A Disguised Singularity

Chapter 4 - Zuri

Zuri could barely sleep that night. She couldn't stop thinking about the embarrassing and unwise choices that had driven her to take such an enormous risk as trespassing on palace grounds. No matter how yesterday came about, the next morning, as the sun peaked over the horizon, Zuri was on her way to the palace. Instead of being found missing, she chose to be proactive and left a brief note in her room that her mother would eventually find. The note simply stated that she was heading into town to pick up sewing supplies.

Hopefully mom won't find it until it's almost lunch. The later she finds the note, the later she will expect me to return home. I don't know how long Empress Renata is going to keep me today, so I need this excuse to last as long as possible.

Zuri kept glancing back over her shoulder the entire walk. The feeling that Uncle Inder was sneaking along behind her, waiting to jump out and scold her at just the right moment, was too real to shake. Less than thirty minutes later, Zuri found herself back in front of the palace gate. Just like yesterday, there were two soldiers guarding the gate: one standing in the gateway and the other sitting at a small table near the door. As the intimidating men watched her approach, Zuri's heart quickened its rhythm. The vivid memory of the woman not much older than herself, being tossed out of the palace and laughed at, had Zuri on edge. The expression of the soldier at the table quickly changed from curiosity to suspicion as she stopped in front of him.

"What's your business here little one?" the older, seated soldier asked. Their red and black uniforms were intimidating enough before she noticed the weapons at their sides.

"I'm here to see Empress Renata... the emperor's grandmother." Zuri answered anxiously. The soldiers regarded at her as though her statement was preposterous. Her cheeks warmed with a touch of shame.

"She must mean Lady Renata." the young soldier standing in the gateway muttered under his breath.

"No shit." the seated soldier snapped back before he turned his attention to her. "Name?"

"Zur... Zuriñe." she stuttered over her own name in her anxiety. The man glanced down at the book in front of him for a long moment before flipping the page. The soldier standing in the doorway was studying her quietly. With his gaze suddenly fixed solely on her, she couldn't help but wonder if this very soldier had witnessed her sneaking around outside the palace yesterday. After a long moment, the man flipped the pages back and slowly raising his narrowed eyes to meet hers.

"You're not on the list." He said flatly. She stared blankly back at him, unsure of how to respond.

Did I dream up that entire encounter with Lady Renata yesterday? Was it a cruel joke? Or perhaps I misheard her? Maybe she meant to have me come to the palace at the beginning of next week?

The soldier sat back in his chair and sighed loudly. "Did you hear me, girl? You're not on the list."

"Uh, yes. I just... I'm supposed to be here.... I think." She timidly articulated her own opposing view again while trying to avoid provoking the soldier into any violence against her. Her halfhearted defense was met with even more confusion.

"What's your last name?" asked the younger of the two as he moved behind the table to peer at the book from over his friend's shoulder.

"You think I can't read?" the seated soldier snapped as he quickly stood and shoved his companion back to where he was standing at the gate. "Well? What is it?" he hastily asked as he sat back down.

"Fermin." she answered meekly.

"Fermin?" The young soldier muttered her last name under his breath a second before he left his position at the gate and disappeared behind the palace walls. The other soldier watched his comrade for several long moments before he shook his head in dismissal. After taking another agonizingly long couple of minutes to flip through more pages inside the large book, the soldier looked up and grinned.