ATER Book 2: Air

Chapter 7: The Palace

As Salwa, Kaito, and I traveled through the first rays of light, my mind kept wandering back to the conversation we had the night before.

"The plan is simple," Kaito said. "We know Khanu is being kept inside the Palace Dungeons. It's going to be our job to get him out." Salwa raised her hand.

"And how exactly are we going to do that?"

"When we leave at dawn, we won't be headed for Republic City. We'll be going to the castle."

The path to the Palace was a long one. It was located in the exact center of Ba Sing Se. The streets were filled with cars and an assortment of animals. As we neared the Palace, the number of guards stationed around the area increased.

"You're going to apply for jobs as maids there. That way, people won't get suspicious when you start to poke around the dungeons."

"But how do you know we'll even get the jobs?" I asked. Kaito scoffed.

"It's unfortunate that they fire the help so often, but it's very fortunate for us because they hire everyday."

Kaito pointed to a line of people outside a door on the right side of the palace. "That's where you go to get scanned to make sure the Palace isn't hiring criminals." We hoped off of Zenith and set out for the palace on foot.

"Wait!" Kaito cried. He ran toward us and handed us our resumés that we wrote last night.

We walk up to the door and are immediatly ushered in by a stern faced woman. "The Queen only puts aside an hour for hiring, so don't waste your time!"

"So say by some miracle we manage to get jobs inside the palace," Salwa says. "How are we supposed to get Khanu out of the dungeons without anybody thinking, 'Why is that maid going down to the dungeons?'"

"They'll choose for you to go down and give the prisoners their meals."

"But that still leaves the question of how we're going to get him out," I pointed out.

"They have secret tunnels that lead from the dungeons to outside of the Palace. If you can get your hands on a map, contact me with Zenith."

"He's coming with us?"

"No, but he'll be visiting everyday day for daily reports."

I assumed that we were the last people to be applying for today, seeing that there was no one in the throne room when we entered. Well, no one except the Queen herself.

"Your majesty," we say in unusion as we bowed.

"When you bow, make sure to stay down and don't look up until she tells you to stand."

"Stand," her voice commanded us. We stood up and the first thing i noticed was that her eyes were trained on me. They were a soft green, with flecks of gold through out the irises. Her hair was long, and fell in chocolate ringlets.

The crown on her head was completely gold except for the emeralds that studded it. Her dress was surprisingly plain. Just a simple green dress that came down just past her knees.

The thing that confused me the most about her appearance was that looked strangly like my mom. "Are you two here to apply for jobs as maids or are you just wasting my time?" She asked.

I gulped before replying with a shaky breath, "Yes, we are here to apply as maids." She waved her hand. A servant came up behind us, took our resumés, and handed them to her.

She looked them over for a moment before saying, "You'll do. Misha, show these ladies to their quarters and tell them their daily duties."

Adressing us, she added, "These will be your duties until you get new ones from myself. Of course, Mrs. Lauza will relay them to you."

"Does the Queen have a name," Salwa asked before we went to bed. Kaito shrugged.

"I'm sure she does, but no one knows what it is."

****************

"I wonder what they made Khanu do to get him thrown in the dungeons," Salwa said as we were getting ready for bed. Our room was small; only big enough to have 2 sleeping mats and chest for all our things.

I shrugged. "Whatever it was, it was enough for the guards to mark him as a prisoner."

"Do you think he's been brainwashed yet?"

"It's possible, but not likely. I read a book about Lake Loagai that said about every 2 weeks, the people getting hypnotized had to go back because their minds would start resisting."

"So his mind is now clearing up?"

"Hopefully." I blew out the candle on the floor and drifted off to sleep.

*************

The first time the Queen called me in, I thought that I was in trouble. I'd seen people all over the Palace getting into a pickle for even the littlest of things. "You look scared," the Queen remarked when I walked in.

"Just a little nervious, my Queen." She smiled.

"I just wanted to say you should expect a new activity to do very soon."

"Yes, ma'am."

The next time she called me in was when she told me what that activity was.

"You'll travel from the kitchens to the dungeons to give our...lovely prisoners their meal for the day." My heart leaped with joy. It had barely been a week, and I was getting what I'd come here for.

I nearly skipped out of the throne room and hurredly went outside to find Zenith. I rounded the corner to our usual spot (by the door on the left side of the Palace), but stopped when I saw 2 familiar looking men talking to Misha.

"Are yoo suore yoo've got zem?" The man with the crescent scare asked Misha.

"Yes, I'm sure."

The other man pushed Misha against the door. "You'd better be sure. The Wu Li Shong don't keep failures."

"Don't keep us vaiting. Ve vant haer, mm, next veek. At ze latest!" The 2 men stalked away from the door and disappeared behind the Palace. After Misha went back inside, I counted to 20 before making my way over there.

Behind the trash cans was Zenith. I hugged him and quickly tucked my note to Kaito inside the pouch. Zenith bounded off towards the country. Our meeting hadn't even been 2 minutes.

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Hey guys! Lot's of new twists, yeah? Hope you guys are enjoying my story so far! I am happy to tell you that there will be a Book 3 and quite possibly a Book 4. YAY!! If you have any questions just ask. Feel free to comment and don't forget to vote!

Ciao!-Lauren