Egyptian Night

The Prince

Once Jasmine had left the safety of Derek's horse she was led up the stairs and into the large palace through the servant's entrance. Derek had brought her to the back of the house where only the servants entered. The royals, and their guests used the front entrance so they were virtually un watched as she was led inside.

The slave that led her in had a sour, pinched looking face. She barely even spared Jasmine a second glance as she walked. Why should she? She was just another girl for his majesty. She'd probably never last, or if she did he'd tire of her, and move on. Her job was just to clean her up. The dirty rags she was wearing, and the dust that coated her body would soon be replaced by a dress fit for royalty,  and the sweet perfume  of the bath oil. Nothing that she used on the girl would be foreign to herself. She'd originally been brought here when she was just a girl with the prince's father. His wife had grown fond of the slave, and freed her. She'd received such good treatment, though, that she preferred to stay on as simply a servant, something the others knew, and respected, or maybe feared. Who could really say.

"What's your name, girl?" the woman's crisp voice broke through the space between them like a knife.

"My...my name's Jasmine," Jasmine whispered softly, not telling the woman that her family had called her Jas. Well, her real family had. When her parents had been killed in a fire she'd been sent to live with her uncle. He hadn't wanted her, nor had she wanted to go to live with him, but it'd been the only option. Before the raid she'd been contemplating running away. Scraping together enough money to find food, and shelter was much better than the beatings she received from him. Whenever he drank he became extremely violent, and usually took his anger out on her if she was close by.  As awful as it sounded she hadn't been too broken up when he was killed in the raid.

"Jasmine, it'll do you well to keep your mouth closed and your eyes on the ground around here. If you upset the prince he won't hesitate, nor will anything stop him from having you punished, even killed. Do I make myself clear?" she asked, the tone of her voice, and the way her eyebrows scrunched together leaving no room for negotiating.

"Y..Yes ma'am," Jasmine stammered softly, looking to the ground from the look on the woman's face, much less the way her face scrunched up, her eyebrows knitting together as her mouth set into a stern line. "Do you mind me asking your name?" she asked timidly.

"My name?" Pauline asked, her tone clearly mimicking the exact look on her face. Had the girl listened to anything she'd said? She had just been forced to make a long trip with limited provisions, shelter, and an explanation of exactly what was going on. "I'll give you grace this one time, but in the future speaking out of turn will result in a suiting punishment. Am I understood?" she asked, her voice cold. "My name is Pauline, but you will refer to me as Missus or Ma'am," she finally gave up her name.  "You no longer have any rights. You're nothing, but something to entertain the prince, if you're even lucky enough to please him. Don't think about trying to make him mad either, if you are sold from here he will have seemed like the least of your worries. Now, let's go!" she snapped, annoyed at the delay.

"Yes, ma'am," Jasmine whispered, keeping her gaze on the ground as they walked. Pauline had sure seemed mad at how long they were taking. She had been the one to do most of the talking, but that wasn't something Jasmine was going to point out if her life depended on it.

"The pool's in there. Bathe, put on a robe, and then go through the door to the right of the towels. There's a girl in there that will do your hair and cosmetics," Pauline instructed before giving Jasmine a small push in the direction of the pools. With that done she turned, and started off down the hall.

*What an odd woman* Jasmine couldn't help but think as she slowly opened the door to the pool. The soft creaking of the door led to a warm, sweet smelling room. The pool looked to be spring fed with beautiful tile edging the sides. From the crystal clear water the bottom of the pool could be seen, which displayed beautiful blue, purple and green tile designs. This couldn't be the slave's bathing pool. That would more than likely be plain, but functional. This room was meant to please the eyes.

When she made sure she was alone in the large room she slowly started to undo her clothes. From the long trip the once beautiful blue dress was in shambles. The sleeves had been long torn off with various rips, tears, and dirt ruining the rest of the fabric; it was a total loss.

As the dress hit the floor soundlessly she grabbed a pink bar of soap, that smelled like roses, and slowly slid into the pool. The feeling of the warm water enveloping her felt heavenly, too heavenly to be happening here. A place she was supposed to be completely miserable. If she was able to please the prince maybe her existence wouldn't be so bad after all. That was highly doubtful, though, especially with the manner that Derek had warned her about him. In the couple days she'd known him she'd grown to trust him, and most certainly his judgement.

Either way it was done now, and she simply had to move forward.

Submerging herself under the water she stayed under for a couple seconds in an attempt to loosen the dirt. Next came the soap, which only worked to cleanse her body after she'd washed several times. It was clearly meant to be used often, and to be gentle on the skin. The scent of it reminded her of the expensive soaps, and oils she'd used back home, before she was sent to live with her uncle, that is.

Bath time had always been a pleasurable thing for her. She'd bathed every day in a pool much like this. The one her family had certainly wasn't as large, or as lavishly decorated, but it had still been nice. When her parents had died her uncle had taken all of their money and gambled it away. Before the raid he was about to loose his house, as plain as it was.

Lathering the bar in her hair she fought to push the thoughts away. Thinking about her uncle only brought painful memories from him, and the sad ones about her parents. Their life hadn't been perfect, as no one's is, but it had been pretty damn close.

With a couple more rinses her hair was just as squeaky clean as her body, and she had no more excuse to stay in the warm heaven. Using the stone stairs she slowly walked out of the bath, her pruned feet softly slapping against the floor as she walked.

The robe, and towels were both by the door at the end of the room. A soft, white towel was soon in the hamper alongside her dirty clothes before she slipped into an expensively plush robe; this certainly wasn't a pool for the slaves. Running her fingers through her damp hair soft curls fell against the robe. If she didn't brush her hair out right away it fell in soft curls as it dried. They usually stayed until she washed her hair next, if anything maybe turning into soft waves instead of curls.  Pushing the door opened she peered into the room. Various cosmetics, dresses and  sofas lined the cozy space. In the middle, with her back to Jasmine stood a girl a bit shorter than Jasmine with Curly red hair. When Jasmine came in she turned, a smile instantly lighting up her beautiful features. "You must be the new girl."