Bride of Kalathan

5: Disillusion

Nuria left the party as soon as it seemed polite, hurrying to her room and undressing by the fire, eager to take her hair out of the uncomfortable braids. She fell asleep quickly before the others returned, even though her thoughts were spinning wildly as she closed her eyes, dreaming confusing dreams where lines of uniformed men with silver flasks were asking her questions that she could not open her mouth to answer.

In the morning, Hellis was bright-eyed and fidgety. She could not stop talking about the king, about how handsome he was and how charming he had been. Nuria brushed her hair in silence, choosing her plainest dress and leaving her jewels in their case. She felt odd, unpleasantly unhappy and uncomfortable as she listened to the chatter.

"He is really more handsome than he looks from a distance," Hellis said as she carefully painted thin lines above and below her eyes. "He looked at me when he walked past us all and I made sure to speak to him with my eyes. Can you do that, Rush? I could teach you. You can say so much, in a look."

"No thanks," sighed Rushta, as she fastened her belt around her waist. "I did try to catch his eye but your pale type of beauty seemed more to his taste last night."

"He said so much in the look he gave me, even then," continued Hellis. "Those eyes! Do you know they have tiny flecks of gold in them? I could have stared into them all night, even if they were a little cloudy after all the arak." She laughed to herself as she leant closer to the mirror.

So it had been arak that the men had in their flasks, Nuria realised with a jolt. She felt silly for not having thought of it before, and the realisation only increased her confusion. Her parents had always warned her and Nairan of the dangers of the strong drink, telling them all kinds of stories about what irresponsible people had done under its influence. But most of the men at the party and at least some of the women, even a man training to be a fatir, even the king himself had been drinking it! Either arak was not as dangerous and sinful as she had been taught, or the court was not as holy a place as she had imagined. She rather thought she knew which it was.

"It looked rather too dark in that corner for you to be noticing the colour of his eyes," Nuria said, without thinking. She had not wanted to talk to Hellis about all this, but it had just come out. And it must have sounded a little sarcastic, because Hellis was not impressed.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked, turning to Nuria in surprise. She had finished one eye and the other one was still naked, her pale lashes almost invisible against her face. The effect was comical, but Nuria did not feel like laughing.

"I just mean that it was a dark corner," said Nuria. "Were you also drinking arak?"

"I had a little," said Hellis, returning her attention to the mirror. "Not a tenth as much as he did, though. But I think you are just jealous. He noticed me right away and not either of you."

"I am glad he did not notice me," said Nuria. "I wouldn't want to have to say no to a drunk king who wanted to kiss me five minutes after meeting me. It would be bad enough if it was any of the other men."

Hellis and Rushta burst out laughing. "Nuria!" said Rushta, her hands on her hips. "Did you just call the king drunk?"

"Wasn't he?" she asked.

"Not really," said Hellis. "He just wanted to have a good time. He's the king – why shouldn't he do what he wants?"

"It's against the rules of the Temple," said Nuria. "He shouldn't because he's the king."

"Oh don't be so logical," said Hellis. "It's too tiring."

"And why would you want to say no?" asked Rushta. "You must be even more innocent than we thought!"