A boy? Or A girl?
The middle-aged man repeated in his mind as he stared at the young helper walking in front of him. "That must be a gi...no! a boy," he muttered, scratching the prickly beard on his chin. "That back unmistakably belongs to a woman..."
Izrina held the small woods close to her chest for balance; the rough edges pierced into her skin, but that wasn't the issue. It was the man walking behind her.
After cutting the logs, the man had asked Izrina to gather them while they took them to the main palace for use. But something weird happened on their way. The man had suddenly stopped walking, and Izrina had also stopped with him.
"Go on...keep walking. I will be right behind you." He had said.
Unsure and afraid to disobey her new master, Izrina had continued walking. And until now, she hasn't felt comfortable with a man walking behind her. She turned her head to the side.
"Keep walking and don't look back." The man ordered.
Izrina pressed her lips together. She hated the feeling of being watched from the back; it made her walk seem clumsy and uncoordinated, but she didn't seem to have a spare option other than to obey.
The man halted, his fingers now moving back and forth on his chin. He didn't like how he was feeling, and there was only one way to find out if the helper was a boy or a girl. The woodchopper cracked his knuckles; he was going to grab the helper's bottom. It was only the reaction that would give him the result he wanted.
Slowly tiptoeing forward, the man stretched his hand when he heard someone whisper.
"You do know I execute men for less effort than that."
The man turned with the same speed, blood drained from his neck as well, and his throat dried up when he saw the person he stood before.
"Your-"
"Shh...." Neron held his finger over his lips. "Good, now breathe. Go on. I want you to calm down when you realize how finished you are."
The man didn't need it to be reiterated for him to know how doomed he was at the moment. "I was...Your-"
Neron rolled his eyes. "Be elsewhere. Immediately."
The man moved forward, but he thought against it. Walking past the king after being spared meant a death sentence. He turned to run.
"Not that way, you fool. Don't startle poor Brubles." He grabbed the man by the neck and pushed him aside.
Izrina jerked when she heard a shuffling of feet. The pebbles of sweat that dripped from the side of her face revealed her anxiousness in real time. She turned her head slowly to the side, trying to glimpse what the man was doing behind her.
"Eyes forward." Fear caused Izrina to halt, but she hastened her steps immediately.
Neron said from behind, a grin dancing around his lips, "You follow instructions like you were born for them."
"You'll make a very fine scholar."
Izrina felt her knees buckle against each other, but she didn't stop walking, though her steps were now even more pitiful than a fawn abandoned by nature itself.
"Keep walking, and...." Neron's voice trailed, his eyes already on the girl's legs. "Don't tell me you want to stop."
The palace bell tolled, and Izrina stopped.
"Why did you stop walking?" Neron asked with a deep frown.
The logs fell from Izrina's hands, her hands shaking. "I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY TO YOU, GOOD SIR!"
Neron's frown deepened when the girl started shouting. He was about to say something, but the next words stopped him.
"IT IS QUITE DIFFICULT TO HEAR YOU CLEARLY IN MY LEFT EAR, AND WHEN I'M SCARED, I CAN'T HEAR WITH BOTH....I...I REALLY WANT TO KEEP WALKING....BUT I CAN'T....I CAN'T. YOU KEEP SPEAKING TO ME, BUT I NEED TO LOOK AT YOUR LIPS TO UNDERSTAND AND ALSO WALK...SO I CAN'T."
Neron clapped his hands, his eyes wide with excitement. The revelation was now on his list, but it was indeed an interesting one. "Well, what have I here?"
Taking two steps, Neron covered their distance, then he stepped forward, to stand before the girl.
If Izrina was anxious before, now she was panicking. How had the woodchopper become the king?
"What?" Neron raised his hands. "I'm also wondering what my dear Ray Ray is doing here instead of the stable."
Izrina followed his lips as fast as she could, saying, "The....I was....I was assigned to work with the woodcutter," while feeling her heart pound like a drum instead of pumping blood.
Neron hummed, his finger on his lips in a deep thought kind of way. "By whom?"
"Who? Izrina repeated in her mind. Was this a trap? She wouldn't ever risk Cora's life.
Neron noticed the girl's eyes moving from side to side like a cornered cat searching for an escape. He basked in it. As long as entertainment was concerned, Neron only found joy in the battlefield and teasing the girl before him was the closest he had gotten to laughing without bloodshed.
It was strange, but it didn't feel so bad.
"Who moved you from the stable, Raymond...?"
Izrina swallowed, pressing her fingernails deep into her palm. She wanted to pee. "I... nobody...I realized I wasn't good enough handling your beloved Prince Zeke...so I....I decided to leave and help out somewhere I will be much more efficient."
Neron nodded as if he understood. He gave her an approving smile. "Aren't you the perfect servant? Making orders yourself, something that could get you killed, my dearest Ray."
"Yes...I mean no. I was going to inform the head steward about it."
Neron rubbed his palm on his forehead, feeling a gentle headache rise from within while the cause stood before him. "The same man you almost killed? Have you no shame?"
Izrina closed her eyes and sighed; she was tired. Even reading the man's lip to understand was tiring. She rubbed her eyes, which had turned red from fear. "I didn't mean to hurt him. But I promise to work hard for the kingdom."
"Then you should have your bell around your wrist, Rina."
Izrina nodded, "Yes I will take the woods to-" her eyes widened.
"Don't stop. By all means, finish." Neron gestured with his hand. "It's only treason if you fail."
Izrina took a step back; her head was spinning. No it was the world spinning. She needed to think. The king knew she wasn't a boy?
"Did you think I thought you were-" Neron groaned, as if someone had stabbed him. "I do not know what hurts the most, being seen as a fool by a pretty woman or having an imposter in my palace,"
Izrina knew the die was cast. She got on her knees, her palms clasped in supplication. "Forgive me, Your Majesty... I didn't mean to deceive you."
Neron stared down at the girl's position, partly amused and the other part annoyed. "Why do you think you-" he noticed her shoulders trembling without cause.
"I'd be damned." The King cursed. He got to the same height as her, sitting on his heels. Neron's large palm curled around her neck to make her face him.
A tear streaked down Izrina's tired eyes and touched Neron's palm. He scowled, pulling her even closer.
"Didn't you say you needed to read my lips to understand when you're scared?" Neron asked with his brows narrowed. "Or is that another lie?"
Izrina shook her head in response; her lips were now shaking. She was scared of being caught, but even if it meant her death, she would never betray Spinola and Cora. It was even better to join her parents. These thoughts clouded the mist of tears that formed in her eyes.
"And here I am thinking you have somehow fallen in love with my mouth." Neron tutted.
The palace bell tolled for the second time. Izrina barely heard her own heartbeat or the wind. She heard nothing.
"What do I do with you?" Neron murmured. Releasing his grip so he could feel the girl's pulse on his palm.
"What scares you so?" Moving his palm up to her chin, he pulled her close. "Don't you need to look at me to understand the words I say?"
"Look at my lips, Rina."
Izrina forced her eyes from blinking so much. She stopped them at Neron's lips.
For the third time, the palace bell echoed, vibrating the walls and Izrina's body.
"Did you hear that?" Neron mouthed slowly, staring at the girl's eyes that were on his lips. "That is a warning bell.... the king wishes to see every servant within the palace walls. There is a killer on the loose."
Izrina's eyes lit up, shifting on one knee. "The king....but you are the-"
"Good. Now if you understand, leave. I have an imposter to punish." Neron dropped his hand from her neck and stood up to leave.
"Imposter..." Izrina repeated under her breath. A soft gasp escaped her parted lips as she crawled without shame, grabbing Neron's shoes to stop him from walking.
"Please....please help me...I mean, please save me...I am not an imposter." Izrina pleaded. If she gets exposed, she knew Spinola and Cora would want to risk their lives to get her out.
"Please don't let others know... or... or you can punish me here." Izrina nodded to herself. It was reasonable. Out of people's sight. She had already caused too much trouble.
"But please don't punish me in front of everyone."
Neron arched his brow in surprise, his head tilted to the side. "You prefer to be punished behind closed doors?"
"Yes!" Izrina's head bobbed.
Neron scoffed, "Silly Brubles. Do you know what you ask for?" he dropped a tired but soft exhale."Rina...." Her name rolled smoothly from his tongue.
"You ask a king to keep your secret while you pretend to be an imposter in his palace." Neron tutted. "I have seen men of honor display courage on war fronts, but this?" He sized her up with his gaze. "This is foolishness." With that, he walked away leaving the girl to guess what next fate had for her.