Part 3

"Your Majesty, I agree it was me who wished to penance in such manner but when they dug me out.... I was sacred. What if... What if..." The lady sounded as if she was crying.

Curious Kamali could not hold herself, she braved up and cautiously peep to see the so called king despite her friends convincing her to stay put. She tried to guess them to be a group of theater artists. Even worst, perhaps they were escaped patients from the mental asylum.

A quick peep, was all she needed so she could tell people her strange encounter. For a positive guess, they could be a group of theater artists, she thought. When she observed the happenings in the so called throne room and she could only conclude that they all appeared normal just dressed in a historical theme.

Kamali almost convinced herself that her guess was right but what of her question? She had not gotten the answer for her first question yet. How did a statue turned alive?

While she kept an eye on the royal attired group, her friends persuaded her to leave that they should not longer stay here. The conversation inside seemed to be accurate to a royal court decorum. Yet, she ignored their plea.

"Well, now that you are here. Did anyone saw you leaving the premise?" The king enquired, his gaze remained at the end of the room somewhere close to where Kamali and her friends were hidden.

She quickly pulled herself in and only to find her all alone. Kamali frantically searched for them within the hidden spot but in vain.

"One of them who dugged me out. She saw me shedding the metal off me."

"And?" The king prompted. His menacing voice accelerate Kamali's heartbeat, fear crept in her.

Kamali cared less of the conversation and ran back the way they came in only to find neither door nor an opening. The once existed path was no longer there. No sign of it. Anxious and panic, she searched for a way out.

Meanwhile, Vadivu the statue lady guessed that she had been followed to the place.
"So, you are telling me that you had someone followed you here?" The king's merrier voice echoed, frightening Kamali even more.

"Excellent!" He exclaimed. "Job well done. Take this as your payment." The king dropped a few gold coins in her awaiting palms and marched forward with head held high. "Now let's see if this guest would be of use."

The king minced his way to where Kamali once hid herself with her friends and to what was once an entrance for his guests. A triumph smile spread across his face half hidden beneath his thick mustache. He watched his guest finding a way out rubbing the walls of the cave.

"Can't find the way out, Devi?" He asked in a dangerously hoarse voice.

She swirled around to find him standing only inches away from her. The distance between him and her, had her hair stood on end. His tall and huge frame could almost crush her especially with his scrutiny.

Kamali took the support of the wall behind her to keep her up on her feet. "Who are you? Where's the way out?!" She pleaded.

"Me? I'm the King, of course." He claimed, tossing his silk shawl and spread his arms wide. "And about the way out, unfortunately once you are in there is not way out."

The statement had her knees lose its hold, she fell to the.... "What do you mean? Let me out!" She scrambles on her feet back. "Show me the way out. I know you can! This is your place, isn't it?" Kamali demanded, hoping to have a positive answer from him.

But his silence only further added to her fear of being trapped in an unknown place. The surrounding itself looked out of place. Surely, it was not new to her for she had worked on sites to research on ancient artifacts. But they were all centuries old and the place she stood now, showed nothing but well maintained throne room.

The king cackled, "you are smart, Devi. I do know how you can leave this place but ..." He stopped reading her sudden revived-of-hope face.

"But what?"

"You can only leave after spending seven years in here."