Chapter 8

Zaidna

The Empire of Judath

Bakavoth Palace

“Why do you think grown men refuse to bathe in public?”  Tirbeth pointed a slim finger toward the green shallows of the lake that flowed into the palace grounds.

Anji rolled her eyes.  There were several adolescent boys romping around in the water, splashing each other with excessive violence.  They were wearing little more than sopping loincloths that did nothing to spare her eyes from the private regions of their bodies.

“Look at how skinny they are!” Tirbeth exclaimed, sounding decidedly un-princess-like.  “Goddess, they’re so gross!”

Anji snorted.  She didn’t disagree.  “You wouldn’t mind them being thin if you had something to look at between their legs.”

“You’re right!” Tirbeth agreed, blushing.

Anji was just a few weeks older than Tirbeth, but strangely didn’t share the high princess’s lusty obsession with boys.  She could stomach her brother and father, but just didn’t see the allure of a bunch of animals who did nothing but fight and smell.

Tirbeth, on the other hand, threw herself at any man she found to be attractive, which was most of them.  Of course, she was rejected at every turn, not just because she was the high princess, but because she was overly aggressive and didn’t learn from her mistakes.  “Speaking of things between legs, what do you think it would be like to sleep with a dalanai? ” she asked with pursed lips.  “There should be lots of dalanais attending the noble summit, so I’d like to try seducing one.  Oh, but I suppose I should be bedded by an eshtan first for comparison’s sake.  One of these days, Anji.”

Anji sighed as Tirbeth hopped ahead of her and spun around, walking backwards so they could see each other’s faces.  “I don’t care about who or what you decide to hand your virginity off to,” Anji declared firmly.

Tirbeth twirled back around, her sandaled feet making a scratchy squelching noise as they crossed the pebbly beach.  “Hmph!  You’re no fun at all today!  But I guess even taking a walk with a grouch beats walking alone.”

Anji didn’t reply.

Tirbeth began swishing her skirts around.  “Say, we ought to go swimming just like we used to.  Remember how fun it was a couple summers ago?  Let’s just rip off all our clothes and do it now!”

“Yes, I remember,” Anji replied curtly.  “And no.  We’re sixteen and much too old for that now.  Your father—the emperor of Judath for Goddess’s sake—lets you get away with lots of things, but he’d have a stroke if you did that, especially near those boys.”

Tirbeth sighed, her shoulders rounding in disappointment.  “Oh, you really aren’t any fun,” she said, defeated.  “Still, I’m glad you came to visit today.  The entire court is getting on my nerves!  You wouldn’t believe all the toys my father’s toadies shower all over my baby brother.  Why does he deserve all that attention?  All he does is drool and sit around in his own filth.”

“All babies do that,” Anji replied, noticing that Tirbeth was leading her closer and closer to the water.  She tensed, wondering if Tirbeth meant to shove her into the lake with all her clothes on.  It wouldn’t have been the first time.

Instead, Tirbeth turned to watch the little lapping waves for a while, the soft splashing sounds only punctuated by the tinkling of the earrings that dangled from her long earlobes.  Anji frowned.  Tirbeth didn’t say anything, and always tried to hide it, but Anji knew she was still missing her mother.

“Brothers aren’t all bad,” Anji finally assured.  “Javan can be a pain sometimes, but he’s always looking out for me.”

“That’s different,” Tirbeth sulked.  “Irraj is fifteen years younger than me, but because he’s a boy he gets to inherit everything.  All the money, and that silly kada, and then he gets to sit with Father during the fancy processions now instead of me.  I was so excited about the noble summit this year, but now I won’t be the eligible empress-to-be that all the princes get to fawn over.  Now I’m just going to be the dumpy sister of a baby first in line to be emperor!”

“Oh, stop being so cranky,” Anji hushed.  “At least you get to be high princess.  I’m just a lowly western princess who only gets to live in Marin during the summers.  The whole point of my life is to marry whoever will give my family name the biggest boost.  Come to think of it, the thing that would please my father most would be if I waited twenty years until he could marry me off to Irraj.  So imagine how that makes me feel.”

“Ew!” Tirbeth exclaimed.  “But at least you can marry up.  I can only marry equal or down from here.  And it’s been ages since any noble has dared to intermarry with another race.  Besides, look at what I’d have to work with.  Emperor Angxa’s son, Xaoshu, sends nice gifts and all, but he’s so creepy and weird!  And then there’s the high prince of Chalei, but he’s been a baby ever since I can remember.”  She sighed loudly.  “Maybe I should just get it over with and marry Javan.”

“That’s disgusting,” Anji spat disapprovingly.  “I don’t know what I’d do if you married my turd of a brother.  I wouldn’t want to hear about any of your bedroom antics, either.  But I know you’d tell me anyway!”

Tirbeth giggled.

Anji looked up at the sky.  “I guess we better get moving if we want some more of those cakes from the palace kitchens.”

“Okay!” Tirbeth cheerfully agreed, joining Anji as they squelched their way up the beach.

After they managed to reach the path back to the palace, Anji turned to Tirbeth more seriously.  “So, I went to the temple like you suggested.”

“Oh, you did?  What did the Nassé say about your nightmares?”

“No, no, I didn’t get to see her.  I just went to one of the temple sessions.”

“Oh, those lectures are boring.  But I bet they’re more interesting at the actual temple than they are here in our chapel!  Were any cute boys there?”

“I don’t know,” Anji replied.  “What about you?  Did you manage to get an appointment with the Nassé?”

“No, but I’m on the list, I suppose.”  Tirbeth frowned.  “You would think that my father would be able to get me in easier, but he and the Nassé haven’t been on good terms ever since my mother died.  Anyway, I’m getting a little worried.  My nightmares are getting worse.”

“Mine, too.”

“You look okay,” Tirbeth noted as she moved close enough to peer up at Anji’s face.

“What?” Anji mumbled, quickly pulling away.  “How am I supposed to look when I’m not getting any sleep?”

“Well, I guess you do have those bags under your eyes.”  Tirbeth squinted.  “And look at those wrinkles around your lips.  I guess on second thought you do look like—”

“Whatever,” Anji dismissed.

“I’m having nightmares too, you know,” Tirbeth sniffed.  “But I still make sure to look like a princess instead of a potato.  It doesn’t take much effort.  Just a dab of concealer here, a swipe of rouge there.  And, of course, a kettle of ketas root tea every morning keeps me nice and perky.”

“Makeup and tea are the least of my concerns.”

“But if we’re going to suffer, we might as well make the most of it.  We can’t let a little sleepiness stop us from scooping up boys to—”

“I don’t care about boys!” Anji snapped.  “I want to get rid of these nightmares once and for all!”

Tirbeth fell back for a moment, startled.

“Sorry,” Anji mumbled, waiting for Tirbeth to catch up.

They made their way back into the palace gardens in silence.  Anji kept her eyes down, studying the neatly manicured lawn as she ignored the various male servants who were carefully paring down the shrubs to perfect spheres.

She shouldn’t have snapped at Tirbeth.  None of this was Tirbeth’s or anybody else’s fault.  Anji just could not get any rest.  What little sleep she got was plagued by nightmares, which made it so she couldn’t concentrate on her paintings, which made her grumpy and mean.  She wouldn’t be surprised if Tirbeth never wanted to see her ever again.  She had to do something to change this worsening trend.  “I did meet someone at the temple,” she offered tentatively.

Tirbeth immediately perked up.  “Was it a boy?”

“No, a girl.”

“Eh?”  Tirbeth grimaced in confusion.

“She’s studying to be a priestess.”

“Oh!”

“She’s that daughter of the ninth house, though.  She did the projections during the lecture.”

“Really?”  Tirbeth tilted her head thoughtfully.  “I think I’ve heard of her.  My father has her pegged as a candidate for Nassé.  She’s a commoner, right?”

Anji thought for a moment.  “Well, noblewomen can’t go to seminary, so yeah.  She’d have to be a commoner to be training there.  Besides, I don’t remember her having a crest.”

“How fascinating!” Tirbeth gushed.  “Everybody says that nobles are special because we naturally have higher houses, but then some cute little commoner comes around and blows up all our expectations.  As long as she’s not cuter than me, of course.  What’s her family name?”

“Tore—something?  When I asked about her, my uncle Vasim mentioned she’s the daughter of the High Chief Warden.”

“Toredath!  I know him.  He’s a big ugly fellow—only has one eye.  He visits my father every season to report on—oh, I don’t know—laws and . . . things.  He’s not my type at all, but his men are all so juicy.  If only my father didn’t have me on such a tight leash, I could just—”

“Hey, I’m trying to be serious!” Anji chided.  “Do you know where this big, ugly warden lives?”

“Hmm.”  Tirbeth pursed her lips.  “I could probably ask one of the guards or servants and they’d tell me. Or at least find out for me.”

“Yes, you do that,” Anji agreed.

“Why do you care where he lives?”

“Wherever he lives, his daughter lives,” Anji explained.  “And if his daughter is training to be a priestess and has the highest house in Judath, I bet we could have her elucidate for us instead of having to wait for the Nassé.  Then we can get rid of these nightmares once and for all!”

“Oh, really?  Sleep would be so nice,” Tirbeth sighed wistfully, stretching her arms out in a feigned yawn.  “But do you really think she could do it, though?  How do you know she’d even be willing?”

“Who could say no to the high princess of Judath?” Anji asked pointedly.  “Besides, she seems nice enough.  She’d probably want to help.”

“Ooh, that sounds good!  If this works out, we won’t even need makeup to look our best anymore!”

Anji forced a smile.  Maintaining her looks really was the last thing on her mind.  What she needed now were answers, answers that could hopefully avert the storm she knew was coming.