Loretta of the Lamp - The Fallout

In the change of the tides

Loretta glared at her as she walked away, and then she turned and ran back to her room.

When she got to the door, she ran straight in and slammed it shut behind her. The distance from the door to the bed was not far, she crossed it in one leap and then kicked the bed hard. Only then did she pause long enough to release a lungful of air and relax her clenched fists. The pause didn't last long before she laid into the bed again, kicking it repeatedly, enough to cause the shooting kind of pain that relieves tension. It was as she did this that the bedroom door quietly edged open and Sameh peeked into the room. As soon as he saw her kicking the bed, he rushed in and pulled her back.

"Hurting yourself is not the answer," he pleaded with her as she fought to be free.

"There is no answer Sameh, this fate is a death sentence to me, do you not see it? This is not the life I was born to live, and I have no way home."

"Loretta," Sameh called her name, struggling over the foreign pronunciation, "you are blessed to have found favour with the Sultan, whether you know it or not, far worse things could have happened to you."

"This is the worst thing that could have ever happened to me Sameh, you don't know half of it. If I hurt myself in order to spite the Sultan, then to me that would be a good thing."

"I don't think you should do that, you will only be able to push him so far."

Loretta sighed, "I deserve this," she told him bitterly, "I deserve all of this."

Sameh dropped his hands and stepped back from her, "You deserve nothing that you do not want, but that doesn't mean that you can change your destiny."

"I betrayed the one person who kept me safe through everything. Sameh, I betrayed him without even thinking because I thought I could get home. I didn't even stop to consider the consequences because I was so wrapped up in myself and what I thought I needed," she hugged herself and looked up at the room around her, blinking her eyes to hold off the tears of self pity. The room was beautifully decorated, yet it made her cold inside. "So this is my sentence, to lose everything instead. And not only that, but I am handed over to a monster like that!"

"He is a monster. I know. He is a tyrant, and a no-good ruler. But rulers come and go and the rest of us are swept along in the change of the tides, we have no control over it, Loretta," he looked down into her eyes directly, the worry colouring his face.

"You believe that? That he is not a good man?" Loretta swallowed. She was in over her head so far, even more than she had been in the lamp. In the lamp she'd had Akil with her at every turn to protect her, for better or worse.

"It does not matter what I think of him or the things he does," Sameh's eyes darkened a shade.

Loretta calmed down, and frowned lightly at him. "How old are you Sameh?"

"Eighteen."

"And how old were you when–" Loretta didn't know how to voice her thoughts, but she knew that surely no man would be left unattended to work in a Sultan's harem unless he was a eunuch.

"I don't remember it, if that is what you are asking."

Loretta wanted to reach out and hug him, but it didn't seem that it would be appropriate or helpful. "I am sorry," she said simply.

"Don't be. I may never have a family, but I am well looked after. I could have been an orphan left to die in the street for all I know."

"So you feel in debt to him?"

Sameh let out one laugh, "I feel indifferent. That is what I feel."

Loretta pulled the knife out from the front of her dress. "I am going to kill him if he touches me," she told him, not sure why she believed she could trust him, but she did.

"You are serious," Sameh commented, reaching out to take the knife from her.

She nodded furiously, "I am, even if I have to try with my bare hands I will, or I will die first."

Sameh took her hands in his, "You have so much strength in your heart," he said, "I am afraid the hard reality of what you face is not something your physical strength will be able to surmount."

"I will fight to the death Sameh, my body is not for sale and I will not compromise on that," Loretta knew her words were bitter, but they were not untrue.

"I do not doubt that you will try," Sameh replied darkly.

"Good." Loretta snapped, not intentionally, but for how determined she felt.

"In this world, Loretta, many girls wish to stand up to men, but they come out the other side broken," Sameh warned. "This will not end well."

"I do not intend for it to end well."

"I see that," Sameh turned her fruit knife over in his hand, "If we were to be overhead in this conversation it would mean a horrible death for both you and I."

Loretta nodded, "Then you should stay away from me. I am the only one with a death wish here," she smiled ruefully.

He shook his head in wonder. "Even if you were close enough and had your perfect chance, this knife is not long enough to reach his heart," he told her, swinging the knife between his fingers.

"Then I will cut his throat with it," she replied fiercely.

He blinked and looked into her eyes, searching them, "You have changed over night from the girl who was crying so much," he said.

Loretta pursed her lips, "I have realised that even if there is no hope for any of the things I wanted for my life, I'll not die crying, and I'll not die without a fight."

"I did not think girls even knew how to fight," he replied slyly.

Loretta's mind dragged her back to the moment in the tavern in Hikari when she was defenceless and choking to death, but she brushed it away. "I know. But you are going to teach me," she told him.