87. Palace (Patreon)

The scribe’s eyes keep darting from place to place, trying to devour everything in her line of sight. The capital was expansive, and she wouldn’t have enough time to even get out of the palace, so she wanted to see as much as she could even if it was from her limited position.

The path to the palace was a straight one. Other cities would have not done that for the sake of defensiveness, but Asina feared nothing. The walls were too strong, and the forces protecting it even more. No army would breach the walls to march uninterrupted to the heart of the city. And even then, they spent half an hour riding. Asina was just that colossal. How do people even get around? A person walking from the palace to the outer walls would take around an hour.

From that trail of thought, what worried Aloe more, was the walls. Not only was the city surrounded by big enough walls that she doubted siege weaponry was even effective, but then the palace had her own set of battlements. A fort on its own.

This time, they were interrupted.

“Earlier than expected, sister.” A man covered in white robes with golden embroilments walked in front of them.

“We had luck with our journey, what can I say.” Rani dismounted with a graceful jump; her camel didn’t even notice the movement. “But what about you? Have you been waiting for us all day long, Kareem?”

“You wish.” The man – a sultanzade judging by the interaction – blew in derision. “I was bored and so happened to notice you crossing the main gate.”

Noticed us... crossing the main gate? Aloe spun to look at the gate they used to enter Asina, and it was so far away that the mist of the horizon partially blocked the view. How? Ideas started blossoming in her mind, the simplest answer inspiring her. An infusion focused on the eyes perhaps?

“Can we enter then? As you may assume, brother, we are tired after these three days of travel.”

“But of course, I am no one to stop you, Rani. Not anymore.” Kareem made his way to the side and bowed down; a gesture that came burlesque rather than earnest. “Fret not, dearest mother is not yet aware of your arrival, so I recommend you avoiding her until you get some sleep.”

“You read my next movements with precision.” It was Rani’s turn to blow air.

“What can I say? I was always the observant one.” The male sultanzade squinted with malice. “And who may this girl be? She must be important to travel with an emir, or not? Is she your concubine, sister?”

The blush came naturally, but Aloe kept her mouth shut. Not only retorting to a sultanzade was short of harsh punishment, but it was obvious that she wasn’t invited into the conversation.

“You dream too much, Kareem.” Rani obfuscated her mouth with her hand. “I am still unchained, whether it may be by marriage or relationships. She is my scribe of commoners.”

Kareem’s eyes darkened at the last word. “Ah, I see.” The sultanzade sighed as if he had lost interest. Curiously, that only made Rani smiled more. Though her brother couldn’t see that from his angle. “I will get going then, Khalida must be searching for me.”

“Always the loving brother, are you not?” This time, Kareem didn’t respond to the emir’s words. He simply squinted his eyes and disappeared into the walls.

Rani walked back to the entourage and mounted her camel as if the previous interaction hadn’t happened.

“Let us get going, shall we not?” And with her words, they entered the palace, the guards stationed on the inner walls let them in without a fuss.

The sheer size of the palace of Asina became evident as they strode through the gardens surrounding the main building. Is that... a forest? Aloe had never seen a forest as the emirate of Sadina didn’t have one, the closest thing she had was her oasis, and whilst dense in tree quantity, that wasn’t what piqued her interest. How are they this green? And how are these many trees? And what are those? They aren’t palm trees of any kind...

Everyone knew the name of woods, especially when talking about furniture, but it was a whole different world to see the very trees by themselves. Their foliage and barks went through every possible shade in the green and brown spectrum, the novelty impressed Aloe even though they wouldn’t stand a chance against the majesty of the ter’nar.

Why is everything this big? Aloe kept asking herself, now as they walked on an interior road. Why do they have interior roads? Awe shifted into desperation, the absurdity of everything stressing out.

“Stop.” Rani motioned with her hand up. “Continuing forward will lead us to the main palace, for today we will go to my wing.”

The soldiers didn’t question the sultanzade and Aloe was too distracted with the architecture to ponder the words ‘my wing’. The formation shifted, Rani taking the lead and the soldiers shifted back. Born and raised in Sadina, they were as lost as Aloe in these corridors.

Servants walked out and down the corridors. It was easy to tell who was a noble or a servant. Not only the luxury of the clothing was a dead giveaway, but it was easier to tell by the lack of clothing. Maids were astonishingly beautiful with skimp clothing that highlighted their specific assets, whereas manservants were mostly naked from the torso up and showed their muscled bodies.

Whether it was men or women, everyone was sexualized in Asina palace.

Aloe kept her eyes on the ceiling, inspecting the architecture and the paintings, as otherwise, she wouldn’t know what to do with her eyes. She already felt her cheeks heat up. Dunes, the maids back in Sadina were conservative... Lulu’s tight outfit came back to her mind, and it looked modest compared to some of the outfits the scribe saw through the corner of her eyes. Oh, great heavens, those are just strings...

As her breathing trembled, Aloe decided to close her eyes and let her camel guide her. A few minutes later, they arrived at their destination.

“The maids will shortly guide you,” Rani started, “but to summarize, this room will be for all four of you and the one next door is yours, Aloe.”

Even if the room were just to be a closet – which didn’t seem that bad after seeing the scale of the whole palace – Aloe was just grateful to finally have her own separate resting place.

“I will be staying in that room at the end of the corridor, you may notify me of any emergencies, otherwise, the servants will be more than happy to assist you. We will meet here tomorrow at first light to meet with Aaliyah. That will be all. You are dismissed.”

Like a coordinated squadron, the soldiers marched into their assigned room and Rani did the same to her own, leaving Aloe all alone in the corridor. The scribe looked from side to side, it was only her encroached by sleek and golden decoration. She heaved up her bags and entered her room.

“Oh, it’s not a closet.” She closed the door with her foot and left the bags on the ground. “Not as big as my bedchamber in Sadina, but it does look more luxurious. Well, time to unpack.”

Aloe didn’t carry many belongings with her, only a single change of clothes and other trinkets she may need. A look at the single wardrobe in the room revealed some clothes for her to wear.

“Uhm...” She picked up a dress with a short skirt and an open chest area. It was the most modest one. “I think I’ll ask the maids for clothes first... But I can’t come out with these clothes...” The scribe said as she pinched up the bottom of her dusty garb.

After fumbling a bit with every piece of clothing in the closet and her own spare set, Aloe put something that wouldn’t make her embarrassed. Before leaving her room, she grabbed a small bottle just in case.

The sun had already begun settling down, orange lights pouring into the open corridors, but that didn’t mean it was difficult to find a maid to assist her. In minutes, Aloe had a newly changed clothing selection with more modest – though equally astonishing – designs. She felt bad wearing them without showering before, but after talking with the maid that served her, the baths of the palace would be likely full until midnight, meaning she could only maybe get a calm and empty bath then.

It wasn’t good to trust the snake-tongues, but rumors about the promiscuous Asina baths were too prominent to ignore them. Bathing once everyone was sleeping was her best bet.

As she organized the lent jewelry, thinking about what may be more appropriate to wear, the room’s door swung wide open revealing a feminine silhouette.

Aloe didn’t recognize it.