CHAPTER 9
*
I continued my reading about this world’s mythology, but nothing seems to enter my mind. I did not consider Dado as my only companion in the palace, but I thought we could be friends. It turned out, I was wrong. I felt defeated somehow. It rained that afternoon and I missed my physical training outside. I rolled around in bed some more before I fell asleep early in the evening without my meal.
When I woke up, the room was pitch-dark, and I couldn’t see anything for a while, before my eyes were adjusted to the deep lights coming through curtained windows. I felt disoriented but remembered that I fell asleep too early and, because I did not have anything for dinner, I was hungry. Rubbing away the sleep from my eyes, I put on a gown hung next to my bed. Because I could not find any shoes, I left the room barefooted. When opened the door to the corridor of my bed chamber, I found no one by the door. I did not know the location to the kitchen, so I was at lost for some time before venturing out to the empty hallway.
I couldn’t help but feel foolish for not memorizing the ways though I’ve lived in this part of the palace for some time. I mentally added ‘create a map of this place’ into my to do list.
Walking for some time, I found a small servant’s door to my right and encountered a spiraling stair. With some hesitation, I went down the dark path, guiding my hands against the wall. I kicked myself mentally for not bringing any light from the room. Although I did not know any lighting utensils were in the room, I should have been more prepared for this unexpected trip.
At the end of the spiral stairs, I led myself out through another servant’s door. The door was contacted to a small storage space which had varying types of grains and fruits. I was thinking of grabbing some of the fruits and go back up the way I came from when I heard two pairs of footsteps approaching the room from another door located opposite of the door I walked in from.
Without definite plan, I ducked and hid behind one of the stacked boxes at the far side of the storage room. As soon as I gathered myself in a ball amongst the shadows of the boxes, the door opened, and two guards stepped in.
“Why are we in charge of this, this task should be done by servants.”
“shhii. Voice down.”
I could hear younger voice followed by more mature and deep voice. One seems to be complaining while the other warned in a low and subdued tone. Their movements were marked by flickering torchlight that one of them was carrying.
“What’s up with you today? What if someone hears you talk like that.”
“I missed my wife’s birthday over today’s shift. This is too much, it’s not like they are paying us extra for doing this.”
“Keep your voice down.”
Older voice spoke sternly while walking to the opposite corner of where I was hiding. I stopped breathing and stared at the guard, with my eyes wide open.
“I can’t believe we have to do this every week! It’s all a myth you know, what they say about the forest.”
“Myth or no myth, come here and start hauling. I can’t believe you are starting on about this again.”
“it is true! We should start thinking rationally about how much food we are wasting.”
“yeah, yeah. Here, give me your shoulder.”
Mature voice sounded resigned while younger voice blabbered on and on about how he can make better use of the foods he is throwing away. After some brainstorming about what they might be talking about I concluded. I couldn’t believe my luck! If what I pieced together makes sense, they were dropping bags of food off in the forest every week!
After some straining effort, two guards were carrying, on their shoulders, two bags of foods each. They balanced the bags well over their shoulders like they went through this countless time before. While they trudged away with heavy footsteps with their lights and shadows, I uncurled myself from the corner and started tailing behind them.
Few turns and two doors later, I stepped into a cold early morning air. My feet were suffering but what bothered me the most was my growling stomach. What was I doing outside without my shoes and any plan? This haphazardly pulled together mission could cost me my life if I were to get caught. I could almost imagine Emperor’s angry face when the two guards I was following suddenly stopped and dropped the bags they were carrying. They spoke to each other some more before disappearing back to the palace. I crouched down behind some bushes and waited until I could not see the two figures anymore. Without the torchlight that me and the guards were guided with, I could barely register how the forest looked like around me. The early morning air was cold, and my weak physique did nothing to help my nerve. The adrenaline I felt when I first set out for this trip was slowly fading, leaving me with uncontrollable shiver and scraped feet. I willed myself to absorb my environment. Because I was busy hiding and advancing behind the guards, I did not realize where I was. Being a spy must be a very difficult job, I lamented.
I walked toward the bags laying on the forest ground and pry one of them open. I grabbed one of the apples and bite into it, conscious of my empty stomach. I looked around while I chewed down the fruit. The solemn morning air seems to blanket the forest and I could not fathom how deep I was into the woods. Even though it was early morning, there was no natural light to guide my steps.
Hinawary 