Ch. 45: White Hair and Moonshine

If one stood at the door of Sunrise Palace, it was quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

Most souls were asleep at the late hour save for a few. One of them was Kora, the Empress’ personal maid who stood guard outside her chambers if she was in need of water or wanted to relieve herself. The other was Janice, her hands shaking as she peered at her reflection in a tepid pool of water the bright moon was illuminating.

“What is this?” Janice whimpered to herself, her voice choked in panic and horror. She had awoken in the middle of the night after spending hours tossing and turning restlessly. Sleep had eluded her often for the past few days, her thoughts chaotic and frenzied at every hour of the day. Janice had just thought she was feeling peckish.

Although she had been raised in a poor village, she had always eaten enough to fill her stomach and fill out her curves. But even brazenly sneaking into the kitchen did little to quell whatever her body, no her soul craved. It was all too strange.

The unusual desire dragged her from her lumpy mattress in the middle of the night for a breath of cool air. Janice’s vanity, like a siren’s call, had beseeched her to gaze upon her dazzling face and she had obliged... to her utmost horror.

Her face still looked like it was sculpted by the gods themselves. But her eyes couldn’t miss it, the brilliant shock of white hair that clung to several strands of her oak brown hair. Janice was 18 for Helio’s sake, even her mother only had a strand or two, let alone this many!

If one stood at the door of Sunrise Palace, it was quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

Most souls were asleep at the late hour save for a few. One of them was Kora, the Empress’ personal maid who stood guard outside her chambers if she was in need of water or wanted to relieve herself. The other was Janice, her hands shaking as she peered at her reflection in a tepid pool of water the bright moon was illuminating.

.....

“What is this?” Janice whimpered to herself, her voice choked in panic and horror. She had awoken in the middle of the night after spending hours tossing and turning restlessly. Sleep had eluded her often for the past few days, her thoughts chaotic and frenzied at every hour of the day. Janice had just thought she was feeling peckish.

Although she had been raised in a poor village, she had always eaten enough to fill her stomach and fill out her curves. But even brazenly sneaking into the kitchen did little to quell whatever her body, no her soul craved. It was all too strange.

The unusual desire dragged her from her lumpy mattress in the middle of the night for a breath of cool air. Janice’s vanity, like a siren’s call, had beseeched her to gaze upon her dazzling face and she had obliged... to her utmost horror.

Her face still looked like it was sculpted by the gods themselves. But her eyes couldn’t miss it, the brilliant shock of white hair that clung to several strands of her oak brown hair. Janice was 18 for god’s sake, even her mother only had a strand or two, let alone this many!

For a brief moment, the sight had brought her back to the cause of all her problems, the damned bastard princess, and a fit of anger unlike any other seized Janice’s heart. Her shaky hands had gone to tug the disrespectful white hair from the root when the bright moon relinquished another frightful discovery: the back of her hands were covered in spots, the likes of which gnarled old women had! The slight was too much and after uttering her words, Janice stumbled onto her behind, the cool stone cruelly reminding her that this was her reality.

“H-How is this possible?” Janice cried, not carrying if others heard. Other than the guards posted at the front of Sunrise Palace, she knew no one else would be awake at this hour.

Desperation yipped at her ankles like an irritating pup, one that wouldn’t leave no matter how much she insisted. When Janice had made a deal with Akira, she had thought her new looks would be permanent. But now it was draining out of her as if she were a sieve and she was powerless to stop it.

“Akira!” she yelled at the skies as if the Darkness himself would drop out of the sky at her whims.

If her newfound beauty continued to fade, then Janice could forget any home of climbing into a wealthy noble’s bed and doom herself to a life in Empress Katya’s backyard. No. That was not an option.

Janice let out a resolute huff, unwilling to let her future slip through her fingers as easily as her looks. She took a deep breath, her hands methodically fixing her appearance so appeared as lovely as she always did save for the addition of white hair and spotty hands. Janice would have to finish everything tonight.

As if she were going to steal food, as usual, Janice stole into the kitchen, the wooden floorboards slightly creaking under her weight. Tonight, she did not pick up the leftover stale bread or mushy fruit. Her hands reached higher, towards a cupboard that was off-limits to ordinary staff such as herself. Janice tugged her hard, but the damned cupboard rattled, revealing the thin chain that kept it sealed.

“Oh, for Helio’s sake,” Janice snapped, a burst of strength she didn’t know she possessed aiding her in ripping the cupboard open. The broken chain tumbled onto the table below, but she didn’t pay it any mind as she admired her bounty.

There were bottles of wine, stacked neatly in many rows. Janice climbed onto the shaky tabletop to get a better view. The liquor was clearly good quality, some as them brown as dirt while others were clearer than water. The containers were made of crystal and perfectly displayed their contents. She carefully picked through her plentiful options, taking a healthy whiff of each to gauge their strength.

Many of them were too weak and floral, the kind of liquor fancied by women. But eventually, Janice sniffed a discrete, smaller bottle and found her eyes watering from the strength of the wine. The young maid smiled to herself. This would work perfectly.

The crime scene was left as is, Janice was confident that her plan would work, even if there were a few hindrances to her beauty. It was dark anyway, so her target wouldn’t notice. And she had long heard of what a gentleman he was too. Even if he noticed, he would have the moral integrity to take responsibility of her, the poor maid he ‘accidentally’ bedded.

A key hung on a peg near the door and Janice divested it of its position, tucking it into her apron. When she reached the door servants used to exit, she borrowed her stolen key and silently left the premises of Sunrise Palace. Her bow-shaped lips whistled out a simple folk tune that her mother used to sing to her as Janice headed down the path towards the royal guards’ barracks.

Alas, not ever soul was actually tucked away in dreamland. Having taken a rare break to step away from the Empress’ side for a glass of water, Kora was a witness to Janice’s rampage of the Empress’ personal wine cabinet. Her steady gaze didn’t waiver once from the scene, opting to stand to the side and watch. The empress had long been suspicious of this overstepping maid she had recruited and would definitely reward Kora for catching this theft.

Kora entered the kitchen silently as Janice whistled away, quickly noticing that the moonshine the empress enjoyed mixing with fruit juice for a kick was missing. The personal maid couldn’t help but chuckle to herself. A young woman skipping over the tributary wine crafted from the juice of rare eastern chrysanthemums in exchange for extra-strength moonshine? How odd. Kora noted the missing key and returned to her post, vowing to inform the Empress as soon as her Majesty awoke.

As for Janice? Even if she knew someone had seen her, Janet wouldn’t have cared.

The barrack was built to be easy to navigate. The hallways that nightguards were too busy napping to guard were long, with bedrooms that could fit several grown men. Slender windows did not allow much of a view and a musky, unmistakenly manly order filled the entire three-floor building.

It was now, as she crept through the dead halls surrounded by soldiers that Janice’s nervousness began to rise. What if her target didn’t find her appealing? That couldn’t be possible, since she was certain she was the most beautiful woman in the palace, but there were always anomalies.

The creak of an opening door startled Janice out of her thoughts and she froze in the dark hall. A body shuffled out, sleep-addled eyes landing on Janice. She swallowed nervously, even though she knew it was too dark to see her face. It would be bad if she attracted the wrong prey.

“Who are you?” the guard grumbled out, rubbing the sleep of his eyes.

Janice knew how well trained the royal guard were and fear gripped her heart as her mouth began to spew out nonsense.

“I-I’m here to change out chamber pots,” Janice replied a little too quickly.

“In the middle of the night?” the guard asked a bit suspiciously.

Janice nearly wet herself in terror just at the thought of her plot failing. She could be tossed in the dungeon or executed for trespassing, every maid was taught the consequences of intruding in places they shouldn’t the minute they arrived at the imperial palace.

historical

“Erm-yes. Well, you see, I’m new. All I was told was that sometimes the guards would need to relieve themselves at night. I have to start from the person-in-charge’s room and work my way down every hall,” Janice spewed out.

“Person-in-charge?” the guard asked again.

Janice wanted to slap her thigh in irritation at his inquisitiveness. How was she supposed to know the terminology for the royal guard when she’d never even gone to school? He sounded like a young boy, not unlike a boy beginning the journey from child to man. A cockiness at being older than this guard filled her and she allowed a little haughtiness into her voice.

“You have a lot of questions, don’t you lad? Well since you don’t want to go to bed, lead me to the commander’s bed, I mean room, so I can begin there.”

The young man harrumphed, clearly annoyed at her shift in tone, but it worked for he complied without another word of dissent. The two walked all the way to the end of the hall, their footsteps the only audible sound. Every little creak and sound made Janice jump, afraid that a smarter guard would happen upon her. But the reached the end without incident and the guard, whose face was still obscured in darkness grumbled out, “This is Sir Gregory’s room, our commander in charge while the main force in out in Avernall. Try not to faint from the smell, we are all men here.”

And with that, the annoyed guard stomped off, leaving Janice alone in front of the heir to the largest dukedom in the Erudian Empire.