Alliance by Marriage

Chapter 12

The first few days are busy indeed, filled with dealing with all the issues that have been waiting for my return. Every morning, I hear the petitions of the commoners, meet with my council, discuss the new laws. Even before the sunrise, a long queue of peasants and townsfolk wait at the entrance to the palace for a chance to tell me their grievances, and no matter how many cases I hear each day, the next day's queue is just as long.

At least I have my advisers, especially Sagaristio, who rarely leaves my side as we go over the documents that require my signing, or handle the matters in the legal court. Some of the smaller tasks I delegate to him completely. Without him, I would have struggled more with the day-to-day obligations of ruling a kingdom. It's been a challenge since my father has passed away two years ago. The job seemed so easy when he was doing it. I'm getting better, but it still feels like a daily struggle.

Despite that, it's good to be home. The city surrounding the hill on which the palace stands looks so colorful in comparison to the colder, greyer northern lands we have returned from. It cheers me up to look from my window and see the familiar tumble of red roofs and the low stone and clay buildings with grapevines generously covering their walls.

I retreat to my quarters for a few hours each afternoon when the heat makes thinking and moving almost impossible. There I rest, either sleeping on trying to read documents or simply watching the sunlit landscape below.

It is on one such lazy afternoon that I sit at the open window, gazing at the roofs and the harbor and the glittering sea, when I notice a woman playing with her children in one of the courtyards. She's spraying them with water from a large clay flagon as they run about her, screaming and laughing, enjoying the temporary cool on this hot afternoon.

It's not them who draw my attention, though, but the woman herself. The way she laughs, the damp shine of her face, the way the wet fabric clings to her body, outlining her breasts and her still firm belly make my mind drift to places other than politics.

The idea of visiting my harem suddenly looks very attractive.

The corridors are mostly deserted at this hour, everybody either catching a nap or working in cooler, darker rooms of the palace. My footsteps sound muffled on the stone floor crisscrossed with smudges of light filtering through the wooden grape canopy over the courtyard. Green leaves and the occasional clusters of fruits hang still, without even a little breeze to disturb them, as if the very air is asleep.

Followed by my guards, I enter the courtyard of the eunuchs. There're two of them now, dressed in their long dark robes, sitting at a little table over a game of backgammon. They jump up quickly and bow as we approach. I sign to my guards to wait for me and push the tall doors to the Women's Hall.

No other man is allowed to set his foot on the other side of this threshold—save for Emilio who, being a member of my harem, can't quite be considered a man.

The huge space with its magnificent ornate ceilings and the elaborately painted tiles is probably the largest and the most decorated area of the palace. I only have time for one look over its stone pools, the fountains and the sitting benches with cushions piling on them before the screaming begins.

"Oh my God!" someone squeals.

I look right and find a plump woman in long colorful robes running towards me. Two female slaves that must have been keeping her company on one of the sofas sit upright, looking at me with alarm.

The running woman seems anything but alarmed, though. She flings herself at me, wrapping her hands around me so that I stumble back.

"Easy, Masal," I say, laughing. "How are you?"