The Empty Ones (Fantasy Romance)

30. Pretty girls

I squint my eyes. It's sunny, and Bea shakes my shoulder.

"Mahrani, it's late. Are you not feeling well?" she asks.

"No, I am just tired." Haven't slept much, for obvious reasons.

In the end, Paisa promised me that she was going to help me with keeping Salma at court.

I am surely not going to tell anybody what I saw, but who was that soldier? I didn't see his face. And gods, he was there at a very unfortunate moment; it could have been General Yeoh who saw him, not me.

"The court physician is waiting for you."

"What? Why?" I whimper.

"You have an appointment."

"I do?"

"Yes, we mentioned that yesterday while you were talking to Lady Salma." She looks away and rolls her eyes slightly towards Dara.

I vaguely remember.

"What is that for? I am not sick," I say.

"To see when it's more likely for you to get with child. So the Emperor can decide when to visit you."

Oh.

The door bursts open. Lady Nefri stands in the doorway. I almost forgot about her.

"Mahrani. With all due respect, you act very undignified. I just heard about what you did yesterday. It's only a day. You act so strange, it's embarrassing. And now you are late for your appointment. Get her dressed immediately or his Highness will hear of this."

No. I don't want that. Most of all, when I need him to grant Salma permission to stay.

"Yes. I will hurry. My apologies."

She nods curtly with lips pressed together.

I wash quickly and dress simply, forgetting to cover any bruises. My hair is open, so the stone is not on display. Luckily. I remember it only when we are going down the stairs.

I didn't tell Paisa anything about the priory. She doesn't need to know all my secrets, but with her strange ability to sense lies... That's also another secret she shared with me, half willingly only. What an interesting girl... And also so pretty. The pink eyes make such an interesting contrast with her tanned skin.

Actually... I am surrounded by pretty girls. My two handmaids are also very good-looking. Dara is tall and her hair is dark and silky; she is slim and willowy all over. Bea is slightly more curvy and has a lighter complexion and curly hair. Both their faces are fine featured, and they speak as if having received a good education. Meaning they can certainly read and write. I wonder if they have magic.

The court physician lives in the inner palace. He is apparently not of noble birth but possesses magic. There are only these two possibilities by which you are allowed to live inside those walls. The high servants like Lady Nefri live in the outer palace and the lower servants like Hara go out in the city at night and come back before dawn.

He also lives in the inner palace to be close if needed, I assume.

I am Mahrani, so he comes to see me. Other lesser nobles visit him.

My apartment consists of several rooms. He is waiting in the small tea room by I am not sure whose orders.

I give him a curious look. He is a rather small man, around fifty, manab, bald and having a black beard streaked with black.

"You are thin," he states.

I was kept in a small room with rationed food for a whole star circle.

"But oddly, you have somewhat developed muscles." And before that, I did quite some physical labour. "When was your last moon bleeding?" he asks.