"Do you know the reason I brought you to my chamber? It was to protect you. I did so now, how do you expect me to protect you?" He asked in a frightening way. Well, what was I expecting? Did I expect him to stay with me? He did not even ask about the message.
"If not for Judd, I would not have gotten into this mess." I said in soliloquy. He ignored what I said and left the room. 'What a weirdo!' I thought.
A rather sophisticated but complicated one was Judd. He was a not a commoner. He managed to be sold as a slave to the royal family and I was envious.
On April, I had to sneak out to the market to steal something to eat. I was a vagrant. Then, I met Judd. He was someone I knew, in fact — my half brother in the dream who was not a commoner. Luckily for him, he was sold as a slave by my parents to the prince. Despite him being my half brother, we were more like strangers. He recognized me but I was referred to by him as a commoner and then he approached me. He was heartless, I knew what he was capable of doing. He might capture me and send me to the palace because he hated me.
"What is a commoner doing in a market?" He asked. I was frightened that he might tell on me. My dress was not made of silk but I clearly did not look like a commoner. One might think I was born in an average family. We rarely know each other , but I was quite astonished how he got to recognise me. I decided to feign our relationship and pretend that I did not know him.
"Ugh! Excuse me? I am not a commoner. " I denied. It had always been my first excuse. I would always deny the fact that I was a commoner.
"Are you kidding me? Stop pretending. I know you are Ava. " He said.
"Fine, I am. Let's say I am, so what?" I replied trying to feign confidence.
"Since we're in a market, I think the perfect action to make is to shout to everyone that you are a commoner. Then, since everyone believes all commoners are vagrants, you are more likely to be killed. Do you want me to do so or not?" He asked sounding like he wanted to negotiate.
"Of course not. Please, save me. I will head back right now. Please. " I begged.
"I can't let you go that easily. You have to help me with something. "
"What?" I knew I could not go just like that.
"Help me go to the palace. "
"What?" I asked again. Had he gone nuts?
"Stop asking foolish questions and just agree. "
"Are you crazy? I will definitely get caught if I go there. Guards are everywhere, if I die, it's not that you will hold a funeral for me. " I said grinding my teeth.
"Here. " He handed over to me a royal seal. "Give the guards this and sneak into the royal prince's chamber. "
"Why?" I asked in curiosity.
"I need something urgent and since you are a commoner, and you are more like a vagrant, can you help me go to the palace?" He asked me. I could not comprehend what he fully said but how would I? Me? A commoner in the palace? Bunch of nonsenses!
"Why? Of all people, why should I? " I said.
"Because for now, I can trust you. There is really an important stuff in the palace. Since you are quite good in stealing, help me to steal it. Then, I will pay you. " He said.
"How important is that thing for you to try to negotiate with money? What is it exactly?" I was curious. What was that thing? And why did I have to steal it?
"It is called the shell! I am not sure it would be there. But there is a chance that it's within the palace or with a human right now? Help me check the palace for it? " He said.
"Either I see it or not, you would give me money?" I asked.
"Yes. If you see it, I will give you any amount you want. I need the shell. Please help me find it. I'm Judd. You can do it right?" He asked again. Could I do it? Entering the palace without any permission might put me into trouble especially if I got caught by a royal guard. But the sound of money could not make me think that. I needed money that any other thing. At that rate, I did not mind doing anything to flee from being a commoner.
"I will try. What does the shell do?"
"If I tell you, you might not understand it. It's not something a mere commoner can relate to." He said. was harsh. Well, it had always been harsh. A lot of people had disrespected me so much just because I was a commoner, but it did not surprise me. I had been used to it.
"At least, tell me how it looks like so I can recognise it. " I replied ignoring his comment.
"It looked so much like a snail's shell. But it's made of gold. It's more likely to be found in a chamber made of gold. So find it no matter what. "
"How am I supposed to trust you? If I get caught, you would claim that you do not know me. I can only help me if you tell me what the shell does. " I insisted.
"Well, since you don't know how to use it, I guess I would tell you..." He explained. "Now go. " He concluded.
"You expect me to go? Looking like this? What kind of psycho would let me in after seeing me?" I replied. My clothes were nothing to talk about.
"That is right. Follow me. " I had to follow him to get a dress made of silk from him. " I looked nice in the dress.
So, what happened was I left for the palace and I got caught be a man, whom I would not call a royal but lived in a palace and I would not call a guard but tends to act like one. A mysterious one!
Would I ever get to understand what he meant? Would I see the end and survive?
Neither the king nor other royals' face had been revealed. We were known to serve an invisible king. Even though I had seen a lot of commoners being killed, I still did not know who made such an order. Just what was the reason the 'so called' king would dislike the poor? And why were we called commoners in the first place? Those questions were unanswerable to me. Well, could anyone seem to understand? Only the royals could understand it.