Chapter Seven

The scents of various foods made his stomach growl faintly, but thankfully it was drowned out by conversation and the beautiful music played by Nandakumar, one of his father's concubines, and the soft singing of Aaliyah, one of his mother's concubines.

Aradishir smiled and nodded his head in reply to various greetings he received as he slowly traversed the banquet hall. His parents and Bakhtiar tended to arrive via private entrances, a matter of safety and practicality, but he and Jahanara had always done at least some measure of mingling. His parents had suggested he use the private entrances now that his life was in more danger, but Aradishir persisted.

His parents of course took up the side of the table facing the banquet hall, each with a concubine on either side, so two concubines shared the space between them. Directly opposite them were the three silk merchants Aradishir had invited to dine at the royal table, and a history scholar his sister had invited. Spaced between them were two of his sister's concubines, and the remaining spots taken by Heydar and Javed.

He took the seat on the right side of the table, near his mother, Merza and one of her concubines occupying the corner. The remaining spaces at the table were occupied by his sister, her third concubine, and more of his parents' concubines. On the rare nights they did not have guests, he took the side the merchants occupied, his brother-in-law took the side where his sister sat, and Bakhtiar of course sat to the right of their father.

Though it all seemed innocuous to most eyes, there was a lot of intricate work and meaning in the seating arrangements of the royal table. Aradishir was forever grateful that sorting the matter every night was not his problem.

Merza poured him wine, a pale, slightly fruity one perfect to enjoy before the meal began. Nearby, sitting to his father's right, was a handmaiden, then Beynum, and then Relanya, resplendent in ocean blue and shimmering opals set in silver. Her other handmaidens were scattered about the table, mingling expertly with the concubines and other guests. His mother had always excelled at arranging such things, and tonight was no exception, everyone carefully placed to full advantage for all that each of them needed and wanted.

Many thought dinner was when the royal family relaxed, got to sit in idle pleasure and leave their days behind, but the reality was that most often, this was when some of their most crucial work was done.

Aradishir watched as wine was poured for the guests, especially his own, the merchants clearly taken with being served by concubines, a privilege their class seldom enjoyed. He'd placed them with particular care, Heydar and his beautiful muscles, Javed and his soft, quiet charm and the vulnerability offered by his scars. He did not like using them thus, as playing pieces, but it was their job to help him charm and coax.

The gong sounded, and the main doors closed, signaling the formal start of the nightly banquet. Anyone who came in now would require permission and better have good reason for arriving late. Servants came out with the first course, flowing easily through the crowd to spread the food across the tables. A special, designated staff served the royal table, a matter of particular protocols unique to it and yet another security concern. It still amused him that Javed had been training with them back when he'd tried to keep his distance and give Javed a life with far more freedom than that of concubine.

Merza filled the plate they would share, and chose a new wine to go with it, offering up a sip and smiling as he took the remaining sip for himself.

"How did your meeting with the merchants go, Your Highness?" Relanya asked.

Hiding his surprise at the question, Aradishir accepted another sip of wine before replying, "Very well, Your Highness, thank you." He cast a brief glance at the merchants, who all knew it had, in fact, gone miserably. The changes he was proposing would be expensive and time-consuming, and the guilds, by their very own contracts, would be paying some of those costs, and the changes would be difficult to implement and slow down trade slightly for a time. Nothing the guilds couldn't weather, and the changes would benefit them in the long run, but like just about everyone else he tried to work with, they preferred to keep to what they knew rather than go to the trouble of changing.

Even though the changes would save a great many people from being kidnapped and forced into slavery.

There were times he really wished he could punch all of them and be tyrannical in making them do as they were told. Unfortunately, slow and careful diplomacy always worked better than being an authoritative brute.

So he smiled and had more wine and launched into his proposed changes, along with all the pros, cons, and whiny excuses the merchants had made. They could stand by them, right here in front of Their Majesties, or start acting like adults. If they hadn't known what they were in for when they'd accepted the invitation to dinner, they were about to find out.

Maybe he was being a little bit of a tyrant after all. Oh, well.

By the time the banquet concluded a little over three hours later, Aradishir was utterly exhausted. Not too exhausted, however, to escort Relanya to her room when his mother subtly, but none too gently, ordered him to do so. As though he would have minded, anyway. He stayed away for Relanya's sake, not his own. If he had his way…

He didn't, though, so it didn't matter. Aradishir offered his arm, smiled as Relanya took it, and off they went through the halls.

"Very skillfully done tonight, Your Highness," Relanya said. "Those merchants did not like being put in their place or made the center of attention while you did it."

"I hope it went a long way toward accomplishing my goals. This fight is going to be uphill the entire way, and I won't get far without crucial points of support. You were most helpful, speaking of skillful. You will keep the council humble, I think, once you are queen, just as my mother does now."

Relanya smiled, though Aradishir thought there was something unhappy hiding in it. Maybe he was just projecting. "Thank you, that means a lot to me. I tend not to measure up against the rest of my family; it's been a breath of fresh air being here, where I am weighed on my own merit and not against everyone else." She squeezed his arm gently. "I know you have been keeping your distance for my safety, but I would be grateful if we could have lunch or something together later this week."

"I would like that too," Aradishir replied softly. "I will see it arranged."

"Wonderful!" They came to a stop in front of her rooms, and Aradishir bowed deeply. She smiled at him, warm and soft, so achingly beautiful and enthralling, then vanished with her handmaidens around her.

"I really hate Bakhti right now," Aradishir said bitterly, turning sharply and striding off to his own rooms, harem moving to keep up.

In his room, he let them help him undress and wash up, sighing to be relieved of all the heavy jewelry and ornate hair arrangements that gave him a headache after a couple of hours. Dressed in loose sleep pants, he sprawled out in his bed and stared up at the ceiling, where he'd had a beautiful mural of the moon and stars painted, framed by the hooks from which the bed curtains hung, arms behind his head.

Moments later, Merza draped across him, kissing the edge of his chin. "You could speak with your parents. If it hurts you this deeply, you should. At the very worst they'll say no, and you'll have a firm answer and be able to move on. Brooding like this is only hurting you, my prince."

Aradishir shuddered just thinking about it. "Absolutely not. Humiliating myself like that won't make anything better. Bakhti will be home soon—I hope—and that will end the matter." Because Relanya would be immediately enamored of him, like so many others, and eager besides to officially establish herself as his future wife and queen. That would put his infatuation to a pyre far more effectively than a mortifying conversation with his parents.

Javed stretched out on his other side, arm draping across him and Merza, while Heydar settled so that Aradishir's head rested in his lap. How he'd managed to claim these three, why they'd chosen him over lives that would have been much easier, infinitely less restrictive, and far safer, he'd never truly comprehend. Whatever had persuaded them, he would do it a thousand times over to keep them. "Thank you," he said. "I would be so much worse off without the three of you here. I'm sorry I've been so moody and whiny."

"You've been neither, except maybe when you got bested by a cat," Heydar said with a smile, rubbing his temples smoothly, steadily banishing the lingering headache. "Do not give up until the battle is over, though, my prince. Remember that your mother was never meant to be queen, and your father risked much to marry her instead of her sister."

"The sister wasn't exactly an option."

Merza flicked his nose. "Yes, and His Majesty could have called off the marriage entirely and thrown them out of court. Instead, he caused a scandal to marry Her Majesty instead."

"Yes, yes," Aradishir replied. He'd heard the tale a thousand times, and did actually love the romance of it all, but there was a huge difference between taking a different woman to be his queen, and his brother's promised choosing him instead and settling for less than queen. Not to mention he was several years younger.

No matter what his lovers said to convince him otherwise, the matter was hopeless. That battle had been lost well before he even knew he wanted to fight.

Anyway, he shouldn't complain. He'd once thought he'd never even manage to have concubines, and now he had a complete harem that loved him dearly.

"Don't give up," Heydar said, echoing Merza. "Perhaps she and Bakhti will get along horribly. That's the entire point of this trial period. Maybe if offered the chance, she would choose you. How can you know if you don't try?"

"And when I fail, the awkwardness of the whole thing will hang like a cloud over the family for years. No, thank you. Enough of this. Talking about it is just making everything worse right now. What I need is some pleasant distractions, if you three are willing."

Javed chuckled, pushing to his knees and kissing along Aradishir's chest before being dragged up by the hair to share a kiss with Merza.

As distractions went, that was a lovely start.