Azul should have sat back to drink some tea and wait for her room to be done, as other well-bred young ladies did.But she shed her outer robes and settled into clothes she had worn as a commoner, not forgetting her wooden waist beads.Then she tied her hair back and found herself a part of the old shrine to clean.
Naturally, her maids were appalled.
"She really is a village girl.The princesses would never debase themselves in such a way," one scoffed, her tone particularly harsh, speaking loud enough for anyone in the vicinity to hear.
"What's the difference between us and her?Because her beauty is a little above average, she is bought at a higher price."
"Both of you are bold to speak about your master like that," a voice squeaked—a young, spirited girl in bantu knots.
"Nkiru, you only speak for her because you were born a slave.If you were bought, like us, you'd understand our words.Ah—!Snake!”The girl shrieked, quickly stepping back.
“Don’t kill it!”Another quickly shouted.“You’ll be punished by Ani!”
Azul passed them by, a smile played on her lips, and she hummed to herself, carrying a large empty vase.Actually, she could hear them, but she didn't mind snarky maids.They were right; she was just like them.The servants of the harem tended to be girls whose fathers sold them to bondsmen, and they were acquired by the palace.Azul too was purchased, but simply at a higher price, for a reason she had yet to understand.
Taking the vase to the stream, she sang as she began to turn over large rocks and fallen logs.Her actions mostly went unnoticed.She returned soon with a heavy vase, which she covered tightly with a piece of cloth and rolled under her bed.
After that, she took her parchment and ink to the shrine.As they swept, she took her time to read through the columns of the gods.
"Do you even know which one to copy?"Borji's voice interrupted her.
Azul's wonderful, relaxed mood was instantly dulled by the shadow of an unwanted prince.
"Why are you here?"she snapped, deciding not to bother even looking at him.
"You must be poorly raised.Is that how you greet a prince?"
Azul turned on her heel, unamused by his words."My apologies, Your Highness.Forgive this ignorant village woman.Would you like me to kowtow?"
"No, no, carry on," he said, a smirk dancing on his lips.
"Surely you're not here to watch?"
"Why not?Who will stop me?Last I checked, you couldn't even lift an ornamental sword."
His words were enough to rein her in.He was right.No matter how annoyed his presence made her, it was foolish to anger a man who could kill her when she still had no method of self-defence.
She turned back to the stone columns, running her fingers over the carved inscriptions.The shrine held prayers to dozens of chi—gods of harvest, fertility, war, and prosperity.Each pillar bore the name of a royal ancestor and the deity they had favoured most in life.
"Grandmother's favourite is…" Borji began, his voice uncomfortably close.He had moved to stand beside her, his eyes scanning the same pillars she studied."The God of Death."
Azul's hand stilled on the stone.
How strange,she thought.
From her understanding, Ukhel was a god very few worshipped because they believed to worship him meant to submit.So for the rest of their life, they would be plagued by death.
Perhaps because she is old and senile, she worships such a god.
"And where would I find Ukhel's scripture?"Azul asked.
Borji pointed to the far corner of the shrine, where a particularly weathered pillar stood half-covered in creeping vines."There."
Azul walked towards the pillar, brushing aside the foliage.The inscription was dense; the characters old and formal.It would take days to copy, perhaps the full seven she'd been given.Her jaw tightened.
"You didn't think the Ugoeze would let you off so easily, did you?"Borji asked, following her with an infuriating casualness."She's not as kind; don't be easily fooled by her."
I wasn't fooled.Truly she wasn't; the intensity of the punishment just took her by surprise.
