THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN EDITED AND EXPANDED.
"Sarah, I need you to bring in some hot water."
Sarah scowled. She had tried to be kinder, but it was difficult when he started to treat her like his servant after all the servants had left. He hadn't even asked her permission before using her using her first name. He had begun to use it not long after she started to help him with his mathematics. She had asked him then that if he wanted to call her Sarah, he should at least share his own name. But it wasn't after all the servants had left that he felt comfortable enough to share his name. He eventually shared his father's identity as well; but Sarah had no recollection of whether she knew him. There hadn't been much point in hiding his identity from her after all.
"I'm busy cleaning the floors, Rayan. Do it yourself!"
"Well then you can tell Maman I don't need to take a bath."
This was another development that Sarah did not like at all. Rayan had told Jasmin that he didn't wish to be formal around her, and since he had never known his mother who had died shortly after his birth, Jasmin had offered to be his surrogate mother. He had been very pleased at that. Sarah perhaps should have felt some sympathy for him, but she felt only resentment.
"Tell her yourself," she mumbled, going back to her cleaning.
Muttering to himself, Rayan went about drawing the hot water for his bath. Jasmin had told him off several times for his lack of hygiene. He had hated it at first, but later, he had wondered, if having someone fuss over you like that was part and parcel of having a mother.
The three of them had formed an odd sort of family, even though Sarah was very against that idea. After he began to call Jasmin 'Maman', she hadn't spoken to him until he decided to share his name and identity. Jasmin of course had known who he was for some time now, but Sarah had had no idea.
He also shared that he was nineteen years old, and that he had been cursed five years ago by a fairy whom he had tried to capture.
"You tried to catch a fairy?" Sarah was incredulous.
"I was fourteen! I found a fairy when it was in its tiny form. I managed to catch it and keep it in a cage as a pet. Only when it got free did I realize she was a powerful one and she was furious. She cursed me until I learned compassion."
"So what was all this about learning to love a woman?"
"Oh she said something about that too. I had to learn compassion from a woman, I don't know, I wasn't paying attention," he said irritably.
"Then why haven't you tried being compassionate all these years?"
"Who said I didn't try?"
"I've seen your behavior towards me and all the other girls. You were always shouting at us."
"Well it didn't work when I tried, so I gave up."
"Have you ever considered the possibility that you did not try hard enough?"
She received a massive scowl in response.
Most of their conversations ended in bickering. Nonetheless, when Sarah reflected on how much their dynamic had shifted since she first turned up at his door, she had to admit it was incredible. She was no longer his prisoner, or even his guest, but a member of his household. There was no more hostility between them, and perhaps even the hint of respect. Sarah wasn't convinced about the respect part. He wouldn't quite stop giving her orders, and frequently attempted to enlist her help with his tasks, a fact she found incredibly frustrating. She asked her mother to instruct him to perform his own chores, but Jasmin seemed to think Sarah should be able to handle him on her own. She even suggested that perhaps he only wanted the company.
Sarah tested this out by requesting his help in her chores, and unsurprisingly, found him unwilling to help. However, she found that this gave her the perfect excuse to refuse to help him out in turn; and once he realized that, he actually offered his help. There was a possibility that Maman's influence was involved.