16. Silence (Patreon)

There was a brief stunned silence between the two women.

“I do not understand your proposal,” Fatima said. “You are more than capable of using Nurture by what I am seeing. Why would you need me to teach you about it?”

“There is a limit to how far a student can go without a teacher,” Aloe admitted. “You are right that I am acquainted with some stances, but not all of them. Even if I were not to be proficient with them, I would like to know all of them.”

Fatima tightened the embrace on her chest, her cleavage resting on her arms. Is this a test of some sort or is she being truthful? Even with the sense stance, the princess couldn’t detect flaws in the petite woman’s expression that may incline the balance to one side or the other. I guess I’ll need to treat it as truth then. She thought much to her dismay.

“I was under the impression that Rani trained you well.” Fatima threw an attack, and for the first time, it worked.

The scribe faltered, if ever-so-slightly. Her body shuddered and her breathing had a small hiccup, even if her visage remained impassive. It would seem as if the woman herself noticed it as she shifted in her palanquin after that. Fatima noticed how she was gathering her thoughts. An opening, a small one, but an opening, nonetheless. That single shallow strike managed to recover her confidence, even if she didn’t obtain meaningful information out of it.

“Rani has not taught me anything herself. Nor Naila for that matter.” Aloe added hastily the last part. “You will not obtain any information from them if you try to scry them.”

“Hmm.” Fatima mused unconsciously, not knowing what to make out of that fact.

She’s not lying… But then how did she get this good with charm? Is she really self-taught? Or worse… are her lies so good that I cannot even detect them with my senses?

“Whilst my Nurture is not lacking like Rani, you would be better off with the teachings of other sultanzade.” The princess stated the obvious.

“I am not only buying your tuition.” The scribe squinted at her. “But also your silence.”

“I… see.”

The aphrodisiac was valuable, that was without a doubt. But her offer was even more so. The same deal, a bit of gold per bottle and monopoly rights with only the added price of my silence and basic Nurture classes. The fact that both of them had put their silence on the table was significant. They wouldn’t want to talk about the transaction, so no part would betray the trust. She doesn’t want Mother nor Rani to know about her Nurture, and I don’t want other sultanzade to get their clutches on the aphrodisiac… After all, the aphrodisiac was her only way to match older or more talented sultanzade.

Her only chance at rulership.

There was only one way to inherit the throne in Ydaz, and that was by force. Force that she lacked. Force that she was being offered.

“I have some questions first that I need to get some confirmation to,” Fatima said.

“Go on.” Aloe gestured with her hand to keep her talking.

“The deal includes your silence and exclusive rights to the aphrodisiac, right?”

“But of course.” The scribe nodded. “Rani knows of the existence of the aphrodisiac, yet she knows nothing about its power or has even tasted it. Nor who I have sold it to.”

“Nice, nice. Though I doubt she would have a use for it with her skills.” That was a good assurance to be had. “Secondly, your lessons only take effect during your stay in the palace?”

“I would not be so pessimistic with the lessons.” Aloe started. “If we were to find each other outside of the palace of Asina, I may require advisement, but overall, yes. The lessons will be almost limited to my stay here. I would also like to add that these lessons will be totally private and under no public scrutiny.”

“I would not have it any other way.” Quite literally. Aaliyah-al-Ydaz didn’t like her tactics to be dispersed outside of her blood, but there had been some exceptions. The fact that the scribe was still alive and was the personal scribe of one of her favorite daughters meant that she was a safe enough bet.

“Is that a sealed deal?” The petite woman offered a hand from her prone position, though her arm didn’t reach that far.

Fatima walked close to her, but she didn’t kneel. “A complete transaction indeed.” And shook the scribe’s hand. A very weak grasp. Hmm…

“Should we work out a schedule then?” Aloe proposed once their hands separated.

“Oh, you amuse me.” Fatima let out a fake laugh. “It is not like your day is occupied now, is it? I will visit you when I can and that will be the schedule. Fret not, unlike my siblings, my understanding of Nurture is more grounded. I am sure that even a few lessons will be more than enough to cover most bases.”

“I hope so.” The disabled woman’s eyes shone with desire.

Desire to remove herself from this place.

I can’t say I wouldn’t want that too.

{*}

That… went well? Aloe was not sure what to get out of that interaction with Fatima. Far easier than I had expected. She didn’t know if it was because she was on the princess’ good graces or that her nonchalant attitude due to having not much to lose made it easier to negotiate. At some point… things don’t matter anymore.

After a few minutes, the soldiers came back and returned her to her room. The rest of the day was spent as normal, laying on her bed reading some botany books, groaning away her boredom. It was productive reading those books, they gave her a higher understanding of farming that didn’t even know existed, but they were far from exciting. 

Making new undiscovered forms of life is interesting. This… this is not. But who would have thought that worms are actually good for the soil, huh? Nature’s weird. Worms in a sack of wheat? Plague inducing. Worms in soil? Better harvests. At least not as bad as when I discovered that banana trees weren’t trees but fucking herbs. Like what? Who the fuck made it that way? The heavens or blind, retard, piss-drunk scholars?

Aloe’s mental health continued to dip down, no number of feasts and successful transactions could help her. Even if at this point Farah was the only one caring for her, that didn’t make the bathroom breaks any better. Zeeshan had yet to give his approval for her to sit down, and as much as it annoyed her, Aloe knew her body couldn’t withstand it and had to compel.

The ‘acuity’ internal infusion helped with reading as her eyes caught words easily and they took a bit more time to tire, but the infusion did nothing for her mental capacity or health.

“I want to try so maaaany things…” Aloe groaned in boredom now that she was alone in her room, and she didn’t voice out any important topics. Not that her enhanced senses had caught any whisp of spying. “But I’m trapped heeeeere...”

Even if she was well-fed, her body felt weak from the lack of movement and stimuli. She ached for those sleep-deprived nights back when she was made a scribe. They were so full of interactions and information… so dynamic…

Soon night came, though paradoxically enough, it was hard to detect it. Her eyes became so sharp that the veil of outside darkness was easily perceivable, and because she was covered in blankets from head to toe, she didn’t even feel the cold.

The scribe put the expensive-looking book she was reading on her nightstand and disposed herself to sleep. She didn’t even bother snuffing out the candles in the room, not that she could besides the ones on her nightstand, but she wasn’t the one paying for them.

“My brain is turning into mush…” Her encounters with the sultanzade of the palace didn’t do any good for her aching heart, only bringing more chaos to her low-activity life. Any disruption, no matter how lesser, felt life-shattering for her now. “I wish I could just sleep until next year…”

Aloe closed her eyes and switched her ‘acuity’ for ‘toughness’, a gesture that had almost become second nature. It’s easier to act tough than to be tough. A heavy sigh left her mouth as she disposed herself to escape to the world of dreams.

Knock. Knock.

The knocking on her bedchamber’s room was heard, alongside with the creaking of the moving door.

Or not. Aloe painfully groaned and raised her body. A sensual backlit figure stood in the frame of the door. Her curves were pronounced, her hips overwhelming, yet the silhouette overall was more rectangular than curved, the byproduct of a toned body. She wore a tight dress that exposed much of her skin and her breasts, single peaks threatening to pierce through the fabric. The scribe almost forgot to breathe as the woman stepped forward, her movements oozing with sexual appeal. There was a primordial rawness in that body and its mannerism that made her mouth water, her body aching in desire.

Charm. Aloe realized as she looked right at the woman’s shining eyes, instantly throwing a bucket of cold water on her growing ardor. And that smell…

Grace’s Exaltation.