The Palace Pt. 10

Yasina was delighted when the tale of my encounter with Mira spread across the city. Semira herself had something to do with that. The story became known as the Four Candles: apparently we had met in a plain room, lit by a single candle. We ate plain bread and cheese, and drank the cheapest of table wines.

But we talked, and talked ... until the candle burned low, so that we had to light another. And so on, until, we burnt through all four candles. Then we repaired to her bedroom, and had sex four times - once for each candle? I only remembered three - but who am I to argue with a good story? Even the 12 roses made their appearance.

Bishkur was pleased that the tale specifically referred to his water project, and his cherished fountains and cisterns. Yasina loved the fact that the story was on everyone's lips. And I am sure that it didn't harm Semira's business, either.

The Empress kept me busy. She even let me choose which concubines to call upon. But that made me nervous - perhaps I was becoming paranoid. So I chose all of them. I put my two pregnant girls - Olom and Nima - first, but little Avadi was also near the top of the list.

Yasina also resumed her pressure on Bishkur. I was given two nights off, without explanation, and then called to see the Empress the following morning.

- "What is wrong with him?" she asked.

I didn't know how to answer that, so I chose to treat it as a rhetorical question.

- "Can you not teach him better?" said Yasina.

- "We can try, Highness -" I began.

- "Or are we wasting our time? Can he do it? Tell me the truth, Carrach: do you think he will ever be able to ... father children?"

Was that a little slip, on her part? Yasina had become less careful, with what she said around me. I knew better than to believe that she cared for her son's well-being. But her worries about his marriage weren't primarily a question of alliances, or of prestige. She wanted a legitimate heir.

- "There is still hope, Highness." I said. "It may just be a matter of finding the right woman."

Yasina didn't share my confidence. I'm not sure if these things were connected, but Bishkur went on more inspection tours, visiting army garrisons as well as fountains and aqueducts. That gave me the opportunity to go home a few more times.

Father was not as well. He looked worn, and tired more easily. Minika was clearly worried about him - and me. But other than provide money, there wasn't much I could do.

Bishkur was gone for almost three weeks. That left me with an unusual amount of free time. Yasina only called on me for sexual services once. I suspected that someone else was 'pulling her yarn', as they say. So I read, and tried to think of a way out of my predicament. That's right: I was sleeping with a dozen beautiful women - and looking for an escape.

I was allowed to sleep with Nanka once as well. Though I saw her every few days, in the baths, our brief exchanges of words were always guarded. It was different, lying in her arms, able to whisper a little more. And she was more appealing, more arousing, than most of the concubines.

- "Will Yasina let me see the children, when they're born?" I asked her.

- "You worry too much." she said.

- "I don't have much else to do. And don't you think that I should worry, in my position?"

- "No. Worry when you can make change - on'y then." And with that fatalistic comment, she slipped from bed and left me to sleep.

Bishkur came back from his tour, and turned everything upside down. He arranged a meeting with the Empress, Opkor, and me.

- "Why this gathering?" she asked. Why is Carrach here? And Opkor?"

- "Carrach, because what I have to say concerns him directly. And Opkor, because he would be listening in any case." said Bishkur.

Yasina didn't like that comment, but she couldn't deny that it was true. Opkor showed no reaction. "Well?" said the Empress. "What is it?"

- "I was in Valkh, and I found ... the Emperor's first wife."

- "What are you talking about?" shouted Yasina. "Are you speaking in the third person, now? And are you saying that you've contracted a marriage? Without asking me?"

A small part of my mind noted her choice of the word 'asking' - as if the Emperor needed her permission. He did, of course, but she was not usually so blatant about the imbalance of power between them. Bishkur, by contrast, would have chosen a much less offensive term - 'consulting', for example.

The rest of my brain was struggling to understand what he was doing. How could he arrange a marriage which he was - at present - unable to consummate?

- "That is precisely what I am telling you, Mother." said Bishkur. "I did not have time to ... consult you, because the father of the young lady in question was considering a marriage alliance. An alliance which I believed we should prevent, if possible."

- "WHO?" shouted Yasina.

- "I arrived in Valkh, and met with General Vanzahd." said Bishkur. "He gave a banquet in my honor. I met his daughter, Bereyar."

- "Where have I heard that name before?" asked Yasina.

Opkor spoke up for the first time. "She was to marry Prince Alperix."

- "Oh, her." said Yasina. "Isn't she old?"

- "Nineteen." said Bishkur. "Pretty, and very charming." Coming from Bishkur, that meant that the girl was intelligent. He had no use for giggling debutantes, or flirtatious conversation.

- "And who was she supposed to marry this time?" asked Yasina, obviously nearing the end of her limited patience.

- "The eldest son of General Pitarryat." he said.

There was silence in the room, as the Empress and her eunuch considered this revelation. Even a neophyte like me could figure it out. Valkh was the second-largest city in Zamarka. Because of its location, the Governor had access to considerable wealth, and controlled a large army, for the defence of our frontier with the Kilchiks.

General Vanzahd had been seeking an alliance with one of Zoer's sons, before Alperix died in the Night of the Knives. But now - if he forged a close alliance with Pitarryat, the victor in our campaign against the Anysi ... between them, they would control two armies. That would pose a sizeable threat to the present occupants of the Palace.

Bishkur let it sink in.

- "I believed that it was ... essential, to act quickly." he said.

- "So you offered to make her First Wife?" asked Yasina. "We don't need Vanzahd, though. Not that much."

- "I disagree, Mother. As of now, you have the support of Pitarryat and Tarasp. But would Pitarryat remain loyal, if we ... forbade his son's marriage? And Tarasp is aging. He will be stepping down in a few years. This is the best opportunity to tie Vanzahd to us for good."

Yasina glanced at Opkor. The eunuch inclined his head. But the Empress was still angry, still unconvinced. "Aren't you forgetting something, Bishkur?" she said. "It's not like you to overlook the obvious."

- "I have considered all of the possibilities." he replied.

- "Really?" said Yasina, with a smirk. "What about the wedding night?"

- "I considered that as well." said her son.

- "What are you talking about?" she said, loudly. "You aren't going to be able to consummate the marriage! Have you 'considered' how you're going to fuck the girl? Because you won't be able to send in Carrach as a substitute this time!"

- "Why not?" said the Emperor.

Now I understood why he wanted me at this meeting. But if there had been a hole in the floor, I would have tried to burrow into it.

Yasina was so shocked, she couldn't even answer.

- "You ... you can't be serious." she said, finally.

- "Why not?" he said, again. He was more in control of his emotions than even Opkor (whom I suspected of not even having any).

- "Because ... he would know. She would know. They'd both know!" said the Empress. "You couldn't keep a secret like that!"

- "Have we not done exactly that, Mother, these past months? Bereyar has met me once. If Carrach stood in for me at the wedding, there is no reason why he could not ... substitute in the marriage bed as well. How would she ever know?"

- "WE WOULD KNOW!" shouted Yasina. "And if Carrach got her pregnant ..."

- "Would that not be ideal?" said Bishkur, calmly.

His mother was stunned into silence.

"Face the facts, Mother. As it stands now, I am unlikely to give you a grandchild ... in the near future. Yet the Empire desperately needs stability. An heir. Carrach can provide that. His children are ... likely to resemble me physically, at least."

"I understand that you may have difficulty ... accepting this. But I see no harm in a son of Carrach's becoming my heir, if I cannot produce children. Think of it as an adoption."

Yasina was thinking about it. "This is ... a great deal to take in, all at once. I must ... think on this. Give me ... some time. Let's all think this over."

She dismissed us. As we left her chamber - the Emperor and I - Bishkur took me by the arm. "A word, Carrach - please."

He led the way to his private quarters, and took me out on his balcony, where it was highly unlikely that we would be overheard.

- "Now you can tell me what you are thinking." he said.

But I was too confused, too angry, to get a word out.

"Please, say something, Carrach. What is your worst fear? Tell me that."

- "Really?" I spat out. "My worst fear?"

- "Trust me, Carrach. As I trust you. Tell me the truth." As ever, Bishkur was looking me right in the eye as he said that.

- "Children." I said.

- "Explain."

- "I sire a child on this poor woman, and you - or your mother - have it killed."

- "Why do you think that I would do that?" he asked, calmly.

- "You may be unable to achieve penetration right now." I said. "But we both know that you could, in the right circumstances. With the right woman. So when you finally do have a son, any child of mine becomes instantly expendable."

- "I would never do that, Carrach." said Bishkur. And I believed him.

- "Your Mother would. Or Opkor. And even if you don't - let's say I give this girl several sons. Only one survives. The rest get murdered, on the next Night of the Knives."

Bishkur put his hand on my arm. "Carrach, I swear to you. No child of yours - and no children of mine - will die in such a manner. It is a barbarous ... custom, and I will do all I can to put an end to it."

He meant it. But could he deliver on his promise?

"What else? What else do you fear?"

- "You would truly put a child of mine on the throne?" I asked him.

- "I never expected to survive myself. And I do not expect to ever have ... legitimate children, or any children, for that matter. It makes no difference whatsoever which child succeeds me, so long as they are well educated, and trained for the role."

- "And you think that this can remain a secret?"

- "Why not?"

- "A wedding? With a thousand people in attendance? A thousand people I don't know, and have never met." I said.

Bishkur shook his head. "The wedding is a highly formal occasion. You would not have to speak to anyone but Bereyar." he explained. Afterwards, there is the presentation. You would have to say a few traditional words - easily learned. The guests and dignitaries all file by, and bow to the new Imperial couple. But you will be sitting on a dais, thirty feet away. Smile occasionally, hold up a hand here and there ..."

- "You make it sound easy."

- "I would never have gone ahead unless I thought you perfectly capable of this." he said.

- "What about this poor girl - Bereyar?" I asked.

- "Carrach, would she not be better off with you, than with me? You would be kind to her, and gentle. And I have met Pitarryat's son ... Trust me: Bereyar will be much happier with you. Much happier."

- "Will?" I said. "You sound very confident that your mother will go along with this."

- "She will." said Bishkur. "It is the best solution, for her."

- "But is it the best for you?" I asked.

- "Yes. The only person whose welfare I could not consider was yours, Carrach. It is a great deal to ask of you."

- "This benefits you?" I said.

- "It is vitally important." he said, simply.

I had noticed something, while we talked. Bishkur's hesitations were fewer in number. He did not have to search for words. That meant that his words were coming from the heart. Either that, or they were rehearsed.

If Bishkur wanted to betray me, then I was a dead man. There was no one else in the Palace for me to trust.

******

I was getting married. As Bishkur had predicted, his mother chose to go ahead with it. The wedding date was set: three months away. All of the parties involved seemed to be in a hurry to get it done.

I wondered how poor Bereyar felt. Bishkur would handle all of the preliminary events, including riding in the procession that brought the girl to the Palace. But he would not have to deal with her at close range before the actual wedding. And then I would finally meet her - just moments before I took her as my wife.

Yasina had me measured, and re-measured, and then those measurements were compared to Bishkur's. An army of tailors and seamstresses would be employed on the wedding preparations, but Nanka would make the final alterations to Bishkur's clothes, in secret, so that they would fit me perfectly.

The Empress met with me half-a-dozen times. She taught me court protocol, and made me imitate Bishkur again and again, until she was satisfied with my performance. Then she would strip me of my finery, and fuck me on the floor. Or she would drag me to her bed, and ride me at the gallop. Something about wedding preparations definitely got Yasina excited.

She found a dozen reasons to keep me from going home. For a month, she refused every request I made. Finally, she gave in, and allowed me to spend a night at home. She was tempted to send a dozen guards with me - now that I was an even more valuable commodity. In the end, she decided that secrecy, or discretion was preferable to a crowd of guardsmen, which everyone on Wool street would have noticed.

Father coughed more often. I told him that I had heard the story of the Four Candles, but he insisted on telling me anyway. He made it sound as if he had been there. I wondered what he would say if he knew that I was going to be marrying a Governor's daughter.

- "I miss you." I told Minika, when we were alone. It may sound odd, considering that I was about to be wed - but it was true. I missed her level-headedness, her calm.

The wedding preparations intensified. My part in them consisted of sleeping with all of the concubines, one after another. Adina, the very first concubine I had slept with, turned out to be pregnant. So did Raia and Taola, two of the new girls.

May the Gods forgive me, but I could barely distinguish between the new girls. Raia had a stunningly beautiful face, but her body was heavy, and lacked curves. Taola was pale skinned, with blue eyes and hair so light it was the color of straw.

I was going to be a father five times, with women I barely knew. And what a lovely wedding present for my bride to be. There were times, in those months, when I thought I was going to lose my mind.

The week of preliminary festivities included spectacles for the common people, with elephants, dancers, acrobats on horseback, and lavish gifts of food. I saw none of it.

There was a banquet in honor of General Vanzahd, hosted by the Emperor. Yasina was the only woman present, and even she had to leave early, for the sake of decorum. I was allowed to observe the General from a concealed gallery, but that was as close as I got. The dancers on this occasion were more scantily clad, their dances more suggestive.

The bride to be was taken on a tour of the city, in an open vehicle pulled by six horses. This was to let Bereyar see her capital and it people, and for the people to see her. I am told that they lined the streets three and four deep. Bishkur 'led' the procession, on horseback - though he was preceded by a detachment of lancers. It would have been unseemly for the Emperor to ride in an open conveyance with his bride. Her father accompanied her instead.

There were parties, and more banquets, and a torchlight parade through the Palace grounds. Through it all, Yasina was taking no chances. I was not allowed to go home, or to show my face outside my rooms.

On the day of the wedding, Nanka came to me, to shave me.

- "Nervous?" she asked.

- "Paralysed." I replied. "But I think that I've lost my mind, so it doesn't matter."

- "This is important." she whispered. "For Bishkur. And for you." Then, to lighten my mood, she said "Sturrip" - that never failed to get a smile from me. Nanka trimmed me down below, and washed me again. I was hard the whole time.

Yasina arrived to supervise the final preparations, and to inspect my clothing for the hundredth time. I wore a golden turban, with a pearl the size of a chicken's egg set in the front. My shirt was scarlet, with emeralds for buttons. I wore a sleeveless vest over that, of green silk, picked out with gold thread.

There were even pearls on my slippers. I had seen the whole costume in a looking glass. I thought it made me look ridiculous, but the Empress was satisfied, so I suppose that the overall effect was exactly what it was supposed to be.

Yasina was more nervous than I was. She fluttered about, tugging at my clothing, making unnecessary last-moment adjustments. I bore it all as patiently as I could. This day would be over when it ended - not when I wanted it to be over. There was nothing I could do to speed up the process. It would be a test of endurance.

Now that I was completely prepared, it was time to wait. Yasina would be hours yet, getting ready herself, with Nanka assisting her.

Possibly the only person not directly involved in the wedding came to sit with me.

- "Are you nervous?" asked Bishkur.

- "I look like an idiot." I complained.

- "Better you than me." he said. For some reason that cracked me up.

We didn't talk about anything serious, suspecting that even now, someone would be watching, and listening.

- "You will like her." Bishkur said. "She is very intelligent. And quite pretty."

Eventually, it was time to move. "Good luck." said the Emperor.

I entered the great hall exactly as Yasina had made me practice it. There was no thinking involved. I just climbed the dais, found the correct spot, and stood. And waited. There was music. A speech, by some pompous, self-important cleric. It was stifling - hot and sticky. I could feel the sweat beginning to run down my back.

Finally, my bride appeared. She was escorted by her father, Governor Vanzahd. It was impossible to determine anything about her shape, as she was wildly overdressed, in traditional Zamarkan fashion. Gold and green seemed to be the dominant colors. Her head was down, representing virtue and modesty.

The Governor reached the bottom of the dais, and his daughter came on alone. She had to concentrate on getting her voluminous skirts hitched up, so that she wouldn't trip. There was also the impediment of her massive, heavy shoes. All I could see, beneath her elaborate headdress, was black hair, a straight nose, and pursed lips, as she concentrated on her task.

Then she was standing beside me, and she lifted her head. With those enormous shoes, she loomed over me. Without them, I guessed that she stood perhaps 5'9" tall. Her lipstick was too bright, which made me wonder how much control she had had over her preparations.

But then I saw her face, and forgot everything else. Her hair was jet black. The bangs were cut straight across, just above her eyebrows. Her brown eyes were alight with intelligence, and vitality. I had no idea what I had been expecting - but it wasn't this.