Daughters of the Land

V.| The Emperor & His Men

"The Emperor will see the one worthy of his time", announced a voice from above.

The tower clock had struck VI and the sun began to set over the land of Emperor's Wall. The cacophony of voices filled the air along with the clanging of coin sacks being rattled in the air by the frantic people from below.

Her eyes roamed the foreign surroundings which had stood silently up until now. The echo of the voice fluctuated as bodies started to immediately flood forward bringing her to her knees, drowning out words from above now and then.

The eruption of noise continued to rise and her diminutive figure was trampled on by the men, women and children around her. She inhaled the grounds dust; her struggle to breathe was immense. Only when a figure in front too was knocked down, she manged to find a gap to retrieve her place in the moving crowd. She looked back to help the fallen who wept for assistance, but the rush of people showed no mercy and continued their stampede. It was either your life or theirs.

Nukula fought to stay upright, her legs felt weak and her view was obstructed, but her ears followed the voice from above even though the crowd influenced the direction at most. At once, the waves of people stood still when the front row were pressed against the aligned Noblemen who stood guard, but the commotion continued.

"I have 2 cows and 40 coins!", Nukula watched a man shout repeatedly.

"60! 60 coins my Emperor!", shouted another simultaneously with the hundreds of other voices bragging about their worth.

Nukula looked around. She had not come to see the Emperor out of love or for help like the rest, but for her beloved mother. She searched for a method of acknowledgement as screaming and shouting had already been occupied and was going unnoticed by the ones above. Surely there was an entrance where all Server's had to report to, Nukula thought. Yet, she had arrived early for personal matters and the Emperor was not expecting her, and it was 6 O'clock, the busiest time in Emperor's Wall.

She held her scroll in the air, hoping for recognition as a Server but nothing happened. She realised that many others were waving a similar scroll and were not dressed to serve; they were here on the Emperor's demand she guessed. She continued to watch as few people were selected, all carrying sacks bigger than the other; coins reshaped the small fabric pouches. They were lifted from above by some Noblemen and hurled across the concrete, a great expression of accomplishment managed to find its way to their faces even through such force.

Four, six, eight and then ten white-haired people gathered up onto the platform along with the silk dressed men above. They could not contain their excitement as some began to wave proudly to the envious below and others to their honoured family members.

In a final attempt to gain attention before the iron doors closed, she unintentionally reacted. And attention she brought.

"The Emperor, I will see the Emperor", she declared, incapable of controlling her utterance too, as the spontaneous knife flew over and pinned itself sharply against a Noblemen's shield. Hesitant, she shifted her eyes amongst the watching as they stood with disbelief around her.

"My Noblemen! Bring this fool to me!", the Baron finally screamed below to the Noblemen who marched to his order.

The crowd began pushing her forward, some in disgust over her behaviour.

"How dare she!? Piece of filth!", howled a bearded man.

"Have her punished, my Baron!", yelled another simultaneously.

She struggled to stay grounded and be heard. "Please! Please...I just want to see the Emperor! I've...I've come to Serve-", Nukula wailed off as she was carried overhead by the crowd before being dragged off and thrown onto the platform above by the Noblemen. She stumbled onto her feet with the help of the Noblemen who grasped her hard. The noise from below began to die down, anticipation began to whirl.