New Acquaintances

"Will it hurt?" I ask, flinching my leg away.

The physician lady looks at me sternly, then at Atike Hatun. She replies, "hold still, it's going to hurt a bit." Well that says it.

I'm not sure what they're going to do, being too frightened to look down, so I brace myself. As the woman leans in, I squeeze my eyes shut. but no feeling of pain hit me.

The door swings open. "Rustem told me a woman fainted, Gulfem?" It's the admiral? First the cook, and now him. What are they even doing here?

Gulfem, the physician, bows and says, "there are a few number of girls who fainted due to the heat. But if you're talking about the one with the gunshot, it's her." She points at me.

He spares only a quick glance at me. "This one? I planned to keep her anyway. I was looking for Si-"

Atike interrupts. "I beg for forgiveness for the forwardness, Your Highness, but as I counted, I sent the right number of girls to the Sultan's harem." Why did she call him 'Your Highness'?

"I need that blonde one in his harem too."

Atike's brow knits in, what I suppose, confusion. "Well...it will be as you wish."

He turns to leave, but then rethinks it and walks towards me. "Are you well?"

I don't reply. Why would he care about me? Gulfem answers on your behalf, "I was just about to sterilize, Your Highness." He flicks his wrist in a manner to tell her to go on.

I gulp, move my hand around to hold onto something. Eventually someone holds it, must be Atike Hatun.

"Agh!" It feels like a thousand needles pricking my swollen wound. What did I ever do to deserve this? I squeeze the hand so hard I am surprised she didn't yelp.

It lasts for an agonizing moment, then my head falls back to the pillow, breathing heavy. I open your eyes to see the admiral's hand clasped into mine, and I immediately let go of it, and see the small crescent marks I've made with your nails. When I look up at him in surprise, he doesn't say anything, just gives a grim nod at the women and stands up straight and leaves. Everyone bows their heads.

"It'll dry up soon now. You'll be resting here for three days- no more," Atike Hatun says, her voice stern as always. But I notice her slightly smirking as the admiral leaves.

Three days- it's surprising that they are even allowing me to get rest. Why is everyone so nice here? I thought you'd be forced to scrub the floor the moment I got in. I don't get these people. They ruined our lives and now pretend to care about us. Well, no matter what, they will always be my enemy. They took me away from our family. And I got slapped and shot twice. I cannot forget that.

Speaking of scrubbing floors, I've never done it my whole life. I'm a bit worried on what will happen after I recover.

Funnier thought, how would Fatma manage it?

...

"Razia, wait here until I come back."

"How long will I have to wait, baba?"

"Well...I can't say. But that doesn't mean you can wander away. Take care of Eitizaz."

I nodded. "Roger."

I watched his back as he closed the door behind him. And then I decided to have a nice walk-

"Where is my mother- Oh!"

A girl bumped into me hard, then fell bottom down on the grass. She had round cheeks which were cute.

"Hurt?" I asked while offering her hand in a gentlemanly manner.

She took it and stood up, dusting her skirt. "No, I am sorry- lost."

I raised an eyebrow. "Well you don't look like the age to be getting lost..."

"N-no- it's not like that- this place is so big and all, nothing compared to my old dusty crusty house. What are you doing in the townhall, if you don't mind me asking?"

I blink. She's quick with words. "My father is the accountant's assistant, joined here a month ago. What about you?"

"I'm the emir's niece," she said that with a bit of pride.

"T-the emir?"

She nods in reply, her pride inflated even further.

"I come her often. Since your father works here, I'll see you sometimes?"

"Sure, if he allows, that is."

She gave me a friendly smile and put a hand to her heart, quite a noble gesture. "I hope he does. I'm in need of a real friend..."

"Got rid of the fake ones?"

"Heh, something like that. So are we friends?" She reached out her right hand. "The name's Fatma."

I took it, and gave it a firm shake. "Razia."

...

All of a sudden, my eyes open. A sound. But I cannot move. I do not move. It's too dark.

Go back to sleep, go back to sleep-

I hear the window open. No no these are just hallucinations, they've happened before. I just have to go back to sleep-

But it feels too real. There's a figure creeping in. My heart starts beating fast. It's...a woman. With light coming from a tinderbox.

I muster up courage. "Who's there?"

I hear her stumble. Then she tries to run, but I quickly light up the gaslight beside my bed. It's a dark skinned girl, with curly black hair. But her eyes are very light, almost white. You can't really see much, but you can tell that she's tall, and wearing a dark tunic and trousers.

She suddenly flashes you a smile. "Go back to sleep, pretty face. It's a dream."

"Oh...wait- excuse me? I'm not that small of a kid." But you do pinch yourself. Yes, yes it's not a dream.

"Grown up ladies have dreams too."

"Can you not bicker nonsense and tell me who exactly you are?"

"I should be asking you that." She looks around. The other patients are still sleeping. "Well, since I am so deliberately caught, we could have a conversation. How did thee wound up in the infirmary?"

"I'm new here. I was kidnapped, then shot on the way. Also slapped. I wish people would stop slapping me."

You swear you saw her grimace. "Sorry about that...and what do they call you?"

"Jahanara Razia. And yours?"

"Just Anisa. I don't have any last or first name, I suppose. They gave me the name."

"You mean they...as in the kidnappers? Are you a slave too? Just like me?"

"Not technically, I've served here long enough to get my freedom. I work here by my own will. I cannot say...just like you." Her voice sounds like it's edged with sympathy. As if she's suffered, and can't imagine you going through that all over again. You've heard about the harem, you know what it's like, even though you're new.

"...and does your job include sneaking into the infirmary?"

Anisa snorts. "I can't tell you what's my job yet. Maybe one day."

"One day..." You mimic. For the next hour, you keep on talking, mostly about how you got here. She doesn't intend on talking about herself much, she listens to you more. Despite enjoying it, you're conscious to not give too much information. You're still an outlaw.

"I do not remember much about my past," she says in an airy voice. "I came here from, I think East Africa, when I was thirteen. My brother is also here. My mother got in extreme poverty and sold us. I have no idea who my father is, but he definitely is a foreigner, or how did I even get these strange eyes?"

Anisa seems to be quite a chatty person, but the admiring thing is she always turns the conversation to something else when you ask about the palace. You suppose you won't be getting much information from her.

At one point, you fell asleep. If you snored, that's embarrassing, but you could feel that she fixed your blanket and dimmed the light before leaving.