The Gender Game

but my mind raced with questions.
Who is this man? What is his occupation? What does he look like? How old is he?
"Do you have a picture of him?" I asked.
"Yes," Alastair replied. "You'll need to recognize him once you arrive at the dock."
He retrieved a photograph from the side pocket of his bag and handed it to me.
I found myself staring down at a clean-shaven man with a smart, trimmed crop of black hair, thin lips and a narrow, triangular jaw. His exact eye color was hard to make out from the photo. Somewhere between gray and blue. He looked perhaps in his mid-twenties. I found him neither attractive nor repulsive, though I wasn’t used to judging men in either respect. Heck, I wasn’t used to judging men at all. Other than Tim, I hadn’t had significant close contact with males and didn't think I'd ever need to. I sure as hell never thought I’d end up coupled with one.
"His name?" I rasped.
"That isn't required yet," Alastair replied.
I swallowed, my eyes boring into the man in the photograph, as the word swirled around and around in my head like a nightmare:
Marry.

6
After showing me the photograph of my soon-to-be husband, Alastair was done answering questions. He took the photograph back from me, telling me that he would give it to me again when it came time for me to leave. Then, after replacing the map and photograph in his bag and gathering up the crossbow, he led me out of the room. Two wardens were still waiting outside the door.
He turned to one of them and said, "Take her to a guest room." Then he addressed me. "While preparations are underway, you should be using your time productively. I will solidify your schedule for the next three days and have you notified after eight a.m.”
I barely even had a chance to nod before Alastair strode away.
The wardens flanked my sides and escorted me down a winding hallway till we stopped outside a door that revealed a small suite containing a single bed, a bathroom and a kitchen area.
The wardens remained outside, closing the door behind me. I moved to the bed and slumped down on the mattress. My limbs were exhausted. I should try to sleep, but I couldn't conceive of attempting it. I was still struggling to wrap my head around my meeting with Alastair.
Less than an hour ago, I'd been preparing myself for certain death and now here I was, on the verge of entering a marriage.
Being thrust into the land of Patrus.
I recalled the fear in Josefine's eyes as she had spoken of the state of the patriarchy these days.
Will it really be worse than my current life? I couldn’t see how it wouldn’t be. Even though I was a Matrian prisoner, I was still respected as a person in my own right. As an independent entity. As a woman. In Patrus, I would be deemed incapable of being anything but some man's shadow. An accessory. A pet. No rights. No voice.
I couldn’t imagine anything more daunting.
Even though I wore sweaty, soiled clothing, I curled up beneath the blanket and nestled my head deep into the pillow. Doubt and fear still swirled in my mind as dawn arrived sooner than I was comfortable with. I remained in bed until someone rapped against my door at eight-thirty a.m.
I stumbled toward the door but it opened before I could reach it.
It was Ms. Dale.
Her appearance in the palace was both surprising and comforting. It felt like an age since I had last seen her, though it had only been five years. Her face displayed more creases than I remembered it having, and her hair was visibly graying. Her physique, however, looked as tight as ever. She was shouldering a large backpack.
She cracked a small smile at me, which I couldn't help but return.
"Violet," she said, moving inside. "How are you?"
I shrugged. What did she expect?
"Mr. Jenks sent me. He informed me that you are to embark on a confidential mission to Patrus and over the next few days, he wants me to help you brush up on some skills."
"Oh."
Defense skills.
What exactly does he have planned for me in Patrus?
"We're to start now, so I guess you should get ready."
"Okay." I turned away from her and moved to the bathroom.
"Also," Ms. Dale added, "I brought these for you." She slid the backpack off her shoulders and withdrew an outfit that filled me with a sense of nostalgia. Sturdy shoes, long pants and a top made of durable, stretchy black fabric that was almost impossible to tear. I remembered her lending me a couple of uniforms just like this during my early teenage years.
I flung the clothes over my shoulder. "Thanks."
"And… I should also mention that Mr. Jenks’s preference is for us to go to The Green to train."
"What?"
"Yep," she replied.
The Green was the dense forested region that ran across the entire northern border of both Matrus and Patrus. The river that separated the nations also ran through it, and that was one reason why its water was so toxic.
The Green's biosphere was not deemed safe to take up residence nearby; the trees and vegetation were noxious. But it was also avoided for another reason: the wildlife that lived there.
"Why does he want us to train there?" I asked. "What's wrong with your training rooms? Don't you still have them?"
"I do," Ms. Dale replied, almost apologetic. "But Mr. Jenks said that training in The Green will make it more of a… high-stress scenario. Apparently, that's something you're going to have to get used to."
My jaw tensed.
"The Green won't kill us," Ms. Dale went on. "We'll only be there for a few days during the daylight hours."
I felt nervous that this mission might turn out to be more dangerous than I’d thought. Though, given the stakes and the weight of the prize I had been promised should I succeed, it would be naïve of me to think it