Marissa
"Why are you laughing?" I asked, with anger in the depths of my eyes.
The men's laughter died down gradually and they both glared at me with a frown on their wrinkled faces.
"You shall not see the king since he made no appointment with you. Do you think you can see the great king as you wish? A mere slave like you," The first man spat, humiliating me.
"If you tell him who I am, I'm very sure he will allow me in," I said and they laughed again.
"Get out before we kick you out of here" The second man warned, pointing his long sword to my face. Thinking the sharp, pointed edge would inflict wounds on me, I took a few steps back.
"Please, I'm begging you. Let me see him. You just have to explain who I am, and I'm convinced he will seek my presence"
"Who do you think you are? Aren't you a poor slave and an orphan? Do you think he would want to see you if I do tell him? Why don't you leave before you get harassed" The man hissed.
Tears slipped from my eyes and slowly, I got on my knees. The men looked at me in surprise.
"What… What do you think you are doing?" The first man spluttered, unbelievable.
"Stand up at once!" The second man yelled. "What do you think people would say if they see you kneeling here while facing us? We are just guards and nothing else," the man added.
"No" I muttered and shook my head. "I won't get up from here. Come rain, come shine… I will still be on my knees. I will only stand up if you give me a chance," I stated further.
The first man advanced to me, but the second quickly grabbed his arm.
"Let her be. She shall kneel till tomorrow. I don't care what happens," He spat and the first man went back to his position.
I sniffed my nose and took my face down. I watched as more tears slipped out of my eyes and fell to the ground. I could feel the tension and heat from the sink, but it did not bother me.
After several hours of kneeling, the men became worried.
"Don't you think this girl is stubborn?" The first person asked.
The second nodded, affirmatively. "She seems like she won't be standing up any moment soon. I thought she would leave,"
"By the way, she looks sick and tired. Yet, she refuses to stand up? Should we push her out of here instead?"
The second man sighed deeply. "I don't think that is necessary. Kneeling here for hours is tiring and humiliating enough. Throwing her out is going to be worse for her and it might even taint our reputation."
The men looked round and gave out a sigh.
"I agree. Everyone is already beginning to stare at us. Since we can't throw her out, can't we beg her to leave instead?" The first man asked, with a worried gaze.
"And you think that would work? The last time I checked, we threatened and harshly told her to leave, and she proved adamant, disregarding us completely. Begging her won't work at all."
"Then, what do we do? She can't keep kneeling like this. People are beginning to murmur. What do we do with this strong-headed girl? She is causing problems for us," The first man whined.
"We don't have a choice then," The second man retorted.
"I… I don't understand. What… What is that supposed to mean? Are you… saying we have to meet the King and tell him a mere and poor slave seeks for him. That means we are disrespecting him. Such insolence! That is preposterous!"
"We don't have any options!"
"We do have one, and that's ignoring her and minding our businesses. Let's ignore those nasty eyes on us. We shouldn't bother ourselves with the stupid murmurs either."
"Yet…" The second guard uttered but was quickly interrupted by the first guard who looked furious now.
"What if you decide to tell the King and he becomes angry. What if he kills you. Let's leave her. She will go when she's exhausted."
"I'm sorry, I can't. I would rather go to the king myself."
The first guard looked at him and smirked. "Good idea then. Go on, but don't say I didn't warn you. You might regret it."
The second guard simply hissed angrily and walked away, with his feet stomping hard on the ground. Twenty minutes later, he arrived, and I was surprised to see him in good condition. I was happy as well.
Likewise, the first guard looked flustered. "You did waste a lot of time. I was scared something really happened to you. Tell me, what happened there? What did you say and what did he tell you?"
The second guard hissed as usual and then, faced me. I gave him a warm smile, but the arrogant look on his face made the smile wither.
"Go. He said you can see him," He uttered.l, stunning me.
A bright smile suddenly took over my entire face. I jumped up immediately and thanked him. Afterwards, I walked into the palace and went straight to the passageway.
I had a retentive memory, so I was able to remember where his chamber was. When I got to the door, I became nervous. My heart was racing fast and sweats were beginning to form all over my face and palm.
I had just one thing in my mind though: How was I supposed to knock on the door?
My hand couldn't fold to create a knuckle because it was trembling so much. I have not been terrified and anxious before.
"How are you supposed to knock this now?" I heard my subconscious echo.
I swallowed hard and tried to knock, but I couldn't. Tears were well inside my eyes already.
Just suddenly, I heard the King's voice from inside.
"I can hear your thoughts and it's very disturbing… Won't you knock on the door already??