~Sold~

"Mistress, please wear this," Andrea said and held up a fur-lined cloak that had been part of the many gifts that had just been bestowed. It was a deep blue that went well with Oris' dress and veil.

Oris stared at it curiously then ran her fingers over the soft, white fur. "Why?"

Mayree took the cloak from Andrea and tied it around her mistress' shoulders. "We will need to walk a bit to get to the laundry halls and it is a little chilly outside."

Despite having lived in the palace for weeks now, Oris had spent most of her time indoors, so she could only ask, "Are we going through the garden?"

"No, we're leaving the building altogether."

Oris nodded and let them lead her out of the room into the hallway. The guards at the door saluted then continued staring off into the distance. Inae was practically a dessert, but it had wild storms during the summer and biting winds in the winter. She was still recovering from being poisoned, getting a cold would only worsen her health.

"In fact, your room also leads outside," Mayree said quietly, using this as an opportunity to clear up some other things, "and this is actually the Emperor's palace."

"When King Abbadad acquired the Noble Consort Nian Fey, he tore down one of the rooms in his palace and expanded it into its own building," Andrea added, a slight skip in her step. "That is why that room is brighter than others here. Looking from the main door, it is only the outer chamber. You can access the inner chambers through a hallway hidden in the walls. That is where Eunuch Rai would have taken those other maids to."

"The Emperor does not conform to custom," was all Keziah had to contribute but Mayree nodded emphatically.

"Back then, the court was outraged when the king housed his favorite consorts in his palace to keep them close but The Emperor gathered all the women of the Selection here and has never once sent them to the harem palaces and courtyards."

Oris let out a sound of surprise. "You are saying that the Emperor is living in the same building as us? And some of the women have been here for years?"

The dungeon I was in is also here.

The hallway were decorated the same way and that day Hermes hadn't been in armor because he had been caught off guard in his own home. He had surrounded himself with both scheming women and vengeful criminals. . .

Does he have a death wish?

"Not only that," Keziah mumbled with displeasure, "the Empress Dowager lives here too."

"The Empress Dowager originally didn't have a room in this palace and lived in her own palace but she moved here saying that she was worried for her son," Andrea said, with bitterness to match.

"That's not all," Mayree sighed and looked down at the petals embroidered on her shoes, "the Emperor does not address himself as I'eni or let people address him as Et'ini, so we can only call him Your Majesty. There are also rumors that the people close to him call him by his given name freely. The Ministry of Rites send him countless memorials everyday asking his to adhere to tradition but he only ignores them."

"The Emperor," Oris considered her words carefully, knowing that the girls had said all these for a reason, "is really free-spirited."

Were they warning her of the dangers of being dragged into the Emperor's impropriety? Or were they telling her not to trust his whimsical impulses?

"The court is in shambles because of it," Keziah said quietly. "When the new ministers arrived the Emperor told them that he knew they were displeased to be displaced from their own courts, so they could salute him however they liked. The ministers do not respect him, most half-bow in his presence."

Hermes. Hermes. Hermes. Have you gone mad?

Of course she knew that he hadn't but when thinking about the man she had just spent two hours with, she found it hard to accept... his patience and perseverance. Letting his subjects walk over him and his people hate him, all for the sake of what? Stability?

His mother had too much power and monitored his every move, even going as far as moving in with him, so his ministers find him weak. This selection, he clearly wanted nothing to do with it, so for things to have gotten this far it had to be the work of his mother and the ministers.

He made his palace the testing ground, using the women that were to be his wives to restrain his mother. But the Empress Dowager was a smart woman and didn't hide the benefits of siding with her.

At the moment, Oris was probably the only one with open enmity with her, did that truly make her Hermes' only ally in the harem?

Why did that make her feel a little special?

Turning another corner and walking through a small door, Oris was faced with the brightness open sky. The wind brushed against her and she took deep breaths of the cool air.

He is such an unconventional ruler, she held her hand above her eyes and looked at sky, did he even want to be Emperor?

In that moment she felt a sort of loneliness that had never once consumed her in all her years as queen. Will the path of a monarch always be so lonesome?

For my State, for my people, to honor my ancestors... She knew why she did what she did but would anyone else understand? Or would they call her a tyrant too when the dust settled and they flipped through the history books?

The things she would have to do, she had to do them before it was too late. If she got branded as sinful that was simply her fate.

She felt lucky to have this period to get away from it: the expectations, the fear of failure, the weight of the crown. Ever since she entered the palace all her focus had been on surviving, but at least she could be herself. Not once had she had to constrain her action for the bigger picture, because here she was the bigger picture.

Every step she took, though well-intentioned, had been selfish and she loved it-her free will.

Without knowing, a smiled bloomed on her face.

It was only when Mayree tugged on her sleeve that she regained her senses. She glanced at the maid, a question in her gaze.

"Yes, Mistress," Mayree answered. "We're almost there."

In other words, 'time to look dignified'.

Oris smiled at the sun, the weight in her heart grams lighter. I guess I don't hate you so much anymore.

She had to admit that much to herself.

~

Stepping past the brightly colored clothes hanging out in the sun and the artificial pools filled with water for washing, one would see a crowd of people milling about and hear the sound of wood pounding on wet cloth.

That was exactly what Oris witnessed when she stepped into the Laundry Halls. At first, nobody noticed her. She didn't expect them to. No one was expecting her and she had not announced herself.

It was only when she was at the center of the workforce and Mayree clapped her hands to draw the attention of the servants that they stopped working and got to their feet.

Unease spread through the crowd when one by one they recognized the cost of the clothes Oris wore and what it told of her status. In the end, the one to step out to greet her was one of the matrons in charge of supervising the laundry hall, rushing out from the inner chambers to see what had caused a disturbance and made her workers stop working.

The woman greeted her as servant greeted their master. Her hands still clasped, she said, "For Honorable One to stop by is this one's honor. What can this one do to aid your honored self?"

Oris gestured to Andrea, who did not waste any time explaining. The moment the last words left her lips, the woman's expression changed.

"A maid named Seline?" She rubbed her hands and smiled awkwardly. "This humble one remembers her, but I am afraid that she had already been sold."

"Sold?" Keziah asked, her voice cold. There was no way to sell somebody so fast. "This servant thinks you are hiding her."

"This humble one wouldn't dare!" The matron glanced at Oris with a wronged expression. "That wash-maid committed a crime and was punished. It was all done according to the law."

Oris understood. Though Hermes had spent time with her, some women in the Selection had been here for years. Who could be offended and who couldn't, wouldn't the servants know?

While this matron wasn't bold enough to disobey an Imperial decree, the one who plotted against Seline was a person of the Empress Dowager. It wasn't impossible for the eunuchs announcing the decree to also be involved.

After all, what could they do if the person meant to accept the decree was already gone? They could only blame the person for being unlucky.

Oris' expression chilled. If Seline was actually being sold, that would be a good thing compared to what she actually suspected.

"Take me to the woodshed," she told the woman.

The matron's expression worsened and she instinctively moved to block Oris. "That place is not befitting of someone like your honored self. This humble one can arrange a place for your honored self to rest while that maid's palace records are being retrieved. Then your honored self will find that she has already been sold."

"Andrea. . ."

A slender, fair hand whipped out to slap the matron, and immediately the woman fell to her knees, paled and began to tremble.

"Who are you to tell my mistress what to do?" Andrea narrowed her eyes at her. "Just watch how you will be punished later."

"This servant was wrong. Have mercy. Have mercy."

Oris ignored the woman and turned to the crowd. "Whoever leads me to the woodshed will be heavily rewarded."

It didn't take long for a girl to step forward and say that she knew the way.

Oris let her lead way and told her to hurry. Naturally, she didn't dare disobey, and soon they were at the back of the laundry halls.

When Oris got close enough and heard the sounds of muffled cries and someone being flogged, she laughed coldly. Standing in front of the woodshed was an eunuch dressed in the same blue uniform as Eunuch Rai. In his hand was a decree.

When he saw her, he fell to his knees and prostrated himself until his forehead touched the muddy ground.

Oris paid no attention to him and had the girl push the door open.

The sounds inside stopped but it was too late for those inside to plead innocent, the scene had already been laid bared before her eyes.

Seline was tied to a bench wearing only her inner robe and had her mouth stuffed with cloth. In the room with her were two sturdily-built eunuchs each with a heavy wooden staff in his grip.

Oris looked at Seline again, took in the blood that stained her white undergarment from where the skin on her back had split.

So this was it. Getting sold had turned into getting beaten to death.

~

I'eni is the title an Emperor should address himself as. Like the Royal 'We' or 'Zhèn' that Chinese Emperors use. Hermes doesn't do that, as you've probably already noticed and even though its taboo to let other address him by his given name, he still does. Et'ini is the title for emperorship, it practically means Lord of All Skies aka ruler of everything under the sky aka ruler of the world.

The two terms were coined up by Hermes' court and he is the first to use them because he is the first Emperor of the New World.

I'eni pronounced INE. {eye-en-ee}
Et'ini pronounced Het-in-ee

Seline has finally been found! Oris is finally interacting with other people. As her lady-in-waiting, Andrea has seniority among the maids, that's why she's the one that gets to slap that matron.

Anyway, why do you think Hermes decided to be Emperor? His character is becoming more complex. Hahaha.