Author's Note: I don't understand equine biology very well. My degree was in English, not horse things. So... I'm so sorry if I made a mistake!
***
The first one of Rahela's retinue to notice there was something wrong was Gabi. Rahela had been miserably pouting at a dressing table, desperately combing her bare head as if she could somehow force the hair to grow faster. Not even dressing herself, Gabi woke up and padded on over to the still quietly panicking Rahela. That child lazily looked around at some jewelry and cosmetics on the table with a yawn.
"Dear Sister, My Empress," the child said with a stretched voice, "would you like for me to comb your hair this morning?"
Without an answer, Rahela continued to run a comb through what little hair there was.
"Hm?" Gabi's little brow wrinkled as she looked at her sister's torso, which lacked the normal long locks. Then she looked up at her sister's head. Her jaw fell. Her feet took her back some steps. Her hands went to her open mouth.
Finally having something else to occupy her mind, Rahela tightly gripped the whole comb in one hand and put the other on Gabi's cheek. She said to her sister, "I was assaulted in my sleep. My hair is gone." Or, most of it was gone, but honestly she might as well have been bald.
There were perhaps four complete seconds before Gabi lowered her hands and whispered up to her, "Who?"
"I have my suspicions," Rahela whispered back, "but I won't tell you a thing. Help me wrap my head and throat in a veil and wimple."
After a short nod, Gabi put a cap on her head, which was slightly difficult to pin into place because the hair was too thin for normal pinning techniques. The girl changed her mind and put the cap aside. Then she decided to wrap a small white cloth around Rahela's head with a few clever but small knots. Since this thin turban had a padding of sorts, and it was firm on the woman's head, it could take more pins once the veil and wimple could be applied. The turban was easily hidden, and Rahela simply looked as if she was feeling more modest than normal.
"How long will you hide this?" the girl asked.
"I'm not hiding it," Rahela gently explained as she picked up a small bowl of cool water. "However, I won't advertise it. If someone were to ask, I might give the truth, although rumors will likely begin after a time. I'll allow everyone else to discuss it, for I don't wish to."
As her older sister began lightly rinsing her face, trying to calm her burning skin and mind, Gabi said, "Maybe the people will assume you've finally given in to the Yahsin standards of wifely hair."
"I don't care what they'll assume," Rahela said, but she did care.
The rest of the morning continued as if not a single thing was out of place.
The afternoon was when something different happened.
Rahela kept only her little sister with her when she retreated, of all places, to the Emperor's beloved bathing chamber. It looked just as cold as it felt, since nobody was using the place. The sunken floor held no water. There were no pleasant scents in the air. Through the magnificent windows, the scenery itself could've made Rahela's breath fog her vision, or so she privately mused.
Her female bodyguard, along with her male counterpart, arrived next. They both bowed and stood to one side as they waited. Finally, Ammas appeared, quietly closing the door behind himself. After he bowed, there was a prickly, full moment with no talking. Then Rahela gave the first words.
"Ammas, I'm going to dismiss these other bodyguards."
Those two didn't look frightened, nor confused. Their faces were like stone.
Ammas' brow wrinkled as he asked, "Madam, why would you do that?"
"Because there's evidence to suggest the woman cut my hair in the night."
All three bodyguards turned from serious to astonished, especially the woman. Ammas even seemed to lean back a bit as his now wide eyes moved from her, to Rahela, and back to that bodyguard in question. "If that's true, then why will you dismiss the other one?"
"Because he's her partner," Rahela explained. "I hired them both at once, and they'll be dismissed both at once." She reached up to graze an edge of her veil and continued, "I'll do so very amiably. I'll send the highest recommendations. I have no desire to ruin them."
"But," Ammas took a gulp of something here, possibly saliva or mucus or both, "if she truly did cut your precious, beloved hair, then you should give a much stronger punishment than that."
Her lips only just smiling, Rahela asked, "Ah, do you have more experience in judgement? Do you have a finer mind?"
Ammas' first response was a very tight one. His face tightened. His hands tightened. Even his posture tightened. Yet, after a few seconds that were quite uncomfortable, Ammas seemed to loosen into something more normal. He calmly but reluctantly said, "I won't question Your Majesty."
Nodding and turning back to face the other two bodyguards, Rahela said, "I'm afraid I have no more use for the two of you. You'll have your recommendations within the hour. Go and pack your belongings."
On the way out of the bathing chamber, Gabi whispered up to her, "Will you try to hide this assault from the other maidens working under you?"
"That's a truly futile idea," Rahela whispered in return.
At night, when it was time for her hair to be combed, Rahela quietly showed the rest of the girls her new... style. The responses weren't too varied, mostly shock and pity. Everyone, from Yana and Oksana, from the oldest chambermaid to the lowest, all expressed themselves in the expected ways. Some even put their hands on their cheeks and turned their faces away as if they were ashamed.
It didn't take long at all for the news to be whispered all around. By the following afternoon, Rahela could already hear the shocked words. Ammas gave her what she didn't hear. The Empress' finest evidence of her beauty, her womanhood, it was all gone. Once the Emperor returned, he certainly wouldn't have the desire required to produce any legitimate heirs. Such a pitiable woman! Who knows how long it would take for her hair to grow back!
Rahela believed she shouldn't let such gossip corrode her sense of self. This was all to be expected. She walked around the estate with the posture of an august woman. Her voice, while generally quiet, was firm and assertive. She never cowered to anyone, not even the irritable Princess Tuya, not that she was particularly afraid of that woman.
She didn't even cower before the nobles, more than half of which must've been scheming against her in some way. If only she knew exactly which ones were proper culprits! It was even more likely that there were multiple groups, groups which could work together but more likely would work independently. Even if she could put down a single enemy more and more would slither up to take their place.
Even with her proud disposition, terrible thoughts clawed into her mind. She was not alone. She felt alone. She was richly dressed, with a full belly and and luxuries. She felt as if she was in a complex prison with rags strangling her peace and growth. Whenever her husband was gone, she essentially controlled maybe half the world, running a grand empire. She felt as if it would all collapse under her at any time, destroying her and everyone she ever cared for.
Rather quickly, her appetite decreased. When she ate, she ate little. Some meals were skipped because she only wanted to lie down and sleep. And yes, she slept often. At times, she didn't even have the desire to bathe, but her maidens were kind with their insistence. They often cared for her as if she were an invalid.
Gabi especially helped by scrubbing and rinsing her back with all the innocent love Rahela knew she had. One night, Gabi even put her personal studies aside just to spend time cleaning and grooming Rahela's fingernails.
On that night, Rahela wept into her pillow, which had Gabi reaching over to hold her hand.
A virtuous and pristine creature.
Too delicate for this parlous realm.
Too easy a victim.
In the morning, Rahela was cheered by something playful Oksana had said, and then even more so when Yana had a clumsy moment and spilled a box of cosmetics over a table. Thankfully, nothing had been too damaged and Yana had moved her body in such an awkward and amusing way, even though she clearly hadn't meant to. Then, Gabi made a pun in the Yahsin language, all seemingly without knowing she had done so.
Rahela was in such an energetic mood then that she decided to dress for the snow and go see that tender mule, Ureche. Her ladies and maid in waiting all tried to object in the politest ways, but Rahela merely told them to put on their warmest clothes, including their coziest cloaks. The walk to the stables was terribly cold, but not very slow. The paths were well groomed as they typically were.
Ureche the spotted mule was a little sluggish by the time they got there. Rahela assumed she'd been having a nap before, and she asked a stable boy if that was so.
The boy confirmed the mule had been sleeping for a time. Then she'd gotten up, had some water, and seemed to rest on some hay. Rahela thought it was too cold for a ride, well for her tastes, and the poor mule seemed still too tired. So, she decided to spend some time petting the animal, sweetly talking to her, even combing her tail a little.
At one point, Rahela noticed a bit of heaving in Ureche's belly. Then, the mule's throat bulged, and her eyelids drew back. She seemed to cough, and then she vomited a pungent mess right onto the snow. The contrast of the sickly contents against pure whiteness was almost as startling as the odor. One of the stable boys came right away to try to help the pathetic animal, but before he could even touch her she started vomiting blood.
And then Ureche collapsed, little clouds of snow rising from the contact.
