Chapter 16: Meeting the King

Micah held on to the cloak concealing her face as she walked through the busy marketplace.

Her bright eyes dazzled in awe; never has she seen such splendor and beauty. All her life she had grown up in the kingdom of Decreash, yet she was never acquainted with it.

She lived with her father and her sister in a small village in Decreash; she spent most of her time working on her father's farm, trying desperately to make ends meet. But here she was in the most iconic trade market in Decreash.

It was said this famous trade landmark brought kingdoms together. There were apparently foreigners among the people of Decreash. Micah masked her face as she glided through the throng of people in the busy market; the only thing that wasn't concealed was her bright hazel-brown eyes.

Suddenly someone gripped her wrist and dragged her to a corner. Micah was in shock as she battled to free herself.

"It's okay; I won't harm you." The girl holding her hand suddenly says she led Micah to a small room.

"I see something in you; I can read the future." The girl hovered around Micah after she gave her a chair to sit on.

She takes hold of her palm and peers into it.

"Well, well, I thought as much. Such a bright destiny." The blonde girl says but suddenly freezes in her movement; her face becomes pale.

"Suffering, lots and lots of it." She squealed.

She suddenly gazes at Micah, who looks lost.

"Your future—why is it so uncertain? Filled with both good things and bad things. I have never seen anything like it." The girl says and then suddenly begins to usher Micah out of her room.

"You must leave." She pushes Micah out gently.

"Wait, what do you mean by what you said? Micah asks after being pushed out; she turns around but couldn't find the girl—she was gone.

Micah stares at her palm for a while; she shrugs and makes her way back to the open marketplace.

She held on to the basket of apples she was holding and hopped on a moving cart. She took out a silver coin and tossed it at the rider of the cart, and he caught it midair.

As the cart glided through the pathway leading to the palace, Micah couldn't help but gasp in awe at the beauty Decreash beheld.

Just ahead she saw a small group of people gathered on a spot. She squinted her eyes and tried to see through the crowd, but it was of no use.

Just then the crowd splits open; Micah could now clearly see what was happening. A man in ragged clothes was being whipped by some royal guards. The man was aged and could die if care wasn't taken.

"Such a poor man, why are they doing that to him? Micah asked no one in particular, but an average man seated next to her in the cart answered…

"He has refused to pay his tax, and the king needs our tax to get rich." The man said, picking his teeth.

"But we can hardly make ends meet; they don't expect us to always pay our tax." Micah creased her brows as she sat up steadily; the cart was rolling past the scene. She gazed at the man that was being flogged; he was in a pool of his own blood.

"Tell that to the king." The man picking his teeth said, scratching his beard.

"No one is going to help him; they just stand there and watch this injustice." Micah said, shaking her head in pity, as her eyes roamed around. The traders and passersby only stopped to watch and then went about their business.

"If I were them, I would also do nothing about it. Those guards are feisty; they are loyal to the king's money, and they don't give a damn about who you are. If you are not royalty, you are a nobody. And a nobody cannot tell them what to do, unless they want a taste of that whip." The average man said, then tossed a coin at the rider of the cart before climbing down.

A woman holding a small boy suddenly climbs on the cart and tosses a coin at the rider, and the cart starts moving again.

Micah jumped off the cart when she had gotten to her destination. She gazed at the great walls surrounding the main palace. She had heard rumors that the palace had three gates, which were operated manually.

She looked around and soon found what she was looking for; some group of traders were selling their wares to the palace guards, who stored them in a warehouse.

The supply of these things was what the royal family made use of, including ingredients for preparing their food, clothes, fine linens, and jewelry.

As such, the foodstuffs are perfunctorily inspected; the guards make sure they are all poison-free, and a man skilled in perceiving poison was appointed close to the guards.

Micah's heart skipped a beat when it got to her turn; she immediately presented the basket of apples she had been holding, and it was thoroughly searched.

When they were done checking the basket of apples, Micah was about to take her leave, but one of the guards gripped her by the wrist.

"Take off the cloak." He said, peering into Micah's hazel eyes. They were enticing, enveloped with thick black lashes, but he wanted to see the other part of her face.

Micah gazed at the other traders the guards had let into the gates to drop off their wares at the warehouse. Why was her case different?

Micah sought to take off the black cloak concealing her face; she bit her rosy pink lips as she languidly placed her hand on the cloak, ready to take it off….

"Rafar! Someone called on the guard who had ordered Micah to take off her cloak. For a while Rafar was distracted; by the time he turned to the direction Micah was standing a moment ago, she was gone.

"Where is she! Rafar shrilled. "Find me that girl, now!

Micah hastened her pace as she slowly made her way towards the second gate; the basket of apples was also thoroughly searched, and then she was let in.

She wanted to go in but was stopped abruptly.

"You are not allowed to go through this gate; the male servants in the palace will see to it that they are taken to the warehouse. You may leave." The guard said, turning her out.

Micah's face fell; she looked around and saw that the other traders were also leaving after dropping their wares.

"It is important I have this delivered myself; I am a contractor for one of the high-ranking concubines in the palace. She won't be pleased if she doesn't see me. You see, I have red apples and green apples; she likes both species, but it depends on her mood. If she gets favored, she eats the green one, but then again, she can decide to go for the red one…." Micah was blabbering nonsense, and she knew it.

But it seemed to be working as the guards gazed at her with confusion.

"Just let the damn girl in! A guard who seemed to be asleep by a corner shot one eye open and screamed.

Micah was given access; she smiled faintly before walking through the gates. The guards at the third gate seemed nonchalant; she wasn't even spared a glance.

Soon she found herself walking down a stoned pathway. Palm trees and colorful bushes form a unique maze, with butterflies perching on some flowers and some looming in the air.

Immediately after she stepped into the palace, a sultry wind blew past, and the cloak slowly fell off her face, exposing a rare beauty. Micah pursed her rosy lips in astonishment as she gazed at the interior place; such splendor—never in her life has she seen such a glorious sight.

She was standing right in front of the palace back door and didn't know which way to take. There were numerous hallways and paths dividing the hall she was standing in into sections.

Reluctantly she went through one of the halls, taking off her cloak completely to prevent any suspicion. Now she was looking like an ordinary maid.

Micah could hear clustered chatters coming from a huge door as she walked through a long hallway.

She assumed it was the kitchen; pushing the door open, she came face-to-face with numerous ladies seated in pairs, casually discussing amongst themselves.

When she had opened the door, at first the chatting stopped. Every single woman in that room stopped to see if it was the emperor that had come in. Seeing it was just an ordinary maid, they continued their chatting; it was then Micah realized she was in the court chamber of the emperor's concubines.

"So many women! Micah gasped. The emperor's desires must be unquenchable; a lot of foreign women were also made concubines.

Some of them wore provocative outfits; some parts of their stomachs were open so that when they danced for the emperor, he would be enchanted. Some were blessed with big boobs, so they exposed their cleavages.

Some of the concubines wore a lot of makeup, their thick eyeliner outlining their facial features, their lips were pink and rosy, and they smelled of expensive perfumes. No male servant was allowed into the concubine's chamber; it was punishable by death if any male servant stepped into that court.

Micah hung her head down and quickly walked across the massive hall to the other side, which had an exit door. Immediately she was out; she breathed a sigh of relief but nearly bumped into a maid carrying a tray of wine.

"Oh, sorry." She said, retracting her steps. The maid snarled at her and made to walk away, but Micah stopped her.

"Please, can you show me the way to the kitchen? Micah batted her lashes while asking the maid for a favor.

"Go straight and take two left turns; you will get to the main kitchen. Are you new here? The maid asked, gazing at her suspiciously., It was Cecin, Tamina's personal maid.

"No… I mean yes, I am new here." Micah was stuttering; she quickly scurried away towards the direction the maid had told her. She got to the main kitchen and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Move! Came a voice from behind her. Micah turned and saw a row of maids trying to enter the kitchen; they were holding empty trays in their hands.

"My apologies." Micah said to the maid in front of the long line of maids and made way for them to pass. She wiped off the rivulet of sweat on her face and smacked her rosy lips tiredly.

This palace, the rooms, the halls! It was busier than a marketplaceand more enormous than some villages put together.

"Take this to the emperor." A middle-aged lady instructed a maid while handing her a golden tray containing a cup of tea.

Micah smiled in delight; the gods of the land had finally decided to shine their light on her. The emperor was exactly who she came to see; she also knew that coming to the kitchen was the only way she could get to him.

Asking directly about the emperor would have been too suspicious, and she might have even been confiscated. If that happens, what will become of her father?

Micah picked up the basket of apples and slyly followed the maid holding a cup of tea from behind. Just when she was approaching the emperor's room, she heard someone call out to her.

"Hey, you come here."

Micah immediately shut her eyes and froze in her steps. She didn't want to turn around to see who it was.

She dared not.