The Sultan's Spy

Chapter 1: The Bride

Eliska's paintbrush finished the last upwards flick of the curl, the greenish-brown paste showing bright against her niece's hand. "There," she said, leaning back on her heels. "That's my part finished."

Soyala smiled faintly. "You have the steadiest hand and do the best designs, not that it's much of a surprise."

She frowned, eyeing the younger girl. Even in the shade of the blue and gold tiled alcove and with the white powder on her face, Soyala looked pale. Practically enthroned among her pile of pillows, her scarlet wedding clothes heavily embroidered in gold and her face painted to enhance her natural beauty, Eliska's niece looked like everything a bride should be. Or she would, once the rest of the henna was added and her headdress on.

And she thought that might be the problem. Soyala might be nineteen, but she had never really left the harem, not like Eliska and her fellows. She smiled as reassuringly as she could, given that she herself was still unmarried. "From all I've heard, Sabir is a fine young man, kind, patient, and not unattractive."

Soyala looked down at her green patterned hands, painted lips coming down. "I've heard the same but... I worry that maybe he has hidden his dark side away, or that I won't be able to be the kind of wife he wants and-"

Eliska cut her off. "Do you really think your father would marry any of his daughters to a man who would hurt them?" she asked, eyebrows up. "And do you think any man would be anything but delighted to be take one of the Sultan's own daughters as his bride?"

She smiled slightly at that. "No. But that's all the more reason that he might not tell me if I displease him. I want to have a happy marriage."

"You will. There's no reason to make up worries for yourself before you even meet Sabir. And you know he'll have been properly investigated before being allowed to marry you. You are one of the eldest daughters of the Sultan."

Soyala ducked her head slightly, but her smile grew stronger.

"You just stay in touch with us. And if anything does happen, I'll personally come for you. And if Sabir has proven to be the source of the issue, well..." Eliska's smile had a razor edge. "He'll find out about those of us who graduated from the shadow school. Family always comes first. Now, do you remember the code for letters you don't want read by others?"

Her niece rolled her eyes. "Yes, Aunt Eliska. It's not as if I didn't have it all but beaten into me, just like everyone else here."

Eliska just gave her a look. "It's for your own safety. It will protect you, even if you don't see that now."

The sound of soft shushing coming to stop behind them had Eliska turning. Standing with his back to the sun-bright courtyard and the shallow pool at its centre, Ajani grinned at them, teeth bright. "You look beautiful, Soyala," the head of the harem's guards said. "I will miss having your smiling face here."

Soyala returned the expression. "I'll miss you too, Ajani. But I will be back to visit. Father said that I might, whenever I wanted to."

Running footsteps announced the arrival of a whole pack of Soyala's sisters. They quickly swarmed the bride-to-be, two of them already plopping themselves down and grabbing paintbrushes so they could do the henna designs on her feet.

Eliska carefully extricated herself from the group, hoping the excited chatter from the younger girls would help Soyala feel better about the marriage. Not that she blamed her niece for her worry. It was hard to know you were to be the wife of a man you had never met. Knowing something of him, however small, or even having met him once would be preferable she thought. Not that it was something she had to worry about any time soon, not with her other work being so important.

She sidled up to Ajani who watched the scene with the indulgent smile of someone who had watched them all grow. "How is Soyala's husband?" she asked, not actually having been part of the evaluation team for Sabir.

Ajani gave her a sidelong glance that spoke louder than words.

"Is he anyone we have to worry about, anything that might be a concern?"

The eunuch guard snorted. "Do you really think he'd have gotten one of her lot, one of the sweet ones, if there was any kind of concern? Do you think Lizina and old Ajani would let one of our girls go to someone who would be a danger to them or the family?"

Eliska sighed. "I know. Soyala is just worried and I thought I'd ask."

"There's nothing to worry about. And if there is, that's something you and your lot can take care of. Our lovely shadows are so very good at taking are of...problems."

Her grin was wolfish, his expression mirroring hers. "We do aim to please."

Ajani chuckled. "You do a wonderful job of it too. Now, if you're finished with our pretty bride, Yasmia has been pestering some of the shadow teachers about heading out into the city today. I normally wouldn't bother you with that, but she's approached two of my guards already, and if she keeps it up..."

Eliska winced. "I know. I'll speak to her and find out what she could possible need to leave the harem for. Especially since she's still in the early stages of her training. If it's really important, I'm sure I can take care of it for her."

He patted her head the way he had since she'd only come up to his knee. "That's why you're one of my favourites, Bright Joy."

She laughed. "You say that to all the girls."

Ajani winked at her before Eliska turned and headed towards the shadow school building, hoping that Yasmia was in her room there. If she had to run around the whole harem it could take all day to track down her niece. Not for the first time, Eliska wished they could discover some kind of tracking spell, something to make finding people easier. Especially her nieces who were far better at hiding than they had any right to be.

Sighing, she began to jog, ignoring the looks some of the other girls gave her as she hurried past where they strolled, lounged with embroidery, or worked at one of the many tasks needed to keep everything running. It was just another day in the harem.