THE QUEEN'S SERVANT

7

Rocky swayed her head at the sound of music. In her right hand, she was holding the pipe of a hookah. With every breath, she exhaled thick clouds of smoke. It smelled of fruits and mint. The younger harem ladies clapped for her as she managed to make circles with the smoke coming out of her mouth.

"You are a fast-learner, my queen!" One of them said in awe.

In fact, Rocky learned how to smoke like a professional in barely two days. The real reason behind it was that she was bored and didn't have anything better to learn. Yet, she couldn't deny that it was fun to spend time in the harem.

As soon as the king left for his trip two days ago, she made it her second home. Now that the queen-mother and her own were gone, there was no one to tell her what to do and Rocky could finally rule on the young and inexperienced girls living within the palace. The only difficult one was that redhead named Meriem. She was a pain in the ass.

As the queen smoked and danced giddily, Meriem just observed her, laying on one of the huge cushions. Rocky held her stare and suddenly, she was walking towards her.

"Why don't you join us?" The queen asked, pointing at the rest of the girls sitting on the carpet.

"Sorry to deny you a wish, your majesty. I just don't think such activities are appropriate for a lady. I live it to the youngsters."

Rocky cocked an eyebrow. She could see right through that bitch. Now that the queen-mother was gone, she wanted to take over her role in the palace. Once again, Meriem seemed to ignore that she held no power. She was merely a distraction for a man that didn't even care anymore. Rocky lowered herself in front of the redhead so their eyes were directly on the same level, then she smirked:

"How does it feel?"

Meriem frowned.

"How does what feel, your majesty?"

"Knowing that you mean nothing. Before I came, you were the king's bitch but now...You practically don't have any purpose in life."

Meriem started turning red, her face matching her hair color. Rocky saw how her nails dug into the soft pillow of her cushion.

"I don't know how I would cope with this, honestly..." The queen added with a sigh. "That's why I want us to be friends, Meriem. Your job can be to entertain me, just like the other girls. Right now, you are the only one fighting and I don't know why. I want peace between all of us."

"Your majesty, I really respect you a lot but you have the wrong idea. I am not useless, I am still the king's favorite concubine."

"But he hasn't called for you since I arrived."

"Oh, but that's because he is curious about you. He's never been with a foreigner before but once he gets bored, he will be back where he belongs. In other words, between my legs."

Rocky scoffed at that choice of words. She also didn't feel threatened one bit.

"Sure thing, Meriem. I won't beg you for a peace treaty. But let me tell you one thing: you are wasting your time. No matter what, I will always be the queen of this kingdom and whether the king comes back to you or not, you will never be more than a distraction."

Rocky winked at Meriem before standing back up on her feet. The other girls called her for another round of hookah but she declined. After all, she had been stuck with them for more than three hours and she needed a bit of fresh air.

That's how she found herself walking alone in the garden. The wind was cool at night and she held the cape of her dress tighter around her tiny body. She dearly missed her husband. King Hassan was gone for only two days and she wanted him to come back already. She never thought she'd get attached to him so fast.