Lila came to awareness at the word, “Whore!”

She opened her eyes and stared. She was surrounded by horses. With men on them. Men in armor. They aimed pikes at her. She raised her hands in surrender.

“Hi. Um. I’m not a whore. I’m just a -”

She paused, squinted. Something was wrong – with the world. She recognized the hills, trees, and grass, and even the castle in the background. Only there was no town at the foot of the castle. No supermarket or cinema or even streets. Things like that didn’t just disappear, unless…

One of the men began shouting at her in a harsh, guttural language, one that sounded like a mix of English, German, and French.

“Hwa bist ðu?”

Lila’s heart sank. She knew that sound. She’d spent an entire year slaving over it in her Anglo-Saxon literature class. Hopefully she remembered some.

She cleared her throat. “Ic béo -”

The ranks of soldiers stirred, and a man wearing a crown broke through the rank of soldiers.

Lila understood one word.

“Cyning!”

King.