Chapter 7

Walking along a cruciform gallery that separated the courtyards, the Brahmin priests took me to a different house set aloof from the others. It had a portico overlooking a lovely garden and a pristine lotus pond.

We stopped at an intricately carved door flanked by golden colonnettes. I stared at everything, from the wooden triangular of decorative pictures over an entrance to the gold-painted lintels and arches. The guards pushed the massive wooden doors open. The light of the oil lamps shone from the inside.

"We have prepared a special chamber for you."

"Oh wow!" I breathed. "Are you sure I can stay here?"

"Yes, this is called 'Damnak Chandra', the Moon Chamber," one of them told me.

I was impressed when we entered the enormous room.

"If you need anything, there are palace maids to tend to your needs at all times, Your Holiness."

"Please, don't call me that," I said. "I'm not holy or anything. Just call me Nikita."

They all gasped with a look of shock then glanced at each other nervously.

"The name of the holy being is not to be spoken carelessly," the Brahmins said with a bow.

"I told you I'm not..."

"You must be very tired. Once the Hora arrives from the capital, we will inform you. Now you may rest."

Then the priests bowed again and turned away, shutting the heavy doors behind them as they left. At least, I had a place to stay for the night. The house was beautiful and made entirely of fine wood. I found its exquisite bedroom on the far side separated by silk curtains. The smooth floorboards were almost too slippery to walk on. A woven rug spread at the center with silk-cased cushions. I already felt relaxed just by looking at my surroundings.

The evening air blew through the open windows. The curtains flicked rhythmically as I wandered about the chamber in silence.

"May I have the honor to assist you?" A soft gentle voice floated to my ears. I jumped up and turned around to find a young maiden appeared almost out of thin air. She came forward and bowed at me. I stared blankly at her. She was adorned in a long silk robe folded meticulously around her small frame. Her strange elegant jewelry sparkled in her flowing black hair under the light.

"Who are you?" I asked with a raised brow.

"I am Kesar, my lady," she said with a smile. "I am your handmaiden assigned to be at your service."

"Oh, that's fine, really," I said. "I don't need anyone to help me."

"But it's my duty to look after you, my lady," Kesar said again. "I can't disobey the order."

"Oh?"

"The whole kingdom has been waiting for you for a long time," she simply said. "Our noble King and Queens had prayed to the gods for a miracle. They will be rejoiced to learn about your divine arrival."

"No, there's something you have mistaken there," I tried to explain this confused woman. "I just woke up in the pit of a pyramid last morning and found myself in this strange city. I don't know what is going on or what year it is, and on top of that, I haven't had a bath yet."

Kesar blinked. "My apologies if I have upset you. Is there anything you need? It seems like you most likely prefer a cool bath to ease your troubled mind, perhaps?"

"Never mind," I exhaled. Whatever I said didn't make any sense to her either. For a long moment, we both just stared at each other in silence. I took in her appearance as she did mine. Then Kesar smiled.

"You dressed funny," she said, giving me an amused look. "I have never seen this kind of clothing."

"Excuse me?" I said, looking down at myself.

"I have never seen any girl dressed like that," she added with curious eyes.

"I could say the same to you."

"Everyone dresses this way here." She frowned again.

I didn't want to argue and just nodded back. Kesar got up and led me to the bathroom outside of the house. The bathroom was a small building made of wood like the rest of everything. Inside, natural beeswax candles were lit around a small sunken stone pool in the middle.

Other maids were already there, putting sliced lime and herbs and some jasmine into the water.

"Oh, I think I'm in heaven," I breathed, dropping my satchel to the floor in exhaustion. The other women lifted their faces to me. Strangely, they gasped and whispered to each other as if I was the most curious thing in the world. Kesar ushered me inside.

"Look! Her hair looks like gold and those blue eyes!" one of the maidens whispered.

"Yes, and those strange shoes!" the other whispered back. "Did she really fall from the sky?"

I looked at myself awkwardly and turned to Kesar.

"What are they talking about?" I asked.

"Pay them no heed, my lady. We must hurry," she said. "The Hora shall be here in no time."

She came forward and kneeled down in front of me. Before I knew what she was doing, her hands reached out to grab my belt.

"What are you doing?"

"Undressing you, my lady, are you not intending to have a bath?"

"Yes! But I can do it myself!" I said as I tried to pry her hands off my pants.

"I'm your handmaiden. It is my duty to serve you," Kesar insisted. "You have quite a strange accessory on your person." Her face concentrated hard as she struggled to remove my belt.

"Oh Kesar, wait!" I gasped when she unfastened it and unbuttoned my pants then pulled them down to my ankles.

My jaw dropped.

"Oh, I found your clothing quite easy to let loose after all," she said and looked up at me with a bright smile.

It took some great effort to refuse the maiden's offer to bathe me. After I finished, I felt utterly cleaned and lighter. Kesar gave me some silk clothes to wear, but I insisted on wearing my old ones. In my bag, I had packed some spare shirts and underwear. I was too tired to even think about what happened to me. And once my head hit the pillow, I passed out.

When I woke up again, the sky was already pitch-black. There was faint music floating in the air at night. Then I heard the horns blew, or maybe it was the conch shells from the priests, I wasn't sure. But what I was sure of was I still hadn't woken up from this surreal nightmare.

Kesar came to me again, and her presence only confirmed my bizarre reality.

"What was that?" I asked in a groggy voice.

"It's time for you to go to the Main House, my lady," she said. "The other children are waiting for you."

"Don't call me that. My name is Nikita," I said. "Please, call me Nikita."

"Yes, my lady."

I rolled my eyes.

"Anyway, you said the others are waiting, who are they?"

"Special people like you," Kesar replied.