THE KING, MY TARGET

Many nights I had sat up thinking and reminiscing about the ordeals that had befallen me. I couldn't help but imagine what lay ahead. If this mishap could happen to my family, what more was I expecting? 

What could be worse than death?  I asked myself. 

Suicidal thoughts had at different points crossed my mind. I wanted to end it all. I wanted to bring an instant end to all of the misery and suffering I was experiencing as a lonely person, so that I could be reunited with my family wherever they may be.

It was at this point that my path crossed with Helena. Helena came into my life at a time when I least expected. She came in as a friend and over time, grew to become a family to me. 

Helena met me at the verge of drinking a suicidal potion. I had held the potion with tears dripping down my eyes, asking and begging to be forgiven of what I was about to do. I had come to my wits end. Life mattered nothing to me. As I stood there with the potion of death, flashes of my father and mother's face as well as Jala's statue before my eyes. 

What was I seeing? Was it their spirits or their apparition? I didn't know. But one thing was sure, they were beckoning on me to come meet them, with blood flowing down their eyes.

Oh!.. It reminded me how they had died. I had gone into the woods to kill myself. Torn between fear and the desire to die, I just stood there holding the little bottle of poison.

Whatever managed to bring Helena to the woods at that time could have been divinely but coincidentally orchestrated. It would be much later when she disclosed to me that she always resorted to the woods to get some herbal leaves for herself whenever her usual stomach sickness began.

That fateful day, she had stood aloof watching me cry and mutter words of pain and hurt. In the midst of all the apparition of my family that I was seeing, I still made up my mind to take my life. And so, as soon as I opened the bottle to drink all of it. Suddenly, I heard a very loud cry from behind me.

"Stopppppppppp".

The voice cried hard and loud, it startled me, and unwittingly, the bottle fell off my hand. Instantly, I turned behind me to see this young woman stretching her hand towards me in a manner that seemed to be appealing to me to come to her.

"Don't kill yourself please.. Please don't.. You deserve your life". She said, drawing closer, one foot at a time.

"Who are you?". I asked softly, my gaze narrowed on her.

"My name is Helena Louis". She said. "Come please.. Don't kill yourself". She responded, and with one last step, I gave her my right hand, and she drew me gently till we were hugging each other in an emotional embrace, as the streams of tears began to flow again. 

I could feel her hand stroking my hair and tapping my back gently. I needed someone to hug me. I needed someone to speak words of kindness and consolation to me, and Helena dished them unreservedly to me.

"It's okay.. It's fine..I understand how you feel.. You'll be alright I guarantee you". She said calmly, with so much affection. 

Her words penetrated my soul and so birthed a new reason to live and stay alive again.

Helena saved me that day.. and helped me to get stronger. We turned to not become best of friends, but sisters. She was my companion. She was my strength. She was my go to girl.

"Oh Helena!. You came into my life at such a time when I needed you most. You saved my life from death, but now you couldn't save yourself from death". I said to myself.  

What an irony?!  She is gone.. They killed her. They raped her to death and now, I am back to being alone in this cruel world.

****

I walked towards the tray of baked bread. They had been made to be hardened. What did I care about?. I took a small loaf and a cup of cold, disgusting tea in hand and hurriedly ate and drank as fast as I could. 

A feeling of nausea began to rip me down in my Tommy, but I managed to hold it back. No time must be allowed to waste. So, I immediately washedy cup and rushed off to join the other maids for the day's work.

Down the steps I rushed, scurrying through the assembling crowd of other palace servants already at their  daily task.

I grunted, decidedly walking towards the first room for the day.

"Knock knock". I said, tapping on the door. And when there was no immediate response from within, I leaned my right ear on the door, listening for any kind of sound or movement within. 

Nothing!.

Slowly, I opened the door, keeping my face down, hoping that perhaps, a voice would speak to me. When I was certain there was no one in the room, I raised my head scouting around wide-eyed.

'How messy the room is'. I thought, letting out a weak sigh. It was quite a large room with several clothes strewn at different corners. Now, I couldn't help but frown when I considered the enormity of the work to be done tidying up the room.

I started picking up the clothes on the floor and placing them on the couch to be sorted later. Then, proceeding to sweeping off the thrash on the floor and gathering them subsequently into the thrash can I had come with.

Then, I returned to the clothes on the couch and began to sort them into two categories - dirty and not so dirty. The dirty ones, I moved for laundry, while I returned the other to another place where they belong.

Then, I proceeded to the closet.

The bed was quite dusty and unkempt. Without wasting time, I removed the dirty bed sheet, replacing it with a clean one which I picked up from the wardrobe. 

Once the bed was made, I moved on the loo. 

Gosh! It was a freaking mess. Who uses a toilet and does not flush it off?. I loathed the sight before me.  But what can I do? It's my task as a slave and I am duty bound to attend to it, or risk my head hanging on the gallows.

Gagging my mouth with my hand, I turned away my eyes from the nauseating sight, and then, reaching for the lavatory, I ceased my breath, before unclogging it to flush off.

"Uggghhh". I screeched in anger, as I moved to the sink to have my hands washed. A look of complete disgust crept up my face. 

'Why do I always feel terrible about these demeaning tasks?'. I thoughtfully asked myself. 

I had begun to guess that by now, I should have gotten used to them, or so I thought. But it just doesn't seem that way.

My goodness! It's just one room, and I am already feeling disgusted. What about the remaining six rooms waiting to be attended to by me? 

"No qualms". I muttered, quickly rounding up the cleaning of the first room, I hastily attended to the other rooms. Time was not a friend to any of us. None of the maids must be found in any of  the rooms by the time the royals return. Else, it would simply spell disaster. 

I entered the little general maids room. We were always grouped in pairs, trios, quadruples or more, for another round of tasks. Dusk had set in, and it was getting already dark outside.

My head had begun to pound terribly like the beating of a pestle on a mortar. My eyes had reddened up  from stress, and my legs already were aching terribly.

I felt my body begging for a relief, a nap or any form of rest that it needed. But then, I didn't and couldn't give in to the demands of my flesh,  as I must conclude my task before 9pm, else, forget any form of dinner.

Five other maids joined me as we swept and cleaned up the ball room. 

How my back ached as I swept?!.. Ah!  

I managed to stand erect, doing a couple of head and side stretches across my aching joints and muscles. Taking a breath, I inhaled and exhaled some fresh air of relief and exhaustion before continuing with the task.

Finally, at about 8:30 pm, we were done with the day's task. Feeling relieved and partly excited, we quickly rushed off to the kitchen where we had our dinner.

One would wonder why we were partly excited. 

Here…

It wasn't as though we were gonna be served some delicacy anyway. It was a meal for slaves. A meal of cold, tasteless porridge served in an old rusted bowl, and given to us as we queued up before the head maid, Madam Fegor.

Disgustedly, I stared at the meal in my hand as I walked into the tiny lounge earmarked for us to have dinner. Other maids were already seated on the bare floor eating. I found a little corner at the an extreme corner of the room, away from the others and slowly began to sip my soup.

A couple of chit chats here and there from different corners of the room, although in low tones, more like whispers, but I cared less. Albeit, as soon as I heard a question bordering around tomorrow's reassignment, my antenna stood on end. It was the soft voice of a lady dialoguing with  her friend, coming a few feet behind me.

I didn't need to turn my back as I instantly deciphered who the ladies were. They were Carol and Sasha. 

"So,..what do you think of the reassignment tomorrow?". Caro asked calmly. 

"Well..I still do not know what to say or think about it..Carol..The feeling is not always pleasant for many people whenever matters like this arise". Sasha responded with indifference and non-challance. 

I could tell she was not terrified atall,  judging by the tone of her voice. 

Who would blame her for being so indifferent and insensitive to a life of ease, pleasure and happiness?, or to life in general. Only a novice I guess. I mean, we all have seen more than our eyes could bear. But then, as the old saying goes, 

"No matter what the eyes see, they will never shed blood". 

I guessed she must have learned to take whatever life throws at her with guts and grit.

Anyway, that was for Sasha. For me, I was freaking scared to my core at the thought of the reassignment scheduled to happen tomorrow. I should have gotten used to it by now. But no. 

My entire frame shuddered at the mere thought of it.  I could never become used to a life of suffering and torture. I was not going to get acclimatized to such an atmosphere of man's inhumanity to man.

Oops!.. Did I forget that they were beasts and not humans?. Oh my fucking god!.

I was tempted to turn my back and join in their conversation, but then, I had a rethink considering who these ladies were. Both ladies were not people worthy of associating with, or being trusted. I suppose, they would not bat an eyelid before betraying you. 

I simply  held my cool, and just continued eavesdropping on their low-toned conversation. 

"So, who do you think might be assigned to the King's Palace?". Caro asked again.

"Personally, I wouldn't mind being sent to the King's Palace". Sasha responded with a smirk. It appeared as though she had it all figured out for her.

"Hmmm". I chuckled, gently shrugging, wondering the source of her audacity. 'How could one be so excited, being relocated from the frying pan to the fire?'. I thought.

"Are you okay?..Have you lost your mind?..How could you wish that for yourself?". Caro whispered in quick response, in a bit of shock.  I guess, wide-eyed and with a raised eyebrow.

It was more like I envisaged anyway. Obviously, Sasha's brain needs to be re-examined. I took another bite of my horrible porridge as the room was getting dimmer.

"Look Caro…Life in this Palace has taught me to be tough minded.. The King is my target". Sasha said firmly, tilting towards her friend. 

"What?!''. Caro exclaimed. "The King?!". Caro asked with a raised eyebrow, eyes dilated and flooded with light.

"Yes..The King..I intend to get close to him.. I intend to get his attention". Sasha said in a rather cocky tone, filled with so much confidence and audacity.

Bewildered, Caro simply folded her arms in total disbelief at what her ears were hearing.

"You see Carol, with the King by my side, no one, I mean no would dare look down on me or mistreat me again..Not even that.. that Madam Fegor". She said, turning her stern gaze in the direction of the head maid,  a frown written all over her face. 

A feeling of coldness, and tension crippled the guts of Carol to speak. Looking at her friend, Sasha, she knew her desires might be genuine, but the gravity of the demerit far outweighed the merit.

"Sasha..You are my friend.. Honestly, I do not consider this a noble quest. A lot of things could go wrong". Caro said. "You seem to have quickly forgotten what they say about him. There is no iota of emotion in him. He shows no mercy.. He doesn't forgive.  His anger triples every time an offender gets to plead for pardon".  Carol said coldly and softly. 

 "Need I remind you Sasha..that, Of all the twelve maids sent to his quarters last year, ten have been murdered for the minutest offences… Sasha, I do not wish in any way that you be reassigned there.. Albeit, should you have this unwholesome wish granted by tomorrow, I shall bid you farewell to the hands of death for I may just consider you as one dead". Carol said as she ended her touching speech. 

I was moved by her words, as I heard the quivering in her voice. But then, it simply heightened my fear.