7. ACCUSATIONS

He rode back from his pursuit game with strange woman who disappeared into the thin air within seconds after talking with him and his guard, Derib was already looking for him because he had come out to inform him that the bed was ready but he couldn’t find him. He could only breathe a sigh of relief when he saw him come back on his horse from the dark corner

“You went running this night?” Derib asked reaching for the horse’s rein to tie it up the horse as he came down from it

“I went after something but I lost it” he replied dusting his robe

“should I chase after it instead? It must be pretty important seeing how you went yourself even though you are tired” Derib asked and he shook his head

“don’t bother yourself, its insignificant” he replied heading inside

“But you seems to be curious about something” Derib insisted and he turned to him in anger

“Are you done making the bed?” he asked

“Yes, my Lord” Derib nodded

“What of my bath water?” he questioned further

“It’s ready” Derib answered immediately

“You are not sleeping?” he asked trying to pin him down with something

“I can’t sleep when you are still awake, how dare I do that?” Derib replied with a bow making him more frustrated

“Just sleep! Sleep! Why are you up worrying about useless things? Just go to sleep!” he yelled at the confused human who was only trying to help

“Yes my Lord, I will see you tomorrow then” Derib said heading for his room when Jaqen yelled at him again

“and you think you can sleep when I’m yet to even take my bath?” he roared at him making him halt in confusion

“What am I supposed to do?” Derib said trying to keep himself from yelling

Jaqen just cleared his throat and went inside the room, he knew he was just nitpicking on him for nothing and he had nothing to say so he went inside quickly to save himself the embarrassment

“He’s just picking on me for nothing” Derib muttered as he followed him inside

He finished having his bath and sat at the small table by the corner of the room, brought a small box out from the small wooden cupboard from the side and opened it to fish out a small book which he opened to the next empty page.

He wrote down all that had happened that day and the incident with the strange woman before he placed it back into the box and slipped under his blanket to rest his body for the night. He tossed and turned for sometimes because he was restless, he couldn’t sleep due to what the woman said earlier, it was lingering on his mind

“Although Mal runs so fast, he still couldn’t run past fate. Your fate is like that of Mal, you are agile, fast and swift, your fate is right in front of you. Your illness that you have been battling with for a long time, its cure is right in front of you, it’s now up to you to be smart like Mal and never miss the chance”

“what does she mean by the cure? Who is my fate? How did she even know that I have an illness? Who is the woman? How is her horse, mal coming into the equation of his own life?” those were the questions going on in his mind all night till he heard the thunder sound and before he could blink, a heavy rain descended upon the roof making everywhere cold. That finally made his mind relaxed a bit and made him sleep off finally.

****

The yelling of the head maid was what woke Elora up the following morning. She talked with the ladies in the room throughout the evening and made friends with them because she decided to stay alive so she can take revenge on the one who left her mom in the cold. She said to herself that she has to do everything within her power to live and in order not to get into trouble with anyone pending the time she will be able to carry out her mission, she will have to be familiar with all the rules.

She ate dinner and went to bed early so she can get a good night rest and stretch her leg since it has been aching badly ever since they arrived thanks to the very long distance they walked.

“This witch is up again” Ore grumbled as she dropped down the bunk where her bed was

“Witch?” She asked sitting up also

“That head maid is who we call witch, she sleeps last and will still be the first to wake up. She never misses a minute” Ore explained and accompanied her words with a long, loud hiss

“Ah! I see” she muttered trying to put on her sandal that was given to them as soon as they arrived at the palace

“I think you should get ready before you actually gets in trouble with her” Alexa added and she quickly spring up from the bed

The head maid burst into their room and saw the three of them standing at the center of the room ready in their uniforms and just cleared her throat

“If you are ready then move out” she growled and they hurried out before her voice halted them

“where are others? Didn’t they sleep in their bed?” she asked looking around when she saw only three instead of six

“They went home to visit their parents since its time of their leaves, they will be back next week” Alexa quickly answered and the head maid signaled for them to go out with a grunt

“Where are we headed now?” Elora asked following the duo

“We have to fill everywhere with water, the water would have been used at various quarters so we have to fill them again” Ore said leading the way

They carried their buckets and marched to the big river flowing at the back of the palace where they drew water alongside other maids. Elora made sure to stick to Ore and Alexa since they were the only ones she know till they filled everywhere with water.

She poured the last batch and sat down on one of the stones outside the yard to catch her breathe when she heard a loud yell from the back which made her spring up in shock and look back to see whoever made that noise

“What do you think you are doing sitting down like that?” the head maid asked with her hands in akimbo

“I already filled everywhere with water and was resting since I was tired” she replied truthfully and the head maid laughed for a bit which made her raise her eyebrow since she couldn’t understand what she said that was funny

“You were resting? Do you think you have the time to rest right now? Don’t you know that the Prince’s food should be near completion? Go and join them in the kitchen right now” the head maid spat at her and she wondered where the kitchen was before Ore and Alexa came to her rescue

“Elora, we have been looking for you, the kitchen is this way” Ore stated running to hold her hand and pull her towards the kitchen

“What a lazy ass” she heard the head maid blurt out as they left for the kitchen and she sighed

“She’s not just a witch, she’s a mean witch” she murmured to herself

Ore and Alexa took her to the store in the kitchen and cleared a place for her to sit down and relax for the main time. They understood the fact that she was not used to this kind of work and she must have been tired from the long journey she had to the palace against her will

“Just stay here and we will keep watch for you, when you hear us whistle, you have to stand up and act as if you are looking for something so that the head maid won’t scream your head off” Ore informed her and she nodded

“Thank you so much” she replied with tons of appreciation in her tone but they just smiled at her in return before leaving the store. She closed her eyes and rested her head on the wall and before she knew it, she was already snoring.

*****

Luna Aravis was busy dancing to the sound coming from the instrumentalist playing in her room with her eyes closed when her maid announced that her son was at the door

“Tell him I am sleeping” she said to her maid through the mind link

“I know you are there dancing so don’t bother to lie about sleeping” she heard him say before the maid could even relay her message

“He loves to peek into my mind unannounced” she muttered stopping the dance and the nearest maid ran to her with a clean towel which she handed over to her to wipe her sweat

“Send him in” she instructed and the door was opened for him to come in

“Were you planning to send me back without attending to me?” he asked with a smile as he entered her chambers

“You left me here without coming to see me before you went for the war” she remarked and he slowly hugged her from the back but the Luna flung him off her

“Don’t try to butter up to me, I am still angry at you” she said rolling her eyes

“I am sorry I left like that, you should know I will find it difficult to leave if I come see you” he replied having his seat

“What of Jaqen? Did you see him?” she asked having her seat also on the bed

“I saw him but he parted with us when we got to town, he hates the palace you know” he replied with a shrug

“He will come for the hunting right?” she asked further taking the cup of water her maid brought to her

“He has no choice than to come for that, that’s the only time he steps his foot in the palace every year” he answered

“I’m sure the war was a success and you are not hurt. You should be resting instead of walking around, you went a long way and drained your energy” she said with concern and he laughed

“You nag a lot, I want to sleep but I just wanted to see your face so I came over. I will visit you properly tomorrow” he said standing up to take his leave

“You haven’t forgotten about our plan right?” she asked making him halt his walk before he turned back

“How can I forget? Just let me know whenever it is time” he replied and went out of the door

****

Elora was getting accustomed to the palace and trying her best to build up her stamina since Ore and Alexa would not be able to help her out every time and she has to stay alive for her revenge. She was coming back with the basket of clothes aside to her to wash at the laundry side when a figure stood in her way.

She raised her head to see a lady of about twenty three years dressed in a pink gown, her hair was rolled up into a bun and a golden pin was used to hold it in place. Her face was painted with makeups and her lips were blinding red

She stared at her not knowing what to address her with since this was the first time she would be seeing her but the maid at her back came to her rescue.

“won’t you greet her? She’s one of the ladies in the pack” the maid stated

“Of course I can see she’s a lady” Elora thought to herself and bowed

“Good afternoon, what can I do for you my Lady?” she asked and the lady smirked making her confused

“You! What did you see yesterday night?” the lady asked and Elora raised her head before expressing her confusion

“yesterday night?” she asked again to be sure but the response she was given was the maids following the maids grabbing her and pulling her along while the lady led the way.