12 To balance the imbalance

After dinner, when the sky pulled the blanket of darkness with stars on it, Anastasia was back in her room doing what she loved the most.

She carefully used the small piece of charcoal to complete last night's sketch. Once she was done, a smile spread on her lips.

"It feels like home."

During her lonely days, Anastasia liked to stare at the sketches she had made that belonged to the place she came from. Seeing them, her dream to reuniting with her parents didn't seem that far away. She folded the mattress and took out the other sketches to look at them.

Outside Anastasia's room, one of the maids was heading to bed late when she noticed light spilling from under the room's door. Wondering what Anastasia was doing up so late, leaving the lamp burning for so long, the maid carefully turned the doorknob. Ready to ask, her lips parted along with the door before she stopped herself on seeing the sketches in Anastasia's hands.

'What are all these?' The maid questioned herself.

She saw Anastasia put them under her mattress. Without uttering a word, the maid closed the door and left the corridor.

The next day, Theresa burst through the door, while Anastasia was tying her hair. Entering the room, the older woman closed the door behind her. She said,

"I have been looking for you all over the kitchen. What are you doing?" She asked, even though she saw Anastasia braiding her hair on two sides of her head. The young woman pinned her braids from one side to the other over her crown.

Anastasia replied with a smile, "Isn't this a pretty hairstyle? Mary taught me how to do it a few weeks ago." She then asked, "Did you know that they removed the locks on our doors?"

"Come with me now, we have somewhere to go," Theresa pulled Anastasia out of her room. She then hurriedly whispered, "Orders have been given that the whole palace be decorated and to begin the preparations for Lady Sophia's birthday. A list of things have been demanded. Some of us maids have been picked and I chose you to assist me in the Bazaar."

A wide smile appeared on Anastasia's lips, and she placed her hand on her chest and then her heart before pointing it to the older woman.

"Yes, yes. I know you love me," Theresa chuckled as they made their way to the backside of the palace and left with the other maids to the town.

When they exited the palace with the carts, Anastasia's eyes were fixed at the front. She leaned towards Theresa when no one was looking, and she asked behind her scarf,

"Are we allowed to touch the camels?"

"I don't see why not, if you only want to pet them," Theresa replied. "They are gentle creatures, just big in size, but they are fast. If that's what you were meaning to ask."

Anastasia's brown eyes looked around, and she said, "Mary told me that there are majestic horses called mustangs."

"As you said, those are majestic horses and they are only used by the Blackthorn's royal family. Maybe a few high-positioned ministers, but that would be all. Affording even a camel is hard for people like us, we cannot afford mustangs even in our dreams."

"Are they in the stables?" Anastasia curiously asked as they left the gates of the outer palace.

Theresa's eyes shifted from the street to look at Anastasia, and she smiled queasily, "I am hoping your plan doesn't include the mustangs? Stealing is not a good trait, dear."

"You should tell that to the royal family," Anastasia replied with an innocent expression. And when the elderly woman gave her a stare, she nodded, "I am not a thief, I won't steal them. I was merely curious."

Anastasia knew what stealing warranted—losing one's limbs.

She needed to find a way to strike a deal with someone to get a camel for her and Mary. But the question was, how?

Once the royal family's servants reached the Bazaar, they split into different groups to speed up the shopping of items, so that they could return to the palace quickly. Anastasia was with Theresa when the elderly woman said,

"Go to the far side that meets near the wall on the right and see if they have the pots. It is the one which has smoke moving up its roof."

Nodding her head, Anastasia walked in the direction when she noticed someone familiar standing not too far from her. It was the young man she had seen the last time she was at the Bazaar. He appeared to be around her age, with a boyish smile on his lips, and his eyes peered at her. He had dried mud smeared on his face and neck.

"We meet again! It is good to see that the Bazaar has not scared you away. I don't think I have seen you around here before. At least not one who could use a ladle to beat a man," the young man laughed as he said it when she neared the end of the shop. Anastasia looked behind her to see if he was talking to someone, but he said, "I am talking to you, miss. I was hoping to catch you. I am Juan, what about you?"

Not wanting to draw attention to herself, Anastasia ignored the young man. Lowering her head, she made her way to the front of the shop. She moved her hands and fingers for the merchant to understand her requirements of the items.

After a minute, when she turned to look at where the man was standing earlier, she noticed him gone. The merchant returned with the pot she had earlier requested from him. She turned to the merchant, and asked him,

'How much is one camel for?'

"Hundred buckles for each. For three, I will give you all the three of them for two fifty buckles," the merchant answered her.

Anastasia had only three buckles in her dress pocket, two buckles that Theresa had given her. One for each of her birthdays. To have two fifty buckles, she didn't know how many months or years it would take to earn that much money. She could ask her sister Marianne, but she doubted apart from jewellery, she had any money.

She showed the seal of the royal family, who would be paying for it and began to walk with the pots. But the young man named Juan suddenly reappeared and asked, "Aren't you a maid of a household?"

Anastasia gasped, not expecting him to pop in front of her. She said, "Can you please not follow me!" She hid behind the wall of another shop when she saw one of the senior maids walking by. She turned around, behaving as if she was fixing the hem of her dress. She then asked him. "Is there something you want from me?"

"So you can speak," Juan stressed at the word 'can', while looking at her curiously, "I only wanted to make sure you are alright."

Anastasia pursed her lips and replied, "I am fine, thank you for your concern. I would appreciate it if you don't follow me."

"Why weren't you speaking earlier with the merchant with your voice? You have a beautiful voice," Juan offered her a child-like smile.

"I don't see any reason why it concerns you. Don't you have something else to do?" Anastasia asked Juan, who followed her footsteps by standing behind the wall. She noticed his shoes were covered in dried mud.

"I do, but I thought roaming the streets would be more fun," Juan adjusted his dirty cloak around his neck. When Anastasia was looking around, so did the young man, who then said, "You didn't tell me—"

"It is a secret I cannot share," Anastasia quickly replied.

"What about the camels?" Juan continued asking her questions. "Is that a secret too?"

This person asked too many questions and was too friendly, Anastasia thought to herself. Telling a half truth, she replied to the stranger, "I have never ridden a camel before."

Juan's mouth opened wide with an 'O' before it diminished, "Of course, why didn't I think about it. For a moment, I thought perhaps you wanted to go somewhere… while you sit on it," his smile lowered, when he noticed her stare. "Maybe next time when we meet, I can arrange one for you. My uncle has many camels. I don't think he would mind me borrowing one sometime?"

Anastasia wondered if perhaps this man would be the one to help her and her sister escape from this place. But no person was foolish enough to risk their own lives to help someone else, and it was the truth, she thought in her mind.

But it was worth trying rather than not doing anything at all, Anastasia said to herself. She replied, "Okay… It is a secret then." She also hoped by being nice to him, he would keep her secret safe.

Juan grinned as if happy and said, "It is a secret." He watched the pretty woman disappear in the bustling crowd, before realising, "I forgot to tell her when to meet next."

Anastasia walked back with the pot to where Theresa was waiting for her, and they continued to buy things.

Back in the Blackthorn palace, in the afternoon, on one of the longest balconies of the big and wide hall on the ground floor that led to the garden, sat the Mother Queen and King William. They were having their afternoon refreshments when one of the ministers came to meet them.

"King William, the letter from the Silversnow Kingdom has arrived," the minister offered the scroll to the king.

While King William was busy reading the scroll, the Mother Queen's eyes moved to the corner to look at where the minister stood and questioned, "How are the princes doing in the regiment force? Are they still alive?"

The minister bowed and replied, "They have been working hard in the practice battle ground, My Queen. But…"

"There it is. What is it?" the Mother Queen ordered, knowing there was no way things could go smoothly when it concerned the princes.

"Prince Aiden disappeared after thirty minutes and we have been looking for him ever since. Prince Victor has injured his elbow," the minister replied, half ashamed for being unable to keep an eye on a young man. "Prince Maxwell had a cramp in his back."

"Looks like my grandson is growing older faster than I am," the Mother Queen looked unimpressed.

"Victor is only thirteen, mother," King William folded the scroll as he had finished reading it.

"Your father was twelve when he went to the battlefield," the Mother Queen remarked.

King William handed the scroll to the minister and then turned to look at his mother, "I believe you are exaggerating things, mother."

"Maybe a little. But he was prepared when he was sixteen and was fearless. Talking about fearlessness," the Mother Queen raised her faint eyebrows in question to the minister, "Where is Dante? I haven't seen him since last evening."

"He must have gone to attend the burial of that traitor he killed," King William remarked, and noticing the minister's silence, he waved his hand to dismiss the minister.

The Mother Queen hummed as if in thought and chuckled dryly, "Only Dante would kill a person and also make sure the person is buried."

"Your bias is seen by everyone and there have been complaints, mother," King William commented, taking a bite from the biscuit on the tray.

"I wonder why that is," the Mother Queen responded, her gaze meeting King William's, who didn't remark on her words.

King William switched the subject and said, "The King of Silversnow has offered to send his soldiers to fight Brovia along our side. Dante will lead the attack and if all goes well, we will not only defend the borders but will also succeed in conquering Brovia."

"Is it necessary to send Dante?" She stared at her cup. "The last one he came from, he was severely injured. With Silversnow on our side, perhaps we can go easy."

King William sounded detached and said, "That's how wars are, mother. And Dante is experienced and was the one who insisted on leading the troops."

"Is that so…" the Mother Queen stood up from her chair and dusted the front of her dress, before walking back inside the palace.

The two maids waiting on the Mother Queen followed her. The maids walked two steps away on the Queen's side, so they wouldn't accidentally step on the back of her flowing dress. From the opposite side of the corridor, the Mother Queen caught sight of Dante. He walked up to her and kissed both sides of her cheeks.

"Good afternoon, grandmother," Dante greeted her.

"Where were you? I haven't seen you since last evening," the Mother Queen inquired with a smile Dante knew she often used when she had something to ask.

"I didn't know you were looking for me," Dante tilted his head in question.

"Not particularly, but there was something I wanted to speak to you about," she smiled and then said, "Word reached me that you went to attend the burial of the man who went against our rules… I don't think it is good for a prince to first kill a man and then give him a burial."

"Why?" Dante asked, his midnight black eyes looking hollower than usual before a faint smile appeared. "I killed the person and I disposed of him how I deemed fit."

The Mother Queen stared at him and said, "You could have had one of the executioners handle him."

"He was one of the men who worked under me, so it was only right that I rectified it," Dante answered her.

Death was hard to bear, and the Mother Queen knew how much it weighed on one's shoulders.

"I see," The Mother Queen hummed in thought. She then said, "Also, I wanted to mention that there will be many young princesses and women of high stature coming to attend the celebration at the end of this week. It wouldn't hurt to choose one of them as your bride."

"You don't have to worry about me, grandmother. I am not the one going to sit on the throne," Dante's response was quick.

"It's not about sitting on the throne but about having someone to balance you," she explained using both hands.

"I think I am plenty balanced. I would appreciate it if you don't shift or try to change anything, when we have facts in front of us."

"You call yourself balanced?" Dante's expression lightened on noticing his grandmother's bewildered expression. She complained, "All your interest lies in warfare. Three months ago, I sent four concubines to your room. They had really good hips and would bear children quickly. But what did you do? You chased them all away, and last month when I sent a courtesan to seduce you—"

"Nobody asked you to do that," Dante deadpanned, tired of listening, as the subject didn't interest him.

"—you scared her to death. Now no one is willing, scared for their lives after you pointed your sword at her throat!" The Mother Queen said in an exasperated tone. Even the experienced women who initially did agree, only entered the room just to stand like a statues without moving an inch.

Suddenly from the other end of the corridor, Prince Aiden appeared, fixing his errant hair that had turned into a mess by using the help of his fingers. When he noticed his grandmother and eldest brother standing in the middle of the corridor, he offered them a cheeky smile.

"Ho! I am so tired from all the training today," Aiden fanned his face with his hand.

The Mother Queen pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes.

Dante's eyes met his brother's before he looked down at Aiden's shoes that were covered in dry mud and there was a patch on his neck, which he had failed to clean. The younger prince's eyes moved down. His eyes widened and he quickly tried to clean his shoes.

"You are lucky that I don't have my fan with me right now," The Mother Queen opened her eyes and glared at her young grandson. "When are you going to act like a successor to the throne?"

"But I don't want to be a king… I am happy with the way I am living," Aiden protested, and this time the Mother Queen didn't hold back herself in slapping his arm, which left a burn on the young prince's skin, "Ouch!"

"If I hear you say something like that, I will have you thrown into the river. You can then swim your way back to the palace," she threatened with narrowed eyes. Giving a long glare, she walked away from there with her two personal maids following her.

Back in the servants' quarters, Anastasia had only just returned with the others from the Bazaar. She came to her room to put her scarf back, when she noticed her mattress shifted a little out of place on the small wooden cot. Walking towards it, she picked up the mattress to push it back when her eyes fell on the emptiness beneath it.

Her eyes widened on noticing her sketches missing. Anastasia whispered,

"Where did they go…?!"