Amelia stands back and assesses the situation. There are only a handful of villagers, so Amelia feels that she should be able to deal with this.
She will start by asking some of those gathered about the state of the kingdom.
She looks at each of the peasants. She decides to approach a middle aged woman with a pleasant friendly face. “Good morn, I am Troubadour Amelia. I cannot help but notice that you all have been gathered here for quite a while. Might I ask what troubles you?”
“Aye Amelia. My name is Joy. I have joined my fellow villagers here, because I am tired of the way things are being run…truly I am!”
“Is it the queen? Do you not like her rule?”
Joy seems hesitant to address the queen directly.
Amelia helps her along. “You see Joy, I am new here, so I know not much about her. What do you know of her?”
When Joy seems no closer to revealing more, Amelia continues, “I hear that she is quite fair. Have I heard wrong?”
This statements seems to hit a nerve with Joy. “I believe that she pretends to be fair. Really, she only listens to her advisors.”
“Has this been your experience personally? Have you ever approached her with a petition?”
Joy seems to be embarrassed. “Well…no. It is just what I have heard.”
“I have said too much,” Joy says.
Amelia can see that she will get no more information out of Joy.
Amelia moves on to an older gentleman. Perhaps he will prove to be braver than Peasant Joy.
“Good morn. I am Troubadour Amelia and I am new to Archolia,” she says in greeting.
“Greetings fair Troubadour Amelia. They call me Cameron.”
“I work in the tavern just yonder and I cannot help but notice that you all have gathered here for quite a while. What troubles you?”
“We are fed up…!”
Cameron continues, “You see, we work day and night, then day and night again…”
“We work our fingers to the bone and it is all for so little.”
“I understand…times are hard right now,” Amelia says with compassion.
“Yes, but the queen and her court live well, while I can barely afford to feed my younglings.”
Peasant Cameron hangs his head in shame. Amelia thanks him for his time.
Amelia is at odds. On one hand, she can relate to what these villagers are saying. However, she has been sent here by the queen to end this small revolt. She has to put her personal opinion to the side, which she is finding quite hard to do.
“Are you here to hear our demands?” Says a gruff voice behind her.
Amelia turns and is face to face with a very grave looking woman.
Amelia decides that it would be better not to reveal that she has been sent by the queen. “No, I am Troubadour Amelia and I work at the tavern down the hill. I noticed you all gathered here and I was merely curious.”
The peasant immediately relaxes a little. “I am Ysmay. Well met.”
“I was just asking some of your friends why you all have gathered here.”
“This is easy enough to answer…some of us have had enough of Lady Chalyela!”
Amelia is shocked at Ysmay’s blunt honesty.
She continues, “She is not even of royal blood. How is it that she is declared Queen?”
Amelia is quite uncomfortable about Ysmay’s questioning of the queen’s right to lead. She is sure that it is treason, but she decides that Ysmay is her best bet at finding out who the peasant’s leader is.
Just speaking to them, she is sure that they are too ignorant to have come up with the idea to gather here on there own. There has to be a leader. Amelia decides to attempt a friendship with Ysmay to get her to reveal their leader.
Ysmay tells Amelia about her family, her job and her belief in the Watcher, but she is careful not to reveal anything about their leader.
Amelia is going to have to work harder to get Ysmay to reveal what she needs to know. “I am sure that you all are quite bored standing about all day. How would you like to hear music from my lute and perhaps join me at the tavern later in the eve?”
“That sounds fine!” Ysmay says accompanied with the first smile that Amelia has seen from her. Amelia has no doubt that she can get Ysmay to tell her who their leader is.
