His heart sped up in his chest.
The guards took up position at either end of the open area, standing between the room and the garden.Lord Reza poured tea into a single cup and set it in front of him."Drink, please.My prince will be here soon."
"What?"Aaralyn asked, horrified.He…he'd beenworking.His hair was a mess, barely still in the knot he'd put it in.His clothes were old and worn, meant for getting dirty, and his hands and probably face were covered in pencil and ink.
"Be at ease, please," Reza said."All is well, and hopefully will only improve.I am sorry for your distress."
Before Aaralyn could get any further words out, afraid he'd simply start crying instead, the door slid open and Prince Bakhtiar stepped inside, followed by Lord Farrokh and another guard who remained by the door.
Sitting across from him, back to the wall opposite the door, Prince Bakhtiar looked at Aaralyn, eyes widening as he seemed to take in every cut and bruise."Are you recovering well, Master Aaralyn?I know firsthand how excruciating and exhausting a beating can be.The man who attacked me came far too close to killing me."
"You— you were attacked?"Aaralyn could not help but stare a moment, trying to imagine why anyone would want to hurt him, let alone kill him.Well, no, he was the crown prince, that was reason enough for most.Also the rich and powerful tended to not look kindly upon one of their own being too nice to the peasants.They'll get uppity.
Prince Bakhtiar smiled wryly."In my office just down the adjacent hallway.A spoiled brat lord colluded with a trusted servant to see it done.I still wake up afraid and confused sometimes."
"I did after the first beating.Wake up afraid a lot," Aaralyn said quietly, looking at the table, "but beatings are a fact of life as a third-tier citizen, and sleep a precious commodity.I am sorry you know that pain, Your Highness."
"The first beating," Bakhtiar repeated softly."I am sorry all the more it happened here, when you thought you had escaped such violence.Lady Hedieh tells me that she suspects Lord Feyk as the culprit, as he apparently has not shut up about being reprimanded for assaulting you in the garden some weeks ago.The matter is still being investigated, but that does seem to be the case.I was worried briefly it related to your helping us with that book, but thankfully it was not that."
"I am honored Your Highness would trouble yourself with this trifling matter."More like mortified beyond all reason, and completely baffled as towhy, but there was very little he could do about it.
"People coming to harm in my palace is hardly trifling," Prince Bakhtiar replied."Especially when Feyz's anger was at me, because it was Kurosh who put him in his place.But because he could not hurt me or Kurosh, he lashed out at you.That is nottrifling."
Aaralyn looked up, eyes wide, face burning at the intensity in the eyes staring back at him."You're most kind, Your Highness," he finally said, barely above a whisper, and dropped his gaze again.
"We tell him that often," Lord Reza said, "but all he says is—"
"I'm not doing anything special, only what is dictated by common courtesy," Prince Bakhtiar said.
"That," Lord Farrokh added in amusement."He's quite vexing, but in an infuriatingly charming way."
"Oh, be quiet," Prince Bakhtiar replied in exasperation."I'm informed you lost your leg in the encounter, Master Aaralyn."Like Lord Farrokh, Prince Bakhtiar said his name correctly, a stupid little thing that made him melt all the same.
"It's not the first time that's happened either," Aaralyn replied."Sometimes, while I bathed, children or grown adults worse than children, would steal it to force me to hobble or even hop all the way home.My father or one of my brothers would get it back for me."Eventually his brothers had lost patience and beaten one of them half to death, and that had been the end of it.Nobody had been stupid enough to involve the guards.
"I see," Prince Bakhtiar said, a thread of anger in his voice, but for once, Aaralyn wasn't scared it was directed at him."I'm glad you were able to escape, though I am certain it cost you dearly, and am sorry for that."
Aaralyn swallowed, hands clenching in his lap, and gave a bare nod."I miss my family, but if I had remained, I would likely be dead right now.Hopefully they are all right," he added, barely speaking above a whisper.
Bakhtiar asked gently, "May I ask why you left?You do not have to tell me, to be clear.It is your business, none of mine."
"It's not a terribly interesting story, Your Highness.Margrave Consus ordered that I would be joining the harem of his eldest son and heir, Lord Pollux.I was given three days to set my affairs in order before reporting to his estate."He looked up, then down again, overwhelmed by the kindness in Prince Bakhtiar's warm, melted-gold eyes."Harems back in Havarin are nothing like here.Lord Pollux was known for being…rough with his harem.There were well-verified rumors that he had killed some of them.So I ran away in the night.An old friend helped me travel to the coast, where I bought passage on a ship.I did not even know where the ship was going until a month into the journey."
"That must have been terrifying," Lord Reza said."I'm sorry you went through that.I've yet to hear anything good about Havarin and their so-called harem practices."
"At least you're safe now," Farrokh said."I am sorry you had to leave your family behind."
"Thank you.Hopefully they're doing well, and were not punished for my actions.Unfortunately, the best thing I can do for them now is leave them in peace."
"Which colony are you from?"
"Resarn, Your Highness."
"The saffron colony?"Bakhtiar asked."That is right in the middle of the colonies, and far more fiercely guarded than the other ones because of the value of the saffron.You made it all the way to the coast from there?"
Tension tightened Aaralyn's shoulders at the memory."I was smuggled out in a barrel.The top third or so of it was filled with wine to make it look full.Once we were well away from Resarn, I was given suitable papers that let me pass as a registered transporter.Cost me my grandmother's heirloom mirror, but it worked.Once I was at the harbor, all I had to do was ask at each ship in port until I found one that would take me for cheap fare."
"Sounds simple in the recounting, but I would imagine those were some of the most terrifying days of your life.Then you come here and are bullied by yet another fragile noble.Probably more than one, if I know this court.I am sorry, Master Aaralyn."
