53. Scribe (Patreon)

“I... of course, Rani,” Aloe responded submissively, doing everything in her reach to not irate the ruler of the city.

“Good.” The emir clasped, a smile written on her face, her eyes closed in amusement. “Going back to the subject at hand, you want to be my scribe of commoners. Right, Aloe Ayad?”

There was something in the woman that it made Aloe impossible to be mad at her. It wasn’t only her unparalleled beauty, able to leave men and women breathless alike, but also her speech. Words flew from her mouth with the cadence of a river of honey; a sweet taste, and a soft texture that drove people mad. Her gentle, albeit seductive, gestures only exacerbated her charisma.

“T-that is i-indeed my intention, Rani.” Aloe found herself stuttering as the gaze of both sultanzade set on her. Though it wasn’t the youngest one at fist range that afflicted her.

“Tamara, what do you think?” Rani-al-Sadina turned her face towards the scribe of commerce.

Aloe was surprised to notify her presence. She had been so distracted with the imperial sisters that everyone else in the chamber faded into the deep confines of her mind, even if she very much felt their gazes scratching her back, inquiring and vicious. Her embarrassment resurfaced.

“As you are aware, my Emir,” Tamara started, “there’s a severe lack of staff in the palace. Not only with the scribes, which we are only working at three-fifths of our normal manpower but, overall, every possible position due to the previous emir’s poor management.”

“So you are saying that she would fit other positions in the palace better than the highly-coveted scribe position?” The older sultanzade rested her head on the back of her hand as she gazed at the mature scribe.

“I am not saying anything, that would be unbecoming of my position,” Tamara responded with a diplomacy that was all too familiar to Aloe. “I am just stating the possible options and open workspaces at the palace. Nothing else, nothing more.”

“I see. I see.” Rani-al-Sadina ruminated. “Then the destiny of this girl’s job is at my hands, that’s what you are entailing?”

Aloe’s eyes shot wide open as the words reached her ears, her heart dropping to the sands.

“Your decision-making capabilities were never in question, my Emir.” The scribe responded. “You alone are the one with the power to decide how the free jobs at the palace are filled.”

It was hard to contain her mask upon hearing such arguments. Aloe had come for the job as an emir’s scribe, not only it would allow her to continue living her life as normal, but it would allow her to form a lot of connections. If the emir decided to give her the job of a common scribe or worse, a maid, then she would be in no position to refuse because she was the one that petitioned for a job. If the emir accepted with a job – any job – then refusing it wouldn't be different to denying her grace, her authority. Her strength.

Aloe’s fate, in all senses of the sentence, was in the hands of the woman lazily sitting on the throne mindlessly inspecting her nails.

“Those are good points, scribe Tamara.” Aloe skipped a heartbeat as Rani talked. “But you are a scribe for a reason, so tell me. Is the petitioner qualified for the job as my personal scribe of the commonfolk?”

“No.” Tamara nonchalantly responded, almost making Aloe faint on the spot.

“Oh~” Rani-al-Sadina let out a smile that alone lowered the temperature of the audience hall by a significant mark. “Do elaborate.”

“This woman is certainly learned in many subjects, basic qualifications like knowing how to read and write are already given for granted, but her knowledge of Mathematics, Economics, and Language are far more suited for the position of scribe of commerce rather than the scribe of commonfolk.”

“Are you suggesting she should take your position?” Whilst before the emir only appeared entertained, now Tamara had piqued her interest.

“Heavens know I don’t intend to leave my position yet, my Emir.” Tamara swayed her head. “I was suggesting a position under my wing.”

“Given your arguments, that’s understandable. But the decision is mine alone to take.”

“I have never stated otherwise.”

Rani-al-Sadina squinted her eyes as if saying, “Yes, you never did say so,” but no words came out of her mouth. The whole audience hall fell into a pregnant silence broke, no one dared to speak before the emir said so.

“I accept your petition.”

The emir spoke those words so casually that it took Aloe a few seconds to process it. The next voice she heard wasn’t as welcoming.

“Haven’t you heard? The emir accepted your query, now remove yourself from the queue. Next!” Scribe Nuha shouted tiredly, bags hanging under her eyes. She couldn’t care less about Aloe, she just wanted to finish her workday.

Stunned, Aloe moved to the side. She remained in the hall as she didn’t know what to do now, no one gave her any orders nor made her out, so she stayed next to the throne in silence as the petitioner’s line slowly diminished.

Naila, the emir’s sister, looked at her as they waited in silence. Rani-al-Sadina didn’t speak again to the remainder of the audience. Aloe did her best to ignore the sultanzade’s gaze, both of them, but especially Naila’s. Saying that her eyes contained aggressiveness was falling short.

The line of people seeking aid and knowledge from the emir stopped growing a while ago; the guards at the entrance of the audience hall stopped letting them in. Yet those that remained sometimes peered at Aloe, their gazes making her blush. She did her best to contain her emotions, impassivity was her game, but the embarrassment was overwhelming. I should have left. Aloe thought time and time again as the shame became unbearable.

Before she even noticed, all the petitioners were gone, the first thing she heard was the loud steps of Nuha’s heels as they rushed out of the room, not wanting to remain a second more inside. Those were followed by the emir’s groans.

“Aaah~” Rani-al-Sadina stretched her arms and let out a rather suggestive groan. “That was a charged day, for sure.”

“You shouldn’t groan like that, it is unbefitting of your new position.” Tamara corrected her.

“Are you lecturing the emir on how to behave?” Rani squinted her eyes at the scribe as she stood up and also stretched her legs, the loose robes of her attire swaying with the gesture.

“I am lecturing a young woman who has forgotten what manners are.” The scribe smiled at her with a derisive smile and a tilt of her head.

“I could order you killed for this.” The emir’s eyes shone in animosity.

“Do so, it’s not like I have much time remaining. At least I will have put an unruly girl in its place whilst doing so. Quite the profitable transaction.”

“You are saying that I have become unruly after coming into power, but I feel you are the one who’s smugger about it?”

“Me smug? No way.” Tamara added smugly, the expression exacerbating the wrinkles in her visage.

Rani-al-Sadina sighed. “Guards, begone. Your presence is no longer needed.” The guards in the room looked at her as if saying that she wouldn’t be safe if they went away. “Do not fret for my security, Naila here could beat you all before you could even blink.”

The guards, not only in the audience hall but also at the doorway, squinted her eyes in doubt. Instants later a breeze swept the room. Aloe yelped as her dress thrashed around, only after her hair settled down, she noticed what had happened.

W-what? Her blood froze as she saw that Naila was no longer next to her but instead behind a duo of guards. With daggers in front of their necks. When?

“Have you understood it now?” The emir smiled warmly.

The guards didn’t even react to the daggers, probably because there wasn’t even time to do so. They just walked out of the room; their movements stiff as a door that needed a bit of oil. Rani-al-Sadina bid them goodbye with a sarcastic sway of her hand.

Once the guards were out, Naila relaxed her position and sheathed her daggers which had been hiding under her robe with a flick of her fingers. The movement was so fast that Aloe barely registered that there were no longer weapons in her hands.

“You should get better security, sister,” Naila commented nonchalantly, the bloodlust and the endangerment of the guard’s life only fiction by now. Aloe almost flinched as the sultanzade’s eyes laid on her, only barely managing to hang on her mask. Mostly because, like the guards, she was too stunned to react.

“I have you, don’t I?” The older sister walked up to her and caressed her hair. “We should do something with your looks. This monk attire and vibe doesn’t suit your status as a sultanzade.”

“Fashion is useless.” The young sister sighed.

“I wouldn’t say so. There are some uses. People would be less on guard if you wore more attractive clothes. They would think something like ‘There’s no way this cute girl could eviscerate me in half!’ or something like that.”

“I doubt people have those thoughts. But it could work...” Naila scratched her lip, ignoring Rani’s playfulness with her hair. “But if I wore revealing clothes then my muscles would be obvious. That would put them alert.”

“Then we must do a careful examination of every possible attire in the city to check which is the most suitable for you.”

Aloe was at a loss for words. How can they be so casual? Not only Naila had put knives on guards’ necks a few seconds ago but had also been overtly hostile these last few hours. Tamara looked at her with a hint of sympathy, almost like she had the same thoughts.

“What shall we do with her?” Tamara asked the emir as she pointed at Aloe with her eyes. “If she is going to become a new scribe, then she’ll need an office and some training.”

“Right, I had forgotten about it.” Rani-al-Sadina removed the hands from her sister’s hair. “Tamara, please show Aloe the commonfolk scribe’s office. Everything should be already prepared for her to work tomorrow, so just arrange for her the basics and tell the scribes who previously were under Shahrazad’s command to teach her anything she needs.”

“They are not going to be exactly cooperative. To them, they have been stolen from a promotion after the green daughter of the previous scribe inherited the position by her connections.”

“That’s not the case and they know it.”

“People are rarely that logical.”

“Oh, tell me about it.” The emir snickered. “But they will comply. For those are my orders.”

Aloe hadn’t seen the previous emir’s much even if both her parents had worked under them, but as that smile met her eyes, she clearly knew Rani-al-Sadina outmatched them in regalness with ease.

“But of course.” Tamara bowed to her and then turned to face Aloe. “Come on girl, we have a lot of stuff to set you to date and there are only a few hours of daylight remaining.”

“Y-yes.” Aloe snapped out of her confusion and followed Tamara as the gazes of the sultanzade pierced her back.