The city around the Golden Palace didn't feel grand at first—it felt watched.Even standing still felt like a mistake, as if the city was quietly counting how long we dared to exist.
Wide stone roads near the palace were too clean, too quiet. They may be wide but the number of people made it look small.Crowds didn't gather here naturally; they were arranged, like furniture that could be removed.
While the outer streets buzzed with vendors, gossip, and the smell of food people cooked just to forget where they lived.
Red-and-gold roofs stacked neatly above us, but below them were tired faces, careful smiles, and bows given more out of fear than respect.People didn't look at the palace when they passed it. They looked at the ground, as if stone itself could report them.
Somewhere above, court music drifted like a reminder: life could be beautiful here—just not equally, and never freely.
Meh,but those ain't stopping us from having fun. There were stores filled with foods. I ordered what Dannyal ordered so that I can blame him if the food doesn't taste good. Hehe.
I gifted Dannyal a clock so he can cry seeing it when I die. I am evil. Ahahaha !
Tenzin said,"We have a song competition to attend today. Avoid troubles."
He then took Wang and went some where. I and Dannyal were left there with no knowledge about their norms.
While exploring, I mistakenly went into a line preserved for officials and nobles. The guard warned me. Dannyal said in a teasing voice,"Girl thinks she is an 'official'." He joked so loud, a guard came to him and said,"Did you come from a mental asylum?"
I said,"Hah! Tease me again, mental patient." He gruffed.
A thing I noticed that in the country side,kindness was survival but here obedience is.
How stressful this city may look,I will have to admire its beauty and culture.
Dannyal gasped while face-palming,"Why is it so hard here?"
"What is hard?"
"Entering into the Palace,getting them believe us."
"It was easy the previous time,wasn't it?"
Dannyal pointed at a shop and said,"Hey,look there,I swear there was a merchant there."
"Might be. So?"
"Dude,how can he dissappear in a moment?"His voice dropped without him noticing. The city had already taught him how to whisper.
"Who cares! Look at those jade bangles !"
"Tssk...my gut says something is wrong. Come on."
"Why take me?You go."
"I'll buy you jade bangles if you come."
"No,thanks. I'm good."
He rolled his eyes then grabbed my shirt's collar from the behind and started taking me with him. He took me behind a shop and told me to stop behaving like drunk. Dude,what ?
He whispered, "Look,the guards are taking him in to that hut."
"Oh,yeah."
After a while, the guards went away. We slowly entered into that hut. Woah ! There were around fifty merchants like him, tied with ropes. The smell was like sweats accumulated over the years.
None of them asked for help. That scared me more than if they had screamed. It was like they had accepted their misfortune. Some of them were tired while some were sleeping.
I asked,"Why are they here?"
"How would I know?"
"Right, so do we free them?"
"Yes, I guess so."
We started freeing and suddenly two soldiers came in,"WHO ARE YOU?" They screamed.
"Why are they tied here?"Dannyal asked.
"You see,we have no need to tell you. You seem to be foreigners,so we will give you a chance to go. Just keep your mouths shut."
We looked at each other confused as we expected some high level fights,then we heroically save them. Then they thank us.
I asked,"What if we tell everyone what you are doing?"
One of those soldier ,who looked Mongolian, said,"First of all,we are not doing this,the King is."
The other soldier walked forward,"If you want to tell everyone, tell them. They might believe you but they don't have the courage to say anything before the King may it be justice or injustice."
Dannyal went ahead and said, "What if we kill you and free them?"
They said with a smirk, "How many days do you think you will be able to walk after that freely?"
They added,"Lady,try to understand, do not take our mercy as weakness and walk away."
I decided to walk away cause that seemed logical, we are here to crumble the empire. If we try to fix it from its borders instead of its core,we will be in trouble.
But Dannyal's morals probably is making him think about these merchants' families.
While I was turning towards his side to tell him about walking away, I noticed Dannyal's hands were shaking. Not with fear — with restraint.
After a second, he ran towards the soldiers and gave a punch hard enough to break his jaw. He then grabbed the other soldier and said,"If I break your jaws, you won't be able to describe our faces, right?"
I stood there frozen,unable to process his vulnerability.He then called me to untie those merchants along him.
I was trembling not because of the broken jaws but because Dannyal broke them. I had always believed morality was something you held onto. I didn't know it could be something you lost in seconds, Dannyal.
While untying them, I asked,"You didn't have to break their jaws, did you?" He replied,"Otherwise, we would have got caught."
"Maybe then we should have ignored this work at all."
"You care about those soldiers more than these merchants? "He grunted.
"They must also have been forced to do these works. They must also have a family. "
"They were two,these are fifty." He said hesitatantly.
I hated that the numbers made sense. I hated myself more for understanding them.
"I don't think they would have broken these merchants' jaw though," I said while looking away.
Dannyal looked at me with a bit of surprise and then looked away because what could he have said. He thought maybe I would agree with him.
We freed them and ran away from there as soon as possible.
But oh boy,was that easy? Soldiers noticed us and followed us. We ran to an alley to avoid them,only to find we entered in a densely populated area.
All those houses were built on bamboo with straws as the roof. People gossiping and cutting vegetables. Some were washing clothes and returning with goods. Among these mess, a group of soldiers running towards you would be messier.
I ran as fast as I could but I just couldn't stop dropping people's stuffs. My lungs burned, but what terrified me more was the thought of falling — not because I'd be caught, but because Dannyal would come back for me.
We entered a small alley only for a soldier to already be standing there. We went out of it but on the process I kicked four baskets full of vegetables and mushrooms.
Not to mention, I got hit by a pillar on my knees. Oh GAWD!
Dannyal yelled,"ARE YOU STUPID?!" How do I say I can't run fast enough.
He told me to grab his hand but dude was literally ahead a mile. Him running with two of his hands stretched behind so that I could catch them was hilarious.
Finally I got his hand and he ran so fast I felt like my hand might get torn from my body. He ran from this alley to that alley as if it was his daily road though I was sure it was all gueses. My mind started swirling by all those turns.
We finally got out of that mess. The road had way too much traffic. I embarrassingly hit my head with a cart.
Dannyal chuckled,"Small brained girl." Dude was literally holding my hand and brought me infront of a cart. He said," You have the survival skills of a hydrogen molecule."
Both of us sat by a sidewalk, unable to breath but at least we lost the soldiers.The city swallowed our chaos like it had never happened. That was the scariest part.
But the question still lingered,why would the King tie merchants,the souls of an Empire? I wondered how much of the city they hadn't shown us yet — and how much of it was already watching.
We met up with Wang and Tenzin after a while. Wang said excitedly ,"I registered for the song competition. I will sing as well."
Tenzin asked,"Why do you both look so breathless? What were you guys doing?"
"Umm,nothing." I said signaling Dannyal because telling Tenzin might get us caught.
That evening ,we went into the Palace only to realize we had gotten ourselves into a more messed up problem.
Will I survive this time?