Chapter 17
I woke up to find myself lying on a circular bed in a circular room. A dozen full length mirrors covered the walls. The room contained an arched doorway but no door, just a transparent green cloth that gave the illusion of privacy.
On the other side of the doorway, I could see a large circular room full of round marble tables that sat low to the ground. A rainbow of silk cushions surrounded the tables, as did a bunch of young women. They were lounging about in groups of two and three, eating fruit and drinking wine.
Concern swept over me when I realized that I had been moved to the harem. I struggled to my feet, despite an aching head, then noticed my appearance in the mirrors.
My clothes were gone. In their place a single leaf made from solid gold covered my sex. It was small enough to warrant shaving me, which was a bit disconcerting. Strips of soft gold tooled to look like vines held the leaf in place. One ran around my waist, the other ran between my legs and bottom cheeks.
The top was just as bad. Strips of soft gold tooled to look like vines secured gold rose blossoms over my nipples while leaving the rest of my breasts bare.
The sandals on my feet contained spiked heels similar to the boots I had been wearing, except they were even higher. Gold bracelets circled my wrists and ankles. They consisted of tiny gold flowers dangling from gold vines. The flowers were actually tiny bells, ensuring I jingled when I moved.
My hair was down. It had been pinned behind my ears with a pair of large gold butterflies. A charcoal paste had been added to my eyelashes to make them look long and thick and sooty. A glittery gold shadow covered my eyelids, while a bright red gloss made my lips look thick and full.
To call the getup minuscule would be an understatement. From the back I was completely naked, save for a gold vine around my waist, another around the middle of my back, and a third around my neck. Not that you could see the one around my neck since my hair hid it. The front wasn't much better. The gold butterflies pinning my hair back were bigger than the rosebuds and the leaf combined. The worst part was the halter. It lifted my breasts, but provided no support, especially for someone as well endowed as myself. Every time I moved, I jiggled like I was caught in an earthquake.
It appeared that Edgerton's fears were justified. It also appeared that Jarvo lied. They did toss women into the harem. I wondered why I didn't have a vision warning me about this, but I already knew the answer. My life wasn't in danger. Jarvo didn't want to kill me. He wanted to control me.
I wondered how I should approach this situation. I could get angry. I could rant and rave and scream, but I doubted it would do any good. It certainly wouldn't win me my freedom.
I knew one thing, I didn't want to stay in the harem. Being a wife of the high sage wasn't the same as being a queen, or even a queen's heir. Here, I would have no real power, I would be nothing more than a voice in the high sage's ear. If he grew tired of me, I wouldn't even be that.
There was no guarantee Queen Catlett would want me as her heir. If that was the case, I could always come back here. Maybe if I explained to them that the high sage would be better off with me sitting on the throne of Vassa, they would set me free. Maybe if I promised to return to the harem if Queen Catlett didn't make me her heir, they would let me go. Before I could sort out my arguments, Jarvo entered the room accompanied by two guards.
The guards were both female. They weren't as tall as me, but they were a good deal huskier, outweighing me by a good fifty pounds apiece, with most of that weight being muscle. Both had long black hair and wore red silk vests and black silk balloon pants. Both carried a scimitar on their left hip and a knife on their right. Both wore an expression that said they weren't afraid to use those weapons.
"You're probably wondering what's going on," Jarvo said.
"I know what's going on. You lied to me about tossing women into the harem."
"I didn't lie. The high sage's other wives all came here willingly."
"Other wives? I haven't agreed to marry the high sage."
"In Landish, women have no say in who they marry. You only have to be placed in the harem and have your name recorded in the books. Once that has occurred, you're one of the high sage's wives. Number thirteen on the list, but from the way the high sage raved about you last night, number one in his heart. Trying to find a woman he likes has been very difficult. He calls his other wives uneducated peasant girls that can't speak the Common Tongue. Of course, he doesn't speak Old Landish, which is their native tongue, so you can see why he hasn't developed a connection to any of them."
"What did you tell Edgerton?"
"That you asked us for sanctuary."
"And he believed you?"
"Of course not. But he did seem a little less sure of himself when I told him how upset you were over being drugged, bound and gagged, and tossed over the back of a horse against your will."
"What do you think he'll do now?"
Jarvo shrugged his shoulders. "Demand to see you, which he's already done. Have his queen make an official protest. Queen Catlett might pay us a visit. Health permitting. Other than that, there's not much they can do. I doubt if Queen Catlett will declare war over a princess that she's never met."
"Wouldn't the high sage be better off with a friend like me on the throne of Vassa?"
"That was one of the reasons for letting you continue your journey. However, it was outweighed by the many reasons for keeping you here."
"Such as?"
"You're safe here in the harem. Were you to continue your journey, Maximillian Bedard might succeed in killing you, just as he did in the vision you told the high sage about. If that were the case, you'd be of no use to anyone."
"And the other reasons for keeping me here?"
"You're a seer. The high sage could use a seer. Plus, there's the high sage himself. He's reaching that age where he wants to assert his independence from those around him."
"You mean you."
Jarvo bowed in acknowledgment. "He likes you. He thinks you're beautiful. He thinks you're sexy. He thinks you're smart. I dare say, you're the first girl he's shown any interest in. More importantly, he listens to what you tell him. If the two of us work together, we can mold him into a man strong enough to rule this kingdom."
"What if I tell him to get rid of you?"
"I'm old, Your Highness, and my time on this world grows short. Short enough so that threats such as that no longer scare me. What scares me is that I should die with no one here to guide the high sage. He's not ready to rule."
"He's only three years younger than me."
"Were you ready to rule three years ago?"
Truth be told, I wasn't sure I was ready to rule now. Not that I was going to admit that to Jarvo. "Why am I dressed like this?"
"Dressing you like this makes you stand out from the crowd, which makes it easy for your guards to keep an eye on you."
"My guards?"
"I've ordered these two to watch you. It's merely temporary, I assure you. Once I'm convinced you won't try to escape, you'll enjoy the same freedoms the high sage's other wives enjoy. Until then, your freedoms will be restricted, you'll have your own personal escort, and you'll be dressed to, shall we say, stand out in a crowd."
More like undressed to stand out in a crowd. "I shall take you at your word, Counselor."
"You're not as upset about this as I thought you'd be."
"Edgerton kidnapped me and brought me to this part of the world against my will. Now, you're holding me against my will. As I see it, I've exchanged jailers. Nothing more."
That wasn't completely true. Edgerton may have kidnapped me, but he did take the time to teach me to read, write, and speak the Common Tongue. He also gave me a history lesson on this part of the world, and when I accepted an invitation to come to the high sage's palace, he didn't try to stop me. He treated me like a princess, while Jarvo was treating me like a possession.
"If you were free, where would you go?" Jarvo asked. "You
only know what Edgerton has told you. I can teach you things about our world that he can't. I know things about the people that run this part of the world that he doesn't."
"I'd like to hear what you know. I'd also like to know how long I'll be on probation."
"You'll be on probation until I'm convinced you won't try to run away."
"Can I talk to the high sage?"
"After you've had a chance to adjust to life in the harem."
I studied Jarvo's weathered face for a few seconds. "He doesn't even know I'm here, does he?"
"His eighteenth birthday is coming up. You're going to be his birthday present. I suspect you'll be the first present I've given him that he'll actually like." Jarvo bowed. "Try to relax, Your Highness. Once you've been here awhile, you'll come to enjoy it."
He turned and headed out of my bedroom. I followed him into the harem's main hall, teetering and jingling. My suspended breasts bounced furiously in their tiny golden halter. So much so, that walking across a room was down right embarrassing, not to mention uncomfortable. I made a mental note to do as little walking as possible in this getup.
"Max still has those ships the high sage gave him, pretending to be Landish pirates. And he still intends to use them as a pretense to remove the high sage from power."
"Sending you to Vassa won't change his plans. We'll deal with him if and when the time comes."
"Not if, Counselor. When."
"Fine. We will deal with Maximillian Bedard when the time comes. One of the advantages of having a seer at our disposal is he can't make a move without our knowing about it."
I chased Jarvo to the harem's lone exit. There were two more guards stationed just outside the door. Male guards. The male guards didn't block my path but my two female guards did.
I didn't bother to ask Jarvo if he warned Edgerton about Max's plan to attack the Star of the Sea. Edgerton wouldn't return to Vassa without me. He would remain in Istansada City, until he found a way to get me out of here. Not that I intended to sit around and wait to be rescued.
I figured my best chance of getting out of here would be to talk to the high sage, convince him to free me. I was still trying to figure out how to do that when one of the high sage's wives, or perhaps I should say, other wives, blocked my path.
She would've been my height, if I hadn't been wearing heels. She had long black hair that was curlier than mine, an olive complexion, small breasts, wide hips, and a small flat nose. Two large gold hoops dangled from her ears. She was wearing white silk balloon pants, a silk vest, purple in color, and silk slippers, also purple. She surprised me by speaking the Common Tongue. "You must be the princess I've heard about."
"I was told none of the high sage's wives spoke the Common Tongue. And what exactly have you heard?"
"Just that there was a princess visiting. One that comes from an exotic land far away. From what I just heard, I'm guessing you didn't join the harem willingly."
"That's an understatement."
"If you tell me why Jarvo is keeping you here, I'll tell you why I can speak the Common Tongue. And why I've kept it a secret from Jarvo and the high sage."
"The high sage likes me and listens to what I say. Not surprisingly, Jarvo thinks I can help him mold the high sage into a great ruler. Now, how did a poor country girl from some backwater village in Landish learn to speak the Common Tongue? And why have you kept it a secret from Jarvo and the high sage?"
"I could tell you that I learned it here in the palace, by listening to Counselor Jarvo and others, but that'd be a lie." She looked around the room. "What do you say we take a walk in the garden. There are fewer ears there."
Like the other rooms in the palace, the courtyard containing the garden was round. There were no other entrances, which meant it was used exclusively by the harem. That made it easy for my two guards, who waited for us at the garden's lone doorway. Overhead, the sky was clear and the sun was high in the sky. That meant I had slept through the night and most of the morning.
Small palm trees and carefully trimmed rosebushes filled the courtyard. A pink marble fountain sat in the middle of the courtyard. Water bubbled from a small bowl at the top, down to a medium sized bowl, and then to a large bowl at the bottom of the fountain. A pink marble path spiraled around the fountain. The sweet scent of roses filled the air, combining with the warm sun and the bubbling water to create an idyllic atmosphere.
"My name is Shumaredena Kestan, but everybody calls me Shu. I'm the seventh wife of the high sage."
"Lila Marie Haran," I said. "It would appear that I'm lucky number thirteen."
"What if I told you I wasn't from here?"
"By here you mean . . . ."
"Landish."
"You look like you're from here."
Shu smiled. "Looks can be deceiving."
She looked like she was from Landish, but she wasn't. She pretended not to speak the Common Tongue, when she did. In my book, that could only mean one thing. She was a spy. Edgerton did say the courts in this part of the world were littered with spies.
"You're a spy. "
"Do not use that word around here." Shu stopped and looked around, checking to see if anyone was eavesdropping. As far as I could see, the closest people were my two guards. We had left them sitting on benches in the garden's lone doorway.
"Where do you come from?"
"I come from Holt."
Shu slipped her arm through mine and we resumed our walk. Okay, she resumed her walk. I resumed my teetering, jiggling, and jingling. So much for my vow to walk as little as possible in this getup.
Holt was one of the Finger States. Landish was on its eastern border, so it was possible that some of the people that lived on the Landish border bore a resemblance to the people of Landish, short and slim, with black hair, black eyes, and an olive complexion.
"Holt is an ally of Vassa."
Shu's dark eyebrows arched in surprise. "You're from Vassa?"
"I was headed to Vassa with Chancellor Edgerton when Jarvo tossed me into the harem."
"And you'd like to get out of here and continue your journey."
"Yes, but I need help."
Shu stopped walking and faced me. "If I help you, what's in it for me?"
"What do you want?"
"I want to advance my career."
"What sort of career advancements are you looking for?"
"One day, I hope to work for a king or queen."
"As an . . . . "
"Adviser."
"You're not working for the King of Holt?"
"I work for the Duke of Genese. He's the King of Holt's younger brother. His holdings border Landish. I used to live in his castle, where my father is one of his advisers. They trained me to be a spy, then slipped me across the border when Jarvo was looking for girls to add to the high sage's harem. Jarvo noticed me and recruited me into the harem."
"How do you get information back to the duke?"
"I have contacts here in the city. When I have something to tell them, I meet with them."
"You can leave the palace whenever you want?"
"I'm not a captive, Lila. I joined the harem willingly."
"And you can come and go willingly?"
"Of course."
"My guards have orders not to let me out of the harem," I said. "As long as they're watching me, I'm not going anywhere."
Shu dismissed my guards with a wave of her hand. "Those two are idiots. Getting away from them will be easier than you think."
"Does Jarvo know that?"
"Jarvo doesn't know half of what goes on around here. He thinks his snitches tell him everything, but they don't. They're as stupid as your guards."
"What about the high sage? Does he know what goes on around here?"
Shu dismissed the high sage with the same wave of her hand that she dismissed the guards. "The high sage is just a boy. He knows only what Jarvo wants him to know."
"Which is even less than Jarvo knows."
&
nbsp; Shu nodded. "If I help you get out of here, can you help my career?"
"You know the Queen of Vassa has no heir."
"Everyone knows that. What of it?"
"Chancellor Edgerton was taking me to meet her. He believes she'll make me her heir."
"Because you're a princess?"
"I'm the fourth daughter of Bella Justine Haran, the twelfth Queen of Adah."
"I've never heard of Adah."
"It lies on the other side of the Great Desert."
"You come from the other side of the world?"
"I come from the other side of the world."
"That explains why Jarvo wants to keep you here. We have few princesses in this part of the world, and none with a knowledge of the other side of the continent. Even if you weren't young and beautiful, you'd be an extremely valuable commodity."
"If you help me get out of here, Queen Catlett will be indebted to you."
"What makes you so sure?"
"Because she spent a lot of gold to bring me to this part of the world."
"If I help you escape, Jarvo will send men after us. If they catch us, they won't hurt you, but they'll kill me."
"You don't have to come with me. Just get me out of the palace."
"Jarvo's snitch could rat on me. If I help you, I'll have no choice but to go with you."
"There's a ship waiting for me down at the docks. It belongs to the Queen of Vassa. Once we reach it, we'll be safe. Jarvo's men risk starting a war if they try and board it."
"You guarantee the ship will be there?"
"Chancellor Edgerton would never leave Istansada City without me."
"I'll need help getting you out of here. I'll also need some bribe money."
"The ship waiting for me is called the Star of the Sea. It's a black caravel with gold trim and flies the royal flag of Vassa. Tell Chancellor Edgerton that you can help me escape, but that you'll need some bribe money. He'll give you whatever you need."
"I'll go there tomorrow. See if what you say is true."
"When do you think I can get out of here?"
"When I've finished making all the necessary arrangements."
"Until then?"
"Until then play the part of a good harem wife, so they don't make it harder for me to get you out of here."
Before I got too hopeful, I raised an obvious question. "How do I know you're not one of Jarvo's snitches, keeping an eye on me to make sure I don't try and escape?"
"How do I know you're a real princess? Maybe the rumors I heard were fake. Maybe Jarvo put you here to root out spies like myself."
"I guess we'll just have to trust each other," I said.
"I guess we will," Shu said.