Black Blood

If she thought that her explanation was enough, she is very wrong. I am not so inexperienced and stupid that I don’t know how to clean a room.

However, I have no idea where to find that room and how to fulfil Nalu’s wishes. I am happy with the amount of questions I asked Alisha about the village. I know the name Nalu from her stories and cannot wrap my mind around the fact that it is the king’s only real wife. The only woman he really loves he entrusts to me.

That brings my mind to Novak. I don’t know more than that he is in hospital. I don’t know how good or bad his condition is, whether he is still alive or whether he will ever wake up. I don’t even know where the hospital is. I decide to put the thoughts aside. There must be a way to find more answers about Novak’s condition while I work.

I take one last look at my clothes and walk towards the door the woman just disappeared from. I slowly open the door and look directly into a large open space. The room, which is similar to a ballroom, is empty. The white stone floor reflects the light coming from the coloured windows. In the middle of the room is a wide white pillar, the function of which escapes me. The room is round, with openings in four places into which a corridor disappears. Between each corridor are three wooden doors. There is no sign of a nameplate or indication of what lies behind each door.

As if the gods were on my side, at this precise moment two women walk into the room. I recognise them both from my meeting with the king. A white skirt, a white bra and full of silver chains. These are the king’s other wives. My hopes are immediately dashed. Asking these women where Nalu’s room is might be an even worse idea than trying to find out for myself.

However, my fear of entering the king’s room is greater than my ego. Slowly, I walk towards the two busy talking women. Their eye soon catches mine and a grin plays on their lips. I stop walking as soon as I am a metre away from the women and bow.

‘Nora don’t you think it’s funny? The dreaded crown princess in the clothes of a servant. Maybe the funniest thing I’ve seen this week,’ the woman on the right says, laughing. My blood slowly begins to heat up with anger, but I keep quiet.

‘Entertaining to say the least. Daddy will be proud,’ says the woman on the left, whose name is probably Nora. The women both start laughing. I have to restrain myself from commenting on their naked clothing or the fact that they only undress in front of the king for power. It’s nothing new, but it’s still rancid.

‘What do you want from our little princess?’ the woman on the right asks with a grin. I grasp the basket tighter in my hands and straighten my back.

‘Apologies for disturbing you. Could you tell me where I can find King Nalu’s room?’ I ask in the most confident tone of voice I can muster. I deliberately use Nalu’s title, which I shouldn’t do. The women start laughing again.

‘From princess to cleaning lady, hilarious. You can clean my suite too. My maid really doesn’t understand how to clean,’ the woman on the right replies, ignoring my question. I don’t know if and what I should reply. I keep my mouth shut and look at the women without emotion.

‘Right door, third corridor. I’d better be off before she comes. Nalu doesn’t like maids,’ the other woman happily answers my question.

I make another small bow and then walk as fast as possible in the other direction. This is going to be a tough month. I walk towards the door that the woman showed me. For a moment, I hesitate whether I should knock or enter in silence. I choose the latter option.

I grab the doorknob and slowly let the door open. I expect to step into a bedroom but it is much more than that. The door opens into a corridor. The floor and wall the same as the rest of the building. Apart from a painting of a green landscape, the corridor is empty.

I close the door softly behind me and put the basket on the floor. Slowly and as quietly as possible, I walk further into the corridor. The corridor leads me to a living room with a green couch, a wooden table and some decorations. I am glad to see that no one seems to be in the suite. At the back of the living room, a small corridor leads me to a spacious bedroom.

There is a large double bed with messy sheets, two wooden bedside tables and a large mirror. The last room is a bathroom with a bathtub and sink. Everything is decorated with wooden products, mirrors, paintings of green landscapes and sheepskin rugs.

I sigh deeply. The room is big and has a lot of stuff. It will be a long task to get it all clean. If I remember anything about the maids in the castle, I know that they start at the back. In my case, that’s at the bathroom. I walk back to the corridor and pick up the basket from the floor. I take the basket to the bathroom and start with the only logical thing I can think of, running a cloth over everything to remove the dust.

-

My sympathy for all the maids grows by the hour. They always make it seem so simple, it’s anything but that. Cleaning the huge suite is a gigantic task. The bathroom alone took me an hour. Taking everything out of its place, cleaning it and putting it back takes me the most time. Taking down a bed and making it up again went surprisingly well. I am sweating all over, which is not doing my wounds any good. My back hurts from all the bending down and the hunger is unpleasant.

As soon as I catch sight of the clock in the living room, where I am now cleaning, I see that it is already half past twelve. I have been so absorbed in my work that I have overlooked my break. For a moment I hesitate whether I should take my break after all. The woman seemed firm in her rules and did not let on that there was a possibility for discussion. I decide to put my hunger aside and get on with my work.

My stomach is growling and my energy level has dropped a lot as soon as I am almost done with the living room. At that moment, I open the cupboard in the living room to temporarily store things. A bowl of fruit catches my eye. Bananas, apples and oranges are piled up in a pyramid. A dangerous and extremely stupid thought crosses my mind.

Would anyone notice if I took a banana from the bowl? It’s stealing and it’s definitely a rule I don’t want to break, but my working day is still long. If I don’t eat anything for the next hour, my body will succumb to hunger. I let my hand with the figurine I took from the coffee table hang next to my body.

They can’t get angry over a banana, can they? Who knows exactly how many bananas were on the tray before they left? No one has come in for the past few hours, and there doesn’t seem to be any sign of visitors either.

I sigh deeply, look around and carefully take a banana from the bowl. My heart is pounding in my throat, my hands are sweating with fear. This is such a stupid idea. Still, my hunger wins over my intellect. I open the banana and take a bite. Immediately, all my fears vanish until I hear the door open.