The Sultan's Spy

Chapter 53: The Reversal

Eliska leaned back into her pile of pillows and sighed. Her hair hurt, the multitude of pins used to pull the mass up into the elaborate style she rarely wore digging into her scalp in places. But she was good at ignoring pain. And her hair did look quite nice like this, much better than usual. She shifted her one foot so her knee was bent, the movement causing the bright scarlet of her skirt to shift, the shade like a flag or beacon.

"Stop moving," Soyala ordered, glowering at her. "This is hard enough without you fidgeting."

She raised her eyebrows as she looked down at where her niece sat cross-legged in front of her. "Don't think that just because you're married means you get to act like you're older than me. I remember changing your diaper."

Soyala made a face. "You changed everyone's diapers. It hardly counts." The girl lifted her paintbrush and returned her attention to Eliska's foot. "We seem to have switched places."

Eliska had to smile at that, even though the brush was faintly tickling her toes and she really wanted to scratch them. "You're not wrong. Though I distinctly remember you being worried about your marriage."

Her niece chuckled. "Well, I had never met Sabir. I had no idea how lucky I was going to be in him and how happy I could be with him beside me. You are the only one who managed to meet a young man before marrying him. The rumours among my sisters are rampant about how you met and why Father chose him to be your husband."

"I have no idea why Kasimer chose him, to be honest. He just showed up one day and told me that's what he'd decided and that he'd gotten Mother Zorana and Lizina to agree." She didn't mention she'd nearly hit him for just springing it on her. "I'm not upset about the match. It's certainly more than I'd hoped for." Eliska couldn't help the smile spreading across her lips. She felt like a cat who'd gotten into the dairy and had full run of all the milk and cream she could drink.

"With a look like that, I'm not worried."

Eliska couldn't argue with that. A thought had her leaning forward a bit. "Have you hidden his name yet? And did you put it where I told you to? I want to make it as hard for him as possible to find. Ajani already let me know he's been bragging about how quickly he'll find it, so I want to make him lose."

Soyala rolled her eyes. "Yes. It's already on across the arch of your foot. You'll have to be careful how you walk until it's set."

"It'll be worth it."

"I should hope you think this will be worth it, or old Ajani will cry."

Eliska grinned up at the head of the eunuchs as he came to stop by them. "It's very worth it. Especially if I prove him wrong about finding his name quickly. I intend to start this marriage off right, letting him know that he can't win against me."

Ajani laughed. "You wouldn't be my Bright Joy if you were any other way. I will miss having you around."

"I'm barely going to be gone. You know the marriage is secret, and as far as most will be concerned, I'll still be single. The current plan is to wait and slowly ease people into the idea that I'm married, so that it's never a big event, but something vague people think about only when it comes up. That way we don't have to worry about both of our positions." Which suited both of them just fine. Shadows didn't belong in the public eye in the first place.

"The harem will know," Soyala said, eyes never leaving her work.

Eliska wrinkled her nose. "The harem always knows. There's too many of us all close together. What blows through here isn't the wind, but gossip and rumours. It's all we can do to keep knowledge of us shadows from those who don't need to know. I'll just be a scandal for the younger girls to chatter about. I've heard rumours that I'm pregnant, I was caught sleeping with him, and that I simply ran away overnight with him until they had no choice to marry us. Really, I'd hoped they'd be more imaginative."

Ajani smiled. "They like their same stories. They're familiar, like old friends. And for our girls, new things can be frightening. Not for our shadows, but for our sweet ones, the ones kept form the darker side of things. Not all of our girls are suited to being shadows. Or even to knowing truth of the world."

Soyala nodded. "I can't blame not telling some of my sisters that. I love them, but they're...silly. I had to convince one of them there was no monster hiding under her bed and she's nearly ten."

"Some of them will grow out of it. Some won't. Everyone's different, even in a family likes ours." Eliska turned a wicked grin on her niece. "Besides, that should be excellent practice for you. I'm sure you'll have to chase off a monster or two when your little one comes along."

Soyala jerked her head up to stare at her. "How did you find out? I've only told a few people!"

"Looser clothes, the fact you've had to get up to 'get some air' but I could hear you retching. And because you always get this smug little smile on your face when you're thinking you know something that others don't."

Ajani shook his head. "You should know better than to try to deceive our shadows, and especially Bright Joy. She has sharp eyes."

"And a sharper tongue," Soyala muttered as she sat back down.

Eliska chuckled but didn't push her niece further. Not when she was putting the finishing touches on her henna. She held her hands up, unable to resist admiring the intricate designs covering them. She'd never really been able to picture herself being a bride before, but here she was.

She smiled softly. It was worth it. He was worth it. And it would be even more worth it tonight, when everything was done and she could take everything off. Her smile went from soft to sly as her thoughts shifted. Eliska had every intention of making Tariq follow through on all the promises he'd made with his eyes and wicked smiles. This was their wedding night, and she'd be damned if they weren't both going to enjoy it to the hilt.

And afterwards...Well, they had their whole lives ahead of them and a whole country to work on keeping safe. She was sure there would be enough excitement to keep them both satisfied. In every sense of the word.