‘Wait!’ Chloe cried. ‘We have some gold. Small items of jewelry—’
Solon held up a hand once more. ‘Enough. I have no time for her dissembling. I tire.’ He winced, and his shoulders slumped. With more time for inspection, Chloe saw dark shadows under his eyes. ‘Kargan, you may leave, and the girl also. I will question her at another time to gain her view on the things you have told me.’
He gestured with his manicured fingertips and Chloe saw a guard coming for her. Kargan scowled again at her, leaving the room with angry strides.
As she was led away, she realized she had survived her first encounter.
Chloe stayed by her pallet as she’d been told, but there wasn’t much to do in the women’s quarters. If she was to escape she needed information. She needed allies.
Deciding that she wasn’t just going to stay in the one place forever, she ventured past the empty pallets and rounded the latticed screens, checking each corner, looking for someone whose plight resembled her own.
Yet this section of the women’s quarters was empty. She wandered, about to give up hope, when she finally passed another screen and found the sole other occupant. She was a young girl, perhaps fourteen, struggling to get out of an elaborate silk robe.
‘Here, let me help,’ Chloe said.
The girl looked at her strangely but allowed her to assist. Like the women Chloe had seen in the streets she had black hair, but darker skin and high cheekbones gave her a more fragile beauty. Kohl lined her eyes and she had a circle of blue powder the size of a coin on each of her cheeks.
As Chloe disentangled the girl from her garment a sturdy woman in a brown tunic appeared and put a hand to her mouth. She sank to her knees and bowed her head to the floor, slinking along the ground until just two paces away. ‘I am sorry, Princess,’ the woman said. ‘Your slave has done you disservice.’
‘Be gone,’ the girl suddenly snapped. ‘Stand on the tips of your toes with your nose touching the wall until I come and fetch you. If you are not on your toes when I come, I will have the eunuchs whip you.’
Still prostrate on the floor, the slave turned herself around and didn’t rise even as she slithered out of view.
‘Who are you?’ the girl asked as Chloe finished taking off the garment. She asked the question in a peremptory fashion, imperious but not rude. This was a girl accustomed to being obeyed.
Even so, her manner struck a nerve with Chloe. ‘I am Chloe, daughter of Aristocles, First Consul of Phalesia,’ she said, lifting her chin. ‘And who are you?’
‘I am Princess Yasmina of Shadria.’
‘Why are you here?’ Chloe asked. ‘Are you visiting?’
‘I am a hostage. Is that not that why you are here?’
Chloe bit her lip. ‘I don’t know why I’m here.’
‘Then you are a hostage also.’
‘The slave woman,’ Chloe said. ‘Why did she act like that?’
‘Because I am royalty and it is the custom.’
Chloe wondered how she would steer the conversation to gain information. ‘Do people treat you the same way in the city?’
‘The city?’ Princess Yasmina frowned. ‘Since my arrival two years ago, I have never left this section of the palace.’
Chloe fought to contain her horror. She couldn’t stay in the women’s quarters all day, every day. Not if she wanted to have any chance of eventually escaping.
She would have to take some risks.
Lowering her voice, she asked the princess, ‘Have you thought about escape?’
‘Escape? How would I survive? And if I escaped, the sun king would avenge himself on my people. My presence here keeps my people safe.’
‘I worry that by being here I’ll prevent my people from being strong and standing up to the sun king,’ Chloe said. ‘I plan to escape.’
She heard a man clearing his throat. Turning, she saw the tall eunuch, watching her with Princess Yasmina. He was far enough away that she was sure he hadn’t heard.
‘Leave me out of your plans, please,’ the princess murmured. She raised her voice. ‘I thank you for your help, Chloe of Phalesia, and I bid you good night.’
25
Chloe spent the next days in the women’s quarters. She tried to engage Yasmina in conversation but there was little common ground between them, and even when she persisted the imperious princess didn’t warm to her advances. The once spacious apartments began to feel cramped and staid. As she paced restlessly, the passing slaves stared at her, puzzled by her inability to settle and calmly accept her fate.
The eunuchs brought food three times a day and there was a constant supply of fresh water. The exterior garden provided somewhere to get some fresh air but she was always accompanied. Chloe was well rested and had fully recovered from the journey.