24 Chapter 24: Powerless

Today Gisi was in an especially good mood. She'd been informed that she had a "permission to leave the palace". She could finally leave and be free!! But that was very strange because only Mehrnaz could allow this.

"Your Highness!" Gisi said, her voice full of suspicion, "Did you do something to convince Mehrnaz...?"

Shirazad smiled, "Ah, not much... but I may have mentioned that you are such a blessing to me and then looked at you for a little longer than normal in order to demonstrate our close relationship..."

"Your Highness, you're so smart!" Gisi exclaimed.

Alas, their happiness was short-lived, for Shirazad received shocking news just a moment after that.

She was informed that the king had decided to marry her sister off. She was left completely speechless. She hadn't seen her sister for quite a while since she now lived far away and Shirazad was still forbidden from inviting outsiders. And now Dunyazad would be sent even further away? ... ...

Gisi was sorry for Shirazad, knowing that she too was soon to leave the palace; knowing that Shirazad had no other people to turn to... And she couldn't even say goodbye to her sister? Sometimes Gisi wondered... she thought that the king must like Shirazad a little bit to let her live.... But then, he hadn't allowed her to take a single servant from her father's manor; no guests, not even her sister... this looked more like an attempt to torture her. Gisi felt a bit guilty she'd asked to leave the palace at such a moment, but her own future was also important.

"Maybe you can still find a way to see Dunyazad one last time, Your Highness," she told Shirazad. She wanted to also help her in a way. "Why don't you leave secretly for a short while? Do you remember, you once suggested it yourself? You said nobody here knows you too well..."

"Dunyazad lives too far away now... I will have to be absent for a long time. I don't think you will be able to hide it. And what if the king asks to visit me? It's impossible to do such a thing now." Shirazad said sadly.

"You can't leave for a long time, but Dunyazad can! Why don't you send her a message to come somewhere near the palace... so you won't have to travel for so long and you will be absent for a short while," Gisi insisted.

"Why, thank you, Gisi, for your concern. But don't you remember you may be severely punished if someone finds out?"

"Your Highness, it's just that your sister's marriage is very mysterious... I can't hear any rumors about the husband in the palace. Who is he? All we know is he lives far away and you won't be able to see her. Aren't you worried?"

"Of course, I am. I can't remember an instance in history where a noble lady was getting married to a mysterious husband. There must be a reason why the king is keeping it a secret." She sighed, "But now things are too complicated. People in the palace know me better than before. The king limited my contacts with outsiders -- I don't know why, but... And that woman Mehrnaz..."

"Yes, if only we could find a place without Mehrnaz and those people, Your Highness," Gisi said. "I know! There is going to be a hunter competition soon! Why don't you ask the king to attend? Men will be busy hunting... It will be easier for you to escape from the tents and go see Dunyazad. And Mehrnaz won't be there most probably. The king will be busy too..."

Shirazad considered the idea. It was indeed a good one. But how would she convince the king to invite her?

"I never liked hunting..."

However, she soon came up with an idea what to do.

~~Your Majesty, I've heard you're the best archer in the kingdom... I'd like to see it...~~ she thought.

Surely, she convinced him to take her with him. She sent a secret letter to her sister about a meeting, and then left the hunting camp while the men were busy looking for big game.

She escaped and her handmaiden Gisi took care to hide her absence.

But when she met Dunyazad, she found out her sister didn't know her husband-to-be either.

"They did not tell you who you're getting married to?... I thought you know... I thought that's why the king banned me from seeing you."

"I know nothing. And there have been so many guards at our manor. It was so difficult to escape and see you!"

They talked for a while, hugged each other, said goodbye. Shirazad said she'd find a way to see her sister again... and she returned to the hunting camp just in time. Gisi was doing her best to keep the king from entering Shirazad's hut, convincing him she felt unwell and might be sick and contagious. Shirazad, of course, sneaked in from the other side of the hut. As soon as she took off her cloak and hid it, he came in. She was still breathing heavily as she had hurried to return.

"Your Majesty?" she curtseyed. He looked at her suspiciously and circled her.

He remained silent, then stopped as if he was trying to discover something to prove her recent absence.

Then, without saying a word, he touched her hair and took a wind-borne dandelion seed, which somehow had ended up there. She didn't say anything in return, but she looked at the open side of the hut as if to suggest that the seed might have flown inside. He smiled faintly.

"It is," he said slowly, "too unfortunate that you feel unwell and are not able to go out."

"Yes, Your Majesty. Maybe you know that I was informed of the plans for my sister's marriage. May I beg you to tell me who her husband is going to be?" Shirazad was not the kind of person who could hide for a long time such a worry.

"Why should I do it?" he said. "What are you going to give me?"

"What?" she whispered.

"Bribe me."

"...Ah... I have only chocolate cookies here."

Even Gisi, who was in front of the hut, eavesdropping, rolled her eyes.

He called her closer and whispered, "If I wanted to tell you, why would I keep it a secret?"

The two sisters had once been the most wanted brides in the entire kingdom. But now they would be randomly married off in a hurry...

Suddenly, Shirazad exclaimed,

"I have to know. She is my sister."

He gave her a questioning look as if to ask "Are you sure?" Once I tell you, there is no way to untell you.

"If you wish so. I thought it would be better to keep it a secret, but since you insist... It's King Zaman," he said.

To be married to a king... Shirazad bit her lip. But why would he keep it a secret?

"Is this a real marriage?" Shirazad said suspiciously.

"If you mean whether he's going to make her his queen, this is up to him," Shahryar answered.

Right. It wasn't a real marriage. Her sister was just going to be a beauty in some kind of an unofficial harem perhaps.

"Why?" Shirazad whispered. "Why my sister?"

"We need to plant our own person there. Your sister, like you, is a very well educated noble lady..."

"...And she has no close relatives who would be unwilling to let her go so far away," she finished the sentence.

"Precisely," he confirmed.

So ridiculous, Shirazad thought. The best fate a woman could have was to sell herself well... despite the good education, or good family -- or those were just things that increased her price. As if she was some sort of an object. This was the reason why Shirazad had despised all of her suitors, but one way or another, this was what was going to happen to her and her sister.

"Why do you keep it a secret?" she asked.

He stroked her cheek, "In order not to frustrate you."

She shoved his hand away and he smiled.

"Are you planning to tell her she's going to another kingdom?" she said.

"... So you know that she is still unaware of her husband's identity?" he sighed. "I decided not to tell her for her own safety. As she will be such an important figure..."

"A gift," Shirazad corrected him. "She is not a figure, she is a gift."

"...Also, if she learns in advance, I don't want her to be frustrated that she's going away from home."

"Indeed, if she doesn't know, she's not going to be frustrated," Shirazad nodded.

Well, Shirazad was taking this better than he thought she would...

"There's no point to stir her imagination. When she goes there, she'll see what it's all about."

"But, Your Majesty," Shirazad said, trying to keep calm at such a moment despite the many emotions she felt, "as you mentioned, Dunyazad is a noble lady. Don't you think it's too offensive for her to have such a fictitious marriage?"

"How is marrying a king offensive?" he exclaimed.

"She is not 'marrying,'" Shirazad insisted.

"Shirazad, the situation has been carefully considered. Her status will only give her an advance compared to other ladies."

Shirazad was silent for a moment, "... Then... how about me?.. She is the only person close to me. Why do you insist so much on separating us?"

He came from behind her and hugged her, but in a way so she could not move her arms.

"I didn't know you could be so direct," he admitted.

For him this was some sort of competition, she thought. She had challenged him, and now he was determined to win. Maybe he wanted to make her feel desperate, to prove his power. At least this is how it had started... then he'd felt a bit jealous because people loved her... then...

"I am only a girl," she said. "You are a king." But before she could continue...

"Call me when you want to become a woman," he smirked.

She gaped. So rude and uncivil. It was easy for people with so much power to become way too arrogant. Somehow she managed to escape his grasp and said,

"What if I want to become a man?!"

"This..." his eyes sparkled in amusement, "would be more... difficult."

Oh, god, please, please, there must be at least one good quality in him, she thought angrily.