The Warrior Inside

Chapter 10

"I thank you for showing me around. Now if you'll excuse me, I would like some time to recover my spirits," the Shang master informed politely when they reached the door of the guest room. Miss Sina swiftly opened the mahogany doors, inviting her guest inside.

Miss Sina's head dipped down slightly."But of course. There will be a serving girl coming to lead you to dinner, which will be at the Grand-"

   "No, thank you. I'm not fond of eating in the Grand Dining Hall. I would like to eat with the Queen's Riders, if you don't mind," the Shang Master interrupted sharply, cutting off Miss Sina mid-sentence.

Miss Sina's eyebrows twitched slightly but other than that, remained passive. "Of course. Have a good rest, Master." Miss Sina performed a small curtsey before leaving the room, closing the mahogany doors behind her.

Finally alone, the Shang Master collapsed on the bed, not bothering to take off her dusty travelling cloak. She closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh of exhaustion. The journey to Corus had been a long and tiresome one, causing her bones to ache something fierce as she stretched her limbs out. But even as she closed her eyes, the face of the young serving girl she had almost bumped into remained in her head.  The Shang Master lifted herself off the bed and retrieved the worn leather bag she had previously thrown on the floor. From there, she extracted a letter, the words slightly faded from time.

Dark eyes, though lined with fine wrinkles were as sharp and clear as they were in her youth, stared at the letter, lips lifted in a sad smile as she traced out the name of the sender, her former student. When she received this letter years ago, she had immediately set out for Wood's Creek, a rural village west of Tortall.

But she was too late. All that was left were ashes and white bones, stark against the black markings all over the ground. The Black God had come to take the souls, leaving no trace of life. She could still vividly remember when she had found her former student's corpse on the burnt remains of what used to be his house. Stab wounds were all over his body and blood was trailing down his face from a nasty gash at his temple. It was the first time she had cried in decades.

That young serving girl, Mia Swift. She must be his daughter, the Shang master determined quietly to herself. She had his eyes, those clear emerald eyes full of fire. Which was ironic now that she came to think of it, fire had stolen Mia's native home away from her after all. Anyway, she looked just like her student's wife, her distinctive button nose and soft facial features.

Her heart ached as she remembered those two people. She had never met people as wonderful or as loving as them. Javan and Kavani Swift. Even if they weren't remembered by anyone else, she will still keep them close to her heart. Not just as a treasured memory but also her greatest regret.

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"I...can't...believe...that...old...cow...is...making...us...do...this," Jas grunted out, as she furiously tried to scrub out a stubborn burn at the bottom of the pot. I wiped the sweat collecting on my brow before looking up from my stack of dishes to deadpan at Jas.

"What did you expect? We have ourselves to blame for being at the wrong place at the wrong time."

The kitchen staff had a sudden bout of flu in the past week, leaving the kitchen severely short-handed. The serving girls and boys were tasked to help them using every spare minute we had. So Miss Mary, with her sadistic personality, decided to give Jas and I, innocent bystanders at the time, dish duty.

Even though there were other serving girls responsible for washing the dishes as well, she had insisted that both of us do the copper pots and pans used for cooking. The veteran castle staff definitely understood that this was one of the hardest tasks of all. It was difficult enough to remove the dried food stains that clung to the insides, what made this worse was having to scrub off the burnt parts of the kitchen equipment, which absolutely refused to budge without being soaked with hot soapy water overnight.

She was probably trying to punish us after how we skipped duty and slipped off into town yesterday. I don't know how she managed to find out about it but I can bet my left kidney that Cecilia, Sonia's lackey, had something to do with it, that little sneak. My already slightly callused hands were sore and red from the constant scrubbing. The rough sponge left faint red scratches that stood out against the pale skin. I sighed, looking at the remaining pile of dirty pots stacked high, one on top of the other.

'This is going to be a long day.'

As Mia was about to get back to work, the oak doors of the kitchen slammed open. Everyone in the kitchen jumped in fright at the deafening sound. They pivoted around to see a familiar group of serving boys, looking agitated. A group of serving girls trailed behind, furious whispering could be heard. Mia could see Mike and Gabriel leading, the faces dark and gloomy.

They stood in the middle of the kitchen, the angry chatter among them increased as the rest of the castle staff present in the kitchen, looked at one another, wondering what had happened. Suddenly, Gabriel banged his fist on the table, calling for the everyone's attention. The chatter ceased as everyone stared at Gabriel,  waiting for him to speak.

"It seems like those blasted visiting royals have gone too far!," Gabriel snarled before continuing, "those Tusaine knights have been bothering us servants ever since that banquet!"

Mia's heart dropped to her stomach at the revelation.

"But they have gone too far this time!" Gabriel voice boomed across the kitchen, fury emanating from him.

"They beat up Alec and tried to force themselves on one of the girls!" A collective gasp was heard but it was soon replaced with angry murmuring. Mia could barely process what happening around her. She felt numb with guilt. She knew that Silas was behind all of this. He probably told his friends to torment the palace staff because of how she had humiliated him that day.

"The higher echelons have brought this up to the Tortall royals but so far nothing has changed! Today,   Morlan has been given the boot because of these Tusaine knights!" Mike hollered.

Jas, who came beside Mia, gasped and squeezed her  arm. Morlan was a hard-working stable hand, working to provide for his 4 siblings and family. Mia's heart squeezed in pain. 'How could they?'

"It's time to show these Tusaine knights that we ain't going down without a fight. It's time to take matters into our own hands!" Gabriel declared.

The palace staff chorused in agreement, their voices loud and echoing in the dimly lit kitchen. Mia and Jas looked at each other, worry and fear obvious on each other's face. Only one thought was passing through Mia's mind; 'What have I done?'

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Hi everyone! :) Wow, its been about 2 years since I last published a new chapter. Hopefully, this chapter makes up for all that waiting. I'll be editing the previous chapter of this book with the help of my friend, Felicia. She's been a huge help editing this book and making sure the grammar and vocabulary are better. I would like to also give a massive thanks to all those who voted and read this book. I really sppreciate all the support and comments you've given me. And don't worry, the next few chapters will be coming soon. ;)

Lots of love,

Sakura Amethyst

'We lose ourselves in books but we find ourselves there too.'