CHAPTER 11: FATEFUL REUNION
In the Yasortorn palace, besides being promoted to becoming the royal seamstress to Princess Ja, Yaya also became the closest person to Princess Ja. The only person she knew from Min Island, Yaya watched over Princess Ja like a personal guard but she wasn’t only working for Princess Ja. Secretly, she was working with Pope to find Nadech who he thought to be dead then lied to Yaya about Nadech's job with Yasa. Yaya took up fencing and muay thai lessons with Pope and they became closer but Yaya knew not to cross the line, she respects Princess Ja even though she’s had to lie about what she was also really up to.
Time has flown and for four years, Pope created a cat and mouse game, when Yaya was close to capturing the person who impersonates Nadech, he always merely gets away with Pope’s help. If Nadech saw the woman he loved now, he wouldn’t be able to recognize her. Yaya wasn’t the young girl who teased him, she wasn’t the young girl he admired even in dreams, and not only is she a bounty hunter now out to get him. She is the woman he loved with hatred for him.
-
A huge ship sails closer and closer to Yasortorn land, nearing its port. Nadech walks out onto the deck, overlooking the land he was born in. No one would ever have imagined he was a part of the royal family. Four years has past, he has grown so much. His long black hair falling back past his shoulders while his long bangs covered most of his forehead, shaping out his long face frame. He hasn’t shaved in a long time making his chin and mustache scruffy. The air, the chattering townspeople, all this Nadech missed but he knew the ones who ruled this land were up to no good. Whoever they are, they tried eliminating his family but he’s back to face them, this time, he’s unstoppable. He wasn’t that useless person he thought himself four years ago.
More built, dressed in the new clothes his mother just sown, he looked like every passing farmer when he walked into the market area, blending in perfectly. Knowing anyone could be working for Pope, Nadech hid his face under an umbrella shaped bamboo hat. He heard marching from behind. The busy dirt road cleared within seconds.
“MAKE WAY, MAKE WAY, FOR PRINCESS JA JITTAPA! MAKE WAY, MAKE WAY!”
On this foggy morning after a rainy cold night, Nadech watched standing on the sideline with the rest of the people as the black carriage that carried Princess Ja Jittapa made its way through the market. Princess Ja opened the carriage window and began waving her hand at the citizens of Yasortorn to show them she was in love with her husband’s people as well. Every person bowed their heads to the princess. However, she wasn’t the only one sitting in the carriage; Yaya was there all along, keeping an eye on the princess, sitting opposite her. He had no resentment towards the princess, and as of now, none towards Yaya too because he hasn’t discovered the misunderstanding Pope created. Princess Ja was all smiles, one thing Nadech would never forget her for. Respectively, he bowed his head when the carriage past him.
Due to the stormy night the town had the previous night, the muddy road was slippery and the pot holes in the dirt dug itself deeper into the earth. The wooden carriage wheels rode over many of those pot holes making the ride roughly bumpy for the Princess. Out the window, the princess dropped a pinkish white frangipani flower she was attaching to other flowers to form a necklace, an old Min Island tradition. The carriage stopped. Nadech turned around, wondering why suddenly the carriage came to a hault. He looked down and saw the frangipani flower, reminding him of his Min Island home.
The carriage door opened and Yaya stepped down the steps, bending down to retrieve the flower. He only saw her profile but knew who she was. The air was still, time was even slow, his full attention to her. It wasn’t like before with her long hair all over the place, her hair was now tied up, revealing her long neck, she was in a long lavender dress. Before, he’s only dreamt of her in a long dress only an aristocrat could wear, just now that dream was real, the dress couldn't live up to the girl who was wearing it. She was thinner than the girl he knew four years ago yet she was more beautiful than ever. Nadech couldn’t believe his eyes, the person he yearned to see was just a few feet away from him.
After picking the flower she smiled to the villagers and looked around. She was always alert, hoping Nadech would lose guard one day and reveal himself without knowing it, and then she would confront him again after many failed attempts. Wait, it those curvy lips, under that umbrella shaped bamboo hat, she looked back a second time but the second time around he disappeared as fast as evaporated fog.
The first drawing Nadech saw of himself was a ‘wanted’ poster of him nailed to a wooden pole in the market. He tore the poster off the pole. Certainly this was a drawing of him; they got everything from the long hair to his bushy eye brows right. He couldn’t understand why he was a wanted man though. Its been four years since being back, it was time to investigate.
-
For weeks after arriving in Yasortorn, Nadech has been searching for this impersonator. His mission was to find a way back to the palace as himself but being a wanted person, he first had to find out why. He had a hunch though, somehow finding this impersonator would lead him right to Pope.
One night after finding out which port Yasa had anchored his ship, Nadech jumped onboard, covering half of his face with black cloth, looking like a ninja. He crept inside the main floor where all the other pirates were celebrating. From the outside, the ship looked like a regular trading ship but inside was a different story. He saw women locked up in the cells, he was starting to understand what kind of ship this captain owned. Nadech had one advantage, he looked enough like his impersonator to trick the others into thinking he was one of them.
Nadech paralyzed a guard, grabbed the keys to the cell and opened the door to save the girls. All the girls distanced themselves from him thinking he was the bad guy who captured them. He pulled down the cloth to reveal his face.
Nadech whispered. “Hurry, we don’t have much time. Don’t be afraid.”
“He’s supposed to be a mute, older sister, am I dreaming or is he talking to us?” a girl asked her friend, she hid her face.
“I don’t know…who are you? The man before you is a mute.”
“A mute?” Nadech asked. “Who?”
“The man…he looks exactly like you, no difference. He brought us all here. We know him as Bai.”
Finally, his impersonator has a name, Bai. Nadech just noticed there were ten or more girls in this cell.
“Look, I’m not Bai and I will not do whatever Bai has brought you all here for. I am taking you all back to your families. Understood? But first, you must listen to all the directions I am about to tell you.”
In the Yasortorn palace, besides being promoted to becoming the royal seamstress to Princess Ja, Yaya also became the closest person to Princess Ja. The only person she knew from Min Island, Yaya watched over Princess Ja like a personal guard but she wasn’t only working for Princess Ja. Secretly, she was working with Pope to find Nadech who he thought to be dead then lied to Yaya about Nadech's job with Yasa. Yaya took up fencing and muay thai lessons with Pope and they became closer but Yaya knew not to cross the line, she respects Princess Ja even though she’s had to lie about what she was also really up to.
Time has flown and for four years, Pope created a cat and mouse game, when Yaya was close to capturing the person who impersonates Nadech, he always merely gets away with Pope’s help. If Nadech saw the woman he loved now, he wouldn’t be able to recognize her. Yaya wasn’t the young girl who teased him, she wasn’t the young girl he admired even in dreams, and not only is she a bounty hunter now out to get him. She is the woman he loved with hatred for him.
-
A huge ship sails closer and closer to Yasortorn land, nearing its port. Nadech walks out onto the deck, overlooking the land he was born in. No one would ever have imagined he was a part of the royal family. Four years has past, he has grown so much. His long black hair falling back past his shoulders while his long bangs covered most of his forehead, shaping out his long face frame. He hasn’t shaved in a long time making his chin and mustache scruffy. The air, the chattering townspeople, all this Nadech missed but he knew the ones who ruled this land were up to no good. Whoever they are, they tried eliminating his family but he’s back to face them, this time, he’s unstoppable. He wasn’t that useless person he thought himself four years ago.
More built, dressed in the new clothes his mother just sown, he looked like every passing farmer when he walked into the market area, blending in perfectly. Knowing anyone could be working for Pope, Nadech hid his face under an umbrella shaped bamboo hat. He heard marching from behind. The busy dirt road cleared within seconds.
“MAKE WAY, MAKE WAY, FOR PRINCESS JA JITTAPA! MAKE WAY, MAKE WAY!”
On this foggy morning after a rainy cold night, Nadech watched standing on the sideline with the rest of the people as the black carriage that carried Princess Ja Jittapa made its way through the market. Princess Ja opened the carriage window and began waving her hand at the citizens of Yasortorn to show them she was in love with her husband’s people as well. Every person bowed their heads to the princess. However, she wasn’t the only one sitting in the carriage; Yaya was there all along, keeping an eye on the princess, sitting opposite her. He had no resentment towards the princess, and as of now, none towards Yaya too because he hasn’t discovered the misunderstanding Pope created. Princess Ja was all smiles, one thing Nadech would never forget her for. Respectively, he bowed his head when the carriage past him.
Due to the stormy night the town had the previous night, the muddy road was slippery and the pot holes in the dirt dug itself deeper into the earth. The wooden carriage wheels rode over many of those pot holes making the ride roughly bumpy for the Princess. Out the window, the princess dropped a pinkish white frangipani flower she was attaching to other flowers to form a necklace, an old Min Island tradition. The carriage stopped. Nadech turned around, wondering why suddenly the carriage came to a hault. He looked down and saw the frangipani flower, reminding him of his Min Island home.
The carriage door opened and Yaya stepped down the steps, bending down to retrieve the flower. He only saw her profile but knew who she was. The air was still, time was even slow, his full attention to her. It wasn’t like before with her long hair all over the place, her hair was now tied up, revealing her long neck, she was in a long lavender dress. Before, he’s only dreamt of her in a long dress only an aristocrat could wear, just now that dream was real, the dress couldn't live up to the girl who was wearing it. She was thinner than the girl he knew four years ago yet she was more beautiful than ever. Nadech couldn’t believe his eyes, the person he yearned to see was just a few feet away from him.
After picking the flower she smiled to the villagers and looked around. She was always alert, hoping Nadech would lose guard one day and reveal himself without knowing it, and then she would confront him again after many failed attempts. Wait, it those curvy lips, under that umbrella shaped bamboo hat, she looked back a second time but the second time around he disappeared as fast as evaporated fog.
The first drawing Nadech saw of himself was a ‘wanted’ poster of him nailed to a wooden pole in the market. He tore the poster off the pole. Certainly this was a drawing of him; they got everything from the long hair to his bushy eye brows right. He couldn’t understand why he was a wanted man though. Its been four years since being back, it was time to investigate.
-
For weeks after arriving in Yasortorn, Nadech has been searching for this impersonator. His mission was to find a way back to the palace as himself but being a wanted person, he first had to find out why. He had a hunch though, somehow finding this impersonator would lead him right to Pope.
One night after finding out which port Yasa had anchored his ship, Nadech jumped onboard, covering half of his face with black cloth, looking like a ninja. He crept inside the main floor where all the other pirates were celebrating. From the outside, the ship looked like a regular trading ship but inside was a different story. He saw women locked up in the cells, he was starting to understand what kind of ship this captain owned. Nadech had one advantage, he looked enough like his impersonator to trick the others into thinking he was one of them.
Nadech paralyzed a guard, grabbed the keys to the cell and opened the door to save the girls. All the girls distanced themselves from him thinking he was the bad guy who captured them. He pulled down the cloth to reveal his face.
Nadech whispered. “Hurry, we don’t have much time. Don’t be afraid.”
“He’s supposed to be a mute, older sister, am I dreaming or is he talking to us?” a girl asked her friend, she hid her face.
“I don’t know…who are you? The man before you is a mute.”
“A mute?” Nadech asked. “Who?”
“The man…he looks exactly like you, no difference. He brought us all here. We know him as Bai.”
Finally, his impersonator has a name, Bai. Nadech just noticed there were ten or more girls in this cell.
“Look, I’m not Bai and I will not do whatever Bai has brought you all here for. I am taking you all back to your families. Understood? But first, you must listen to all the directions I am about to tell you.”
!!!!!!... Can't wait for second part !!!!!
