Eastern Sun

Chapter 8 | Alone

豈曰無衣、與子同袍。
王于興師、脩我戈矛、與子同仇。

How shall it be said that you have no clothes?
I will share my long robes with you.
The king is raising his forces;
I will prepare my lance and spear,
And will be your comrade.

***

The first day Xiān Chí searched the entire building. With every room it became more and more clear that though it might have one day been a palace, it was now only used as a prison. The windows were blocked, there was only one way in and one way out.

The big, solid, door Xiān Chí had been pushed through the previous day was the only way to escape the palace. The only way in, and out.

Last night she hadn't been able to see all the details. But now she noticed there was a small, too small for a grown woman to crawl through, a hatch one could presumably shove food through for the prisoner.

This in fact happened a few hours later. Far later than Xiān Chí would have liked, her stomach empty and disgruntled being denied its regular meal schedule. Through the bars on the windows she could see that it was getting dark outside, though the moon was yet to be seen.

A maid appeared on the foot pad leading to the palace, in her hands a small plate with hopefully a meal on it. The maid didn't react when Xiān Chí thanked her, nor when asked if she would be there in the morning too. The food was shoved unceremoniously through the hatch and the maid was off once more, without checking if the prisoner had noticed her arrival.

Xiān Chí didn't dare worry too much about what was going to happen. If the Empress had wanted her dead, she wouldn't have been locked up here. So surely they would keep her fed and look after her basic needs, beside of course freedom.

The food wasn't that bad either. It was clearly older, and unwanted, but it didn't taste bad. It simply didn't look all too well, but Xiān Chí didn't either so that shouldn't matter.

After a day of searching an old house her once pristine clothes were covered in dust and other less savoury substances. If she had found something substantial, Xiān Chí wouldn't have cared too much, but as of now she hadn't found anything. Her clothes were a good reflection of her life; bad, but if cared for it could turn for the better.

The only thing that had given her a sliver of hope was the old rusted key she had found on the table. It was too old to fit in any lock within the palace, though that place was already ancient. That was beside the fact that the only lock available to her was the big wooden door, and Xiān Chí had already checked that.

But it was hope, something she would certainly need in this situation.

This key was everything she could dare wish for in the moment. A way out, how unlikely it might be, was better than nothing at all.

***

It became clear awfully soon, that having hope might actually be worse than having none at all.

It made one believe there was a way out. That there was still a change for redemption, while there was none.

The scone day Xiān Chí had been locked up had been spent once more searching the entire building for anything that could help her escape. Again she found nothing of significance and confirmed her initial suspicion that the key had no lock to unlock.

That night when her only meal of the day arrived once more, she had felt restless. The fire burning inside her still bright and warm. She hadn't accomplished anything new that day, but she had been busy. And surely they wouldn't keep her locked up there forever.