Part One: The Harem

Chapter One

Year 1327 C.Y.

Intro to A'Rinn Kianynne

**He has always told us to not allow ourselves to be led into evil, which leads me to believe that He never meant for one of man to gain dominion over all his earthly kingdoms.** -Religious Philosopher Ha'an

The heaviness of the incense sifted into her senses as she slowly regained consciousness. The drugs slowed her movements to the point where she was enchanted by the slow passage of her hand in front of her bleary eyes until her hand rested onto the soft pillow under her head. She stared at the silk until her brain just as slowly caught up with what her eyes were seeing and her skin was feeling. She sat up with a start, and her freed, bright red curls tumbled over her pale skin. A'Rinn could barely see the colors around her, so dense was the smoke that hung in the air.

She took a breath and nearly choked on it. She pressed her face into the pillow and breathed deep that scent, trying to get a hold of everything that had happened to her. But the smell was getting to her, and she couldn't quite grasp what events had occurred in the past few days.

The woman watched her cautiously from the door, holding the pitcher of water that the number one wife had told her to bring to the new girl. She studied the girl from lowered eyes, running her eyes along the lean line of the girl's body almost sadly. So many beauties had been ruined here, and it was sad to think of such a thing happening to the pale skin of the figure huddled on the sheets.

With a jerk, the girl turned her head, as if sensing the other presence. Quickly, she scrambled into a sitting position on the bed and hugged her knees to her thin chest. Now that the woman had a full view of her, she saw that already bruises marred what might have once been perfect alabaster skin. Through the darkness that seemed to pervade the Harem, the woman saw a long scratch down the girl's leg that ended in a mottled bruise around her ankle. There was most likely some swelling there that spoke of more than a simple injury.

The woman finally spoke and approached the girl, who flinched back.

"Do'tan, I have been sent to clean you up for your presentation to the Master." She bowed her head, not meeting the girl's eyes. As a new addition, the girl was already a step above herself, because pregnant women were always the lowliest of the crude hierarchy of the Harem.

The girl looked as if she would like to say something, so the woman lowered herself stiffly to her knees and held up the water. "Would Do'tan like some water to clear her throat?" she asked deferentially. The girl frowned and craned her head to see the woman past the edge of her wide bed, then cleared her throat.

"Where am I? And why do you keep calling me that?"

The woman didn't look up. "You are in the king's Harem, Do'tan. And Do'tan is what you are."

"But what is it?"

"What you are," the woman repeated, wondering why the girl didn't understand. Everybody understood. The girl shifted her shoulder, scratching idly at the scabs forming around the scratch down her leg. When she moved her ankle, she winced, and the woman rose, a little ungainly, and approached her again. "Would Do'tan like some water?"

The girl timidly reached out for it, but the woman took it out of reach and stretched her hand to the receptacle in the wall, withdrawing from it a glass made of some fine material, whether it be gold or bronze. The girl watched, fascinated, as the woman poured the water into the cup, filling it exactly halfway before holding it out and lowering her head once more. The girl took in the woman's present condition with a flick of her eyes as she sipped at the cup, wincing when the ice-cold burned the sides of her throat.

"Why do you serve when you should be kept comfortable until your time?" the girl demanded, not knowing how ridiculous or rude the question was. The woman blushed angrily and lowered her eyes even further.

"I am to be kept at work until my water breaks, Do'tan. Soon you will learn better."

"What is your name?"

"I do not have a name," the woman answered, her demeanor once again calm and servile as she set the pitcher down on a stand that seemed intended for that purpose. She gestured towards the double-doors in the wall that A'Rinn had not yet noticed and swept open the doors. She rustled around inside, and A'Rinn struggled to see what she was doing, crawling to her hands and knees after setting the goblet on the heavy table next to the bed. The woman pulled out some gauzy thing that A'Rinn sincerely hoped wasn't for her, then held it out in front of her.

"You will be personally bathed for only this day, Do'tan. After this you are no better nor worse than any woman here." It was a lie, but one the girl would have to discover, in time, for herself. "You will wear this to your presentation, then you will wear only this robe every day after unless you are personally requested by the Master." She indicated a robe hanging on the wall, made of heavy blue fabric of a sort that gleamed almost silver in the little moonlight that entered the half-closed shutters. "Now you will follow me."

The pregnant woman went to the door and waited patiently until A'Rinn gathered herself and rose, her muscles complaining, and joined her. Then the woman led the way down the plush-carpeted hall. A'Rinn studied the ribbons and fabric that graced the walls and the arches that led into rooms along the sides. Even in the dark she could sense the rich colors. She turned her head back and concentrated on only the woman, who seemed to drift in and out of the shadows with an uncommon grace, especially for a woman so heavily pregnant.

Then the woman turned off into a room where the walls and ceiling swam in the reflection of the deep, lighted pool in the center of a marbled floor. When A'Rinn stepped down from the carpet, her feet cringed away from the cold of the stone. Then two women approached from behind and the clothes that she wore were untied and pulled away, so that she stood, naked, with the chill air touching her skin. She shivered and then the two women came again and each took an arm, leading her to the pool.

She lifted one foot and slid it into the water, which warmed her up to her knee. Putting her whole weight on that foot, she slipped the other foot onto the step below, and so on until she reached the bottom of the pool and stood silently, waiting to be told what she should do now. She didn't have to resist the urge to sigh in contentment, because she was stiff with unease when the women entered silently and drifted towards her. A'Rinn looked straight ahead and her hand was grasped tightly and a mass of liquid, flowery smelling soap was poured into her hand. Then one woman pulled her back so that her feet left the floor and drifted up to the surface. The other woman took one foot and began to gently scrub the dried blood and dirt that caked her flesh, and A'Rinn guessed that she was in charge of her torso, which was just as well for her, because she'd never been comfortable with people touching her anyway.

She smeared a little of the soap onto her chest, then felt the woman holding her head massage some more soap into her hair. She struggled not to stiffen up any more than she already was, but it was a hard battle. Finally, she went back to scrubbing at her chest and stomach, grimacing at the dirt that this simple action produced. Long after she'd finished, the other two ladies were still washing her, and she waited with her arms hugging her chest and her shoulders hunched until they had finally finished.

Then they simply released her, and she kicked herself so that her feet once more rested on the smooth bottom of the pool. She looked up and pushed her long wet hair back from her face, not liking the way it stuck all the way down her back. She shrugged one shoulder against it, but it did no good, so she just stood as still as possible until the woman who'd led her here beckoned her.

Resting her weight on her good ankle, she climbed from the water, and a robe was dropped around her shoulders. When she would have lifted her hands up to tie it, they were shoved back to her side and the robe was tied tightly around her waist by one of the two apparent servant girls. Then she was pushed around so that she faced the pregnant woman, and the woman led her out without a word. A'Rinn silently followed, the feeling of the air now much different since she was clean. She hugged herself again, a little cold. The robe was annoyingly thin, especially when it was halfway through the fall.

The trip back to her room was shorter than the one to the bathing pool had been, and they got there quickly. A'Rinn stopped in the center of the room and turned back to face the woman, who didn't look at her, just skirted around her and lifted the gauzy contraption from the back of a chair. Then she met the girl's eyes.

"Remove your robe and I will help you into this." The woman waited patiently until the girl finally untied the robe and let it drop at her feet. She reached out for the dress, but the woman ignored her and draped it over one shoulder, letting her hands drift down the edges of the cloth down the girl's body until she found the ties and painstakingly tied every single one of them. When she had finished, A'Rinn felt extremely uncomfortable, as if were she to move, the entire thing would fall apart.

She felt the woman's hands in her hair, and winced as the brush yanked through her tangles. Once the bigger ones had been unsnarled, the brush went through the curls easily, and the woman continued to brush long after her hair was fully untangled. The woman kept brushing until her hair was dry and her curls frizzed around her face in a riot of color. Her hair tickled her face and she scratched at it. Her hand was slapped away and the woman dipped her hand into a box full of some soft liquid that A'Rinn hadn't noticed.

She pressed the stuff onto the girl's face and smoothed it over her skin, covering the bruises and the scratches and ridding her of any evident imperfections. Then she stood back and studied the girl critically. The woman reached up and curled the hair around her hands, yanking and pulling a little, and then the hair was off her neck and tight atop her head. A'Rinn felt like a horrible giraffe placed in gaudy colors and gaudy surroundings. She sank into the carpet up to her ankles, but she felt like she was standing atop knives.

She'd rather have been back in the mines. She had no idea what was going on; she had no idea why she wasn't still chained next to fifty other men and women and sleeping against the hard rock of the winding, deadly tunnels. She wanted to know how she'd gotten here. She wanted to know why she was here, in this place that smelled of sex and smoke and heavy jasmine, and why she was in clothes that covered even less of her body than the rags she'd lived in for three years.

She shrugged off the woman's fluttering hands and looked down, trying to concentrate on nothing. Then she looked up.

"Who is the Master?" she asked quietly. There was a small pause in the woman's routine, but then she continued.

"He is simply Master."

A'Rinn was already tired of the kind of answers she was getting, so she stepped back out from under the woman's hands and forced the woman to look up as a reflex. The woman gave a little sigh and pressed her hand to the bulge of her abdomen.

"Master is the king here."

"The king of Jaecha?" A'Rinn demanded, hoping that this wasn't true. The king of Jaecha couldn't possibly suffer an Alton such as herself to live, and if she were to whore herself for any man, it would not be one such as that pig. She still couldn't quite accept what her life would be now, but Alton's were a reviled race here, which was why she'd become a slave in the mines to begin with. She had no illusions as to how long she would be alive. "Who brought me here?"

The woman didn't answer, just went back to adjusting the clothes. A'Rinn opened her mouth to ask again, but then the sound of a bell filtered through the halls, and the woman looked up with a start.

"That's it, then. Master is here. He will want to have a look at you." She stood and began to lead the way, but A'Rinn snatched her arm and gripped it, hard. The woman looked back, astonished.

"Do you know what I am? Do you know what he'll do to me when he sees me?" she hissed, her other hand struggling to undo the ties of the dress. The woman shook her head wildly, trying to stop the girl.

"You don't understand, Do'tan. Master values only variety. He has women of Garan and Moltazic origins. You will be nothing more than a face here, not a race. You will understand how things work here soon enough." She wrenched back her arm with surprising strength and crunched A'Rinn's hands in her own. "You will stop that with your dress. If you rip the fabric you will be beaten without mercy. These dresses are worth more than four of us together." Her eyes were sharp with the warning, and A'Rinn slowly relaxed her arms and stood until her breathing was deep and even. Then the woman nodded.

"I will lead you to the Hall. In the next few days, should you wish to ask me anything, ask the number one wife for Kaznu. It is not my name, for we do not use names here. It simply means fifth. But do not tell anyone here I have offered my help. Most here would like nothing better than to rid themselves of any troublesome wives, and any with child one is troublesome." With that, she turned and swept down the corridor. A'Rinn was forced to take long strides to keep up with the woman, for all she waddled and was short.

Within moments she found herself in a more brightly-lit area with strips of silk dangling from the ceiling and pulled off to the side so that the effect was of a large tent. The incense was, if possible, even heavier here.

A man stood, his posture stiff and his girth hanging out over the belt that was pulled far too tight around his purple-garbed waist. His gray streaked, thin blond hair curled out around his fat neck and chin, and beady, watery blue eyes peered out from swollen cheeks. Almost immediately, A'Rinn would have marked him as being more interested in male companionship. Her eyes were therefore drawn to the thin man who stood behind him and to the side, whose features were oddly girlish with long silky hair and long lashes. Why, then, would the king have need of such a large Harem?

Then she noticed that she was not the only one on display as she entered. One other girl stood, shaking slightly, in the center, her posture forced ramrod by the tightness of the garment encasing her skinny form. Her hair was as blond as the man's, and it was left to hang down her chest and brush at the tops of her bare thighs.

Maybe he kept this place stocked for his visitors, she thought before she could stop herself. Then she told herself that it was not for her to wonder. If she was left alone, why should she wonder why? This was to be her life, and it would be best for her to learn to be a survivor right at the start. She stood next to the girl, hoping that this was the right thing to do, and then straightened, trying not to shiver in the cold air.

"You have brought me trash," he shouted, his voice startlingly loud in the stifled room. His breath made little dents in the smoke that circled around him, and she was fascinated by the shapes that were thus created. "These women are trash. They are bruised, and they are already used up! You think I do not know that you have not brought me virgins? That is what I require."

A'Rinn clenched her jaw at that, forcing herself to remain passive and to not show the fear that was assaulting her. She tried to pretend that she was not there, that her body was empty and only a shell. The king came right up to her, without warning pinching her hard on her thigh.

"And I said I like full-figured women. You bring me disgusting, impure whores who have most obviously been using drugs. I detest such usage," he growled, his voice high and petulant. One guard leaned forward.

"My lord, if you recall, you asked for the thin ones that you could break easily. And these women are not whores, they come from the mines. You will find no spirit here. As you recall, you wished to take a rest from the fiery ones." It sounded as if he were reciting something he's recited many times before. The hand on A'Rinn's thigh instantly changed from rough and angry to that akin to a child stroking a new toy. His hand was as soft as a baby's, and for some reason her skin recoiled from it.

"I did, didn't I," the king murmured. Then he lifted on hand to her arm, then her chest. "Nice and muscular as well. I simply love these muscle patterns." No doubt he kept this Harem to dispel detrimental rumors of his sexual preferences, but if he wasn't even fooling one of his slaves, then who was he really fooling here? Even though she knew nothing of him, having been in the mines for that last three years of his reign, and never before really caring about his person, she could already tell that he was a very weak king. Most likely, he spent most of his time on his hobbies, and his hobbies had nothing to do with getting fresh air out in the countryside, and men of the court usually enjoyed.

"I know I said I wished to be back at the palace early," he said, as if to himself. "But I think I shall stay here. No, no, I really do need to be back. Simply tell my son that he can amuse himself here tonight. He's been so down since that Duke came home and rid him of that lovely bed partner of his."

"Excuse me, sire, which son do you wish to amuse himself?" the guard asked, his tone without inflection. The king was distracted from pawing the other girl and glanced up, his eyes blank. The guard repeated the question. Even if the king couldn't hear it, A'Rinn could read the disgust these people held for their ruler.

"Oh, Carros. Thore would never take me up on such an offer. He spends too much time with that whore. He seems to be developing an obsession. Perhaps I should have her killed." His laugh was high and sent a shiver skittering up her spine. "Carros has more fun here than I do. He did, after all, get that one girl pregnant a few weeks ago, didn't he? And I hadn't even known he was making such frequent visits."

A'Rinn wondered if he was speaking of Kaznu.

"Yes, certainly invite Carros. He likes the blond ones, and he has tired of the others." He sent a glance up the other girl's body that seemed to A'Rinn almost like a mental rape. She saw the trembling of the girl's body and allowed herself to feel a little sympathy. More than likely, the girl was, indeed, a virgin.

Then, a girl of about nine skittered in with a giggle, stopping as if she'd hit a wall when she saw who was in here. Whoever had been chasing her did not follow. The king's glance was drawn to the girl, and a half-smile appeared, creasing his cheek.

"Actually, tell him he can have her," he said, indicating the child. A'Rinn drew in her breath on a gasp, but did not let it escape; the king's eyes were drawn back to her despite her care. When he was assured she had not made a noise, he turned away and the girl was taken up by another guard, who held the struggling girl with one arm. A'Rinn felt her muscles clench and forced herself down. She could not, however, draw her eyes back from the girl dangling in the man's arms. Even so young, the child knew exactly what was going to happen to her.

And A'Rinn had to finally accept the kind of life she'd be living.