Chapter 37

When we reached the palace gates, the man followed our plan and we were allowed through without any further questions. The guards barely looked in my direction as we passed.
Once we were on the palace grounds, we approached the kitchen in silence. True to the man’s comments, everyone around here was busy doing one thing or the other. Everyone looked miserable and worn out. I felt sorry for them and prayed never to be one of them again.
“Now, here’s the plan, sweetheart,” said the man quietly. “While I offload these goods in the back of the kitchen, you’re going to slip inside and look around quickly for your sister.”
“Ok,” I said, listening to him closely.
“Once you have seen her and you’ve made sure that she’s the one, you can say a quick hello to her and then come back outside to meet me. Please, don’t stay in there beyond five minutes. As soon as I am done offloading, we’ll leave together.”
“You wish,” I muttered.
“What?”
“I said sure,” I replied. I had no intention of going anywhere with him, but he didn’t have to know that now. He was my ticket to get into the kitchen, so I just have to agree with his plans for now.
“Good. Here we are,” he said as he pulled up to the kitchen backdoor.
This place brought back sad memories for me. I remembered how I had carried Domarius in my arms, running past this kitchen as I followed Lattie to what I thought was my freedom from captivity. I sighed.
The man knocked on the door a couple of times before it was opened. Hot air poured out of the kitchen like a flood, hitting us in the face.
“Fruits and vegetables for the palace,” the man said to the chubby woman who had opened the door.
“That’s very timely of you, Virgil,” said the woman. “Who’s this?”
“My cousin… er…”
“Vanessa,” I said quickly, making up a fake name for myself on the spot.
“Aren’t you easy on the eyes, Vanessa,” the woman said to me with a friendly smile. “How come I’ve never seen you before?”
“She lives with me on the farm,” said Virgil.
“She doesn’t look it,” the woman remarked. “She looks too clean to be from around here.”
I could tell that she was getting suspicious of my identity and that might spell trouble for poor Virgil. I needed to distract her quickly.
“Do you need these foods or not?” I asked sassily. “Or are we going to spend the whole day chatting about my hygiene habits?”
She laughed. “I like her,” she said to Virgil. “She’s got a big mouth on her for sure.”
Virgil smiled nervously and began to offload the crates of vegetables and fruits. I could see that he was eager to get away from here.
I carried a crate of apples and approached the kitchen door. “May I take this inside?”
“Sure. Put them on the counter beside the pans,” said the woman. She opened the door wider and let me in.
“Don’t stay in too long, Vanessa!” Virgil called out as I went in.
I ignored him and strolled past the kitchen workers who were sweating and puffing as they worked. I looked at their faces, hoping to find Lola but she wasn’t there. I didn’t even recognize anyone in the kitchen.
Disappointment crushed me like a wrecking ball. How was I going to find out about Hycinth now? Who do I ask about him?
I put down the apple crate where the woman had told me to drop it and I turned around to leave. Suddenly, someone grabbed my arm from behind and spun me around.
“It is you! What are you doing here, Luna Jade?”

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“Come here, quickly. Let’s get out of this kitchen.”
I allowed myself to be dragged from the kitchen into the corridor that led to the palace dining area. I hadn’t been to this part of the building before and I was relieved to finally be out of that hot kitchen.
It took me a moment to recognize Cherise, one of the Deltas from the Gypsy Pack who was always present for kitchen duties during my time with them.
“What are you doing here?” She asked me excitedly. “We thought you got kidnapped or killed in the woods. Where have you been?”
“Did Alpha Hycinth look for me?” I asked her.
“He did,” she replied. “He even went to Apex Woods to find you but the Alphas there tried to capture him because they thought he was there to spy on them on your behalf.”
“I can imagine…” I muttered.
“Where is she?” The woman who opened the kitchen door asked from inside the kitchen. “Where is the farm girl?”
“That’s me,” I told Cherise. “I came into the palace disguised as a farmhand.”
“Why?” she asked me with a confused look. “Why would you even come here?”
“When I heard that the new Alpha here had captured you all, I knew I had to look for Hycinth and set him free.”
“After how he treated you?”
“I know…” I said with a sigh. “He rescued me from here once when I was banished and thrown out with my child. I want to repay that favour.”
“Vanessa!” The kitchen woman called. “Where are you?”
“Damn it,” I said in frustration. “I have to leave now.”
“Please, don’t go, Luna Jade,” said Cherise, clutching my hands tightly. “At least, take Mariah with you if you must leave.”
“Mariah? Who’s that?”
“Luna Lola’s daughter. She’s in the servant’s nursery where one of us looks after her and other pups from our pack.”
“Where’s Lola?”
Cherise sighed heavily. “She died.”
“There you are!” Said the kitchen woman. She looked annoyed and had her chubby hands on her hips, glaring at me. “What are you doing here?”
“She’s my cousin,” said Cherise, nervously. “She just stopped by to say hello.”
“So, she’s everyone’s cousin, isn’t she?” Asked the woman. She was clearly not buying into my disguise at all.
“All right, Missy. Out with it. Who are you?”
I glanced at Cherise nervously and back at the woman. “I’m nobody’s cousin here,” I confessed. “I am simply looking for an old friend who might be working here in the palace.”
“I see…” said the woman. “I thought as much though. I knew a decent lady like you couldn’t be related to the likes of Virgil.”
“That’s true,” I admitted. “I only met him about an hour ago.”
She glanced into the kitchen and then back at me. “Listen, you can’t stay here for long. The guards on supervision duty will start their rounds soon and if they find a stranger inside the kitchen, we will all be in trouble.”
“You can come to the laundry room with me,” said Cherise eagerly. “When the guards come there to check on us, I’ll hide you under a pile of laundry.”
“I don’t know…” I hesitated.
“Make up your mind quickly,” said the chubby woman. “And there’s Virgil out there to think of. Do you want me to get rid of him?”
“Yes, please,” I answered her. “I’ll go to the laundry room with Cherise.”
“Good. And make sure you stay hidden,” she said. “I don’t know how you’re going to get out of this place when you’re done with your mission here, but I won’t be a part of it.”
“That’s fine,” I said. “I’ll find my way out somehow.”
She returned to the kitchen while Cherise led me down the dark, narrow corridor that led to the laundry room. There were half a dozen workers there, washing, drying and sorting out laundry.
Cherise took me to a corner of the room and we sat on low stools in front of a large basket of clothes. Some were ripped while others were missing buttons or had damaged zippers. She picked up a blue dress, brought out a threaded needle and began to stitch the ripped part of it.
“I mend the damaged clothes here,” she explained. “I had gone to the kitchen to return our lunch trays when I saw you.”
“Oh,” I said. “Can I help?”
“Please, don’t,” she said with a kind smile. “Nobody will question your being here, except the guards.”
I looked around the room and recognized at least two Gypsies who were stealing glances at me. They were probably wondering if it was really me or not.