Underground Kingdom

By B. B. Sakiko

Chapter 4:  Morning

     In the district R the morning came with soft sunlight.   Being close to the surface ground, the sunlight came through the tiny gaps between rocks, and numberless rays fell onto the water.  A very few Megumi trees were generating faint light in dark spots where the sunlight hardly ever reached, and the stronger the sunlight was, the weaker the Megumi light was.  It was the time for fishing.  Being ostracized, the people of R had no rights to receive a ration, and they had to catch fish and deliver them to the castle to receive commodities as an exchange.  The work did not bother Flan.  He loved morning. He loved its beauty.  Ever since he was a small child, he kept throwing a fishing net into the lake where silver fish hid among green algae.  By his early teens, his skin had become dark and his hair golden with the sun.

    In that morning Flan and his uncle Vido cast the net very carefully. Then, they put the catch in baskets again more carefully than usual and loaded them onto a cart.
    "A big take, isn't it?" said Flan proudly, counting the baskets.
    "It's got to be.  The fish is for the Princess' seventeenth birthday party, "A� answered Vido, a stout old man, pulling ropes over the baskets. 
    "You know, Uncle. There is someone else who is going to be seventeen at my home, and I can't feed her even half a fish on her birthday." Flan sighed.
"No need to say any more."  Vido lowered his voice and looked around vigilantly.  They both knew what they would want to say.  "Mon, the tax collector and watchdog in charge of the district takes away the portion that should belong to the people of R."
Vido never wanted to discuss their difficulties with anybody.  He would rather keep his mouth shut, praying in his heart that soon enough Mon would be ordered to go somewhere else.
      "Don't worry, Uncle.  I know that we catch fish, and the Princess eats."
     Flan shrugged his shoulders.  Flan had a sister, Miyu, two years younger than he.  They lost their father five years ago, and their mother a year after that.  For a while the young siblings lived with Vido and his wife, Haru in a shack in the village of R.  When Flan became seventeen, the two decided to leave the uncle's shack and moved to a cave on the other side of the lake.
     "Why do you need to go to the rocky side?  You need to think of Miyu.  Walking there will be hard for her."
When Flan and Miyu told Haru that they were leaving, Haru expressed her concern mostly because Miyu had a weak heart from birth.
"I'll be alright, Aunt Haru.  It's time for us to take care of ourselves.   Flan likes a quiet place so that he can read and study in peace.  I'll be fine."

Miyu kept her words.  Despite being feeble, she managed the household well and helped Flan.  Flan also worked hard to bring food to their table.  He caught fish, made fishing tools, built a boat, and even did blacksmith work to make shipbuilding tools.    The patrimonial system of occupation did not exist there.  The people of R needed to be skillful at many things to make their living sustainable.  To acquire various skills, they also had to read.
Securing the baskets to the cart, Vido said to Flan,
     "Yes.  We sweat.  That's the way it is.  But we can't complain.  They pay us."
     Then, he added indifferently, "And you can't compare our girls with the Princess."
    "Uncle, they are the very people who pushed us aside."
Flan frowned.  Vido quickly looked around again and said sharply.
    "Mind what you say!  That's why you are still green and I didn't want to take you to the castle.  If Old Mepo didn't die last week, I still wouldn't take you there.  If you want to speak your mind, do it in your cave.  Now, here comes Mon.  Keep your mouth shut."

    Mon was coming up the hill with his nose in the air.  Vido obsequiously walked towards Mon and bowed several times.
    "Good morning, sir.  I am sorry that you have to come to this fishy place so early.  We have just finished loading.  Three hundred fish.  That made thirty baskets as you wished."
    Mon just sniffed his nose and walked around the cart.  His gloomy eyes kept inspecting the fish baskets.
   "You didn't cheat the count, did you?"
Mon said to Vido with his hoarse voice.    "Oh, no.  Not a fish."
Vido shook his hands vigorously.
"If you lie to me, you will see the consequence, you know."
"Have I ever lied to you, sir?  I have been very loyal to you, sir.  If you have a doubt, please count the baskets."
"Oh, that's alright.  If it's short, I will hear from the castle," said Mon lazily and continued, "You know that I am taking care of complaints from the castle for you guys."
"Yes.  Oh, yes.  We all appreciate your mediation.  Always, always."
Then, from the side of the cart, Vido took a cloth in which five fish were wrapped.  He quickly put the cloth in Mon's hands.
    "These are the extras that we happened to catch today.  Please keep these as a token of our respect to you, sir.  Now, if you allow us, we would like to head to the castle."
Mon silently received the gift and nodded.  Then, as if he had just noticed Flan, he asked Vido,
    "Flan going with you?"�
    "Yes, sir.  Old Mepo died last week.  I need help to pull the heavy cart.  We have a manpower shortage these days as you know, sir.  I have no choice other than Flan."
    Mon coldly shrugged his shoulders and asked Vido again,
    "What time will you be back?"
    "Well, I am planning to come back by twelve."
    "Fine, go."
    Mon gave a quick look to Flan and went back to his office which was located at the entrance of the district.
    On the way to the castle, Vido told Flan again and again how to present himself to people in the castle town.
    "The most important thing is not to stand out.  Don't show your feelings.  Don't speak out.  Don't try to do things other than what we are told to do.  If you make a mistake, all of us may be punished for that.  Years ago, when Mepo was still young, he delivered fish to the castle.  He was suspected of stealing a pause from a maid.  Mepo got whipped and several of our people including me had to render work services.  I worked in the Megumi field for fifty days.  In the end, the castle people figured out that it was a practical joke by a friend of the maid, but once the judgment was made, nobody cared about the truth.  You see, my point is that we are the first ones to be suspected for everything wrong.  We don't have a right to appeal to the King or to anybody.  The best thing to do is keep your head low and stay quiet.  Understand?"
    "I see."
Flan answered absent-mindedly, pushing the cart from behind.  "I've heard this so many times, thought he.  It was not Vido's words but the look of Mon that was occupying his mind since they left the village.  "That was a cold and sly look, but why does it make me so nervous?"

    However, as he came closer to the town, his worry was taken over by curiosity.  He began to see changes in his surroundings.  There was no more sunlight, and instead, the Megumi flowers were giving off the rays of bluish light in which everything looked dark and gray.
"Things look ghostly here."
Flan was astonished, and then, he saw the vast field of Megumi spreading in front of them, which shone like a sea of light.  Over the field the castle was standing high against the river.  Vido stopped the cart, took a cloth out from his pocket and wrapped it around his bald head.
    "We don't need to show our mark."
He hid the letter "R" on his forehead with the cloth, and then fumbled with Flans bangs to hide his.
"Is it so embarrassing that we need to hide?" 
Flan frowned.  Vido did not answer.  Instead, he inspected all around Flan to make sure everything looked inconspicuous enough. He pointed at Flan's chest and said,
    "You don't need to show that pendant, either.  They don't like us having something nice."
"All right."
Flan took the pendant off and put it in his pocket.
    Vido repeated his lecture.
    "Remember.  Don't talk to people here.  Don't even ask questions.  Patience is vital.  Keep quiet so that people don't notice you." The guard opened the back gate of the castle.  The two proceeded, pulling the cart into the yard and then to the inside of the kitchen.

In the kitchen four men were standing around a large worktable, sharpening their knives.  Among them was the chef who was about the same age as Vido.  The big and tall cook standing next to him was his son, and the other two were apprentices.  When they noticed Vido, the chef said to him,
"Good.  You finally got here."
    Vido, rubbing his hands, answered,
    "Yes sir.  We got good ones.  Thirty baskets.  All full."
    "Let me see."
    Then the chef noticed Flan.  He asked Vido.
    "You took a young one today.  What happened to the old guy?"
    "Old Mepo died, sir.  He started coughing several days ago and before we noticed, he was dead.  From now on, my nephew Flan will help me bring fish here.  This one is only nineteen years old, but he is a good fisherman.  Let him serve you well, sir.  Now, Flan, why don't you make greetings?"
    Flan bowed to the chef.  The chef turned to his son and said,
"Takaba, you young ones get acquainted with each other.  Now let me see the fish."�
He opened the baskets and said,
    "These are good size fish.  Fine.  The payment you want is ten rolls of cloth and twenty five bags of seeds.  Is that right?"
"And if you can kindly add three pieces of lumber, I will be most grateful, sir."
Vido said pitifully.
    "There must be some wood in the warehouse, but I have to ask the manager there.  Follow me to the warehouse."
    When the two went out, Takaba said to the apprentices,
    "Hey, let's take a break."
    The three stopped sharpening their knives, threw them on the table, and sat around the table.  Then, they took out the Megumi leaves from their pockets, rolled them, and smoked.  This was an unthinkable for Flan who was standing quietly at the corner of the kitchen.  Because the district of R had only a few Megumi trees, everything that the plant produces was so precious that his people would never think of burning the leaves to smoke.
    "Hey, you. Do you want to smoke?"
    Takaba held out his cigarette to Flan.
    "Well, I ..."  Flan murmured not knowing what to answer.
"It's too much to ask to a poor R, young chef."
One of the apprentices said to Takaba.
"That's right."
The other one also said, "I've heard nothing is there in the district.  They have no Megumi trees, no cigarettes, not even flower wine.  Mon was complaining how dull it is to stay there. Poor guy, he has no fun since he was transferred to the district."
    "Don't be silly.  Mon knows how to have fun,"� answered Takaba.
    "Yeah.  Young chef is right.  I'm sure that Mon is examining how the skin of the girls there is different from the skin of the girls here."
    The three cooks laughed while Flan kept standing in the corner silently.  Takaba said to the others,
    "Hey, the new guy is pretty smug, isn't he?  He thinks he is too good to talk to us.  He may be from a scholar family.  Are you?"
"Oh, no, sir.  I am not a scholar."
Flan answered as briefly as possible, recalling Vido's words.
"Then, what are you?"
Takaba continued.
    "I am just a fisherman."
    "Just a fisherman brought so many fish that we have to work so hard to dress and smoke all of them."
    Takaba stood up and picked his knife again.
    "With this lousy knife.  Even when I sharpen this, the edge is not hard enough.  The old blacksmith must be senile these days.  His son is all thumbs and will never be good."
    Takaba pitifully showed his knife to the other two who were nodding understandingly.
    "I can harden your knives, if you wish."
    Flan said that only to buy Takaba's favor.  Thus, he did not understand why the three cooks gave him sharp looks at once.  Takaba in a mean voice said to Flan,
    "Did you say that you can harden the knives?  I thought you are a fisherman.  Are you a blacksmith, too?"
    Then, Takaba turned to the other two and said loudly,
    "Hey, did you hear?  It seems like in the district of R, a fisherman can be a blacksmith, too.  Isn't that great?  It's so different from here where the son of a cook has no choice but become a cook.  For years we have been chained to this kitchen and we will be for many more years while this guy can be a fisherman today and he may be a blacksmith tomorrow.  He might be a teacher someday or a farmer depending on how he feels.  That's what he is saying.  Isn't that right?  Hey, you lucky guy, come here.  Sit down and have a drink.  We will drink a toast to you."
Takaba filled a large glass with a transparent liquid and placed the glass in front of Flan.  It was easy enough even for Flan, who had never seen the liquid, to tell that it was flower wine.
"To our friendship.  Drink up."
Flan saw Takaba and the apprentices.  They were staring at him with a cold sneer.  Flan summoned his courage and picked up the glass.  It smelled sweet.  He was charmed by the flowery fragrance and took a big gulp.  Just then, he felt his throat burning and started coughing.  Flan put the glass back on the table while the other three burst out laughing.
"Hey, you can't say that's enough.  It's not courteous if you don't drink up.  Or don't you dare to say that you can't accept my offer."
Takaba poured more wine into Flan's glass.  The other two sneered at Flan again.
"No, I don't mean to reject your offer, but it is time for me to leave."
Flan tried to stand up, but Takaba grabbed his shoulder.

"When did I say that you could go?  Sit down and drink up."
Takaba pushed Flan back into the chair with his eyes brutally shining and the apprentices crept towards the chair.  Flan's muscles tightened with tension.  Takaba said loudly,
"I don't like this guy.  Let's see how much he can drink."
Then, one apprentice seized Flan from behind, and the other one pulled his hair down so that his chin stuck up and his mouth opened.  Takaba pushed the glass between his teeth and shouted,
"Enjoy the luxury of flowing wine."
Flan felt the burning pain again in his throat to his stomach.   He wanted to cough but only choked.  He wanted to move but was being held firmly.
"Stop that!"
Suddenly a woman's voice was heard.  The cooks turned towards the voice and saw the princess, looking furious, standing with her professor at the door.
The three hurriedly stepped away from Flan.  Just then, the chef and Vido came back.  They were also surprised to see the angry princess.  Estes turned to the chef and said,

"Let that young man go."
Leaving the dumb-founded chef, Estes went outside with Karuha.  Maids and servants working in the backyard gave curious looks to the indignant princess and the professor who was chasing after her.  Yet, none of them, including Estes and Karuha, noticed that there was another set of eyes looking down at them from far above their heads.