Shafiq smiled as his gaze landed on Nadir, eyes going soft, and as he sat, he briefly rested a hand on Nadir's back, warm and heavy and as loud a declaration as words.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty," Bahiyya said as she sat directly opposite them. "Lord Nadir, you as well. We are happy to have you home safe and sound. Would it trouble you overmuch to tell us what happened to you?"
Nadir spread his hands. "There isn't much to tell. I spent much of the day visiting my sisters. That was… honestly, I don't know now, two or three days ago?"
"Nearly four, actually," Shafiq said. "That's why I feared the worst."
Beneath the table, Nadir twined their fingers together and gently squeezed. "They got me as I was leaving my sisters' house and heading back here. I don't even really remember what happened. I was knocked out, and the next thing I recall was waking up in a shack, probably on an old farm or something."
He related the rest of the tale, from his awkward escape through the roof, the nasty tangle with the mercenary, and his nearly non-stop flight back home. It took a while, despite its brevity, because he couldn't stop yawning throughout.
As he finished, and answered what few questions they had, Bahiyya laughed and said, "You're quite the mongoose, Lord Nadir, tangling with and taking down a cobra so fearlessly and ruthlessly. I know it's grisly work, and I'm sorry you had to do it, but well done all the same. It greatly suits His Majesty to have a mongoose at his side."
Nadir flushed and lowered his head, but smiled as he said, "Thank you, Captain."
Shafiq squeezed his hand and stroked the back of it softly before withdrawing. After that, Nadir was more than happy to let the rest of the conversation wash over him.
He didn't realize he'd fallen asleep until Shafiq called his name and gently shook him.
"Sorry!" Nadir jerked up, face flushing. "My deepest apologies, Your Majesty."
"We're alone," Shafiq said with a smile. "You don't have to call me that, and you certainly don't need to apologize. You're exhausted, and you've had quite the fraught past few days. Come, we'll get you a bath to ease some of the soreness and then go to bed." He lifted a hand to signal a servant Nadir hadn't even noticed standing against the wall.
Groaning, Nadir pushed to his feet and headed over to the corner where the bath was located. Shafiq remained behind, bending over the various papers still arrayed across his table, spreading them back out and resuming, presumably, whatever had kept him awake so late into the night.
Nadir would have loved to stay in the hot water for at least the rest of the week, but he also wanted to sleep, so after he was clean and the worst of his soreness had eased as promised, he let a servant towel him off and then took the offered robe.
Offering a wispy smile and a bow, the servant departed.
"Are you going to keep working?" Nadir asked, abruptly at a loss.
Shafiq looked up, and there was no mistaking the direction of his thoughts as heat flickered in his eyes. "No, I was simply waiting for you." He dropped the pen he was holding, put out the lights on the table, and rose with more elegance than Nadir would ever be able to muster, let alone after a long, hard day. "Come." He offered a hand, and Nadir drew close enough to take it.
Putting out the rest of the lights, save for the one hanging from the ceiling close to the bed, which was covered in blue glass that lent a soft, soothing light to the room, Shafiq then pulled him down into the bed and drew the gauzy curtains closed around them.
*~*~*
When he woke in the morning, the bed was empty, and to judge by the sunlight, the hour was unusually late for him. Normally he'd be scrambling to get moving, wondering why one of the servants hadn't woken him and hoping fervently his parents didn't find out.
Instead, he burrowed into the blankets for just a few more minutes, enjoying the warmth and softness, the lack of anxiety about his long, arduous and unforgiving day.
He didn't want to start his new life by lying about overlong though, so after his few minutes he pushed away the blankets and climbed out of bed, tying up the gauzy curtains from sheer habit.
It was only as he approached the table that he realized both food and a servant were waiting for him. "My apologies, I hope I've not kept you waiting overlong."
"Not at all, Lord Nadir. His Majesty said to leave you to sleep for as long as you needed. I've been working on your clothes, and thought I could trim your hair as well."
"I'd be grateful," Nadir said with a laugh. "I like the length, but there was no time for finesse when I cut it."
Smiling, the man resumed his sewing, quiet, easy company as Nadir quickly ate. When he was done, he sat to have his hair cut. It didn't take long, given how much of it he'd shorn with the mercenary's dagger. When the deed was done, Nadir looked in the mirror and barely kept from leaping up and dancing around the room in excitement. "I love it. I really do. I know long hair is favored, but I love this a thousand times more than all that length. Thank you so much."
"I'm pleased to serve," the man said.
Nadir washed quickly to clean up the mess left behind by the trim, and then accepted the clothes the servant held out. His heart pounded in his chest, leapt into his throat, as he took them. Fitted black pants and over them a skirt that was slit all the way to the hips on both sides. The mark of the royal concubines. "How do I look?"
"Beautiful, of course, Lord Nadir," the servant said with a smile. "You do need jewelry, though, so everyone knows you're already being thoroughly spoiled by an adoring king." He winked and then knelt, retrieving a stack of jewelry cases that had been hidden by the table until then. "His Majesty had these brought from his private vault and requested you wear whatever pleased you."
The servant spread the cases out on the table and opened them one by one, presenting a truly impressive collection of jewelry. It was such a dizzying array that Nadir didn't know quite what to pick.
