Chapter Seven:

When Jiaan turned five, he began his education at the local school. I visited them often, judging how his education compared to the tutoring deghans received. I wanted to give him a peasant's experience – to come into my circle with a view outside that of the deghans raised in excess.

I realized very quickly that, even if he was their equal, his peasant's accent would give him away. It would make him the object of their ridicule. I hired a tutor to work with Jiaan, to teach him the precise accent the deghans used. Katana protested at first. She warned it would confuse Jiaan. He wouldn't hear it spoken at home, and would resent the interference in his life. He wasn't yet old enough to understand who his father was, or the politics that surrounded his own birth.

I confided to Katana my plan. If Sudaba only had the one child, a girl, who could not inherit, especially not my title, I could bring forward Jiaan as my heir. It was not that Sudaba had failed, for who could control whether the babe was male or female, so she would not be disgraced.

"I can't make it right for us, Katana. Maybe I can make it better for Jiaan."

"You're a romantic fool, Merhab."

I shrugged. "Only with you."

For a time, life was smooth again. I rejoiced in the growth of both my children. Soraya was my pride and joy. When she was old enough, I took her around with me. Sudaba squawked when Soraya demanded britches so she could ride with me. I laughed and made sure she got them. I also made sure her maids didn't squirrel them away and return them to Sudaba. As she grew, I taught her to fight – with fists and knife. I calmed Sudaba by reminding her that a single girl should be able to defend herself – especially in a household with so many boys. Most deghans did not maintain the household of pages and aides that I did – many deghans wanted their sons trained in the army. I found it ironic, for I oft quarreled with the well-established relatives who sent their sons to me. Of course, it was more than mere necessity that caused me to train Soraya – I loved showering Soraya with all the love and attention I could give.

During this time, I allowed my work to carry me away whenever possible, as a plausible excuse for a lack of younger siblings for Soraya.

As Jiaan's tenth birthday approached, I made arrangements for him to join my household as a page. The house was full of them, for many second and third sons were sent to the army to make themselves useful. I enjoyed having them around. I hoped I was a good influence on them; teaching them to be strong individuals, that it was acceptable to say no, guiding them to success in the fighting arts.

I had earned enough respect among those in the gahn's council that they would not censure me for my actions. I expected there would be ridicule, but gossip would soon be forgotten.

The day after his birthday, Jiaan moved into my household. He was quiet as he settled himself, the other pages gathering around as if he was a strange monkey allowed into their inner sanctum. I discreetly watched him – did he know that I was his father? Katana said she had told him a long time ago, but he had never addressed it with me. I gave him space – most of my pages were overwhelmed by the strictness which I demanded, though I knew Jiaan had been raised with more chores than many of my lads.

While I could fend off the barbs from deghans who were insulted that their boys were being forced to train with a mere peasant, I saw those same boys doing all in their power to drive Jiaan away. He was subjected to cold shoulders, and I'm quite sure that he was 'convinced' to take on extra chores. They insulted him whenever possible. I was hard pressed to keep my temper when they would insult his mother's character.

Somewhere after the first month he was with me, the deghans in the council found the evidence of Jiaan's connection to me. The news trickled down quickly to the pages of my household. The insults to Jiaan became subtler, the nastiness hidden behind my back. Jiaan did not come to me about any of it; more surprisingly, he did not have fist fights with the other boys, and there was no increase in pages falling off their horses.

There was no way I could train Jiaan in swordplay, deghans would accuse him of wanting to start a revolt among the peasants. I set him to train with the archers. I also ensured he learned all aspects of military maneuvering – supply lines; terrain; scouting. He was patient through these lessons, lessons that many of my pages had bungled their way through before refusing to engage in these tasks that were "beneath their stations." I smiled to myself whenever a page demanded these duties be relegated to the peasants – these were important aspects of being a commander. They were playing right into my hand.

A/N: So we are back to average length chapters again. A lot of set up in this one - hope to see y'all back for more!