The princess smiled at the little children that ran past the hut, chasing after each other. she took a quick glance and immediately sighted Yan and Vernon coming from afar. she slowly rose to her feet with a warm smile as they approached her; the serious look on their faces withered away her smile. Yan seemed uncertain about his feelings towards her, but one thing was for sure; she was going to be useful in achieving his mission. Vernon took a quick glance at Yan as though expecting a sudden change of mood from him at the sight of the princess, but his indifferent look made him a bit more worried.
"How was the trip?"..... she started, as soon as Yan dropped his sac. "It was fine. How did you cope with staying alone here, It must have been uncomfortable ".....Yan replied. The fact he replied made her excited and with a smile on her face she replied, "It was not as bad as you think, Watching the stars from the front corridor was actually entertaining.".....
'Its nice to know that you don't find our lifestyle completely unbearable for someone of your status".....Vernon interrupted. "trust me, It's somehow more fun than being cooped up in a room all day in the name of being royalty".....
"Aren't you still cooped up here all day?".....Yan chuckled. Jemima felt a bit embarrassed at his laughing but kept it to herself. she turned to walk away but stopped at the touch of Yan's hand on her arm. "stay"....he mumbled. "What?"...
"I said stay....You can stay here for as long as you want"..... he blurted out the words. "why the sudden change of heart?".....She asked in a confused tone. He looked away without saying anything. he couldn't believe he had just said that to her.
With an understanding smile, she slowly pulled his hand away from hers and turned to him saying,
"It's fine. I want to go back to the palace and see my father anyways but thanks for the offer"....
"You do that then"…he turned to walk away.
"but before I go, You must teach me how to hunt".....
At the sound of this, He paused and smirked before continuing on. As she watched him leave, she blushed for a second before shaking her head aggressively as though she were trying to snap out of the love trance she was in.
Yiro squatted in the middle of the fields, plucking berries and strawberries and tossing them into the basket she dragged alongside her. She hummed to herself as she moved from plant to plant, caressing each berry with a joyful smile on her face.
"Yiro.....Yiro".... A female voice shouted her name from afar.
she turned in shock to see her friend Ghana , screaming and waving at her from across the fields. she rose to her feet and waved back to her, signaling her to come. Ghana rushed over in excitement, skipping over the grasses as she ran. she jumped unto Yiro in a tight hug that sent her straight to the dusty ground but Yiro didn't seem to mind. Ghana was a very beautiful maiden that followed after princess Amia alongside Yiro but she was often made fun of because she was overweight and twice the height of an average woman in Mono. The two girls sat on the floor, laughing over a yet unknown reason.
"What's with the excitement?"....Yiro chuckled. "I heard Nobleman Paleo is participating in the Bofima alongside the other soldiers".....
" He was already second in command so It would be weird if he didn't participate. Hold on, Is that why you are this excited?".....
"Of course. It means I will get to see him at the trial, I so can't wait"....
"I thought you hated him after he made fun of you at princess Amia's chambers because of your weight?".....
Ghana paused for a moment with a sudden frown on her face while remembering the embarrassment she went through because of him. Like his father minister Yanqua, He was a coldhearted soldier who ranked second-in-command in the army of the southern protectorate of Mono. The Bofima was a contest held amongst noblemen in the army seeking the position of the Head-of-army. It was usually held after the death or absence of a formal Army commander in order to chose the right successor to the position. Though there was a second-in-command, the competition was still held amongst the strongest soldiers, in search of anyone who was tough enough to defeat the rest.
"well I've forgiven him and I love him again"....she finally blurted out.
" When will your longtime crush on this nobleman ever end?"....
"Probably never".....
"Probably never".....The two burst out laughing again.
They both went back to picking berries in the field meanwhile the air at the army quarters oozed of fear the moment Paleo walked in with his armed escorts , Intimidation and oppression written all over them. The soldiers gave way, mumbling to themselves as he made his way, accompanied by his Soldiers in search of a soon to be unfortunate soldier.
"Where is Res?"...He asked.
The room fell silent immediately at the sound of his voice. Res stood at the back preparing himself for what seemed like his doom ; A doom he was so ready for . All the soldiers knew Res but they also knew what Res had done to infuriate Paleo but for some reason , they were reluctant to just giving him into paleo's hands so soon.
"I asked where Res is "…..He raised his voice at the hundreds of soldiers staring at him, still there was no reply. He ignored them and signaled to the soldiers behind him to go in search of Res and within minutes they pulled him out from the crowd. His fellow soldiers felt pity for him, worry rode on each of their faces as they watched what was playing out in front of them. The soldiers forced Res to his knees , leaving Paleo with a satisfied smirk on his face.
"Res, Res, Res, who do you think you are?"....He started.
He chuckled at Res' silence for a moment before striking him on the face with a hard blow. Blood gushed out of his bursted lip but not an inch of remorse could be seen from his expression.
"How dare you try to participate in the Bofima alongside the other soldiers, alongside me!, Huh!"...
Still, there came no reply.
"You are nothing but a mere soldier and the army's rag used to clean mud off our shoes. So stick to your level and stay out, Do you hear me !"…..He yelled before releasing another slap to his bloody face.
He turned to leave after successfully humiliating Res but paused at the sound of his low groan filled "No".
He turned slowly back at him with a disgusted look on his face.
"What was that?"….He asked.
"I said No!"…..He increased his tone.
"Why are you so afraid of a mere soldier like me if I'm nothing but rag to you!, Isn't the Bofima for everyone, shouldn't you prove your superiority on the battle grounds!. The Chief of the kinsgroup's son is also participating, why haven't you gone to threaten him?, Army commander Ish's brother in law is also participating, why haven't you showed up at his house yelling and commanding him to back down—"…..
"Shut up Now!"…..Paleo gnashed his teeth in embarrassment.
"No!, you are only doing this because you think you have the upper hand and can scare me out of this competition"...Res continued fearlessly.
"I said shut your trap "...his eyes flamed in anger as he glared straight at Res who didn't seem a bit afraid or intimidated.
"Whatever you do—-"...Paleo slapped him shut. He looked back at him with sudden rage and a heavy breathing as the Soldiers continued to pin him to the ground. Paleo grabbed his face and glared straight into his eyes about to otter a word when a wad of spit came flying from Res' lips and unto his face.
"Do as you please with me but you will never be Chief of army commander, Not now or even in the next life"….. Res assured him before taking the beating of his life. Paleo stood in total embarrassment and stormed out, signaling to his soldiers to continue beating him till he dies. The other soldiers watched in horror at how Res was torn to pieces but could do nothing about it.
Paleo stormed straight to the queen's quarters and informed the maids of his urge to meet with the queen. Almost immediately, he was let into the queen's chambers to meet an indifferent and emotionless stare from the queen.
He toke a quick bow and knelt in front of her, still breathing furiously but little did she seem to Notice, much less care.
"If you continue to walk in and out of my Chambers however you please, people will begin to get suspicious and that's when I will really descend on you"…..she started.
"My queen do not be offended by my often visits. I just want to assure my position as the next Chief of Army"….
"And what makes you think, coming here will assure you that position. I've persuaded the ministers to remove their sons from the Competition and that's the most I can do for you. What makes you think you can continue to come here?".....
A sigh came before his words,
"Your Majesty, it is with no doubts that the king is blindly in love with you. I wished you would use that advantage to persuade the king into favoring me at the Bofima."…..
"And what have you done to deserve what you are asking of me ?"…..She let out a scoff.
"Your Majesty, It is not about what I have done for you, but what I will do for you if I get this position"…..
"Fine. I'll think about it. But, don't expect much from me anymore because I am done going out of my way to help you"….
"Thank you My queen. I'll take my leave—-"…..he rose to his feet in attempt to leave the chambers before being called back by the queen.
"The furiousness you walked in here with, What triggered it this time, Do you feel threatened by someone?"...
The thought of Res' final words ran through his mind, infuriating him the more. He shoved in his anger so as to comport himself in the queen's presence and not show any harsh behavior before her.
"No your Majesty, it's nothing that should bother you"…..He replied.
"Fine then"...
With nothing more to say,He took a quick bow and headed for the door leaving the queen to herself.
Yan and Jemima strolled down the market roads in search of the Rat seller's stall. Yan carried some hunting tools in the sac on his shoulders while Jemima in an old brown sac dress followed him closely behind. No one knew the princess' face and so they could not recognize her as the princess. It gave her some type of protection in which she was able to walk around the market like a fellow commoner undetected by anyone. Though she looked tattered and rugged, her silky long hair and smooth clear fair skin, attracted the eyes of passerby as No Commoner's skin would look that smooth and soft if they were using the water from the village well and bathing with straw like everyone else.
They finally got to the stall and Yan began pricing the small rats in the cages. He explained to Jemima how it would be used as bait when they went hunting and how it was the best option for attracting wild forest Grass-cutters. As Yan went back to pricing The Rats, Jemima took a quick glance around the market and immediately observed something on the wall that caught her attention. She immediately alerted Yan and Yan's eyes widened in shock at the sight of it. It was a portrait of the princess drawn on the poster with the words ' Find her and get 10000 Coins of gold'. It was as that point they realized that everyone in the market was staring suspiciously at Jemima and comparing her to the poster. Without thinking, Yan grabbed her by the wrist and ran as fast as he could. At their sudden reaction, the traders already knew that their suspicions were correct and immediately started chasing after them like an angry mob of zombies after a sac of free ten thousand coins