A plethora of sounds and smells assault my senses as I step out of the carriage. The cries of merchants in a foreign language. The fragrant scent of a hundred different spices mingle and fill the air, making me grateful for my own çarsef. People watch in awe as I step down from the carriage, the sheer amount of gold and jewelry that adorns my body is worth a fortune. A grin lights up my face as I can feel Fatima wince at how inelegantly I've stepped out of the carriage.
A squat, corpulent man wreathed in shimmering brown robes rushes over, sweating like the pig he bears an uncanny resemblance to. Goodness, he even pants like one. Following behind him are a squad of troops wielding pick-like halberds and splint armor decorated with flowing crimson tassels. The fat one falls to his knees and prostrates before me while his troops simply fall to a knee and bow. With squat shuffling motions he crawls on the ground towards me like some kind worm-dog. "Your Highness. By custom here he is supposed to kiss your foot." A sharp but quiet hiss from Fatima. Must I really allow this disgusting man to touch me?Reluctantly, I stick out a slippered foot, golden anklets jingling. He jumps on it like a dog to his favorite bone and eagerly delivers a loud, sloppy kiss.
I feel Fatima's revulsion behind me as the man draws away. A quick glance to my left reveals even the Parthian guards seem perturbed. "You may rise." A sharp instruction from Fatima brings the man to his feet. I'm much taller than him, comically so. Ha! How can a man be so short? The foreign guards seem genuinely surprised, and at that moment I realize I'm just as tall most of them. Recovering from his own shock, the speaks in Persian, "My utmost gratitude to Your Highness for gracing my dirty city of Longmen with your ethereal presence. I am your most humble and servile governor of this unworthy city, Bao Xi." The man bows deeply, his arms extended partially in front of him in a salute. His left hand lies on top of his right, palms facing inwards towards him, hands slightly curved.
The obsequies that spill out of his mouth are sickening. Fatima curtly nods however, and he gets the message. Thank goodness. A richly decorated palanquin arrives for me. Just how pampered is royalty here?
The serene splash of water in the background is completely incongruous to the desert that surrounds this city. A pair of fat fish swirl lazy in the pond that the waterfall feeds. The governor sits across from me, nervously sweating. Between us, two tiny porcelain cups. "Please Your Highness." He smiles and motions towards cup. Isn't this just grass boiled in water? A small sip. Yeah. It tastes like dirt.
"I don't care much for it." Instinctively, I spoke in Latin. The confusion on governor's face is immediate and apparent. Crap.
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The Foreign Empress
التاريخيةA cold and potentially fatal marriage, an imperial court embroiled in assassination and conflict, a hidden conspiracy that could shatter not just a four-century-long peace but the empire itself. In the midst of it all, a girl whose struggle to survi...
