|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2009 11:25 pm
Raziel turned to look at Shanya, just to see him fidgeting under the chain around his neck. He instinctively turned around and unlocked it, letting it fall to the floor. A sharp signal toward one of the other slaves made the chain disappear from the floor and they continued walking down the corridor.
"If you have any questions, ask. Reiba... I mean his majesty did say that you could ask any question you liked." Raziel murmured quietly. The kid was just really quiet. And it sort of annoyed him.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2009 1:08 pm
Shanya watched as the chain was taken away by a nearby slave and he sighed in relief now that the annoying weight was finally off. He the area around his neck to ease the sore pain that was caused by the chain, and it gradually began to go away.
He felt an irritated aura from the guard, who seemed to be waiting for any questions that may come from the slave, and he reluctantly he began to speak. "Um... Wh-who should I trust and who should I not? I just don't want to be betrayed again, that's all." He stared shamefully at the ground, though he didn't know what he was ashamed of.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2009 1:37 pm
Raziel looked around after the boy finally asked his question, looking for somebody to use as an example. But alas, he found none, so he kept on walking. He was looking for a certain person, Kitsuma. That man was the one and only person that could influence Reiba's decision, since it was he who was his advisor. But he couldn't find him, so he finally answered the boy after several minutes.
"Do not trust Kitsuma. In fact, do not trust any one of the slaves that do not work in the kitchen or the stables. The kitchen slaves are the most reliable, since they are in charge of the food, and the stable hands are very much reliable as well. Don't trust the guards, except for me of course... since they can be very wicked sometimes. And above all, you may fully trust his majesty the King, since it is he who is arranging for your stay here to be more comfortable than it would have been." He finished, turning to see if Shanya understood.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2009 2:54 pm
"Okay, thank you, but I also have another question. What is Kitsuma-san like? He seems a little... cruel," Shanya said. "What does he have against me?" He knew he was asking too many questions by now, but for some reason he was eager to get everything out of his system. "I have a lot of questions, but if you don't want to answer everything right now, then I'll stop. Sorry if I bother you," he quckly added.
He looked up at the guard and waited for any answer from him. His nervousness had gone away by now and for the first time in forever he felt a kind of security that he was unfamiliar with. Was this how people feel around those they trust? If so, then wasn't he a little too trusting toward someone he had only just met? Well, things couldn't be any worse off than they are now, but he couldn't help but think that despite being turned into a slave his life had actually became better.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2009 3:58 pm
Raziel immediately opened a door, which seemed to be the kitchen. "This is the kitchen. Leila over there will tell you what you have to do." He said quickly. "I do not mean to be rude, but I cannot tell you what Kitsuma-sama is like, for I do not know. You would have to as Reiba-sama, which I can arrange for if you would like." He said.
Leila walked out of the kitchen. She wiped some of her white-blonde hair out of her vivid green eyes before she smiled at the two boys. Her apron was slightly greasy from all of the frying that she had been doing earlier, and a clear burn was visible on her almost porcelain cheek.
"Hiya. I'm Leila." She said with a slightly southern accent. She saluted Raziel like one of the soldiers would have down with an almost serious face. "I'll be takin' the new recruit now, if ya don't mind." She said, grabbing Shanya by the arm and pulling him into the kitchen.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2009 4:39 pm
Shanya was taken aback when the girl named Leila pulled him into the kitchen. For a moment his mind was all jumbled, but he managed to get it straightened and he marveled at how busy the kitchen was. There were fellow slaves scrambling around the place trying to set things straight or get things done. There was a delicious aroma in the air He wondered if this was how he would have to work from now on.
"Is this normal or is there something special going on?" he asked, watching each movement. "Everyone seems to be in a hurry." There was a sudden crash behind him and he turned to see a mess of pots and pans. Were accidents like these frequent or was it just when a special occasion is present?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2009 4:46 pm
Leila looked around and clapped her hands. All at once, the commotion stopped, and everybody turned towards her. She smiled, looked down at Shanya, then looked back up at everybody else.
"Hey y'all. This is Shanya. He's new hear, so y'all gotta be nice and show him 'round, kay?" She called out. Many of the slaves murmured a yes or nodded their heads, then the commotion began again.
"His majesty is havin' a special guest over. So yeah... this only happens on special occasions." She laughed. "C'mon. We need some help cutting vegies ova' there." She pointed out to a counter with a few slaves hunched over cutting boards.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2009 7:10 pm
Shanya nodded and he walked over to the cutting boards. He had never cut vegetables before, but he had seen other people do so. Shrugging, he thought to himself, 'Might as well give it a try.'
He took a knife and began cutting some nearby carrots. A lot of times the slices were crooked or too long or too short, or so he thought. He was starting to worry about whether or not the carrots were the acceptable. After trying to cut some different vegetables, the results were all the same. Nothing came out perfectly.
"Who knew cutting vegetables would be so hard?" Shanya said to himself in a bit of frustration. "Well, they don't have to all be perfect, right?" he asked to nobody in particular. It seemed impossible for every sliced vegetable to be the same size, shape, and such.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 12:50 pm
Leila looked over at Shanya, overhearing the boy's conversation with himself. "I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but Kitsuma-sama hates it when the vegies ain't all the same." She whispered. "The rat... bossin' us 'round like he's the King..." She hissed, going back to chopping her own vegetables.
Then Reiba walked in, halting all work in the kitchen. He wasn't wearing what he had been wearing earlier. Now, he was wearing a white dress-shirt with slacks. He looked around the kitchen, his gaze landing on Leila. He motioned for her to come with him, then he left. It took a little while for work to start up again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 1:45 pm
Shanya suddenly panicked. "Then what am I going to do? I can't just discard these!" he said to Leila. He didn't expect an answer from her, so he just pushed away the uneven pieces and attempted to cut more vegetables to perfection. There was no change in the way he cut them, though.
The room suddenly turned silent and Shanya turned around to see that the king was in the room. He made a signaling kind of movement, which seemed to be directed at Leila since she walked over to him, and then they left. After a little while the kitchen was busy again and Shanya continued trying to perfect his way of cutting vegetables.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 1:59 pm
"Yes sir?" Leila asked when she had exited the kitchen and Reiba had closed the door. He seemed slightly stressed, which wasn't a surprise. With all the work that the council had him doing, anybody would be stressed. His face was set into an emotionless mask as he looked around.
"How are things coming along?" He asked.
"Fine sir. I'll keep you posted if anything bad happens." She said with a salute. Leila was actually the kingdom's second best spy and assassin, with no accent. "There has been no signs of anything out of the ordinary, I assure you." She said.
Reiba nodded, murmured a quick, "Keep me posted.", then disappeared. Leila walked back into the kitchen like nothing was wrong and began chopping vegetables again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 2:17 pm
After a very long while, Shanya finally gave out a sigh of relief. After countless times cutting the vegetables, he was able to finally cut them so that the slices were exactly the same. He didn't know how, but he seemed to be able to perfect things quite quickly. Now, if only his life could do that.
Taking another group of vegetables, he began cutting them carefully so there wouldn't be any mistake. Why did Kitsuma-san have to be so picky? Even the king was more well-mannered than the advisor.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 2:45 pm
Reiba sat down at his desk with his pen and began to draw. Before long, a castle seemed to just pop off of the page, and a dragon coiled around it soon came into focus. There was a small girl up in the window, calling out to anybody who bothered to listen. Her handkerchief was flapping about in her waving hand as she called out for help over and over.
Soon, a knight materialized on the paper, brandishing his sword and a shining shield. But, the scene became a crumpled mess as Reiba tossed the paper into the waste basket at the end of his desk. It was just wasn't right, and there wasn't enough inspiration in such a dreary place. Hopefully dinner was coming along better than his imagination.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 3:06 pm
Shanya finally finished cutting vegetables, but now what was he going to do with all the imperfect slices? He didn't think just keeping them would be the right thing to do, and throwing them away would be a complete waste. Shrugging, he walked over to Leila to ask her what he should do.
"Um... Leila, right? Well, is there anything else I can do? I think I've finished cutting the veggies," Shanya said. "And what should I do with the uneven slices? I think it would be wasteful to throw them away." He was very nervous, since he didn't know what she would say, but nothing bad should come from just asking.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 3:14 pm
Leila looked down at the imperfect slices and laughed. She pointed over to another boy cutting vegetables with lightning speed. All of his cuts were perfect and straight, so every piece was almost the congruent of the first.
"Go take it to Shitsuma. He'll fix 'em for ya." She smiled. "'Eh, Shi!" She called. The boy looked up from his cutting. "Help out Shanya would ya? He's got some imperfect slices, and ya know how mad Kitsuma is when he doesn't have 'perfect slices'." She smiled. "By the way, that's Kitsuma's brother's son." Leila added quietly before pushing Shanya in the other boy's direction.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
