Inside the palace, Spinola stood near a pillar trying to fix her sleeve and her smeared lipbalm. The woman had worried about Izrina throughout, she couldn't wait to go over to the stable and see how she was holding on. The princess had never had the need to survive on her own.
Spinola knew it would be difficult for her to get some things done on her own. Though Izrina tried to show strength but Spinola knew better. The girl was still just a weak, scared little girl who wasn't allowed to mourn her loss.
After Spinola had finished serving the guard and his friends, the woman now fixed her dress. She didn't want to have the princess worried.
"How have you been, Princess? No....she doesn't like when I say that." Spinola muttered. "Rina...Izrina.... what do I say to her?"
Spinola tried to practice how she would smile in front of the princess so she wouldn't be worried. Pressing her lips, Spinola got ready to move. This was her only opportunity to meet with the princess before another man ask for her service.
Stepping out of the palace, Spinola met with other doves walking in same direction. She tried to turn around and avoid them but one of them grabbed her arm.
"We are going for breakfast. Where are you going?"
Spinola turned, giving the woman a small smile. She had been so focused on blending that she forgot about food. And the princess she haven't-
"Food!" Spinola exclaimed, her eyes wide with realization. How had she forgotten something so important. She grabbed the woman's hand. "Where can I get food?"
The woman raised her brows. "We are all going there...it's the kitchen. Where else?"
Spinola nodded gently. She followed the woman closely. Getting to the kitchen, she rushed inside before the others just so she could get a fair share.
"She must be hungry." The woman commented with a small laugh.
Entering the kitchen, Spinola found other women already on a line holding their plates. Spinola grabbed a plate and spoon and joined the line. Tapping her feet nervously on the ground. She hadn't considered the princess was walking around on an empty stomach.
"Poor girl." Spinola mouthed, holding the plate close to her chest. "She must be so scared and hungry."
"Next!"
Spinola stepped forward, handing over her plate. She leaned closer, "Can I get more soup, please..." she pleaded.
The chef raised his face and snarled, "These old doves are always greedy hags. Wilt away in peace!" Mouthing a cuss word to himself, he scooped another and turned it on Spinola's plate.
"Thank you...Thank you, good sir." Spinola bowed, moving to the next line to take bread. She pleaded for an extra but got nothing. She got shoved to the next line, where someone plopped a tiny piece of chicken inside her soup. Spinola stared at it for a second. She wanted to beg for an extra piece.
"Move already, woman!" The woman behind her yelled, causing others to rain curses at her.
Someone dragged Spinola out from the line. "You don't ask for an extra around here....if you're joining breakfast, that means no man found you good enough to feed you." Saying this, the woman put a piece into Spinola's soup.
Before Spinola could raise her face and show gratitude, the woman walked away without turning back.
"Thank you..." Spinola still whispered. Gathering the meal, she got ready to leave the kitchen.
"You're the old dove that always hangs around that new girl...Rina, was it?" A young girl said, walking beside Spinola.
Spinola, who wasn't in the mood to have a conversation, gave a quick nod but didn't stop walking.
"Have you heard she ran away, and Lady Feyrne is now looking for her?"
This was enough to get Spinola to stop. She turned to look at the girl. "Looking for her?"
The girl nodded, "I heard she ran away thinking the king would ask for her but..." the girl look around then whispered.
"I was among those picked by the king last night but he let me leave when he found out I have never served a man before. And now Lady Feyrne asked I work in the kitchen with the other girls that have never served a man before."
Spinola glanced at the girl's hand, seeing she didn't have the bell like them. The woman noticed that the girl's dressing has also changed.
"Vivian, have breakfast quickly and come wash the dishes." Someone called from inside.
The girl waved, "Will be right there." she turned to Spinola. "If you know the man Rina eloped with...tell her to return now, Lady Feyrne might forgive her but..." the girl twitched her lips.
"If a man already touched her, then she might have to be a dove after all." The girl named Vivian bowed and quietly left.
Spinola's step faltered. Her head was spinning with so many thoughts. The king didn't touch a girl? Was that even possible? The woman thought as she left the kitchen. If so, it would be even better if she brings Izrina back and have her work in the kitchen.
The woman thought to herself deeply, she didn't know if it was such a great idea. What if Izrina returns and the king suddenly wants her because of how beautiful she is....or what if they punish her for trying to run. Spinola was unsure of her next step.
Just outside the kitchen, Spinola found a woman resting against the wall with a pot hanging between her fingers and puffed a smoke through her nose and lips. Spinola was about to pass, but she stopped.
"It was you the kind lady who gave me an extra chicken earlier?" She asked.
The woman looked up and nodded but said nothing else. She continued smoking.
"Thank you." Spinola bowed again. She noticed the woman give her a dismissive shrug. Spinola took it as a hint to leave the woman alone.
"The King doesn't touch innocent girls....And it's all because of his mother" The woman said when Spinola had nearly walked past.
"Very different from the perverted ones before him that had ruined innocent girls....." she turned, staring at Spinola.
"If the girl you came with has escaped to a better life, then let her. The king can change anytime...that is how this palace is. So many secrets, scandal affairs and innocent blood." She puffed a smoke, her eyes now looking wistful.
"Corruption at the root makes a palace look like that. So many of the old doves, like me, used to serve the former king and the king before him. The sins of the fathers still live to this day. We are the physical representation of profanity. And that will be the downfall of Zephyrus."
Spinola blinked, shaking her head. The woman was speaking in circles. She opened her mouth to ask her to explain, but the woman continued.
"If you wish to survive instead of begging for an extra piece of bread." She stared at Spinola's hand. "Then take what you need....that is how we survive." She moved away from the wall, moved her jacket to the side to show Spinola the stolen ornament and rubies she had hidden.
"Nobody is going to save you except yourself."