Kitanna
Chapter 84: CAST OUT

Chapter 84: CAST OUT

[MUSIC RECOMMENDATION: LIED AGAIN ~ SEVENTEEN]

"What are you doing? Go inside and help get the food ready," Chief Panha called Axilla’s attention.

Axilla bowed and hurriedly walked inside the inn. Since she joined the merchant crew, she barely saw the young master because she only appears in the night when everyone was asleep to clean up after them and brush the horses. Now in a new village, that has a harsh weather and a dull color, she was assigned to join in the kitchen and prepare food for the merchants.

Inside the kitchen, Axilla soaked the chili pepper inside the cabbage, saucing it properly, as it was something she was already used to. Axilla was glad that other servants in the kitchen didn’t raise any discussion; everyone just minded their business.

"Oi! I hear the new girl from the young master’s crew is a foreigner, eh? Keep the good stuff away from her eyes." Axilla turned to where the voice was coming from; standing at the kitchen door was a stubby-looking man with an annoying look on his face. She noticed the man was moving his face to look at her; she quickly diverted her gaze and pretended to be soaked in the cooking.

After few minutes, the annoying-looking man finally walked out of the place when he was done giving instructions, leaving the servants to continue with their cooking.

"That man really gets on my last nerve," one of the servants finally broke the silence. Other servants turned to look at him; nobody ever dared to talk about the owner of the inn that way because he sheltered them and also fed them.

"Why? Even if he’s the owner of this place, he is adding those herbs into people’s food without their consent. We can report him to the king," the servant continued, dropping the knife he was using to shred the meat.

Another of the male servants couldn’t help but chuckle, "What king? In this village, Hubert is the only king we know around here. He feeds us, gives us shelter and even prohibits us from taking the herb. What is our concern with the guests he gives it to? Their constant patronage increases our pay, and that’s ok.

"The royal family couldn’t care less about our people, so we have to survive. They believe that everyone in Odel is a castaway, and I couldn’t agree more because we are below rock bottom." The servant who spoke was really emotional about it; he remembered when they had tried to report to the king about their condition but they were treated like people with infectious diseases.

Other servants nodded their head in agreement to this but they didn’t make any additional comment.

Axilla’s ear nipped every gossip that was flying in the room; some persons really did not like the royal family, and it was because the ruler was someone weak who only answered to the queen dowager. The young girl remembered how life back in the palace was, and subconsciously she shrugged her shoulder.

"You, are you sure you don’t understand what we are saying?" The servant who spoke earlier held Axilla’s neck, and she let out a frightened gasp.

Pretending not to understand was really difficult; Axilla screamed in her head. She stood there, staring at the man blankly.

"Answer me! Where are you from? I don’t trust likes of you." The grip on her neck tightened.

Axilla bowed immediately, rubbing her palms together, she begged the man for her life.

"Let her be, I don’t think she knows what we are talking about. Let’s be fast before Hubert comes back here." Another servant came to her rescue.

Axilla thanked her stars when she was finally freed; she adjusted her mask and continued with her own duties. If she could finish it up faster, then she wouldn’t have to worry about being caught.

A few hours later after they were done preparing the food, one of the servants retrieved from his pocket a vial glass containing a white substance, and he poured it inside each of the food. Axilla watched from her side eyes as the substance was added in generous amounts inside every bowl of food.

The stubby-looking man named Hubert walked inside the kitchen and announced it was time for them to serve the food.

Axilla followed other servants behind, but when she got to the door, the owner of the inn stopped her.

"You stay here," Hubert motioned for Axilla to remain in the kitchen.

Axilla furrowed her brows, and she shook her head as if telling the man she could not understand what he was saying.

Hubert rubbed his stomach, letting out a creepy grin; he brushed his hands on Axilla’s shoulder, who in turn reacted by moving back with a look of disgust on her face.

"You don’t like my touch?" Hubert used force to push the girl back, and he said, "Stay back here; I’ll be back to finish what we started." He turned and banged the door using the bunch of keys that were tied to his waist; he locked the wooden door.

Axilla, who was now sitting on the floor, her heartbeat rising with every second that passed, looked around the kitchen, searching for a window to escape. She had wanted to run outside and report to Cortez that their food was laced with something, but now this annoying inn owner had locked her inside, and the worst of it, he said he was coming back for her.

Axilla searched around the kitchen, looking for something to climb and escape through the chimney, but there was nothing strong enough.

She lifted her gown and tied it round her waist, revealing her bare thighs. Axilla started climbing the kitchen slab, trying her best to get to the top; each time she did, her hand slipped, and she landed on the floor.

After several attempts, her body was already aching as a result of the constant tripping. "I can’t give up like this," Axilla muttered; her breathing was faster than usual.

Axilla stood up again to continue with her climbing; this time she moved away from the slab and arranged the pots in layers, using them as a ladder. When it was ready, she climbed again; because the pots were not steady, Axilla got twirling round.

"Ah...ah...." Axilla’s hand flailed in the air; this struggle caused her mask to fly away. To avoid falling again, Axilla pushed her hands forward to use the wall as balance. The moment her hand landed on the wall, she found herself landing outside the kitchen.

That was when she realized that a part of the kitchen was just a camouflage; shrubs were used to hide a path in the kitchen. Axilla, now lying down on the floor, thanked God and especially whoever created the secret pathway.

She looked around the surrounding; it was already evening, and most persons were either having a blast inside the inn or had gone to bed. The moon being the only source of light, it was easy to know if someone was passing by just with their shadow.

Axilla got up from the ground, and she brushed the sand off her skin. Looking round for an entrance away from the kitchen, she forgot to bring down her dress which she tied earlier in the kitchen.

Axilla continued to walk faster; she needed to stop the crew members from eating the food that was going to be served; she didn’t know what the content that was added to the food could do to them.

Her mind occupied with helping out the young master, Axilla lost every sense of security.

"Is that not the girl in our crew? The new one." Axilla heard voices from behind her. She didn’t stop walking; in fact, her pace increased.

"Come back here." Another man voiced out.

Axilla was stuck between turning back and explaining to them what happened, but the young master had told her only to report any event to him first and never to trust other merchants. Instead of turning, Axilla made a run for it.

This alerted the men, and immediately the three of them chased after the young girl

Axilla ran as fast as her slender legs could carry her; she was not sure what to do again, whether to enter the inn and shout for help or just run and hide until she lost the men. But the problem is that she didn’t know anyone around here, and the village looked scary.

She finally stopped running when she noticed the men were no longer after her, maybe they got tired and left her alone. Axilla bent down to catch her breath but immediately jumped up when she felt someone touch her back.

"What has got you scared?" Axilla turned to look at the person who had spoken.

"Young Master!" Her eyes moistened due to unshed tears; her legs gave out, and she fell on the ground.

"What are you doing out here alone, with your legs exposed for everyone to see." Cortez narrowed his eyes at the girl. He noticed she was not in the room when food was being served, so he had left the inn to look for her.

Axilla looked down at her leg, and she immediately arranged her dress properly. Cleaning her body gently, then she stood up to look at the young master.

"I didn’t expose it for everyone to see, I-" Axilla stopped when she remembered the reason she tried to escape in the first place.

"Did you eat anything inside the inn? I saw them add something in-" Axilla mumbled the rest of the words because Cortez used his hand to cover her mouth.

"Let’s leave this place," Cortez dragged the girl by the hand. He noticed some men running toward their direction.

Now hiding in an alley, Cortez crouched and pulled Axilla down with him; he put his finger on his lips, telling her not to make any sound.

The men who were chasing after Axilla walked towards their direction, "I saw her standing with someone." One of the men said to the others.

"Are you sure she was the one?" Another asked, scanning the area.

"If she wasn’t, why did she run like she knew what we were talking about? I always knew something was off about that new girl; nobody gets to see her." The man who was the first to call out Axilla said.

"Let’s go back to the inn and report to Chief Cortez," Another advised, and the rest of the men agreed, leaving the alley.

As they stepped out of the place, Cortez stood up and helped the girl stand properly.

"What happened?" Cortez questioned, pushing down Axilla’s hair, which was now flying around because of the night wind.

"Chief Panha assigned me to help out in the kitchen," Axilla started.

"Did she now?" Cortez asked casually, but what Axilla didn’t notice was the annoyance in his eyes.

"Yes, I saw them add something inside the food; when it was time to serve the food, the owner of the inn asked me to wait behind...and he-" Axilla bit her lips; she wasn’t sure what to say.

"Did he touch you, Axilla?" Cortez asked sternly, and he noticed the girl flinch. "Everything is alright. Where did he touch you?" This time his voice was calm.

Axilla pointed her shoulder, "but that was it and he locked me inside the kitchen; he said he was going to be back." She completed.

"It seems somethings have to be changed around here. I thought Panha would know better than making you serve in Hubert’s inn. About what you saw in the kitchen, keep it to yourself, at least for now." Cortez remarked to receive a nod from the girl.

He moved back and checked the girl out, " Were you worried I’ll eat the food?" He asked with a wide grin.

"No!" Axilla protested, turning her head to hide her flushed cheeks. Cortez noticed this but he decided to let it slide.

"Let us go back to the inn. Do you know what happens between men and women in the dark alley?" Cortez asked, checking out the girl’s expression.

"Young Master, let’s go back to the inn," Axilla refused to patronize him; she quickly moved out of the tight corner and stepped into the light.

"Ok! Let’s go back to the inn." Cortez twitched his lips; it was sloppy, the method the girl was using to avoid his question.

The two of them walked back to the inn; as they got to the entrance, Axilla dragged his sleeves and said, "I will go back inside the kitchen and hide; you can come and rescue me" she suggested.

Cortez looked down on his sleeves where the girl held onto tightly, the corner of his lips tugged, "I have a better plan."

Without warning, he opened the door and held Axilla tightly to his side, while she tried to hide her face from the people inside the room.

Chief Panha, who was talking to some merchants, noticed Cortez step inside with a young woman, her eyes narrowed when she saw it was the same girl he had asked her to watch over. Panha rushed towards them first.

"What are you doing? People will see her!" Panha’s voice sounded distressed.

"Was that why you let her work in Hubert’s inn, knowing how shrewd he is" Cortez trailed his eyes to look at the lady. Before he causally looked away, then Panha heard him say,

"Since you can’t take care of her properly, she will now serve directly under me." His tone had a note of finality in it.

"B..but Chief Cortez, people will only assume that you’re bedding her." Panha protested, her fingers fisting on her side.

Axilla raised her face to look at Cortez, she was not expecting him to proclaim such. During her stay, she had learnt that the young master never patronised any female even though he was the heart throb of the crew. She was surprised when she heard him speak about serving under him.

Cortez held Axilla’s wrist firmly and he walked past the crowd who were now gawking.