JiMina Collection

More Than Gold ~ Part 3

    Mina's arms groaned under the weight of several baskets worth of food and other supplies. She couldn't help but suspect that this was some form of punishment for yesterday. Her boss was not happy when a chunk of the previous day's bread was missing, having been donated to the hungry little girl she met in the town square. And so, here she was again. Mina made a point of buying bread from a different vendor this time.

     Along the way, she picked up other mundane things like fresh fruit and dairy products. But most importantly, Mina made sure to salvage any old books she could find. She was horrified at how people could simply throw them away. Mina collected these books and gave them to the children she met in hopes of encouraging them to read and learn despite their lack of schooling.

     Today, she had found an old cookbook and a collection of children's nursery rhymes. Mina tucked the cookbook into her basket. She was quite talented in the kitchen if she was being honest. She could make delicious meals, if only to comfort herself. You didn't necessarily need money to eat food that tasted great. She had always been intested in cooking, and thus, this would only be one more of the many recipe books she had read. Mina looked down at the other book in her hands. She knew exactly what to do with it.

     Mina flagged down a toddler passing by and gifted him the children's book. If he had been born into a wealthier family, he would have been sent to school. He would have had a chance at making a living for himself. The thought weighed down on her heart, compelling her to help him. Although at first confused, the little boy began to smile as she taught him to read the simple words while she sang some the many lullabies entailed inside the book. She sat with him for a while, feeling overjoyed at how eager he was to learn. How eager all the children were. After a while, Mina could hear the boy's mother calling out to him. With a final few words of encouragement, Mina urged the young child to continue learning to read on his own. She gave him a hug and an apple, then smiled and sent him on his way home.

     Sighing, Mina was brought back to the real world as she looked up at the sky. The sun was beginning to set and she was supposed to have been back at least an hour ago. Picking up her baskets, Mina made to leave the town square. She had almost reached the path leading towards home before the very familiar thudding of hooves once again interupted her thoughts. Ugh. Not the royal messenger again. What was he going to announce this time? That the King would finally pay attention to the village of nobodies they lived in? Likely not.

     The messenger cleared his throat and began to shout, reading from the parchment scroll in his hands. "The kingdom is pleased to announce that the name-drawing ceremony was conducted with great success on this day at precisely noon. "

     Oh. Right. That happened. Mina had almost forgotten at this point. It was still pretty laughable that the kingdom needed to force thirty girls to court the prince. 

    "The thirty young maidens have been selected by name. Each are to report to the castle gates by mid-day tomorrow and await instruction. The aforementioned maidens must be prepared to make a living for themselves at the castle for the month preceding the prince's coronation. Word shall be sent out to every municipality in the kingdom as to which young maidens will be expected to answer this summoning."

     Mina shook her head. Poor girls. She would not want to be in their situation.

     The messenger rummaged through the sizable bag of scrolls attached to his horse. They must have been separate scrolls for each of the villages. Mina almost pitied him for his job. He fished one out and began to read. "We regret to inform you that no maidens were selected from this municipality."

     Shoulders slumped in disappointment all around. Some girls actually cried. Mina, however, was not surprised at all. Like they would actually take someone from this dump to the castle. She adjusted her baskets and turned to leave.