chapter 1
1153 Words
"where is Sarah, I bet she is still asleep" I heard mama speak with a disappointed tone,I was always a sleepy head ,I knew I had my morning tasks but still woke up the last of all. I could hear lots of mummers outside unclearly but Mama's words are the one that were heard clearly in my ears ,I really don't know how I reached the well , but I bet mom's words gave me a speed of lightning . I was now at the well, just like always the queue was the longest, but thanks to heaven ,Charlotte was there, she has been my friend since childhood. Charlotte took my pots and filled them with water, we could hear most of the girls and women mummering,but anyways we didn't care,they had nothing to do but speak fighting was never allowed in the kingdom.
I rushed home quickly ,it had been an hour since when I left home ,"here comes the sleeping beauty"," anhaaa what do you take yourself for , the queen hah" said Ann my sister only after mama had called me sleeping beauty teasingly. I never listened to whatever Ann spoke she was always my best mood killer listening to her would have made my day a mess. I smiled only thinking of how mama called me a sleeping beauty until when I got a bang on my head from mama,"can't believe you are smiling, really do you think you are a true beauty or a queen ,you are just like the king ,the beast" mama rushed covering her mouth with her palms as if she wanted to spit the words she had said out of her mouth. Seeing her reaction both me and Ann were now curious. "is he really a beast" "no, or is he very ugly that's why he is called a beast" , "is he cruel or evil" we filled mama with lots of questions without getting any answer till when we pleaded together "mama tell us". She gave me a little slap on my cheek saying with an angrily mother look"this is the only thing you can focus on " " mama I Will help with more slaps to her but only after you give us the details" claimed Ann, "okay ,I will tell,but I am not sure if everything is true ,it's just a rumor, it is said that the king is a beast ,the ugly one and evil , and he was given power at the age of ten"she stopped just when we shouted "what ,at what age" then she continued,"it is believed that he even killed his own dad ,the late king ,due to fear to not be crowned as the king since he was a concubine's son ,the king's concubine ,by the time the queen had no any boy child,thus the king's stay would have brought a male child ,but it is said that the boy was cursed only when he was born by the concubine ,making him evil and the most ugly thing that has ever happened" ,"mama have you seen his face" I looked at her eye curiously as I spoke ,"no one has ever,he is always on a mask",She answered as she pushed our backs "it's time to work girls".We went to work as I washed utensils ,only I thought about the king being a king with only ten years of age ,and how did he rule at that very young age ,but he is evil if he could kill someone at a young age ,why not rule ,I said to my self.
Everyone finished the tasks as mama had finished cooking and had our lunch.My dad was a palace servant thus he went to the palace every morning and came back in the evenings. I took a nap ,and woke up at about six o'clock in the evening,it was already late and I had not fetched water ,I knew I would get lots of slaps and beatings from mama,and this time Ann had promised to help mama with my beatings.I could not handle the beatings , thus ran to the kitchen and took the two pots running all the way to the well,since it was now dark , people would have not been to the well, all I prayed for is not getting hurt by any creature on my way to and fro the well,all I heard were the sounds of birds especially the owls , why this of all I thought and only the swinging branches of the trees, that I even imagined to be the ghosts at times as I walked along the grassy ,tiny road ,just the imagination was now filled with the king too .Finally I reached the well ,pumped water into the pots,this time I was too fast than ever I carried the pots one on my head ,and the other on my palms leaned on my waist to say,under the armpit ,I walked too fast, just like a walk like run,I was filled with lots of fear ,I could feel my hands and legs tremble despite the fast walk,my heart beats had increased twice or thrice the normal heartbeat, it was cold but I was now sweating ,the anxiety in me was beyond the extent, truly I had never experienced such fear before.
I was now half the journey when I had footsteps , these were people's footsteps not a single one to say, many of them were coming my way , my body was now heating , for the first time I wished God could have created me as an ant ,I wished I could be as small as possible but this was not happening ,my mind was not working at all I did not know where to run to,the footsteps came from both sides west,east,south and north of me. I had no place to run to. I only stood on the middle of the way just waiting for them to take me for whatever they wanted to do with me. The pots were now in pieces ,my hands could not hold anything anymore ,this time I was crying . The sounds of the foot steps grew louder and louder ,my legs loss control ,I felt dizzy and my eyes were blurred ,I felt really weak and this time I was going to fall. But all I remember I was on his chest only after he pulled me from the road towards a bush with his one arm on my back as I leaned on it and one of his thigh ,he had leaned on a tree as he faced the road behind the tree I could still hear the foot steps but this time not towards me ,he was really muscular and this time I wanted to look at my saviour's face, but unfortunately I could not ,my brain could not take it any longer , I was unconscious.
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