In spite of my resolve, I smiled to myself in my bed thinking about him; he is without any doubt the most beautiful man I have ever seen in my life, and just the thought of him gives me flutters in my belly.
***Soka braided my hair in the palace maiden style. She rubbed in shea butter and argan oil all the way to my scalp. Her hold was tight on my scalp, making me wince whenever she combed. "Be still. Don't you want to be pretty?" she asked. The palace is filled with the most gorgeous people I have ever seen in my life. I'm confident enough to know I don't look bad, but being in the palace gives me a sort of insecurity about my looks. Being chosen to be a server to a royal should be one of the greatest compliments to my looks. In our kingdom, beauty is everything to females; mostly, beauty is everything we have. If I wasn't plensant to the eyes Madam Iwin would probably have made me one of the cleaners of the latrines or send me to work on the farms. It is known that the king usually has affairs with certain palace servers. A lot of servers have such dreams of becoming a king concubine, you bare him a bastard child even though the child will barely have a stand in the royal court. Generally, I have no such interests. Mina would say that I am not ambitious, but I am okay with that. "Your hair is done; look at you even prettier," Soka said. She hands me a plain, square wooden hand mirror. Her skill is perfect; the braids were neatly plaited into thick cornrows that shone with all the oil. It made my face look shapelier and yet softer at the edges. "I love it; thank you," I beamed."Good. Another day with that nonsensical human being "she snared." She adjusted her uniform, tightening the waist belt around her waist. She takes the mirror I dropped on the table and inspects herself in it, turning her head from side to side. "Don't do anything crazy, Soka," I said to her as she hurried out of the room. She huffed loudly. I started reading the book Madam Iwin gave me; it is hundreds of pages of palace etiquette. Overly specific ways of greeting, talking, serving, and even smiling Honestly, it's tedious, but I should be grateful because I can easily have it worse. After hours of being in the room alone, I decided to take a walk. I passed the narrow corridors of the maiden quarters going out to the palace exteriors. I could see several buildings, most of which I had no idea of their use. I looked toward the eastern part of the palace and spotted the maze. It's a hedge maze of flawlessly shaped green shrubs that ran almost endlessly. I walked into it with my book in hand, hoping I don't get lost. The shrubs stood at about 7 feet towering over me, yet the sun beat down on my skin warming me with its unrelenting rays as it spilled into the maze space. I opened the book, reading as I walked further into the maze."You shouldn't read in the sun," I heard a voice call out. On Cre, the most breathtaking creation I have ever seen. He stood elegantly in front of me, his height making me feel shorter than I usually do. deep chocolate skin toned in the sunlight. His jawline was sculpted sharply as if chiseled, framing cheekbones, and he had coal-shiny eyes. Cre the creator is wonderful indeed. He stared at me, examining me, his eyes scaling my body making my nervous. I tried my best to hide my anxiety. His very presence made me shrink into myself like I am not supposed to look. But when he cast his gaze on me, I felt instantly exhausted. I directed all my will toward acting as causally as I could. Only young girls act like they melt in the presence of boys, and I am already in my 20th year. He isn't a boy, though; he is a man with a voice that sounds like it can silence storms, with chest and muscles unmistakably looking ironclad underneath his brown cotton top. I followed him further into the maze that led to an astonishing garden. The garden looked magical, like a place out of a fairytale. I had never seen so many flowers in one place; they seemed like millions. Different colors cast themselves against each other: pink of the black orchid, yellow bells, red and white roses, and my personal favorite, the white butterfly jasmine. There were many others I knew no idea their names. My instinct was to reach out and pluck one, but I held myself back because it felt like ruining perfection. The air in the garden was light and relaxed. I marveled at the giant royal poinciana that stretched out its wide branches to the sun with its flowers like fire. All of it was simply alluring. The birds sang in different enchanting melodies, flying swiftly from tree to tree. Mother would have loved it all; she was obsessed with flowers and nature. We sat on a concrete bench underneath the royal poinciana, and he kept a little space between us. His name is Kibi, and he is an assistant cook in the palace. From the way he looked, he seemed more like a royal. Not just the way he looked but also the way he carried himself, his overall posture did not seem to be that of a palace worker. Most workers here have great posture, but his is different. Everything about him was graceful, including the way he held his head up and kept his hand at his back. Even in such an enchanting place, he stood out as the most enchanting to look at. I had to hold myself back from staring at him."Let's meet here tomorrow afternoon," he said with a hopeful expression on his face as we walked out of the garden. I smiled at him as I nodded. "Why are you smiling like that?" Soka asked me as we had dinner."Nothing," I replied as I stuffed my mouth with rice to avoid the conversation. She had no interest in dropping the conversation.She looked at me with an intruding stare, her eyes examining me intensely. "Ah I see" she exclaimed."What?" I asked."You met someone." Niola giggled."I met someone, like, how? I've met a lot of people." I tried to pretend I didn't know what she meant. "You met a man. That's the face I met a man face," she said, pointing at my face. I put my head down in embarrassment. Don't let Soka worry you. "She is swearing off all things male," Niola said."Which is completely necessary. Men are horrible creatures; look at the mess they are making with their self-proclaimed authority," Soka said. "Well, I met no man," I said when I finally could look up. Soka looked at me disbelievingly. "Hello, Soka," a girl with light brown skin said as she suddenly obstructed our way out of the dining hall. "I heard you had a fight with a noble yesterday. You just can never change, can you?" She said smugly"It's crazy how obsessed you are with my life," Soka said dryly. The girl laughed loudly, using her hand to cover her mouth. "You know I only do because we were such good friends. "I really would never want you to get into any serious trouble," she said, but it was obvious she didn't mean it. There was something about her whole stance that reeked of pride, even in the way she looked at Soka. She gave a strange smile and went on her way, walking like a peacock. "Now you've met Zara," Soka said with a disgusted look on her face."That girl is so silly; she acts like she is so special," Niola said."You both used to be friends?" I asked Soka. Seeing Zara, I can't imagine how Soka could have been friends with her. Zara seems like one of those people who like to make themselves feel important by belittling everybody else. On the other hand, Soka is very down to earth and inviting to everyone."Unfortunately, we used to be friends" Soka replied, "that was before she became a king server and started acting like she is bigger than me. I don't know when she will get the hint; she has been serving the king for 2 years now, and he has not looked at her, just as he doesn't look at any woman. Still, she strongly believes she will become a concubine. I almost pity her deillusions".I truly cannot understand why anyone would want to become anyone's concubine, not even the King's. The status of a concubine seems like "ladies of pleasure" to me. Certain kings have had over 50 concubines who are all disregarded. Concubines have no real status in society. As a king's concubine, you get certain palace privileges, and there have been talks of some concubines being closer to the king than the Queen. Our King has, strangely, no concubine. In fact, some people say that he doesn't seem interested in romantic or sexual relations.I watch the palace workers move around my palace in disarray as they prepare for the coming of Princess Deze. They carry different items, from lockers to flower vases and paintings for the princess chambers. Frankly I would have preferred the Princess to stay else where and not in my personal palace. If I had done that, it would have created issues with the nobles about keeping to tradition. Tradition demands that Princess Deze stays with me for at least 40 days before any marriage preparation can begin. During these 40 days I'm supposed to court her and make sure she gets accustomed to the palace and the unique ways of our kingdom. This would all be easier if Princess Deze takes this marriage as politically as I do. Something tells me that she might have romantic ambitions considering she is so young. She is just in her 20th year, at that year all females are obsessed with the idea of first love. A palace worker stubbles into me dropping a plain black flower vase, it falls wit
Zao POV I'm trying to concentrate on what Minister Kibi is telling me while simultaneously pondering the fact that I stole his name. I looked into the eyes of the most alluring woman I have ever met and told her my name is Kibi. Right now, it seems quite amusing to me. I wonder how he would react if he knew.I force myself to concentrate on his words, leaning further towards him.Minister Kibi explains his plan to expand palace positions to everybody, including pensants. He is quite an idealistic young man, but at his prime age, he isn't really.At his age, I was rebellious simply for the sake of rebelling. I wanted nothing that my father wanted for me simply because he wanted it for me. I wanted to create my own part and my own destiny.Looking at him, I feel a sort of connection as he speaks about his plans, hopefully. It is a dangerous goal he has. None of the other nobles will want it. But time changes things, and I'm honestly tired
Today is the day the princess arrives at the palace, and I don't know how exactly I feel about it. On one part, I'm excited about meeting a demigoddess and serving her; on the other, I'm scared about meeting a demigoddess and serving her. What if she is completely cruel and discriminating? Also, I have been able to escape seeing the King for days now, but once she comes, it becomes inevitable. My entire life will be in the king's palace, following her even when she has meetings with the king.I took extra time getting ready today, making sure I looked my best in my uniform. The dark shade of green does not look bad on my dark skin tone at all. In fact, it makes my complexion pop. I put berry scent behind my ears and coconut oil in my hair. I practice my smile in the mirror until the corners of my lips start to feel like cracking mold. 'The welcoming, accepting smile," as Madam Iwin calls it, is supposedly my best assertion in my work.I had read every text I could
_Present day_Sira walked through the deserted street, her hands crossed beneath her chest as the sea's breeze wisped through her hair, her dark skin glistening with silver hues under the full moon. The sea crashed against the barricade in lumpy shadows that spilled against the bare floor. She walked faster, putting one leg in front of the other as if in a speed walking competition, looking ahead as she concentrated on the street light that seemed only a few feet away. It was mesmerizing to her how it seemed like the distance between her and the street light never changed, almost like she walked but still remained on the exact same spot. Confused, she scanned the area, looking toward the sea as it crashed and spilled. Her thoughts swam around her head, making her agitated but not afraid. She looked at the street light scrutinizingly, trying to judge the distance for about the 9th time, looking back at the tree she never passed but that seemed to have always been there, wavi
The young woman sat at a table by herself by the wall in her favorite study hall. Her deep brown braids were packed up in a messy bun, with a pencil serving as a hold for it.This was her favorite hall because people in this hall strictly came here to read, and the hall overlooked the green outside, where many read under trees or came to gist on the grass and have a quick break from classes.Unfortunately, if Sira were to look through the wall-like windows, there was little commotion outside; everybody was either in their dorms reading more or in exam halls. The few who came for short breaks looked too stressed to enjoy their sandwich and barely had time to get their gist as they were going over what they felt they had read but felt like they would forget somehow. Unlike most days, Sira didn't pay attention to the other students. Her full attention was focused on her computer, which she used to scheme yet another document for her economics course. She was
As usual, the summer sun was without filters and shone proudly, demanding the attention of the residents of the island. Not a cloud dared to mar the bright blue expanse of sky above. Students walked around the school in flip flops and tank tops, their excitement palpable in their friendship groups as they planned for the summer holiday. The school was awash in a riot of colors: the vibrant purples, oranges, and reds of the blooming flowers set against the verdant green of the leaves."It will be so fun, guys," Talia said as she bubbled with excitement while adjusting her designer sunglasses with golden frames. Talia's family is properly rich as her father owns one of the biggest hotels on the island. Her family beach house, just a few kilometers away from the hotel, will be empty that summer as her parents were vacationing in Paris for the whole season, leaving Talia with free reign over their sprawling beach house just a few miles away from the hotel. Even after 25 y
The room was filled with excitement and anticipation as the girls tried on different outfits and experimented with makeup and hairstyles. The girls giggled and chatted, making the room a mess in the process with clothes strewn all over and makeup scattered on the dresser.As the girls were busy getting ready, Luci walked into the room in her usual manner of not knocking, surprising everyone with a zip-lock bag containing two squares of brownies. Her thick black hair was left in a free afro and adorned with tiny yellow butterfly clips that added a pop of color to her ensemble. She looked stunning in a light nude brown crop top that showed off her gold belly button piercing, paired with a low-waisted ankle-length skirt that had a thigh-high slit, revealing her slender legs. Her outfit was completed with a pair of strappy sandals that gave her the sophisticated hippie girl look she is known for."Santa Mama is here with your treats, girls."Luci's announcement caught the attention of Sira
Sira's heart raced as she stood in the presence of the man who had captivated her in ways she had never experienced before. The feeling of intoxication that enveloped her was beyond words. She felt as if she were floating on cloud nine, with a million butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Every moment spent with him was pure bliss. His mere presence was enough to make her feel glorified, as if she were the most special person in the world. The way he looked at her, with an intensity that made her feel like he was devouring her, sent shivers down her spine. It was a look that made her feel like she was the only thing he craved and needed in this world. With every passing moment, Sira melted under his attention. The way he spoke, the way he moved, and the way he made her feel all made her want to be closer to him. Being with him was like finding something she didn't know she was looking for—a missing piece of her soul that she had been searching for. And as she sa