In the winding streets of the Persian Empire, a poor girl is chosen to become the third prince's concubine.
Aliya Farhad has no interest in the lofty ideas of the palace, the staff, or her lover. Prince Cairo has all the interest in his blue-eyed A...
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IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT, the sound of faraway crickets chirping seemed alarmingly loud, much more if you consider the fact that there would be no chance of finding a cricket anywhere within the Palace walls.
"It's not like you to want to go to sleep so early, Miss," Maria said slowly, standing on the foot of the bed.
"Don't think too much into it," I said, as dismissively as I could, leaning back on the headboard. "I'm just tired. It's been an eventful day."
Maria smiled, smoothing out the wrinkles on my sheets. "The garden party? How was it, Miss? Did you have fun."
In the back of my mind, the sound of Prince Finn's laughter — loud, boisterous and incredibly hurtful — echoed in a volume so loud I could've sworn I felt it rattling my skull, so loud I was sure Maria was wondering whether Archaem was being hit by an earthquake. "To an extent, I suppose."
"What did you do, Miss?"
"We just played a few games," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "There really wasn't much to it."
Maria hummed in lieu of a reply, gently tucking in my blanket.
"I can do that myself," I said, trying to pull the fabric away from her, but for such a small person, she had an incredible amount of strength in her little body, and my blanket remained firm within her grasp.
"It's my job, Miss." Maria continued to work, wrapping me in layers upon layers of fabric. "Allow me to do this part. What kind of game did you play?"
"A round of shooting; or, rather, a few rounds," I answered, "I wasn't very good at it, though. I've never shot before."
"Which is normal, Miss," Maria responded, "didn't you say you care from Babylon? Shooting rounds are very frequent in Archaem, but quite rare in other cities."
The words had been spoken in a very carefree manner — and why wouldn't it be, when the words she was speaking were very much true. Still, as I started to recline, I couldn't help how I stilled.
"That's not true," I said, "some people in Babylon do shooting, too."
What was the point in telling all this to Maria, I didn't know. Perhaps I was simply being overly sensitive to this topic; not because of her, but because of the incident earlier this afternoon.
Or, rather, maybe the point of all this wasn't to tell Maria, but rather to tell myself.
She paused for a moment. "Yes, of course. My apologies, Miss; I hadn't realized I'd said something wrong."
What an observant girl. And how easy I am to read through, it seems.
"No, you didn't," I said. "It's normal."
Maria remained silent for a few moments more, silence enveloping the room and ringing deep into my ears.
I took a deep inhale. "It sounds like it's going to rain; Maria, you don't need to watch over me tonight. Go sleep in your room downstairs, the one with the fireplace. Make sure your windows are closed tight."
