn't long, but I haven't had time to get the wound on my hand treated, and if you're hanging on it like this, it hurts like hell."
His other hand did look bloody and he grimaced a little as I leaned on it.
"Sorry," I mumbled quietly, trying my own legs. The shock, being on my knees for a long time, torture and the previous blows from shack had left its marks on my body. My walk was a little shaky and it didn't help that my hands were still tied.
Just as if the man had thought the same thing at the same moment. "Wait for me to open them so it will be easier for you to walk."
He took a long knife from his belt and opened my bound hands. I rubbed my hands, which stung painfully as the blood returned to them.
"Thanks," I murmured and looked at him suspiciously out of the corner of my eye. The man didn't seem threatening per se, once he opened my hands but I didn't particularly want to try my luck without a wand. I wondered if I would be able to get away from the man? My legs were weak and on top of that there was the problem that I didn't know where I would even go even if I managed to escape. I didn't know the places and there was no magic wand for me. I doubted my chances of surviving in medieval England, especially as a woman without magic and resources. Fate as a medieval Malfoy’s concubine didn't sound like an attractive option either. I remembered what was written about concubines. Their purpose was to ensure the continuation of the pureblood highborn families, and it was the only way to make it acceptable for purebloods to get involved in relations with their inferiors, even muggles. Of course, it was not acceptable for witches or lowerborn wizards. To the muggles, concubines were presented as servants or companions of highborn wives and thus the real purpose was hidden. However, the rights of concubines were significantly weaker than pureblood wives. Violence, murders and other abuses of concubines were often just passed over with a shrug. Concubines were banned humiliatingly late in the 19th century in England. However, sometimes concubines got a lot of power if they were their husband's favorites or no other heirs were born except for the concubine. The most famous wizard with all his wives was King Henry VIII, who had as many as six wives, whom he killed and abused as he pleased without anyone caring. Muggle history had false information that Henry WIII had divorced his first wife, but that was not true. He was just tired of his pureblood wife and the fact that no heir was born.
It didn't make any sense that I had somehow entered the Middle Ages and would immediately become a concubine to a Malfoy ancestor. Maybe it was all just some very strange dream, but I couldn't deny the logic that I should still just play it safe and be careful if this wasn't a dream after all.
I didn't say anything to the man and he didn't say anything to me. Soon we arrived in front of the big tent. We entered the tent and he stopped at the door. I stared at the bed in the tent, stiff with terror, wondering if the bearded man was serious about what was expected of me. However, the man didn't say anything and just sat down at the small wooden table and seemed to be settling down to sleep on the chair. I stared at the man in astonishment and after a moment a muffled snore came from his mouth.
I stood there confused, not knowing what to do. I wondered if I should try to find out if I could steal a wand from him because I suspected that he was a wizard based on how contemptuously he had spoken to muggleborn soldier but I remembered reading how rare and valuable wands were and how they became properly common for all wizarding folk to use only in the 14th century. Before that, the wizarding world used mostly wandless magic. I didn't bother to try my luck though after pondering my options for a while I didn't think the man would be pleased if he woke up and found me trying to steal something from him. I decided that if I tried to escape, I should be better prepared than now when I was this weak and unaware of where I was.
I didn't have long to worry about it when Malfoy appeared silently at the tent door. He walked past me without even glancing at me. Malfoy walked next to the bearded man and then punched him in the stomach.
“Wake up, you fool. This is how you guard the mudblood?” Malfoy snarled. I stared at them uncertainly. The bearded man did not seem to take the punch too badly and was heckling loudly while gasping for breath.
"The mudblood wouldn't have gotten far, even if she had left. I'm tired as hell, so I took a little nap."
Malfoy scowled at the man, irritated . "Go to sleep somewhere else, Brynjar."
Brynjar got up and winked at me as he left.
Malfoy glared sourly after Brynjar and then dug out his wand. I flinched but Malfoy pointed his wand at himself and muttered a spell. The straps holding his armor loosened and he stripped off his leather armor and mail as well as his shirt, leaving only his pants on. I stared at Malfoy horrified that I didn't even think to look away before Malfoy gave me a very venomous glare. I turned my eyes to the ground, my heart pounding.
I only looked up when I heard him splashing water. He washed his face with the water in the bowl and then muttered a cleansing spell to himself. Medieval Malfoy had clearly seen battles before. His back and arms were full of old scars and there was one fresh bleeding scar on his chest. When he was done with his cleansing, he took a jar from the table next to his bed and applied the paste to his wound. Essence of dittany, I realized when I recognized the familiar smell.
Malfoy must have felt my gaze on him, because he shot another glare at me. I blushed embarassed and lowered my gaze to the ground again.
I wouldn't agree to be raped, so I would put everything against it if Malfoy tried. However, I remembered the look on Malfoy's face when the king announced that he should take me as his concubine and it wasn't the least bit excited. Also, he had seemed to find my appearance unpleasant, so I doubted that he would even try anything.
I chuckled faintly to myself about my fate to be called as ugly and mudblood by both Draco Malfoy and his ancestor. Literally a thousand years of Malfoys, but the attitude regarding me remained the same. I giggled at the thought, slightly hysterical, and Malfoy turned to look at me puzzled. I knew my laughing was probably from the shock about everything that was happening in the last 24 hours. Whatever the case, I was in the biggest trouble in my life if this wasn't a dream. I could not let go of the dream explanation just yet even though my intuition said that this was not a dream.
I raised my shaking hands to my left arm and pulled up its sleeve, examining the inside of the arm. I froze when I couldn't find that cursed word. My arm no longer had the word "mudblood" carved to it, so I couldn't be in my own body. If I had been under the influence of polyjuice potion, it would have already left my system.
I had a messy tattoo on my arm above the wrist and I studied it puzzled. There were strange words on the tattoo that I didn't understand, so I couldn't figure out what they meant. I put my hands down beside me.
The tears started to flow again uncontrollably and after a while I was sobbing and crying hysterically. I never thought I would cry after that cursed scar. Malfoy let out an irritated sigh, but I didn't care, I dramatically slumped to the ground and continued to cry even harder.
"I haven't slept properly in a week, so be a little less loud because I am trying to sleep here. Or better yet, stop altogether. You have no reason to cry since you got to keep your worthless traitor life after all. "
If Malfoy had imagined that he could make my crying decrease with his words, he had failed miserably. I started to sob so much that I couldn't get enough air which led to a loud gasp between the sobs.
Malfoy sighed and muttered something under his breath. Probably a silencing charm. I continued to cry, expecting the worst. However, Malfoy didn't do or say anything again after the charm. After a long time I dared to close my eyes. I thought about running away, but I was so exhausted, confused and scared that I couldn't.
****
It felt like I hadn’t slept at all when I jostled awake immediately when Brynjar entered the tent whistling happily. I sat up and heard Malfoy also get up in his bed.
"The king calls you, my lord."
Malfoy got up and I had wised up enough during the night that I didn't look in his direction. I just stared at the ground. I heard Malfoy get dressed quickly.
Malfoy was on his way out of the tent when Brynjar nudged him. "What shall I do with your new fiance?"
Malfoy grimaced and scowled in my direction. "I don't want her to be a burden when we go to Hastings. She shall go tomorrow to be Raina's nuisance."
"In other words, the dedication shall be held today?"
Malfoy seemed to loathe the whole idea as much as I and glared at me, clearly still thinking it was somehow my fault.
"I guess so. Make sure the girl doesn't look or smell in the evening as if she's been rolling in the shit or I'll kill her before the wedding. I can't stand the smell and appearance of that mudblood any longer."
I flinched at Malfoy's words. I knew that I smelled and probably looked really filthy, but the threat still felt unfair and hurtful.
"I don't know if any washing can make her any prettier, no matter how much you scrub the dirt off her. But maybe we can get rid of the smell," Brynjar laughed looking at me. Malfoy left without a glance in my direction.
Brynjar told me to follow him. We went back to the same hall as yesterday, but this time it was emptier as there were only two servant girls cleaning.
Brynjar led me through the hall to the room at the back. Room small but surprisingly sunny as the morning sun blazed from a tiny window. There was a bath under the window.
"I'll leave you to take care of the washing, since you probably don't need my help with that. I'll tell servants to bring you new clothes. Wait here when you're ready and I will come to get you, okay?" Brynjar said, casually pointing in the direction of the bath.
Brynjar was already turning to leave when I gasped my question. "Excuse me, but can I have some food?"
My stomach growled loudly as if to highlight my words. I didn't know when Renea had last eaten, but I hadn't been this hungry even when I was in the woods during the horcrux hunt with Harry and Ron, so I assumed it had been a while.
"Maybe," Brynjar said cryptically and closed the door behind him. The door couldn't be locked, so I had to make do with the fact that someone could come in just as I was undressing. However I remembered Malfoy's threat and began to hurriedly to remove my clothes. I didn't particularly want to make myself more "attractive", but I also didn't want to die because of bad hygiene, so of the two options, washing was better.
I searched my stripped clothes, in case there were any clues about Renea or anything else important, but there was nothing. I quickly laid the clothes on the floor and took the stiff fabrics from the table next to the bath that I assumed would serve as towels. The room was cold and when I tried the water it was cold too. I still went into the water gritting my teeth. I found a piece of something like soap on the edge of the bath and started scrub myself frantically. My body—or actually Renea's body—was bruised, but at least nothing was broken and there were only a few wounds and they weren't deep. I washed them carefully too, even though they stung badly, just in case they wouldn’t get inflamed. I didn't think Malfoy would be offering a valuable essence of dittany to heal them.
After getting my body clean, I moved on to my hair. Renea's hair was in a thick messy braid, so I untangled the messy braid with difficulty. Renea's hair felt similar to how mine had felt—just as curly and bushy, only longer. Renea's hair, when open, reached far down her back.
I washed the hair with the same soap and grimaced as I thought about how painful it would be to brush it. Finally, I washed my face. Since there was no mirror in the room, I couldn't verify what Renea looked like, but I guessed that she might have looked like me. At least she was the same size and had the same hair. Her face felt the same and body too, as far as I could see it looked the same; just thinner.
The cold water had woken me up to an almost hyperactive state and I felt sharp for the first time since the ministry. I thought about my different possibilities while drying myself and then went to sit on the chair, buried in towels and chattering my teeth.
I could try to run away, but I'd need a wand to do that and the only ones I'd seen, were Malfoy’s and a woman named Thora and I didn't think I'd stand a chance of getting a wand from them without having one myself. I decided that I would try to steal the wand from Malfoy while he slept if I was put in the same room with him again for the night. The thought was scary, but I didn't think I would learn wandless magic so quickly that it would be of much use to me. If I couldn't steal a wand from Malfoy, I could try to steal one from his pureblood witch wife named Raina, because I was sure she had a wand too.
Malfoy had talked about Hastings and I remembered from the history books that William the Conqueror would take over England and the war would be resolved by the famous Battle of Hastings and then the conquest of London. King Harald—another of the power-seeking kings—would die at Hastings, but England would still not fully submit to William's rule until years later. All of those battles seemed to be ahead of King William and his troops. The whole country would be in chaos, so if I got myself a wand I would probably be able to take advantage of the chaos and escape with it. However, I couldn't figure out how to get out of Renea's body back to my own time, but I decided I'd worry about that later. I'd rather be on the run than being raped by Malfoy or the object of this wife's anger and whim. I was sure that Malfoy's wife would not be a more pleasant person.
The battles that were ahead for William the Conqueror and Armand Malfoy were famous throughout and would significantly shape both the wizarding world and the muggle world in Europe. I knew that under no circumstances should I interfere with history. If my actions in the past were to change the intended course of events in history in any way, the consequences for the future would be catastrophic. If I've learned anything from the time turner, it's that you shouldn’t ever try to change history under any circumstances ever because the older history you tried to change, the worse the consequences would be. That is, I would have to be careful not to kill anyone or change anyone's life in any other way, at least not too significantly.
I was startled from my thoughts when there was a knock at the door and two women entered; a small middle-aged woman and a chubby old woman.
"We brought the mistress new clothes and food," the woman announced and placed her carryings on the table. The old woman also put her carryings on the table.
I jumped up from the chair and went to the table with my bare feet. "Thank you."
The women left and I stayed to examine what they had brought. Their food wasn't particularly appealing and I couldn't even make out what it was but I still gobbled it up quickly. After the food, I started to put on the clothes the women had brought. The clothes included cotton pants, which probably served as underwear, a beige cotton tunic and on top of that a thick light blue dress tied in the front. A yellow cape was already tied to the top of the blue dress with knots. The clothes were rough and too big, but still better than my previous dirty clothes. I found a wooden comb in the room and started going through my hair. It must have taken an hour before I got my hair somewhat tangle free and my entire scalp ached from the treatment.
I sat down on the chair again to wait for Brynjar. I saw no reason to go against his orders. I didn't think it would be good for me to go on adventures in the house by myself, so I didn't even try my luck. I wouldn’t have gotten far unnoticed since the house was in the middle of the army camp.
A few more hours passed and the sun was already starting to set when Brynjar finally arrived at the door. He didn't knock, just opened the door, looked at me up and down then snapped his fingers for me to follow him. I jumped to my feet nervously, but followed him obediently.
We went again through what was clearly an army camp as there were so many soldiers and tents. We walked through the camp to the shore of a small lake where Malfoy and some unknown old man stood ready. They turned to look at our approach and my heart started pounding nervously. This isn't the right marriage, at least not for me, I reminded myself.
Malfoy looked at me with disdain, so I couldn't tell if he was unhappy with the washing result or just disgusted by the whole event. At least he didn't murder me right away when he saw me, so I'd guess the latter.
We stopped in front of them and I swallowed nervously, feeling a cold sweat break out on my body.
"Let's get this out of the way then," Malfoy snapped and the old man flinched.
“Right, yes. What is the name of the concubine?”
I opened my mouth, but Malfoy answered first. "Renea Maga." My mouth snapped shut.
"Alright. Take each other's hands and I will cast a marriage spell.”
Neither of us moved in each other's direction. I stared at Malfoy in fear and Malfoy stared back sourly. The old man coughed lightly and Malfoy's lips turned down in disgust. Malfoy moved his palms up in front of me. When I did nothing, Malfoy's face flashed with irritation.
"No matter how much you protest, it doesn't change the fact that you will be my wife from this day forward," Malfoy sneered. His words gave me chills and I felt one fearful tear escape my eyes. I raised my shaking hands to his. Malfoy's gaze followed my tear and then moved to my shaking hands.
"And do you have your vows ready?" the old man asked. I vaguely remembered that marriages in the wizarding world included so-called marriage vows, but I hadn't thought that they also applied to forced marriages.
Malfoy grimaced and then sighed. "What do you want?"
I was so startled by his question that I jumped violently. Malfoy didn't let go, but squeezed my fingers a little tighter. I was so taken aback by his question that I didn’t know what to say.
"Tell me!" Malfoy commanded.
"Pro— protect me," I stuttered the first thing that came to mind. Malfoy narrowed his eyes, looking suspicious. I swallowed hard and felt my hands sweat in his, but I couldn't look away. I wondered if I should have asked for something else; like don't touch me without my permission, but I didn't dare ask if I could change the vow.
I also knew that the vows had more of a symbolic meaning and nothing obliged Malfoy to keep his.
I was still surprised that Malfoy agreed to my proposal. "Fine," Malfoy grumbled reluctantly. "I want you to stay faithful to me."
I blinked in surprise but quickly nodded as I saw the others waiting for me to comply.
"I hereby marry Lord Draco Malfoy and Renea Maga to be his second wife." The old man said and then muttered some spell in language I didn’t understand. I was so nervous that I almost missed the man's words. He said Draco Malfoy, even though everyone else called him Armand Malfoy. Malfoy removed his hand immediately after the old man finished.