daughter of the prime minister

ch.4

Somehow we get to the market in town unnoticed by other servants in minaster ghin’s residence. I call him by his title because i haven met him yet, so calling him father feels weird.
We walk down the street each of us holding a melon. We say things like freshly picked watermelons for sale, or only so much a melon. I after 20 minutes of this i'm bored, and tired. That's when i think of something amazing.
“Mal, Alex, where is the most expensive yet popular restaurant in town?” I ask , forming more parts of the plan I have.
Alex answers first, “just up the road a bit more my lady”
“Ok let's head that way and don't yell so much we need to be a little bit more quieter until we get there” for my plan to work
They nod and we continue with less hurry as before.
When we get there tons of people with fancy clothes and trending gaudy accessories walk in and out of the restaurant.
I see an open spot off the road on the left side of the path leading in, I lead us there and open down a small cloth on the pavement. I nod and Alex and Mal start advertising the melons. I get the knife and start cutting open the melon. Mal and Alex seem to have noticed my plan and have started talking to the rich people gesturing this way. They step closer as I cut another piece of the melon, sending a sweet, fresh smell into the air. They can't resist.
“Excuse me are you selling these melons” a man asks with his arm linked with a womans
“Yes sir i am, would you like to buy? I have individual slices for a 3 nickels each or a whole melon for 2 gold” i say
“Well, we just had lunch and a small dessert seems to be fit for our occasion.” he looks at the lady next to him and then continues. “ i will take 2 individual slices”
I nod and get two slices ready by sticking a skewer in the top and using a clean napkin to push it up.
“Thats 6 nickels” i say handing the two slices up to the lady as the man digs through his bag handing me 6 nickels.
We say good bye and more people line up.
Soon the first melon is gone and I cut only a half of another. I hand out a few more before I see Alex and mal. They come closer with smiles on their faces.
“ How is it my lady?” she asks in a whisper preparing another slice and handing it to me.
I hand it to the last person in line and accept their money “It's great i can hardly keep up.” i whisper back, “mal”
“Yes my lady” she waits for me to continue
“ why don't you and alex call me nell it would be better if people didn't know about my being a minister's daughter, and… you guys feel more like a family to me then mere servants.” i say with a warm smile
“Are you sure, if people find out they” i cut her off
“ they would punish you, to them you are my servant, they aren't allowed to touch anything that is mine. And if they do i'll make sure they won't have a voice to order their own servants.” i say “but in reality you are like family and i would have been lost without you and alex.” i finish
I finally look at Mal in the eyes and it looks like she’s going to cry. I also spot Alex with a smile on his face. I hug Mal so she doesnt cry and Alex joins the hug.
“Umm i'd hate to interrupt such a joyous moment but are you perhaps selling this watermelon.” a young man said politely.
We quickly let go of each other and went back to preparing the melon.
“Yes I am selling the watermelon, would you like to buy it?”
“well that depends on the price.” he said
“An individual piece is 3 nickels and a whole watermelon is 2 gold” i say
I hear a voice from a carriage I had not noticed before. I could hear what he said yet the young man repeated it.
“How much for the half over there” he asked
“1 gold cuz its a half” i say
The young man backed up to the window of the carriage and out from the curtain a single gold was dropped into the young man's hand.
“Here you are miss” the young man said as he dropped the money into my hand. I put the gold in the pouch we were keeping for the money, while Alex handed the half melon to him. He gave a swift bow and started walking with the now moving carriage.

I watch the people around us. I soon Spotted  a man rushing out of the restaurant, holding a closed fan. As he came closer he slowed down but when he spoke he was still out of breath.
“Hello are you… still selling melons, whole ones?” he said, stopping in the middle of his sentence for a breath.
“Yes we have one whole melon left”
“ how much” he asked
“ 2 gold ” i say
He digs in his sleeve and pulls out a pouch and gives me 2 gold, Alex hands him the melon. The man then runs as fast as his legs would take him back into the restaurant.
“Well business is business.” I say and look at the watermelon left.
“Only 6 slices. Why don't we have some too?'' I handed two of them to Alex and Mal, keeping the last two to myself.
    ~~~~~~
I couldn't eat the second piece so i wrapped it up, but when mal and Alex are done eating we pack up and head to a good but cheap clothing store. When we walk in we are greeted buy a old man
“Hello my name is omar, it would be my pleasure to show you around our store.” he said kindly
“Well we are looking for some working clothes and simple yet elegant clothes.”
He nods and beacons us to follow him.
“ here are the work clothes.” he says and lets us look around
I end up picking a dark green colored set of clothing. Mal a reddish color and Alex a blue. We then confirm we are done with this section and Omar then leads up some stairs. We then see simple beautiful clothes.
“To the right you'll find women's clothing and to the left means. if you need anything i'll be right here” he finished and let us go our separate ways.
Me and Mal walk to the first thing that catches our eyes. After 20 minutes of looking we were able to lower our selection to only two sets each. I see one of mals, it's blue and has simple embroidery on the hems. She says she wants it to be her new maid uniform and asks if it would be ok. I say yes and we walk to meet Ormar. We end up finding Alex already there talking with him. He only has one set and I tell him to go find one more so it's fair. He comes back and we walk down stairs to the desk to pay. We chatted after we paid and ended up hearing a little about omar.

He is the owner and builder of the shop and is currently going out of business. He says unless he can make the payment in 3 days hell be out on the streets, Only having the cloths on his back. Omar is sweet and he reminds me of a memory i cannot completely recall, all i know is that it was pleasant and warm. So i can't help but pity the old man.
“Mr. omar if you find yourself in that position come payment time. find me, i am the first daughter of the prime minister ghin. Go to his residence and ask for me, i may not have status but i do have a roof and i'll be happy to share” i say
“Oh my i appreciate the offer but i couldn't stay there for free” he said waving his hand
“You said you built this place right?” he nodded, “we are wanting to do repairs on the house but we aren't completely sure how to go about it. So in 3 days if you cannot pay I will gladly share my home and your payment to me will be your knowledge and guidance throughout the build.” i state
He sighs and agrees “ you are such a sweet girl, how could this old man resist an offer like that.”
Other people come in and we say good-bye to omar. We then head to a wood shop to place an order. The order will be filled in two days. Surprisingly it's only 3 in the afternoon, but we head back so we can work in the house a bit.
On our way home we see a beggar holding a sword. He seems to be in his late twenties to early thirties. He comes up to alex and begs for money saying hell give him the sword in exchange. The sword is in a red and black sheath, it's a katana. Alex seems flustered and declines the man. The beggars eyes fill with dread and sorrow.
“Please” he cried in front of us, holding the hem of Alex's sleeve.
“May i see the sword” i ask out of pity
“Yes yes” he said, handing it to me while on his knees.
I take the sword in my hand and get hit with a sudden and major headache.
The pain comes so fast I would have fell if it wasn't for alex.
Suddenly I see a memory of myself holding a sword with someone telling me to control my breathing. His face is blurry as well as my surroundings. I take a deep breath and steady my breathing, only to swing it over and over again.
When the memory fades and i'm in the real world, i see im clutching the sword in my hand, feeling the weight of the blade within the sheath. Alex and mal calling my name.
“Shhh my head hurts “ I say and they quiet down a little.
I catch my balance and dig in my pocket and pull out a gold, “will this be enough” i ask him holding out the money in my hand and the sword in the other.
“Yes yes it's more than enough. Thank you thank you miss thank you so much” he said holding my hand in both of his, “ with this money i can buy my mother her medication. You miss are our savior, can i please know you name?” he asks
I hesitate “my name… is nell ghin claymore”
“I will remember your name till i die” he says getting up off his knees
“My name is unimportant, but the meds for you mother cannot delay you must hurry sir” i stress to him
He nods and runs fast down the road.
“My lady we won't have enough to pay for the wood now.” mal says
“The wood is only 5 gold and we can just make more money. We can start selling the herbs and and fruit we found this morning.” i say to her “i also plan to start a small melon farm so we need to hurry before the weather gets too cold.” she nods and we continue our way home.