Indeed barely a couple minutes passed till the servants arrived. Two young women in plain saris, each wearing an ochre coloured spot on her forehead, carefully announced their entrance with a stifled cough and a soft knock against the doorframe, and when the prince turned his attention towards them they both bowed low with open arms to greet him and display their willingness to accept his wishes. Gladly asking for warm water, bandages and a drink, the prince was quickly reminded by their puzzled expressions how even at court servants were rarely ever able to comprehend anything but their mother tongue in almost all countries he had visited so far. They weren't actually dim witted though, and after a few attempts of gesturing what he required, forming a cup with his hands and mimicking to take a drink, then pointing at the injuries and miming how he intended to wrap something around his arm, their faces lightened up in understanding. Soon they returned carrying bowls of water, several strips of undyed cloth and a wooden tablet bearing an ornate cup and an assortment of salves and ointments. One of the women handed him the chalice, nodding with a smile when he carefully sniffed and put it to his lips looking at her to check if it was indeed intent for him to drink, then put the larger of the bowls on the floor, pulled off his boots and started washing his feet. The other of the two had meanwhile begun to carefully rub a mixture of warm, strong smelling oils upon the bruises on his arms that left a pleasingly numb feeling after some time, and once finished tucked at his shirt, urging the prince to allow her removing it so she could tend the injuries on the rest of his body. Assured that he couldn't understand them the chambermaids had commenced a happy chattering while performing their tasks on him, now with the garment gone they fell silent for a moment, at first causing him to think that he was maybe more gravely injured than he had thought, while in truth they just briefly admired the pretty display of his bare muscles and then quickly resumed their babbling before it became too obvious. Gradually getting fond of the spicy mixture of fruit juices and fermented honey the prince took another sip an then emptied the chalice in one go, closing his eyes afterwards enjoying the warmth of the alcoholic beverage spreading from his stomach in addition to the relaxing treatment of the maids, so he didn't notice when another person quietly slipped in.
"You know, I could get used to such 'amenities'…" he mumbled absent-mindedly, sighing dreamily as the caring hands began to knead his aching neck muscles.
"Really?" came a little sarcastically accented from across the room.
"WHAT!…"
The prince shot up like stung by a bee, forgetting in his surprise that his feet were still stuck in a bowl, which was knocked over by his rash move, sending the rest of the warm water flushing across the marble floor in one direction and a tripping prince tumbling in the opposite, and only the dauntless intervention of a maid grabbing him by his flailing arms prevented the prince from falling over. A muffled giggle came from the other, but Farah quickly clapped her hands twice and hissed a few commands that caused the girls to pack their things together and leave in a hurry without looking back.
"Is it uncommon in this country to knock!" the prince sputtered, but realizing the rashness of his outburst he slapped his forehead with a groan, hardly a moment after the words were spoken. "I'm sorry, princess, of course…"
"Well, not uncommon really," she interrupted his excuse with a frown, taking a seat on one of the huge cushions "yet since it seems fashionable in Persia to break into people's bedchambers uninvited in the midst of the night, I assumed I should adapt to such common practice as quickly as possible."
In the following pause her gaze rested heavily upon him, her look difficult to classify, until he remembered he wasn't properly dressed and quickly slipped into his shirt.
"My father asked me to bear your company till the feast begins" she continued with a quizzical smile "as you might have had difficulties explaining your wishes to our servants and felt lonesome. I see though you managed quite well on your own to make yourself comfortable in the meantime," she added, cocking her head while playing with one of the golden rings on her arm.
"So you saw my father?" the prince awkwardly tried to change the subject after another uneasy pause, "You could talk him into calling off the attack?"
"Indeed… for now. He seemed quite reasonable given the unpleasant circumstances. I am surprised that he agreed to my father's invitation so easily, even though for a brief moment I honestly feared he would have me slaughtered on the spot," Farah explained, watching the prince collecting his boots.
"I told you my father would never do such a thing, he might be rough and stubborn, but he is… an honourable… man…" he responded, clumsily hopping around on one leg in an attempt to put his boots back on without help.
"You don't need those…" Farah noted softly, causing him to give up and drop the tight jackboots on the floor with a mumbled curse "it is warm and customary to be barefoot indoors. We have precious carpets wherever needed. Please, sit down."
The prince eyed his pants suspiciously and mechanically dusted them off, although unnecessary, then took a seat on a cushion opposite hers, now pretending to admire the artistic carvings on the walls to not look at her directly,
"I'll do my best… I mean later, at the banquet… I will speak to my father. He will see reason and not try to attack this city. If I talk to him, I hope he will not."
"I don't question your sincereness," she slowly responded, putting a strand of hair out of her face "since my father does not, and he must surely understand more of the strange things that happened today, I still can't help to wonder though…"
"Wonder?"
"Yes," Farah continued unperturbedly "wonder what changed your mind. You Persians came to bring war upon us. You had to prevent this horrible catastrophe you spoke of, still why do you care about our city all of a sudden now? For all the wealths of India … and you don't want to lay your hands upon them any more?"
"A princess shouldn't have to worry her pretty head that much about politics in my opinion" the prince countered evasively, still not meeting her stare and drawing figures on the floor with his toes "though you aren't like any I've met before…" he added silently.
"Well, there would be no need to had I had any brothers" Farah spat back heatedly, jolting upright her eyes flashing, clearly ignoring his last remark "my mother died young, my father wished I had been a boy, he had me taught riding a horse and shooting the bow when my friends learned how to dance at the temple. I listened to councils since I was hardly able to walk alone. I… what IS IT!"
Her rant was interrupted by one of the chambermaids returning, a considerable number of other servants behind her carrying a heap of baskets and tremendous studded coffers into the room and beginning to unpack and display an endlessly vast collection of colourful, precious garments before the prince.
"My lord the Maharajah is honoured that your highness will attend today's festivities and hopes you will find something from this choice of his best clothes satisfying."
…