It was nearing dusk, and the light was dimming. Carmen went and lifted a few more of the small boxes on the shelves that contained more jewels and accessories, until she came to the bottom of a shelf where she saw a rectangular shaped wooden box inlaid with a jade pendant. She curiously took it up and opened it to find two twin daggers. They were sheathed in leather that boasted silver embellishing as well as a silver guard; though Carmen did not know much about weapons she couldn't help but think that it was beautiful. She quickly packed the box away with what little she could see with as well as more cloths and silver and gold pieces, then tightly wrapped them up to make a cloth bag out of the cotton cloth and carried it on her back to the window. She had made sure to close back the boxes like nothing was taken, before swiftly jumping through the window.
She had taken all she could as their emotional distress fees, but she still felt like little Kazu, and the original owner needed more compensation, she walked back to the where the chamber pots they were told to clean were and hid her loot behind some bushes before carefully going around to the front. It was already dark and strong winds were blowing, she knew there would probably be no maids present on the outside but still had to be careful because if she were ever caught with her current physique she could never escape.
After making sure the area was clear, she walked up to the house they had entered before to see Lady Ifka, she observed it and saw that aside from the entrance in the front there were four windows all blocked by curtains. The house was still bright because of the lit candles. To do what she had planned she knew she had to hurry before Kazu's return.
She blocked all the windows and the doors with locks she had found in the warehouse, before locking the windows she sneakily reached in her hand and knocked off one or two candles. Carmen then quickly fled to where she had hid her loot after smashing all four of the chamber pots they were ordered to clean and also dashed in the direction she had seen Kazu run off in before coming to a stop, she had no idea where to go so she hid behind some bushes and looked out for Kazu.
However, before she saw Kazu she heard screams and shouts from where she had been before, Lady Ifka's courtyard. The fire had broken out and spread quite quickly because of the heavy winds in the night and all the cloth that were in Lady Ifka's house. The servants rushed to try and put out the fire, and even from afar Carmen could hear Faman's distinct voice threatening the servants to save her lady from the fire.
Soon, she saw a small somewhat stick figure running in her direction, se squinted her eyes to try and make out who it was, but only when was much closer did she see the matted brown hair and the little dirty face. Without much thought she jumped out of her hiding place and almost startled the boy out of his wits.
"It's me, Kazu," she whispered. Carmen showed him the bag she had been holding onto all along, "Let's get out of here quickly before they realize."
Kazu looked towards where all the noise was, before nodding his head and taking the cloth bag from her shoulders and leading her back to their courtyard leaving all the commotion behind them.
When they returned back to their courtyard, little Kazu allowed her to enter the hut before leaving again with the loot to hide it with the rest. Carmen did not ask any questions and quickly went to fell asleep in the dark room without even eating.
It was the next morning when Carmen rolled over on her side and flung her arm out that she felt that Kazu was asleep right next to her. She still was not used to waking up to someone beside her. Carmen rolled over and got up then walked out of their little hut while yawning and stretching, unable to resist squinting her eyes when the morning sun's rays hit her face. Looking at the yard that had been prepped for farming she remembered the plans she had made the day before. She didn't call for Kazu since he had already done most of the heavy lifting and hard labor from the day before and she understood that he was exhausted; she wanted him to rest. Carmen went to the water container that she had thrown the seeds she planned to plant that day in and used the same wooden ladle that she had drank from before, which was the closest thing to her, and scooped out the swollen seeds. It took a while for her to separate them and group them; when she did, she planted one or two together in small holes she made with her tiny fist then covered them with dirt, she stuck to her plan and planted different seeds in each row. By midday, after Kazu had long woken up and wanted to help but she strongly refused and told him to go eat first, she had planted all the com kernels and half of the beans and peas; because she had been working all morning, she hadn't realized that she was hungry until she was finished and was ready to rest.
She walked over to their little spot and sat beside Kazu, who had been watching her work, and looked in the basket for something to eat. Looking at the two remaining buns, she took one and as she ate, she thought about what she could do next.
Right now, it was impossible for her to use the things they had stolen from the Lady Ifka's storehouse to bribe the servants of the cold palace otherwise they would be in big trouble. They certainly couldn't steal from the servant's kitchen forever because if they hadn't noticed before they would eventually notice all the missing food items. Suddenly, Carmen had a thought. "What if I cook for them?" she thought out loud. If she worked in the kitchen, it would be easier for them to get proper food to eat without stealing. However, working with the servants of the cold palace was out of the question as they were already tied to Lady Ifka's clique and wouldn't treat with them with even the least bit of decency, so she could only place her bet on the servants outside of the cold palace who have no true knowledge of or grudges against her and little Kazu.
"We have to go back to the servant's kitchen after I rest a bit," she turned to little Kazu and said this after she finished eating her bun as she dusted her hands together.
While she rested, she spoke to Kazu about the affairs of the palace and quickly realized that he was quite informed about many things. However, she only needed to know about the servants outside the cold palace and how they operated.
The servants outside were the opposite of the haughty ones they were used in the cold palace, as they were at the bottom of the food chain they could be killed brutally for the smallest of reasons. They servants outside walked on eggshells around their masters, yet they despised or pity the ones assigned to the cold palace. They firmly believed that in the confines of the cold palace there were no prospects for them to rise in the ranks to earn more salary, so they were willing to stay on the outside while fearing for their insignificant lives.
For Carmen, a modern-day woman, it was somewhat appalling that some lives were not protected by laws and could be discarded of so easily; despite what all she herself had done the night before.
Once she had gotten all the information that little Kazu had on them, she realized that they would soon be returning to their kitchen to cook their own meals after cooking for their masters, and asked Kazu to lead the way for her. They weaved through a number of abandoned courtyards and slipped through the little dog hole one after the other then passed some more occupied courtyards. She hadn't seen them before but the brief glance she had that day of most of courtyards she found them to be beautiful. Soon they arrived outside the entrance, and it was just in time to meet the returning servants who all but ignored their existence, passing them by like they were invisible.
"Please here us!" Carmen shouted out to them and ran to catch up.
When she got in front of them, she humbly bowed her head before them to show her inferiority. "Please pity us orphans!" Carmen tearfully cried out.
The maid servants looked at each other and then back at them, they were no fools; how could there possibly be orphans in the palace? They thought that they may be children of the king who were not acknowledged and their mother. And this was what Carmen wanted them to think; she wanted to use whatever pity the servants stood before her could muster up for them.
She cried out pitifully, "We haven't eaten in days, we are so hungry!"
"We have no food for you!" A stern-faced woman walked to the forefront of the group and spoke up to them, and the others quickly nodded their heads behind her in agreement.
The leader was discovered, "Please pity us orphans. We won't take your food freely, we will work for it. I can cook! I can cook very well!" Carmen tried to convince.
The stern-faced lady looked into Carmen's unblinking eyes that reflected a kind of desperation and seriousness she had never seen in a child that age and couldn't help but do something she had never thought she would ever do.
"Alright, come with me. I'll allow you to cook one dish, if it's good you can stay and work in the kitchen and you'll be able to take the leftovers for you and your brother, if you fail then you'll be beaten then thrown out for lying and waiting our time and ingredients!" The stern-faced woman walked past them into the kitchen, while Carmen followed behind her quickly Kazu was a little hesitant until he saw Carmen's confidence which also rubbed off on him.
Carmen walked into the servants' kitchen with little Kazu following closely behind her and saw a small wooden box of produce to which the stern-faced woman gestured to.
"Use the ingredients from this box to make something for us to eat," she instructed then left them alone. For a moment, Carmen wondered why she had just left them without any supervision until she turned and saw the two maid servants watching her closely.
Carmen turned around and looked at the ingredients she had and quickly decided on a quick and simple dish that wouldn't need her to explain too much. However, her excitement dimmed a little when she saw the brick stove until a memory flashed across her mind and she looked at Kazu who was also watching her silently.
"Can you please help me light the stove?" Without question Kazu moved to complete the task he was assigned and Carmen got to cooking after carefully washing her hands.
She picked up the eggs and some of the rough grains of rice along with some vegetables and spices. After a while she filled a plate with steaming hot egg-fried rice with vegetables and placed a spoon in the plate then put it down on the little table. She looked to the two maid servants who had been watching her every movement and notified them that she was finished, and one of them left and went to call the stern-faced woman.
Soon the stern-faced woman appeared in Carmen's view, she came closer and saw the plate of food on the table then gestured for one of the maid servants following to step forward and taste the food. The maid servant picked up a spoonful of the food and hesitantly ate it; after she ate the food in her mouth, she turned to look at the stern-faced and nodded her head while also licking her lips.
With a raised brow the stern-faced woman took up another spoon and tasted the food, one mouthful after the other. Both Carmen and Kazu stood and watched her in silence along with the other maid servants until the plate was empty.
With a low burp, the stern-faced woman placed the spoon she ate with inside the empty wooden bowl and pushed it aside.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"My name... is Hazia," said Carmen after a while. She had decided to go by the name that the original owner would've been granted for marriage instead of her old name because she realized that the names in this world were very much different from the ones she was used to in her old world; she also did it to preserve her old life, in a way, she had come to terms that the life of Carmen Quartet had come to a tragic end and she would now live on as Hazia.
She continued as she pointed to little Kazu, "This is my younger brother, Kazu."
The stern-faced woman nodded her head in acknowledgement, "My name is Inae, you come back tomorrow at midday to cook for all of us. For today, you can take the rest of the food back with you."
Hazia excitedly jumped and bowed in gratitude towards Inae and thanked her multiple times. She then grabbed two wooden bowls and spoons and shared out the rest of the food, as she hadn't made a lot, for the two of them.
Soon they left the servant's kitchen while continuously thanking the Inae for her graciousness, then quickly went back to their hut being careful to cover up their tracks and not to bump into anyone. By the time they got back to their private courtyard it was dusk, only hues of pink and orange were present in the sky. They sat together in their usual spot and quickly ate their food then drank some of the water they had taken from before.
While sitting together and watching the setting sun she heard Kazu ask, "Is my name Kazu? Is your name Hazia?"
She turned to see him already facing her and only then realized that they hadn't gotten their names yet, they had always called each other brother and sister, even the servants would just refer to them as wretches, vermin and the like.
Carmen found herself asking, "Do you like those names?"
Kazu seemed to think for a while, genuinely considering the names.
"Kazu, Hazia. Hazia, Kazu," he whispered.
Then he looked up at his big sister and nodded his head, "My name is Kazu and your name is Hazia." Hazia responded with a firm nod and chuckled.
After washing up as much as they possibly could in their situation, they went to bed and slept till the next morning.