Chapter 11 - A Field in Bloom
The weeks pass quickly after the tournament. The young concubine, Elli, finds her time split between lessons, assisting Darafel with a plan for the crisis in another world, and somehow fighting for her master's attention. With two wives to please before he can play with his pet, time with the king has grown quite precious.
Elli stretches in bed. For the third time this week, King Orduzell has not come to wake her. Her room in the new harem tower is still dark, the sun not yet high enough to peak over the walls of the citadel. Several floors above her, the Queen and the Princess-Consort are probably basking in a view of the ocean from their own bedchambers. The former serf considers that maybe she should feel jealous, but she's got her own bed in her own room, and while this floor holds chambers for three more concubines, they remain empty.
If only it would stay quiet like this.
"Elli!" A high-pitched wail faintly resonates with the stones of the tower as it disrupts the sound of birdsong from outside. "Elli!"
Instead of her master's attention, she has somehow attracted another's.
Eidiimha, daughter of the God of Holy Might, was not what the blonde concubine expected. Sure, she spent the first week weeping and wandering the halls of the castle looking for anyone to commiserate with, but she also couldn't hide the way her eyes searched for her new husband. And the entire populace of the city was thankful that someone quickly figured out how to stop the sound of her moans from rattling the foundations of the earth each night the king chose her bed.
Elli found her quite peculiar. Her moods flickered like a candle while she wore her emotions on her sleeve, less like some noble princess, and not quite like the spoiled daughter of a lord. After that first week of moping, Eidii began coming to her for advice. On everything.
The holy wife had found that the mortal world did not meet her expectations.
Of course, the human servants bowed at her feet, and the inhuman ones offered all the deference that a wife of their ruler deserved. Her own servants fell over themselves to please her, especially the healer who survived the purge of the holy knights. And that was part of the problem. Eidii loved being adored, but she'd never been around her father's worshippers before. The other part of the problem was that the world itself, the earth and the wind and nature, reacted much the same way. Even with her magic sealed--and goodness, that was another big problem for a creature like her--mysterious things simply happened when the daughter of Eidannos was nearby. King Orduzell's magically-inclined supporters were working on that.
But for actually acclimating to life in the harem, someone seemed to have nudged the second wife into Elli's arms.
"Elli!" Her bedroom door, solid heartwood, begins to grow fresh branches before the Princess-Consort gently nudges it open. "Oh! Oh dear. It's not supposed to do that, is it?" Eidii spares a glance at the latest magical mishap. "Whatever. Elli! Can you tell them that I don't NEED someone to help me with my hair?"
Elli leans forward against her knees, propping her chin on top of them. "Your hair won't just fall out if they brush it." She still considers herself quite naive outside of the peasant's life, yet she isn't sure that naive is descriptive enough for the goddess-turned-wife. "You'll get used to it, just like you got used to the bath and having to eat and drink throughout the day."
"But Elli..." Like a petulant child, Eidiimha throws herself onto the concubine's bed, and a bird throws itself at the lattice of Elli's uncovered window to tweet a song written just for the goddess. "It's weird. Isn't it weird? I could do these things all on my own if he'd just allow it. I don't like having so many... dirty... hands near me."
"They all wash their hands, trust me." Elli sighs, already too used to this behavior to hesitate before she reaches out to pat impossibly golden locks. "They're not dirty, they just wish to please you." The former serf, who certainly hasn't washed just yet since she's still waiting for her maid to arrive with breakfast, wonders how the Princess-Consort isn't complaining about her touch.
"Could you help me with it?" Rosy lips pouted. "Please, Elli? Ari refuses to help me with any of this because she says she's too busy."
This morning is one for sighs, it seems. Elli briefly wonders if this was how Arisellia felt in their early days together, or if Saph still suffers similar moments in caring for the concubine. "Of course I'll help, Eidii. But you have to let your lady, Melanie, assist me."
"Alright. I can do that, she wasn't chosen like us, but she's just holy enough to allow it." The woman glows softly even with only indirect sunlight. Elli just wonders what she means by "holy" as she's never worshiped her father or any other gods herself.
In fact, the only thing she's worshiped has been her master's cock.
After a quick trip up the staircase, Elli admires the sheen of the morning sun on Eidii's golden hair, while practically fighting the brush running through it. It wasn't that the goddess's hair was tangling, so much as the bristles just seemed to not want to let it go. The concubine feels a smile growing despite the work involved; the softness reminds her of the simple pleasure of caring for her youngest siblings, of untangling baby-fine strands and the frustration of knowing they'd get their hair dirty and tangled just moments later.
She locks that bittersweet smile and memory away quickly.
The servant beside her breaks the soft quiet of the room as she runs her fingers through her mistress's hair. "Your worshipfulness, may we braid your hair? I know some very fetching styles and your hair is just the perfect length."
Because everything about Eidii is perfect, she beams at the two of them through her dressing mirror. "Would you, Melanie? I want to be ready and have it out of the way when my husband gets another one of his dirty urges." The hopefulness in the Princess-Consort's voice is clear to Elli, even if the servant beside her twitches in fear.
"Of-of course. I'll make sure it's absolutely perfect."
Elli touches her own flaxen hair, wondering if perhaps she should ask for help too. Beyond simply being clean, she hasn't considered what she could do to attract the king back to her bed, as if he could be manipulated. And what would a lowly serf's daughter know of seduction?
It was a problem she'd mull over through that morning's breakfast and bath.
"You want to seduce him? But," Saph pauses the comb in the concubine's wet hair, "Why?"
Elli squirms, probably making the maid's job harder, but she couldn't help it. "It's silly."
"And?" Saph tugs harder to get the comb loose, saying nothing about how the blonde nearly tumbles from her stool. "You think any of the ladies of court haven't done the silliest things to get attention? One word, live birds. Wait, that's two, but still! You just want to look like you've put in some effort, not run around with a live bird in your hair. That's not so silly in comparison."
"I... am not sure I'm ready to ask about court fashions." Elli sighs. "It's just... Queen Arisselia has her role assisting him, and Princess Eidiimha is, well..."
"A trophy?"
Elli kills a snort with both hands over her face, "I'm sure she'll get settled and figure out how to turn this to her advantage. Once she gets over the novelty of this world. But then there's me, the concubine. And it's my role to make sure he gets everything he demands when, when..."
Sweet, wonderful, stubborn Saph doesn't bother hiding her snort, "The queen tells him no and the goddess gets bored of saying yes?" Elli can only nod with shame. "And it's been a while, hasn't it? I warned you, harems are always fighting for the attention of the one man who owns them. Having a couple lovers to pick from when you have appetites like his, I can understand, but harems always sounded like a bad idea to me."
"I only wish I was enough to satisfy his appetites."
"Honey, Elli, I love you, but, you do remember that you're being sent away for who knows how long, right?"
The concubine's heart crumbles at the reminder. "I know... and he's planning the campaign to take the rest of the continent, so he and Arisselia have been incredibly busy."
"So, it's a good thing he has another lover for now, and when you get back..." The maidservant leaves the comb hanging so she can wrap Elli up in a hug. "I'm sure he'll miss you so much that he'll just ravish you over and over and all over the castle."
The thought of actually being missed by her king brings another small smile to the young woman's face.
By afternoon, that smile is all but gone. Saph had helped Elli pick out an alluring gown and arrange her hair, but her king had yet to appear. The concubine spent most of the day listening as Darafel settled the last details and confirmed the list of supplies and helpers for their task. After lunch, she sat on a stiff pillow next to the bathing fountain, splashing idly with her feet as she tried to force herself to read or attempt to draw or anything to fein busywork.
Harems had shit all to do, it seems.
Elli couldn't even wander the castle halls and listen to the gossip anymore. All her news was granted by either Saph or the queen if she was especially lucky.
The only warnings she gets this time is the gentle bubbling of the water around her feet and the short-lived attempt made by the book's pages to turn into green leaves. And then the goddess's head lands on her lap.
"Elli..."
The concubine sets aside her quivering book to give Eidii her full attention.
"You can't just leave! I won't allow him to send you away for some stupid thing." The goddess pouts, looking up through long lashes. "Who will pay attention to me when you're gone?"
The fear of boredom. Elli already knows that feeling well. "It had been decided weeks ago. I'm more than happy to prove useful to our king." It isn't entirely a lie.
"But Elli..." Divine cheeks puff up. Unable to resist, the concubine gently pokes on one until Eidii releases the air in a slow whine. "What am I going to do? He's leaving to wage war, and I really don't understand the rush on his part. Father told me it can take decades, centuries even to subjugate an entire planet. He'll be gone for who knows how long if he intends to make that much progress."
