Chapter 10 – Finally! Annalise
“Fucking!” kick
“Ungrateful bastard!” another kick.
I screamed into the woods in frustration, hoping no one would hear me sounding like a castrated pig. Ever since I woke up, I’ve been cranky and annoyed, all thanks to a certain ungrateful individual. After saving him with the priceless orb, after preventing me from having my beauty sleep, that bastard! He left without saying thanks, regardless.
*Another kick,
but I kicked a sharp-cornered stone, and goodness, it hurts!
“Awwww”
I dropped my bag as I doubled over in pain. The little bastard pierced through my already worn-out silk shoes. I removed the shoe and saw a small bruise on my big toe that looked angry enough to spread that massive pain through my body.
“Fuck! When I finally get my hands on that petty Flamingo, he will have panic attacks whenever he comes in contact with pink.”I took the opportunity to take a rest while my hurting toe calmed down. I removed the remaining ointment Eria packed for me and applied a little on it before wearing the shoe back.
I made a mental promise to buy another one when I get to Nayak. I removed the small cloth containing the dried fruits Eria packed for me and opened it, started munching on a dried mango slice. I suddenly missed Eria and wondered how she must be coping back at home with the lies she cooked on my behalf.
I wonder what my life will end up like without her help; she changed my life the way I changed hers when I picked her as my personal maid and best friend years ago, saving her from years of being a kitchen slave without any opportunity to dream. Wiping my teary eyes with the back of my sleeve, I sniffed and stood up to continue my journey.
I picked up my duffel bag and focused my thoughts on the ungrateful petty Flamingo who left without saying thank you. According to how Eria described the distance between the third village and Nayak, I should be there already, but all I could see were trees and forest, no houses in sight, and the day was getting dark already. Even though I was tired, I dragged myself along the road, feeding myself with words of encouragement till I saw a giant wall; this must be the northern gate.
I traced the wall until I reached an opening. The giant iron bars which served as a gate were supervised by heavily armed guards who looked like they had never had sex in their lives or hadn’t gotten some in a very long time. Another difference between Nayak and Ruqgu, Ruqgu doesn’t have any sort of walls or gates guarding its territory, or how else could I have gotten out of the city that easily? But Nayak has five gates secured on every corner of its wide territory.
These gates are heavily guarded, and a stranger can’t just barge into the kingdom without any sort of identification. Thank God I have the insignia of the Rusè family inside my trunk; that should give me an easy passage.”My lady,” I heard a familiar voice call behind me. I turned around instantly and almost collapsed from joy at seeing Annalise’s face again.
At least a familiar person in this vast journey to the unknown. She was dressed in a purple outfit, more revealing than the last time I saw her, her long dark hair was rolled into a bun and secured with silver pins. If I had not had any prior information that she was a maid in the palace, I would have thought she was a noble woman in Nayak. Well, figures, I heard the royal family of Nayak was immensely wealthy, so the maids can have the opportunity to look like noblewomen.
I imagined how Ruqgu would be if it was also ruled by Royals instead of aristocrats. Out of the four kingdoms, Ruqgu was the only one with an Asephalous type of ruling but the most quiet one with a flexible constitution.
“It is really you, my lady. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I didn’t get your message early,” the older woman knelt as she apologized to me emotionally. She looked like she would cry any moment, but I just sighed.
“It’s okay. I’m here now. It was just a new experience for me; I’ve never traveled alone before,” I said, offering her my hand which she took gladly and rose quickly. She moved closer to me and checked my state from head to toe. I know Iknow I looked like a wet rag at that moment but she doesn’t need to make it obvious that I was filthy.
Her expression shocked me as she stared at me with tears pooling around the corner of her eyes.
” You must have been so scared. I’m sorry. It’s all my fault, if only I had stayed longer then the messenger could have met me earlier and I could have turned around quickly to get you” She said and turned around, that was when I noticed two young maidens, probably a year or two younger than me, dressed in a brown sleeveless blouse and a slitted skirt that hung loosely on their hips.
I almost blushed at the thought of dressing like that. The two maidens bowed and took my trunk from me, they reminded me of my servants when I was still the lady of the Gattar Manor. I had so many servants to organize and the task was hard but Eria was always with me so it was lessened. Now I missed Eria a lot. I opened my mouth to reply Annalise but nothing came out of my mouth so I kept it shut and slowly trailer behind them.
What was I supposed to say to her in the first place? Okay I was supposed to ask her where we were headed to but that sounds dumb because we are heading to the palace obviously.
Two guards heavily claded in metal shinny armour stopped us at the gate. Annalise removed her palace insignia which she shows she works in the palace, The guards bowed but they refused to let me in.
” She is a relative from Ruqgu. How dare you stop my guest?” Annalise commanded in a tone I have nerver heard from her before. She is such a small that I never thought she could held her ground strongly. Well she was not the head maid at the palace for nothing.
” I’m sorry your ladyship but A Royal commanded was issued an hour ago. Any female stranger who enters the kingdom from this gate must be brought to the palace”