Hi there people! Me is back after a looooong time of absence for which I apologize. It was never my intention to make you wait almost five months for the update but so many unexpected events prevented me from writing.
Starting with my laptop refusing to cooperate and Arienhod working in the different city so I couldn't get online. That's just the smaller reasons for the silence on my side.
The bigger reason was the visit from my aunt and uncle from Australia. Obviously it would have been rude to lock myself in the room and write while they were visiting, plus they were always eager to walk around the city and who is a better guide then someone who knows every store in a several mile radius. And then my uncle thought I could use some experience about how life is outside of Croatia. They already had the whole thing planed and when they were leaving back home 'down under' I went along. And there I had spent last few months. In excruciating heat with no computer and no way to get online (they are old and don't own anything that even resembles a computer and I wasn't allowed to bring my laptop).
But now I'm back and here is the next chapter-6 more to go.
Yuri plastered a fake smile on her face as her niece walked in the kitchen to help with the meal. Hitomi didn't even realize that as soon as she turned away her aunt sighed and shook her head. She didn't realize something was off.
"I spoke with the elders today." Yuri finally interrupted the silence that has fallen across the room.
"Oh. What about?" Hitomi asked back although she wasn't really interested. She had enough on her mind with little Damian and her obligation as a part of the tribe.
"Help is needed in the capitol and people from all villages of Fanelia are going there to assist. A big event is approaching. Very big."
Hitomi just shrugged "That's the one of the things I don't miss when it comes to court. All that people running around, making sure nothing is less then perfect and not even getting paid for it cause they volunteered even though they didn't know that at the time. I despised that all."
"That's a real shame sweetie." Yuri commented casually, or so it seamed at first because that comment caught Hitomi's attention.
She turned towards her aunt; a knife in one hand and half pealed potato in the other, and observed her strangely. She was certain now there was something behind this casual conversation. Something she possibly won't like. But Yuri continued to stir the casserole without acknowledging her.
Hitomi huffed irritated "Alright, you have my full attention. What the hell is going on?"
"Hitomi, did you just cursed? Dear, you shouldn't do it with Damian so near by, you know he is in the age when he is repeating everything he hears." Yuri scowled her niece even though she understood her impatience. But what she had to say wasn't going to come out of her mouth easily.
"Aunt Yuri, tell me." Hitomi all but growled.
"Ruhm is going in the capitol in two days." Yuri began to explain "A caravan is driving some necessaries for the celebration and a village member to help out with the preparations."
Hitomi snorted "I already pity the pour soul that has to work like a slave and not even get a thanks for all that hard work."
Yuri cringed before admitting "Dear, the elders are sending you."
As the words settled in Hitomi gasped "What? Why me? I thought people volunteer for that kind of crap!"
"Hitomi! Language!"
But she merely snorted after being scowled, again, and turned back towards the bowl of potatoes that needed to be pealed.
Yuri smiled slightly as she heard each potato hitting the water with far much more force then necessary. It was obvious Hitomi was upset by the news but punishing the vegetable for it was just childish. After the fifth potato ended in the water and several water drops ended on Hitomi's face she realized that too and quit taking her anger out on them.
"I'm guessing Damian isn't coming along with me." She mumbled but Yuri still heard her.
"No, he would monopolize your time and you wouldn't be able to do anything."
"Of course. Gods forbid I leave a speckle of dust behind the massive wooden wardrobe." Hitomi's voice was dripping sarcasm.
"Oh come on. You should be honored of being a part of the event."
"I'm going there to impersonate a maid. Which 'event' is it anyway?"
"Oh, didn't you hear by now? King Van Fanel and princess Millerna Aston are getting married. You are one of those to help prepare the palace for the guests."
Hitomi froze. It wasn't the word 'marriage' that made her brain stop functioning; it was the word 'guests'.
"Guests? As in other royalties? As in royalties from Nazakkija?"
"Why of course." Yuri said casually "Why is that botheri… Oh."
"Yeah." Hitomi agreed "Oh."
Damian was sniffing as Hitomi was saying goodbye. She was his mommy and as every other five-year-old he needed his mommy close at all times.
"But I don't understand? Why can't someone else go? Why does it have to be you?" he asked as he tried to prevent the tears from falling.
"I'm sorry sweetie, but you know I don't have a choice. All villages are sending someone and Arzas is sending me."
"Why not Risa or… or… or Piya? They could go instead, couldn't they?"
Ruhm sighed hearing Damian's pleas. It was obvious the little boy had a hard time letting his mother go but the elders thought it would be a vise thing sending the former princess to the capitol. They talked about the child's father as they discussed it but he didn't understand why.
Yes, Damian was of the line of the dragon god but the names of the boy's father and to them the last known Draconian didn't match.
"Don't worry kid, she won't be staying long. The ceremony is in a week so your mom will be back in ten days max. Alright?"
Damian observed Ruhm, confusion on his childish face "Who is Max?"
The wolf-man laughed "What I meant to say is your mom won't be staying longer then ten days."
"Oh. So I have to sleep nine times and then she is back."
It took Ruhm few seconds to understands Damian's logic and count the days, or rather nights, before he nodded and said "Yeah, that's right. You sleep nine times and then your mom is back."
"Do naps count too?"
Hitomi chuckled "No angel, only night sleeps count."
"Can't blame him for trying?" Ruhm laughed, ruffled the mess of dirty blond hair on Damian's head, and helped Hitomi up on the wagon.
"Bye mommy! Hurry back home!" he called as the caravan was vanishing in the thick forest.
Ruhm sighed sadly as he heard Hitomi mumble "If it was my choice I would have never left you."
It took six long hours for the caravan to finally reach the outer wall of the capitol and another half-an-hour to go through the crowded streets and stop in front one of the side entrances of the palace grounds.
Hitomi was unaware of everything around her as she observed the palace in front of her. It looked so much different from the one in Nazakkija; different in a good way. For starters there were no ridiculous towers that served no purpose, although in the past several unhappy members of the royal family found it to be quite a nice place to jump in death. And the absence of colorful patterns on the outside was refreshing too. Hitomi never did like those things; they always gave her headaches if she stared at them for too long.
She only became aware of her surroundings and the unknown people that seemingly came out of nowhere when she heard a male voice asking Ruhm who she was.
Looking down from her place on the wagon she saw a young man standing in front of a colorful bunch of men and women and talking to the wolf-man.
She smiled slightly at the unknown man and came down on the ground. After all it is inappropriate to look down on someone you don't know, even if you are literally on a higher ground then that someone.
"Ah, milord, this is Hitomi. The elders of Arzas had chosen her to come and help prepare the palace for the great event." Ruhm explained.
Van raised an eyebrow at that and looked at Hitomi "They specifically choused who comes to help? I thought it was all out of free will."
"I do not middle in the decisions of the elders nor do I question them so I can not explain why they thought then need to personally make that decision." Ruhm grumbled.
"Are you not the village leader?" Van asked.
"Yes, but those old folks rarely make sense so…"
The dark-haired king merely laughed at that "I understand you completely my friend. Welcome to Fanelia miss Hitomi."
"Thank you your majesty." Hitomi answered realizing during the conversation that Ruhm was actually talking to the king.
Out of the corner of her eye Hitomi noticed a beautiful blond woman whispering something to a girl on her left. The girl nodded and walked away back in the palace. She ignored it for it didn't make much sense anyway. She just figured she would be seeing a whole lot more of that during her stay.
After all secrets and plotting were a core of every court.
"Leave your bag and come with me." A voice startled Hitomi and she turned towards the doors only to see the girl standing on the doorway. It was the same girl from before, the one that left the small group and walked in the palace.
"I haven't really settled in." Hitomi said calmly but the girl just huffed arrogantly.
"You aren't on a vacation girl, you are here to work and work is what you will do. Now leave that pitiful excuse you call a bag and come with me."
It took Hitomi a second to compose herself before she placed the bag that contained her clothes and some personal stuff she couldn't live without on the bed and followed the unknown girl down the wide hallways towards the large double doors on the very end of a corridor on the second floor.
The dark massive doors were decorated with beautiful carving but Hitomi had no time to admire then before the girl opened them and walked inside.
"This is your new workplace girl. Make sure you clean every inch of it, and I mean every inch. My lady doesn't want to see a single spider web, single speckle of dust and absolutely no moats that could ruin her beautiful garments. Is that clear?"
"Your lady?" Hitomi was confused "I thought we work for the Fanelian king?"
The girl snorted "I am the personal chambermaid of princess Millerna Sara Aston, the future queen of Fanelia. And it is her orders you will follow while you are under this roof, is that clear?"
"I doubt she can order people around, she isn't a queen jet and we are volunteers, not the palace staff."
"Watch your tongue wretch! If my lady hears what you just said she will have you punished. You peasants need to show some respect, the royal families have earned that with all the hard work they do to make life easier to ungrateful, uneducated nobodies like you and your kind. Now get to work!"
She marched out of the chamber and slammed the doors behind herself leaving Hitomi alone in the enormous room.
Looking around for the first time Hitomi realized she was standing in the middle of the royal bedchamber. The large bed with the ancient-looking headboard was directly in front of her and on both sides of it were glass doors that lead to the personal balcony or the royal family. On her right was dark wooden wardrobe that looked like it could contain clothes of everyone from Arzas and there would still be space in it for shoes.
On the left wall was a large fireplace that probably hasn't been cleaned in a decade or so. The carpet in front of it confirmed Hitomi's suspicion. It was dirty brown but even under all that filth it looked well made, probably specially ordered from one of the makers from Freid.
In the corner stood two buckets filled with water, a mop and some rags. Hitomi's cleaning utensils. Lovely.
She was halfway through cleaning the wardrobe when one of the back boards moved startling her instantly and making her yelp.
"Damn, what is gong on in this place?" she muttered and carefully mover her fingers across of the flat wooden surface looking for some sort of signs, some sort of flaws in the wood.
It took almost five minutes for her to find exactly what she was searching for. A small hole, so small only a single finger could fit through, in the height of her chest. And even though she knew curiosity killed a cat she couldn't resist.
After wiping her wet hands in the rough brown material of her skirt she reached towards the obvious false backside of the wardrobe, stuck her pointy finger in the hole and pulled. The hinges didn't protest much and moments later she found herself face to face with a hidden compartment.
On first glance shelves were empty but after looking more closely she noticed a square wooden box on the very bottom.
"Please don't be something dangerous." Hitomi mumbled as she reached for it and pulled it out of the light to investigate it further before returning it where it was.
The cover had beautiful flowers carved in the pale wood giving it an exquisite and unique look. It was obviously expensive, that was certain just by the fact it was hidden in a secret compartment in the royal bedchamber.
"What is it that you have there?" strict voice asked suddenly "Give me that box girl!"
Turning towards the girl Hitomi saw a blonde girl dressed in a fancy pink dress observing her with a frown.
"I'm sorry miss, but I should give that to the king. After all I did found it in-"
"The king? Do you seriously think the king has nothing better to do then talking to servants?" she huffed angrily "Besides, what ever that is it will soon to me mine anyway, so why wait?"
And before Hitomi could react the wooden box was taken from her hands.
"You are princess Millerna." Hitomi said calmly.
The blonde rolled her eyes "Of course I am you stupid girl! Now let's see what this junk contains."
Upon opening the box Millerna grinned.
A gasp escaped from Hitomi's mouth as the princess lifted a long chain with a single blue stone hanging of it. The gold threads were wrapped in a beautiful net around the sapphire that was the size of a smaller egg.
"What a nice wedding gift." Millerna smiled observing the stone that glistered in the sunlight.
"Perhaps you should give it to the king." Hitomi said calmly making Millerna send her a dirty look.
"And why would I do that? Haven't I made myself clear already? This will all be mine, sooner or later." looking again on the large stone Millerna smiled and said "I prefer sooner."
"If the king wanted you to have it he would have give it to you himself when you first arrived." Hitomi's words were truthful but Millerna didn't appreciate them.
"Do not tell me what to do peasant! I am a born princess and you nothing more then dirt under my soils, is that clear?"
"Please be reasonable, king Van-"
But Hitomi didn't have a chance to finish that sentence before Millerna called "Guard!"
Moments later two armed samurais appeared on the doorway prepared to fight who ever brought the Asturian princess in danger. But they haven't expected to find her standing opposite of a petite looking girl with shoulder length dirty-blond hair and clear green eyes.
"Milady, what seems to be a problem?" one of them asked.
"She is." Millerna growled pointing at Hitomi "This rude girl insulted me and I demand that she gets punished for it."
"What do you mean by 'punished'?"
The princess rolled her cold blue eyes and stated what she consider to be pretty obvious "I want her whipped."
Ok people, it's 2:37am at the moment I'm updating this so be nice and reward my effort with a pretty little review.