CHAPTER 9: Caught

Gabe woke up, yawning and stretching. The sun was up and the birds were chirping. She just had a horrible nightmare about a crazed boy and getting chased by his guards. She took in her surroundings. "Wait, where am I?" She wondered. Her heart almost stopped when she realized that her nightmare was not a nightmare and she was still at the place she ended up at after getting hit by the car.

Nothing made sense. Why was she still at this strange place? Was she kidnapped and brought here as a prank? Or was this a hidden camera show?

"What do I do now?!" Gabe mumbled frantically and shot up to her feet. Gabe forced herself to calm down and think clearly. She was not sure what was going on, and decided not to make assumptions. She would get to the bottom of this later. First, she must survive and escape. Find a way out of this place. Gabe figures that if she kept walking towards the same direction, she would soon end up at the edge of the huge compound and be able to find an exit.

In her new clothing stolen from the line, she peeped out from the corner cautiously. Now, it was a whole different scene outside. The place was not deserted anymore and many people were hurrying around in orderly groups to their duties. The clothes that some of them wore was the same as the clothes that she was wearing. Gabe felt slightly relieved. It would be easier for her to blend in with them so that she does not get caught.

When the coast was clear, Gabe rushed briskly towards a random direction and kept her head down. After walking for awhile unnoticed, she was about to let her guard down when she spotted a group of palace maids. Her heartbeat quickened. Gabe gasped as she realized that they were moving in her direction. The distance between them decreased even as Gabe quickened her footsteps. Almost when she thought they were going to approach her, they passed behind her and continued on their way. Gabe heaved a huge sigh of relief. Thankfully, they did not notice anything amiss.

Suddenly, a loud voice boomed from just behind her, "Hey, young lady! Stop right there!"

Gabe jumped out of her skin. She did not realize that someone was behind. Turning around, she was faced with an older woman dressed finely.

She continued in an authoritative voice, "Why aren't you helping with the preparation for Crown Prince's birthday? The palace maids are all working themselves to the bone. You should be there working hard now, instead of heading off in the opposite direction!"

Gabe realized that the woman must have thought that she was one of the palace maids because of her disguise. She was too scared to say anything, so she lowered her head and walked straight past the lady and in the direction of where she started from. After walking a distance, she veered left in an attempt to go back.

"Hey! The courtyard's not that way! Straight ahead! Straight ahead!" The woman yelled to Gabe, gesturing with her arms.

Gabe sighed and turned back to move in the direction the woman gestured. Every few meters Gabe walked, she turned her head to check if the woman was still behind. To Gabe's horror, she realized that the woman was also heading to the courtyard, so there was no way Gabe could sneak away unseen by the woman!

Soon, they arrived at the courtyard where everyone was busy setting up tables and other stuff for the prince's birthday celebration. The place was bustling, and everyone was slaving away and occupied with loads of work. The moment she arrived, she was pestered with many orders.

"Hey you! Bring these chairs there and arrange them neatly!"

"Are you free? Help me lay out the tablecloths. Hold on to that end!"

"Push those tables into a straight row!"

Gabe could not find any way to avoid doing those tasks, so she had no choice but to help out. Hopefully, she would be able to get an opportunity to sneak away.

Toiling away under the hot sun, Gabe regretted choosing the palace maid dress as her disguise. She did not know how she was going to escape this predicament.

"Hey, why haven't I seen you here before?" A voice came from her side.

Gabe jumped out of her skin. That's it. She was a gone case. Gabe turned towards the voice, keeping her head lowered, "Uhh, I'm new here."

"No way, we don't get new palace maids at this time of the year," the lady frowned.

"Hey, I heard there was an assassin loose in the palace," another lady commented from the side jokingly, "What if she is actually the assassin?"

The other palace maids fell quiet, realizing the possibility that her casual words may be true.

"Hold on to her, don't let her escape!"

They grabbed Gabe's arms and pinned her, rendering her immobile. Gabe realized what this meant for her. "No! I'm not! You misunderstood me!" She yelled, struggling to escape.

"It's too late, the palace guards are here." The lady said, referring to the palace guards who had just arrived, coming to check on the commotion.

Gabe was dragged away, unable to believe how she was caught again so quickly. She cursed her misfortune that led her into this predicament.