Hadassah's Sacrifice

CHAPTER 27

“The King has commanded that I make you ladies ready in three months. A month has passed, and in two months, one of you is going to be the Queen of Babylon. Let me remind you that being a Queen is far beyond your physical beauty. I can see that a lot of you have stunning physical appearance.” His eyes moved from each of the girls and finally stopped on Hadassah who was clearly uncomfortable with his gaze, but Memukan wanted his point to sink into them. “But a Queen also has to possess a good heart, a heart that cares for her people more than herself. These and more are what the King is after.” Like always, Memukan hoped that his words stayed with them. Never in all his life has he seen so many beautiful women as these ones. He could only hope that at least one of them possessed all that the King sought.

Tomorrow he will educate them on the characters of a Queen, but now they had to be attended by their beauty eunuchs.  As the girls walked back to their rooms to get ready for their beauty session, Mylitta had other plans. She walked briskly towards Hadassah and her maid before they made their way out of the hall.

“I see you have a habit of taking the good things to yourself,” she said in a hushed tone referring to Hadassah's maid when she finally reached her side.

At first, she kept walking, but when she saw how much the girl who was now walking beside her stared, Hadassah knew the girl has not come in peace.

“I don’t understand what you mean?” Hadassah replied taking a quick peek at the girl who has come from nowhere and was now walking in step with her.

“Just forget it,” Mylitta said coyly. “Stay away from Tiamat. She doesn’t deserve someone like you.” With a hiss, she walked away, leaving a surprised Hadassah confused.

Wait a moment. Who was this girl? Who does she think she is? Her mind raced with a lot of questions. Even her maid was surprised.

“You shouldn’t pay attention to her, my Lady.”

Smiling, she replied, “I won’t.” But she knew she would. Being here was against her wish, she didn’t want any trouble with the other girls.

                                         
                                              ❁❁

“Mylitta is me, Tiamat. Please open the door.”

“What do you want?” Mylitta inquired from inside her room. “Go stay with your new friend.”

“Please just open the door,” Tiamat pleaded.

The door opened with Mylitta blocking the entrance, making no move to let her friend in.

“You’ve been avoiding me for days.”

“No, I haven’t. I wanted to give you enough time with your new friend,” Mylitta replied pouting.

“I came to apologise to you. I’ve thought about all you said,” her eyes filled with love. “I wouldn’t lose what we have for a girl I just met. You mean more to me, Mylitta.” She moved to grab her hand, but Mylitta moved away from her reach. Clearly, she was still angry. Tiamat felt like she was betraying Hadassah, but she and Mylitta have been friends since childhood. She couldn’t lose that for someone she just met. Though Hadassah was a nice girl, Mylitta was more important.

“Oh,” Mylitta began completely surprised by Tiamat’s confession. “You really mean all you said?” she raised one of her brows in doubt.

“Yes… yes, I do.” Here she was betraying Hadassah, it made her feel terrible inside.

“Good. I knew you’d come back to your senses.” Mylitta said in a casual manner as she finally made way for her to get into the room. But Tiamat stood where she was, annoyance in her eyes.