Salsa's eyes were fixed on the carriage window as she fed it with the beautiful buildings and flowers that can be seen in the palace. She was so lost staring out the window that she didn't feel when the carriage drew to a stop. The feel of someone touching her thigh startled her so badly that she let out a scream.
" Ah!! " she flew from her seat and then turned with her heart thundering in her chest to find Master Chang glaring at her.
" What is wrong with you girl? you are jumpier than my old colt. "
Salsa swallowed before forcing out an apology through her desert-dried throat.
" I am sorry, " she said in a low voice.
Master Chang glared harder at her before pushing the door of the carriage forcefully.
" Don't embarrass me girl, " he warned with a deadly look before waddling through the door. It was a little difficult making his way through the carriage door because of his big belly.
It was hilarious to watch but Salsa knew that laughing will be a great mistake so she swallowed it, letting her eyes do the laughter.
After so much struggle and a lot of curse words that made Salsa red in the face Master Chang was able to get out the door leaving Salsa alone in her thoughts. The amusement she was feeling a second ago all but disappeared leaving only nervousness.
She was scared and at the same time excited. She has never seen a wedding before let alone a royal wedding. Who is the king marrying? she asked herself with heightened excitement. Curious about the woman their King has chosen to be his bride. Will she be beautiful? Of course. Will she be old? her mind paused that.
The king was old, older than her father. Will his bride be the same? Salsa tried imagining a queen like her mother. Mmm, not bad she shrugged her slender shoulders. Her mother was one of the most beautiful human beings Salsa had ever seen. People have told her a good number of times that she looks like her mother but she doesn't think is true.
Yes, she shares the same blonde hair with her but that is where their similarities ended. Her mum had brown eyes like her brothers, while she has green eyes that neither her father nor her mother has.
When she was a child she used to cry every night because she was different but her mother assured her that her eyes were from her great-great-grandmother who was a foreigner and was married into their kingdom.
Even though she had tried to give herself time to mutter her courage to step out of the carriage, she couldn't seem to find it. She took a deep breath and decided to get it out of the way. She stood up to make her way out of the carriage but the sudden loud voice of Master Chang at the carriage door scared the living daylight out of her.
" Girl are you planning on staying there all day! " he barked with great irritation.
Startled Salsa clicked her left foot with her right and found herself falling in a rush towards the carriage floor. Her eyes bulged out of their sockets as a scream pierced through her throat.
" Ah!!!!!!! " her hands floundered trying to grasp anything solid to break her fall but all she could reach was thin air, not hard enough to hold onto. When she realized the inevitable is about to happen she shut her eyes tightly and braced herself for the hard impact with the floor, only her fall didn't just stop with the carriage.
Another scream came tearing out of her lips when her body stumbled out of the carriage and she found herself airborne. She has never felt the sensation of flying before in her life and she doesn't care what the birds say, it wasn't good. Her heart sank in her stomach in fear, and the urge to throw up gripped her throat.
For a brief second, she was suspended in the air before she was released and she found herself crashing toward the floor with speed.
" Ah!!!!!!! " she screamed all the way down till she made a hard impact with the ground in an awkward embarrassing heap.
" Aw! " Salsa groaned in pain, silently moving her hands and foot to make sure that nothing was broken. When she was sure that nothing was broken that is when she began to feel the embarrassment of her situation. Her face heated up and began to spread downwards. She couldn't lift her face to look at Master Chang. She could imagine his angry face quite alright in her mind. Beefy red like half-cooked meat, with his veins, throbbing. No, she didn't want to look at him.
When the sound of a deep growl reached her on the ground, Salsa swallowed with great difficulty, fear gripped her. She wondered if Master Chang was going to carry out his threat earlier on. She looked up at him with her face burning in embarrassment and worry and as she had imagined that is he was looking all red in rage, with his veins about to explode from his forehead.
The sound of someone being whipped reached them before a blood-curling scream followed. Salsa's eyes looked in that direction. A female slave was held down by two other servants while a tall man with long dark brown hair with the side strand locked held the whip. Salsa assumed him to be the servant master.
Salsa's throat dried up, her eyes filled with great fear but she couldn't look away from the horrifying scene going on a few feet from her. Was this about to happen to her? A fearful shudder ran through her and she found herself clutching her duffle tightly in with her fingers until she couldn't feel them.
" Are you planning on gawking all day, haven't you embarrassed me enough girl! " Master Chang screamed, sounding very irritated.
Salsa jumped and then looked towards Master Chang to find him already heading towards the palace. Does that mean he wasn't going to punish her, she dared to hope flying to her feet. She tried to move but her fear had made her legs wobbly so she stuttered in her steps before righting herself. She looked up at Master Chang with an embarrassed faint smile.
Master Chang shook his head at her like he was wondering what he was going to do with her.
Send her back to her family, Salsa thought with a hopeful look but Master Chang was already on the move, so she hurried to catch up. She followed him meekly making sure to keep her gaze to the ground.
In their kingdom slaves are not allowed to look freeborn in the eyes. Even though she was once freeborn, right now she was a slave and have to conform to the rules. It was going to be difficult adjusting to her new life Salsa thought bitterly as she continued to follow her Master.
Plenty of people were here for the wedding, all looking rich and beautiful in their clothes, with a hood of servants. When they got to the foot of the palace Salsa's eyes fell out of their sockets at the long stairs they have to climb to reach the huge palace building in front of them.
Her side eyes caught that of Master Chang who also stood giving the stairs the same look she was giving them. He looked like he was about to change his mind about going to the wedding if it means having to climb this far.
The look on his face amused Salsa that she forgot her place. A chuckle sneaked out from her lips before she could stop it but quickly clamped her hand over her mouth and tried to look innocent.
Master Chang glowered heavily at her before he began to climb. Salsa followed suit.
Midway up, she began to gasp and feel her chest hurting. She paused to take a breath and looked toward her Master. He looked to be in the same boat as Salsa but had this determined look on his face.
" You have to keep up girl, we don't have all day to spend on these stairs, " he barked at her. The commanding tone he was trying for was defeated by how wheezy and breathless he sounded.
Salsa wanted to point out that they were both in the same place but held back her tongue.
Finally, they reached the top, and Salsa's mouth fell open. The palace was beyond beautiful. Her wandering eyes fell on one of the guards and she shivered by how deadly serious he looked. She moved on from him catching the guards surrounding the palace one by one, none had a smile on their face. She wondered at that. Was it part of their training not to smile?
The guards reminded Salsa of her brother Qianfan who have always wanted to be a royal guard but he couldn't leave the family because he needed to be there to help their father and brother on the farm. A wave of homesickness sprung up on Salsa making her dizzy. She stumbled a little as her eyes filled with tears. She missed her family.
" This way, " she heard one of the guards say to Master Chang but when she tried to follow, a sword appeared from nowhere to her neck.
" Where do you think you are going to? " A deep masculine voice barked with disdain and superiority.
A loud squeak fell from Salsa's lips, her hands flew up in the air while the small duffle bag she was holding crashed to the floor. Salsa gaped at the guard in terror, her heart hitting the wall of her chest hard.
" She is with me, " Master Chang hurriedly said but the guard didn't lower his sword immediately but continued to stare at Salsa. A few seconds later, his hands went down and Salsa was able to breathe. She bent and picked up her duffle and hurried after Master Chang but not before shooting the guard a secret withering look for scaring the shit out of her.
" You are always causing trouble, " Master Chang growled at her when she drew up beside him.
" I am sorry, " Salsa murmured in a meek tone while asking herself how the incident was her fault. Finally, they were inside the big hall where the wedding will be taking place.
" Wow! " Salsa gasped looking around. There are beautiful decorations everywhere. Balloons of different colors, clothes, and lanterns hanging beautifully off the wall. The place was lit up with music and the melodious sounds of zithers.
Master Chang was directed to a table by one of the female servants parading the hall.
When they settled down, Salsa's eyes caught the feast that was on their table and her eyes grew double their size while her stomach let out a loud happy growl.
Her hands flew to her stomach in embarrassment refusing to look up at her Master even when she could feel his glare. Her mouth watered at all the delicacies displayed on every table in the room. She has never seen this amount of food ever in her life.
Her tongue came out to wet her lips, as she eyed the bowl of drum sticks directly in front of her. She could hear their serene call tempting her to reach out and pick one. She felt her hand moving as if to answer and quickly clamped down on it. Her stomach let out a low annoyed growl in warning but the sound of a loud gong announcing the arrival of the King was enough to distract her.
Salsa watched with so much fascination as the King arrived with his guards. He was, even more intimidating real than in all the stories they have heard about him back in the village. He was very tall and huge, and his rich dark brown locks were spotting some grey in them. And he looks very handsome and oozed danger like a scent. His eyes are cold with no warmth in them and that terrified Salsa enough to keep her gaze downcast for the rest of the obeisance.