The next day came quite early. Audrey had never heard a rooster crow as the sun stood up before, but this one crowed so loudly it must have woken up everyone in the burh. Had they recorded that on a hidden speaker or something? Either way, Audrey didn't want to miss a moment of this experience. She could sleep when she came home.
Breakfast was a quiet affair. It seemed she wasn't the only one who suffered from fatigue from the evening before. The breakfast consisted of a kind of porridge, not unlike the lunch they had got yesterday. Audrey made sure to drink water, not more ale. The last thing she needed was more alcohol, no matter how little it was. Most of the others seemed to have the same idea, though a few of the men drank even more mead. Audrey wondered how they could even drink that stuff; it wasn't very good. It was probably more authentic than the sugary versions she had tried at various ren-fairs though. Sugar in general wasn't common in medieval times, honey was the common sweetener. And this mead tasted a bit like liquid honey with some hints of alcohol.
"Good morning, visitors," the Lady said as most of them had finished eating. Audrey hadn't noticed her coming in, which was unusual. She usually dominated the room when she was present.
"As this is your last day with us, I would like to offer you a treat. Later today, you will be able to witness a duel between two of my churls. They had a disagreement and decided to settle the matter with a duel. There are strict rules and formalities that surround this form of settling a disagreement. And don't worry, the duel is to first blood, not to death. I will explain it all as we get there. That is after lunch. Until then, feel free to go about the burh the same way you did yesterday. If any of you can aid us in any of our numerous tasks, we would be most grateful."
Audrey was excited about spending most of the day in this place as well. They wouldn't return to the real world until late Sunday night, with the long bus ride. She didn't mind though. She didn't have any work on Monday anymore, so she could sleep in then. She wanted to stay here for as long as possible.
As she was headed out of the smithy, on her way to maybe look at the animals after all, she stumbled. Unfortunately, the Lady was also right outside the smithy, and with her luck, Audrey tumbled right into her. A fair amount of dirt ended up on the Lady's dress. She did not look pleased.
"My apologies, my Lady, for my clumsy gait. I humbly ask forgiveness." she said with a deep curtsey, hoping that would be enough, but of course it wasn't.
"You need to learn to be careful, watch where you're going. I think you need some more time in the stretch-neck."
"But lunch is in less than an hour."
"You'll be late. You should have thought of that before." the two churls that were nearby started to point their spears toward her.
Audrey sighed as she let herself be fastened in the pillory again. She noticed that the pillory was in the corner of the burh, not front and center like it had been the day before, but didn't think much of it until an hour had passed and she couldn't find the release mechanism. She tried to get the attention of some of the others, but they ignored her. How long would she be stuck here before someone noticed she couldn't get free herself?
***
The moment my life changed forever had barely registered as something worth worrying about at the time. I was a little annoyed that I might lose the last meal we would have there, but I thought that was the worst of it. I shudder as I recall how I had tried to shout for help, yet everyone ignored me. All the visitors had already been moved into the Dining Hall, so none of them heard me. Before they came back out, someone had come up from behind me and placed what felt like a ball gag in my mouth, with some rough cloth that made it impossible for me to make any noise. Kicking and protesting had done no good, that just meant that they secured my feet as well. I had never until that moment thought about just how helpless you were, with your head and your hands stuck in a pillory. They placed a wall in front of me that looked just like the other walls in the burh. I could hear the sounds of the visitors, first going outside the gates to watch the duel, then later preparing to leave, but none of them seemed to ask about me. Why would they? I had barely talked to any of them. I remember the dread I felt as I heard them all leave. What would happen to me now? How long would they keep me here? I got the answer a few hours later. The answer is forever.