14 Chapter 14: Not noble enough

While the king was away, Shirazad communicated with her sister, who was planning to go and live with some distant cousins. Shirazad approved of the idea. It was safer for Dunyazad, and it wasn't appropriate for a single young lady like her to live alone with just some maids and guards. But this meant a little bit more loneliness for Shirazad as Dunyazad would not be able to visit her at all.

It was not long after she'd arrived at her cousins' house that Shirazad received a letter from her, describing how the family celebrated a big holiday. Shirazad spent this holiday alone, mostly reading in the library, basically waiting for the king's return. She noticed that people seemed to be ignoring her a little, perhaps out of fear of the king. Or in other words, they weren't sure what she was doing in their palace or what would happen to them if they spoke with her.

Recently, Shirazad had been spending a lot of time alone – well, only with her handmaiden, Gisi.

She heeded Fouad's advice and did not leave her quarters while the king was away... But now that he'd returned, she thought she could meet some people without being afraid of rumors.

"Could you send a messenger to summon Dunyazad to the palace? I haven't seen her for such a long time," Shirazad asked Gisi.

"Your Highness... this seems to be impossible for me," Gisi replied. "I have been informed that the king, upon his return, has ordered that you shall not see any people from outside the palace, including your sister."

"Really?" Shirazad was surprised. Shahryar had just returned. Didn't he have to attend to state affairs? Why would he bother himself with such things as who she invited to see her? "Why would he do that? I don't have any friends in the palace anyway, except you. Maybe I could secretly leave for a few hours to see her..."

"No, Your Highness! Don't speak like this. Even the walls have ears here."

"Huh. Nobody knows me well here. And they rarely see me out of this room. It won't be so hard to sneak out if I want to."

"Oh please, Your Highness," the handmaiden was really worried. "I mean, please forgive me for saying this, but hasn't Fate already been more than merciful to you? Don't fly in the face of fortune... And if someone understands that you have escaped, they would immediately kill me. Please, Your Highness..."

"Oh, don't worry. I was just... contemplating..."

There was a knock at the door. It was evening and Shirazad could suppose it was the king. As he entered the room, Gisi left quietly.

He came and sat silently on the bed, staring at his queen. She came calmly and also sat on the bed.

"Your Majesty," she said politely, "would you like me to continue with the fairy tale I started before you left?"

"About the general who also left his palace at the time that I did? But who avoided a battle because of that exotic princess. She, however, seems to be quite spoiled and not precisely what he thinks she is. And what he sees as a challenge in her is in fact nothing more than her pretensions. So, it was a foolish decision to miss a chance for victory because of her," he related monotonously but in detail.

She blinked at him. She replied in as few words as possible,

"Permit me to say, Your Majesty, I am surprised you remember this in such great detail." It was indeed unexpected. Such a long time had passed. "But I believe it is still too early to tell what her character is like precisely," she said.

He didn't seem to agree. He replied monotonously,

"Then keep on with the story and we shall see."

...At least, after his return, the king was more communicative than before.

"Yes, she was pretentious, but losing a battle was an important sacrifice. So people kept wondering about what had happened..."

"I bet that she convinced him," the king interrupted her. "Maybe she seduced him."

He jumped on the bed and came near her in a threatening manner. She hadn't expected this really, so she didn't know how to react. He came behind her on the bed, and his hands slid around her waist and down her thighs.

"So, what did she do?" he said, "Show me." He stroked the soft skin of her thighs and came so close she could feel his breath. He challenged her again, whispering,

"How did she seduce him?" In his mind, he played a bit more with the idea of her seducing him just like this princess in the tale would seduce the general. "...Or are you too noble for this?" he said mockingly.

Shirazad, who had remained silent all the time, now looked at him coldly and replied emotionlessly,

"Why must I be too noble? Maybe you are not noble enough."