Deities of Deceit

Chapter Twelve

Yarima Abubakar | Twelve
DEMON IN A CROWN

—

"General, Jookwah." Preye, my head servant, bowed to me as he arrived by the poolside where Fadimah and I had been lounging all afternoon, sharing political conversations. "Ada, Jookwah." He bowed to Fadimah whose hair was getting threaded.

After the death of the commissioner of trade, a close friend of Fadimah, she became extra prickly about politics and spent hours on end criticizing the new commissioner and his new policies that sympathized with the white labor force.

Fadimah and I were polar opposites when it came to politics. Because of this, our afternoons together were never a boring affair, whether we were in the company of other high born Arjanians, or alone, sharing a plate of abacha and goat meat.

We had also been drinking chilled palm wine. Mostly Fadimah who was now slightly tipsy and laughing at every joke I told before flat out obliterating my view point.

"Preye, you haven't come to steal my brother's company have you?"

"No, Ada, a letter arrived for the General."

I sprung up from the sofa. "It's her!"

"Or maybe it's the elders reminding you of your negligent behavior towards your responsibilities."

"Oh, please, those cock heads always have something to complain about." My hands were quick in ripping apart the golden ropes that held the scroll together. "My beloved Yari," I read with a smile and butterflies fluttered in my heart.

"Ugh, in the name of the gods." Fadimah waved a hand.

"She seeks my presence. Preye, you're going shopping! A hundred lilies of the valley! A hundred peonies! Cocoa chocolate, dark and bitter! Two jars of lavender oil–"

"I don't know why you even bother," Fadimah interrupted my joyful listing. "She is the most powerful person on the continent. She can buy the moon if she so wishes."

"She is my wife. I'll buy her the stars if it pleases me, even if she owns the galaxy."

"She isn't your wife."

"Yet," I snarled.

"Leave us," Fadimah instructed the servants and they were quick to file out of the pavements.

"Well, Sister, I must ready myself to–"

"You must come to your senses, Yarima." Fadimah's caution stopped me from heading back into the castle.

"I didn't know I had lost it," I said, turning back to her.

"She's never going to marry you."

"Careful with your words, Sister."

"Seven years. Seven. You turn thirty soon, you aren't getting any younger."

I breathed a laugh. "That is the point of aging."

"Yarima." She shook her head, rising from her seat. "I do not say these words for jest. Nobody wants to marry a washed up thirty-year-old general who isn't rising in the ranks."

"Lose the frown, it isn't good for keeping wrinkles at bay. She will propose." I lifted my cup of palm wine to drink.

"And then what? You will be king? A ceremonial head of state with no real power. A general commands way more respect than a king, Yarima."

"In what twisted world do you live in, Sister?"

"You should be focusing on climbing up the ranks. You're still a one star general. Low in the ranks of power. If you want real power, you need to become a five star. No security decision in this kingdom would be taken without your approval. You would seat in the council and lead. A king does not sit in the council."