18 Ancillary Wife

Mira had been sitting in one spot for over three hours. Her legs were stiff, and she was starting to get hungry. As soon as Zander assisted her from the carriage, the four handmaidens flocked towards her and ushered her into the house.

They seemed to be familiar with the interior, because she had barely entered through the side door when they whisked her up the stairs, into a room on the right side of the house.

The room was not just a bedroom. On one side, there was a small library alcove, with floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with ancient books, and a comfortable slipper chair next to the window for reading.

There was a grouping of chaise lounges and small side tables in the central area, and the bed, with its white curtained drapes and thick down comforter, was at the far end.

The four women smiled and went around the room, preparing it for her. They started a fire in the chimney and turned the bed down, and then one of the women took Sofie from her hands, while another helped her remove her outer ermine coat and hung it in a hidden closet on one side of the room.

"Sofie needs a bit of care, so we will take her and be back shortly," she inclined her head.

"Thank you...uhhhh, I'm sorry, what is your name?"

"We are your newly appointed handmaidens. Please give us new names so that we may join your family's retinue."

Family retinue? What in the world was that?

Mira gave her a blank stare. "Don't you already have a name?"

The woman swallowed and looked down without saying a word. The other women glanced at each other, then one spoke up. "She can be replaced with another, if you are displeased, m'Lady."

"What?" Mira stared at her. "No, no--that's not what I mean. Er...OK." She cleared her throat. "You are Rose, you can be Daisy. You're Lily, and you," she pointed to the woman still holding onto Sofie, "You are Violet." She scratched her head. "Is that ok?"

"Yes!" Violet smiled with grateful eyes. "Thank you for offering us positions within the Tamein household. Please rest for the time being, m'Lady. Lord Zander will join you in the dining area in a short while for dinner." They bowed and quickly left the room, closing the door behind them.

Tamein household, eh? Mira didn't even know what that meant, and why these women would want to give up their given names so badly, but who was she to judge what people did in their worlds. There were probably plenty of strange things that people on Earth did as well.

Mira walked over to the huge bed and sprawled out on her back.

Ye gads she was exhausted. It had been constant travelling since dawn, and before that, she'd spent the entire day taking care of the Ashryan men, back on Earth. Perhaps if she just closed her eyes for a few minutes…

"M'Lady." A voice broke through Mira's dreamless state. She opened her eyes. It was one of the handmaidens. She couldn't remember what the woman's name was...Daisy, maybe???

"Ummm. Daisy? Is everything ok?"

"Yes, m'Lady. It is dinner time. The Lord was worried you might be hungry, so he told me to wake you up to eat something."

Mira sat up, rubbing her eyes. "How long have I been asleep?"

"About three hours, m'Lady."

"Holy smoke," she mumbled. "I can't believe I slept that long. And he's been waiting all this time for me, hasn't he?"

"Lord Zander knows you're exhausted. He would have let you sleep till morning, except we suggested that you might like to eat a little bit before you retired for the night." She handed Mira a cup of water, and straightened the combs in her hair while she sat there, trying to fully awaken.

"Let's go. I don't want him to wait too long." She handed the cup back to Daisy and followed the maiden to the dining area.

The palace was so large that there was a dining room on the second floor, and it wasn't a simple little dining nook or a tiny breakfast alcove. Oh no. It was a huge formal eight-place setting, complete with candelabras on the table and fresh white chrysanthemums in glass bowls.

How lazy can people be, to not even have the energy to walk down the stairs to the main dining area?

She saw the wait staff setting up the platters of food taken from a pulley system in the wall, and marveled at the efficiency of the entire setup. Food and drinks traveled directly up into the second floor dining room, and then afterwards, dirty dishes would travel back down again. It was brilliant.

Mira was so busy admiring the dumbwaiter that she did not notice Zander entering the room until he was immediately behind her.

"Did you have a good rest?" She heard Zander's soft voice from behind, and then she could smell his familiar mint and sandalwood scent.

"Yes, thank you." Mira turned towards his voice and smiled. Zander had changed into riding gear and looked as if he'd been outside the entire time she'd been asleep. It was disgusting, where he got the energy. She was still so tired…

"Come, let us eat." he led her to the dining table and pulled out a chair for her. "After dinner, I'm afraid I have to take you somewhere."

"Where?" She asked, as the staff began serving food directly into her plate.

Zander looked annoyed. "My parents are at the Emperor's residence at the moment, and they insist upon meeting you."

Mira's heart skipped a beat. It was one thing to pretend to be Zander's wife among the servants and personal guards. Meeting his parents was something altogether different.

She chewed on a piece of meat and stared at the chrysanthemums in front of her. Meeting the in-laws for the first time was super scary, even if they were fake in-laws.

"There's no need to worry," Zander reached out to touch her hand. "You don't have to say much, just greet them, stay quiet and let me do all the talking. I will get us out of there as quickly as possible."

"Are we meeting up with the Emperor too?"

"Yes, but my uncle is not of any concern. If he was the one who asked to meet you, I would have simply refused the request and given some adequate reason for it," he sighed. "But these are my parents. I cannot treat them with the same callousness. I hope you understand."

They quickly ate what was provided. Mira was so nervous about the meeting, she was barely aware of what she was stuffing into her mouth.

Once the dessert had been cleared, Zander pushed away from the table and held out his hand. "Let's get this done and over with."

The carriage that they took to get to the Emperor's palace was not the unmarked dark ebony carriage that they rode from Tourmaline. This carriage was white and drawn by two strong dappled geldings. The carriage sides sported the blue mark of the Tamein seal, and the coachman wore the pale grey outfit of the Tamein household.

Within fifteen minutes, they had arrived at the Emperor's palace. They were greeted by a courtier, who immediately escorted them inside.

As nervous as Mira was, she did not pay much attention to the Emperor's palace. She simply gripped Zander's hand as they followed the courtier.

Finally, he stopped at a set of double doors and pulled on the handles, revealing a small opening through which he made a loud announcement.

"The Crown Prince and High Wizard, De Zander Tamein, and his consort, the Princess Mira Lee of Tamein."

Slowly, the wide doors opened, revealing the interior of the room.

Mira's first instinct was to wince.

Every inch of the room had been gilded in solid 24 karat gold. There was nowhere she could land her eyes on that did not have gold leaf. The tables, chairs, walls, ceiling---even the chandeliers, everything was all gold-leafed.

It was the tackiest room she'd ever seen in her life.

"Ah, there is my handsome, accomplished nephew!" A voice boomed from somewhere among the gilded glitter.

Mira nearly gasped out loud. It was coming from a man with a commanding air, dressed from head to foot in gold robes, and sporting a huge gold crown with a large fire opal centered above his eyes. He had blue hair that was so dark, it was almost purple, and he looked very similar to Erick Rashak.

This was Emperor Di Roy Rashak.

"Your Royal Highness," Zander bowed. Mira bowed alongside him, hoping she was doing the right thing.

From where Mira stood, she could see several noble Ashryans sitting around a heavy gold-leafed claw foot dining table at the center of the room.

One of the nobles stood up and rushed towards Zander. She was tall, willowy, and had grey blue hair braided into a single layer coiled around her head. She had the same silver-blue eyes that Zander had.

"My son. You are finally back from that hole-in-the-ground, Tourmaline," she gasped and threw her arms around his neck.

"Good evening, Mother." Zander greeted with warmth and kissed her cheek.

"You rascal. When did you come back that you didn't even notify your mother and me, eh?" A man of solid stance stood up and gripped Zander's arms tightly. There was no mistaking father and son. They both looked almost identical.

"I was busy getting married," Zander smiled. "Everyone, this is my wife, Mira Lee, of Tamein."

Silence greeted them.

The Emperor glanced at Zander's father, then at his mother, and finally, he took a close look at Mira, herself.

"My boy," the Emperor cleared his throat. "Are you trying to pull a prank on us? It is funny, if that is the case."

"Your Majesty, there is no joke. This is the Princess Mira Lee of Tamein, my wife." Zander repeated, as if for emphasis.

"You must be jesting, Zander," the Emperor said, his voice silky and cool. "She is a hybrid, and therefore, sterile. You are a Crown Prince. You need to have heirs."

Zander shook his head. "She is not sterile. I have verified this with my magik. She is a legitimate Princess, and once again, she--is--my--wife." This time his voice brooked no argument.

"Perhaps we have approached this at a slightly disparate point, son," Zander's father spoke up. "You are the Crown Prince of the Northern Realms. You can have as many wives as you wish. I am very happy that you have found an ancillary wife. We can provide a small celebration to welcome her into the Tamein Palace of the Northern Realms."

"Ancillary?" Mira whispered to Zander.

"Shhh…" He shushed her, not looking away from his father.

"The purpose of calling you here today, nephew, is for you to meet your new bride, the Princess Celestia Zaravan of Topaz." The Emperor announced, holding out his hand.

A young woman stood up and turned to face Zander.

To call her beautiful was an understatement.

She had hair the shade of the morning sun, with golden amber eyes, and soft red pouty lips. On her luscious body was a soft cream gown that had hundreds of orange topaz stones embroidered into the fabric, and on her head rested a pale gold diadem with yellow topaz embedded into the intricate filigree metal. Her skin was the color of hot latte, and she stood a head taller than Mira.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, your grace." She performed a graceful deep curtsy directed at Zander.

Mira smiled.

It was GAME OVER