New Friend

In spite of my resolve, I smiled to myself in my bed thinking about him; he is without any doubt the most beautiful man I have ever seen in my life, and just the thought of him gives me flutters in my belly.

***

Soka braided my hair in the palace maiden style.  She rubbed in shea butter and argan oil all the way to my scalp.  Her hold was tight on my scalp, making me wince whenever she combed. "Be still. Don't you want to be pretty?" she asked. The palace is filled with the most gorgeous people I have ever seen in my life. I'm confident enough to know I don't look bad, but being in the palace gives me a sort of insecurity about my looks. Being chosen to be a server to a royal should be one of the greatest compliments to my looks. In our kingdom, beauty is everything to females; mostly, beauty is everything we have. If I wasn't plensant to the eyes Madam Iwin would probably have made me one of the cleaners of the latrines or send me to work on the farms. 

It is known that the king usually has affairs with certain palace servers. A lot of servers have such dreams of becoming a king concubine, you bare him a bastard child even though the child will barely have a stand in the royal court.  Generally, I have no such interests. Mina would say that I am not ambitious, but I am okay with that. 

"Your hair is done; look at you even prettier," Soka said. She hands me a plain, square wooden hand mirror. Her skill is perfect; the braids were neatly plaited into thick cornrows that shone with all the oil. It made my face look shapelier and yet softer at the edges. 

"I love it; thank you," I beamed.

"Good.  Another day with that nonsensical human being "she snared." She adjusted her uniform, tightening the waist belt around her waist. She takes the mirror I dropped on the table and inspects herself in it, turning her head from side to side. 

"Don't do anything crazy, Soka," I said to her as she hurried out of the room. She huffed loudly. 

I started reading the book Madam Iwin gave me; it is hundreds of pages of palace etiquette. Overly specific ways of greeting, talking, serving, and even smiling Honestly, it's tedious, but I should be grateful because I can easily have it worse. 

After hours of being in the room alone, I decided to take a walk. I passed the narrow corridors of the maiden quarters going out to the palace exteriors. I could see several buildings, most of which I had no idea of their use.  I looked toward the eastern part of the palace and spotted the maze. It's a hedge maze of flawlessly shaped green shrubs that ran almost endlessly. I walked into it with my book in hand, hoping I don't get lost.  The shrubs stood at about 7 feet towering over me, yet the sun beat down on my skin warming me with its unrelenting rays as it spilled into the maze space.  I opened the book, reading as I walked further into the maze.

"You shouldn't read in the sun," I heard a voice call out. On Cre, the most breathtaking creation I have ever seen.  He stood elegantly in front of me, his height making me feel shorter than I usually do. deep chocolate skin toned in the sunlight. His jawline was sculpted sharply as if chiseled, framing cheekbones, and he had coal-shiny eyes. Cre the creator is wonderful indeed. 

He stared at me, examining me, his eyes scaling my body making my nervous.  I tried my best to hide my anxiety.  His very presence made me shrink into myself like I am not supposed to look. But when he cast his gaze on me, I felt instantly exhausted. 

I directed all my will toward acting as causally as I could. Only young girls act like they melt in the presence of boys, and I am already in my 20th year.  He isn't a boy, though; he is a man with a voice that sounds like it can silence storms, with chest and muscles unmistakably looking ironclad underneath his brown cotton top. 

I followed him further into the maze that led to an astonishing garden. The garden looked magical, like a place out of a fairytale. I had never seen so many flowers in one place; they seemed like millions. Different colors cast themselves against each other: pink of the black orchid, yellow bells, red and white roses, and my personal favorite, the white butterfly jasmine. There were many others I knew no idea their names.  My instinct was to reach out and pluck one, but I held myself back because it felt like ruining perfection. The air in the garden was light and relaxed. I marveled at the giant royal poinciana that stretched out its wide branches to the sun with its flowers like fire. All of it was simply alluring. The birds sang in different enchanting melodies, flying swiftly from tree to tree. 

Mother would have loved it all; she was obsessed with flowers and nature. 

We sat on a concrete bench underneath the royal poinciana, and he kept a little space between us. His name is Kibi, and he is an assistant cook in the palace. From the way he looked, he seemed more like a royal. Not just the way he looked but also the way he carried himself, his overall posture did not seem to be that of a palace worker.  Most workers here have great posture, but his is different. Everything about him was graceful, including the way he held his head up and kept his hand at his back. Even in such an enchanting place, he stood out as the most enchanting to look at. I had to hold myself back from staring at him.

"Let's meet here tomorrow afternoon," he said with a hopeful expression on his face as we walked out of the garden. I smiled at him as I nodded. 

 

"Why are you smiling like that?" Soka asked me as we had dinner.

"Nothing," I replied as I stuffed my mouth with rice to avoid the conversation. She had no interest in dropping the conversation.

She looked at me with an intruding stare, her eyes examining me intensely. "Ah I see" she exclaimed.

"What?" I asked.

"You met someone." 

Niola giggled.

"I met someone, like, how? I've met a lot of people." I tried to pretend I didn't know what she meant. 

"You met a man. That's the face I met a man face," she said, pointing at my face. 

I put my head down in embarrassment. 

Don't let Soka worry you. "She is swearing off all things male," Niola said.

"Which is completely necessary. Men are horrible creatures; look at the mess they are making with their self-proclaimed authority," Soka said. 

"Well, I met no man," I said when I finally could look up. Soka looked at me disbelievingly. 

"Hello, Soka," a girl with light brown skin said as she suddenly obstructed our way out of the dining hall. "I heard you had a fight with a noble yesterday.  You just can never change, can you?"  She said smugly

"It's crazy how obsessed you are with my life," Soka said dryly. 

The girl laughed loudly, using her hand to cover her mouth. "You know I only do because we were such good friends. "I really would never want you to get into any serious trouble," she said, but it was obvious she didn't mean it. There was something about her whole stance that reeked of pride, even in the way she looked at Soka. 

She gave a strange smile and went on her way, walking like a peacock. 

"Now you've met Zara," Soka said with a disgusted look on her face.

"That girl is so silly; she acts like she is so special," Niola said.

"You both used to be friends?" I asked Soka. Seeing Zara, I can't imagine how Soka could have been friends with her. Zara seems like one of those people who like to make themselves feel important by belittling everybody else. On the other hand, Soka is very down to earth and inviting to everyone.

"Unfortunately, we used to be friends" Soka replied, "that was before she became a king server and started acting like she is bigger than me.  I don't know when she will get the hint; she has been serving the king for 2 years now, and he has not looked at her, just as he doesn't look at any woman. Still, she strongly believes she will become a concubine. I almost pity her deillusions".

I truly cannot understand why anyone would want to become anyone's concubine, not even the King's. The status of a concubine seems like "ladies of pleasure" to me. Certain kings have had over 50 concubines who are all disregarded. Concubines have no real status in society. As a king's concubine, you get certain palace privileges, and there have been talks of some concubines being closer to the king than the Queen. Our King has, strangely, no concubine. In fact, some people say that he doesn't seem interested in romantic or sexual relations.