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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THE LIGHT IN THE NORTH WING, first floor hallway was much brighter than the ones that I was used to, the windows too many, the panels too big, the floor too slippery, the decor too ostentatious.
Though it was certainly not as terrible as Prince Finn's East Wing, I still thought it looked odd, especially when compared to Prince Cairo's West Wing — the same West Wing that was now closed off from any sort of entry, even for me.
"Miss, please follow me," Maria said, her head bobbing as she spoke. Her face looked paler than it had this morning, her hair a little more messy, her eyes a little more tired, but whatever exhaustion she must've felt was not reflected in her voice. "We must go to your new room."
"Where's my new room?" I asked, following after her. The dress Maria had picked out dragged along the stairs, and seemed to be even more unsuitable now than ever.
"The second floor, end of the hallway, Miss. Some of the butlers are moving your things now."
"Are any of the other women also being relocated?" As I spoke, I took special attention to my steps, careful not to accidentally slip.
Maria hesitated for a moment, looking right and left for the silhouette of a person and, after confirming that there was none, said, "No. The only woman being relocated is you, Miss. You're the only chosen woman living in the West Wing."
"What about Prince Cairo?"
"The King has insisted that he also move," she said. "It's much too dangerous for him to stay in his wing all alone. He's moving into the South Wing."
"The South Wing belongs to...?"
Maria hesitated again. "It is the King's personal living space. Even though he's the son, Prince Cairo was only allowed to stay over because he got a personal invite. Otherwise, he would not even be allowed to step foot through the doors of the South Wing."
"What about Prince Finn and Prinfe Raza, then?"
"They stay in their own wings, Miss." As we reached the top of the stairs, Maria looked back over her shoulder and smiled. "You are lucky, Miss."
"Lucky?" I didn't think finding out that there was a corpse on the second floor hallway of my west wing, a few rooms down my own bedroom was a particularly lucky experience.
"Yes," Maria answered, apparently oblivious to my state of mind. "Prince Cairo is a favorite of the king."
I know.
That's what's concerning.
"I noticed," I said. "The Vala Hazrat seems to have taken a special interest to him."
"Yes. Prince Cairo is the only son of the second Shāhbāno, so he grew up differently compared to Prince Finn and a Prince Raza."
"The second Shāhbāno? Why have I never seen her around before? What about the first Shāhbāno?"
