Note: My apologies once again for the late update. I had parts of this chapter written, but I wasn't satisfied with it as a whole, so I kept going back and forth. This isn't particularly long, but I do hope to have more chapters out soon. To the followers of this story, thanks for your patience! If you have any comments, questions, feel free to voice your opinions. You are likely to help this story turn out better with your feedback :)
Outer palace walls
"Ugh" grunted Farah as her hands scraped across stones of the palace walls. Perhaps, this was not the most intelligent of her decisions, but there was little other choice given that Roshanak had barred her path from inside.
Dressed in a servant's garb with the hareer preserve tucked away into a pouch tied on her side, Farah scaled the outer walls of the palace, hopping onto to the small platforms and ledges along the way. Internally, she swore heavily, vowing that she was going to get someone to teach her how to properly climb and scale walls and buildings.
Ha! As if, Farah. Who would teach a woman to do these things? Besides, you're still an outsider. Your own husband probably wouldn't even approve of this.
Sighing deeply, Farah shook off her thoughts as she focused on making her way across the walls. Placing her ear next to windows and peeking in when possible, she was able to loosely figure out in which direction she was heading. The chattering and bustling of floor servants indicated the servants quarters, the rustling of paper, scratching of pens, and creaking of chairs indicated the library, and the smell of medicinal herbs and boiling liquids indicated the apothecary section of the palace.
"Make haste, make haste!" commanded the old apothecarist to his young apprentice, who had finished crushing what looked like an herbal mixture using a mortar and pestle. "The mixture must be delivered to the west part of the palace closest to the hanging gardens-"
Those words immediately registered in Farah's mind. The herbs were most likely for the King, and his quarters were most definitely in the area the apothecarist had mentioned. Fortunately for her, the hanging gardens were the one place she was not unfamiliar with in this palace. Motivated by this, Farah refocused her efforts, confident that she would be able to find a way to Sherfiruz's quarters. When she reached the section of the gardens closest to the west part of the palace, she positioned herself closest to a window opening, carefully peering inside.
King's Quarters
King Sherfiruz lay in his bed coughing but nearly unconscious. A cool, damp cloth on his forehead, but the perspiration on his body was prominent.
The royal physician stood nearby, livid, arguing with Roshanak.
"His highness must receive continuous doses of the herbal mixture!"
"You are overmedicating him" snapped Roshanak. "He is just getting worse."
"We are supposed to let the herbal remedy work over its due course!" replied the physician curtly.
"Well, the herbal remedy is not very good is it?" retorted Roshanak with a dismissive sniff.
The physician looked like he wanted to slap Roshanak in the face, but with a tap on the shoulder from the apothecarist next to him, he merely took a deep breath and sighed heavily, shaking his head.
At this moment, an elderly, thin man with a narrow face and white beard entered the room. Farah recognized him immediately. Back when she had fought with Sherfiruz to regain the kingdom from Zurvan, the evil vizier, the old man had showed up with the people of Babylon to stall the sand creatures. Old as he was, wisdom and sophistication emanated in every step he took.
"Lady Roshanak, Honorable Physician Farzad," began the old man in an even, calm tone. "Perhaps the stress of His Highness's condition has gotten us unnecessarily riled."
The physician lifted an eyebrow, rolled his eyes, and scoffed at the gross understatement.
"Therefore," continued the old man, ignoring the physician, "I suggest that everyone exit the chamber for some fresh air and take a rest. I will accompany His Highness until you return."
Roshanak, the physician and the apothecarist walked out separately, leaving the Old Man to watch over Sherfiruz. He leaned over and took Sherfiruz's hand in his.
"My dear boy," he said. "You must try to fight this illness. The Kingdom needs you. See how they fight over such minuscule things.."
Sighing, the old man shook his head. "I may be bold in stating this, but that Roshanak is filled with poison-"
THUMP!
Farah clapped her hand over her mouth to avoid gasping, but the thump itself was loud enough. Her padded leather pouch containing the hareer preserve had come loose and dropped to the ground, bouncing slightly but landing upright.
The old man immediately stood up. "Who goes there? Guar-"
"No, please!" pleaded Farah, appearing from the window hands raised. "I mean no harm!" she stammered in desperation.
"Come forward" said the old man.
Farah climbed in through the window in the servant's garb, pouch in hand, and removed the cloth covering the bottom half of her face.
The old man took one look and recognition dawned on his face along with a slight smile. "Lady Farah," He began. "I witnessed your bravery when you and the King retook the Babylon, but I was not aware that you also scaled buildings like him. Clearly, you two are a perfect match" he added with a chuckle.
Farah relaxed at the old man's relaxed mood and humor. "Forgive me," she began."I had no other way of getting here. Lady Roshanak had guards bar the way out of my quarters-"
"Ahh" exclaimed the Old Man with an exasperated sigh. "Not surprising, especially after everything that just happened here."
"In any case," Farah interjected, "I had a special fruit preserve prepared for the King's illness. In my homeland, the healers recommend this for these types of afflictions. I have used it myself many times."
The Old Man's eyes widened with interest as she handed over the pouch and its contents. "A fruit preserve, you say?" He promptly stuck his finger in the sticky mixture and gave it a taste.
"Mmm," he exclaimed, nodding his head. "Not bad. In fact, much better than the bitter herbs he has been ingesting. I think that he will take this more willingly."
Farah nodded and then heard chattering outside the chamber door. Instinctively, she moved towards the window.
"My dear, go ahead and make your exit. I will be sure the King takes your remedy." said the Old Man motioning towards the window with his head.
"Thank you" said Farah bowing her head slightly as she wrapped the cloth of her garb around her face and head.
"Thank you, my dear. Take care of yourself." said the Old Man as she made her way out the window and disappeared.
"Ughhh.." groaned King Sherfiruz, awakening from his restless slumber and sitting up.
"Relax, my boy" said the old man, coming towards him.
"Who were you-cough-talking to?" asked the King.
"A good and loyal friend" replied the old man with a smile. "One who brought you a remedy far better than the bitter herbs you have been taking." Picking up the hareer preserve and a spoon, he coaxed the King into trying some.
As soon as he tasted it, the King's facial expression changed. "It's not bad at all...in fact, it's sweet, pleasant…Who is this friend of yours? If this works, I am ready to reward him handsomely."
"My King," said the old man with a knowing smile. "The friend is very similar to the remedy she brought-foreign to us, but at the same time sweet and pleasant."
Within the course of a few days, it became known throughout the palace that King Sherfiruz had recovered and returned to his duties. Farah was relieved and reminded herself that trying to scale the walls of the palace like a madman was well worth the outcome. She trusted the Old Man to keep her secret, but she could not help but have the feeling that someone else knew of her deed. For that reason, she tried to maintain a relatively low profile, staying out of Roshanak's way as much as possible. She did, however, find time to visit Lady Anemone and Yasmin.
One day, when she sat in Lady Anemone's apartments talking to her about various things, the subject turned to King Sherfiruz.
"My dear Farah," said Anemone with a look of concern on her face. "If you don't mind my asking, is everything all right between you and the King?"
Farah, who was close to taking a sip of her cool sour cherry drink, immediately set it down in surprise. "Are people talking about me?"
Anemone looked away for a second and sighed. "Well, my dear, you're the talk of the palace. I don't think any wife has gone this long without spending a night with him."
Farah immediately dropped her gaze at the floor with a sigh. She should have expected this, as it was bound to come up.
"Did something happen?" asked Anemone gently.
Farah shook her head. "No. I found ways to put it off initially, and then the king got sick and well..."
"So, you have been avoiding him on purpose?"
Farah kept looking down. "I, I...can't…."
"My dear," whispered Anemone, "Are you afraid?"
"Of many things" replied Farah softly. Things that I could never say aloud… Farah's mind went back to the day she had sat in the gardens with Indrani, hoping that she was barren. Truth be told, a small part of her thought that with avoiding the King enough, she would generate enough controversy to be sent home, dishonorable as that sounded.
Anemone reached over and took Farah's hand in her own, forcing her to look up.
"The King is not unkind." she said gently. "He is quite generous, and he would never force you or cause you any harm."
Farah looked at Anemone and knew that she was probably telling the truth. Sherfiruz had very much expressed his feelings for her during the Persian ceremony, and she could not deny her feelings for him either, but she was not ready to let herself be that close to him.
"If I may" began Anemone, "I would suggest that if that the next time the King requests your presence, please do not avoid it. You need the time to at least talk to him alone. Believe me, my dear, you do not want his trust in you to be marred by the poisonous rumors of this palace."
Farah nodded. That last bit had struck a chord. If she waited too long to establish some kind of relationship with Sherfiruz, Roshanak and the palace would have no problem making her life miserable.
"Make sure this gets delivered to Lady Farah at once" instructed King Sherfiruz.
"Yes, your Highness" replied the servant who bowed and then took off to make his delivery.
The King sighed deeply. Hopefully, Farah would not make an excuse this time to get of out seeing him. Shaking his head, he began to pace back and forth, trying to make sense of all that had happened since his marriage to Farah. She had been meek and distant, and then all of a sudden saved him and Yasmin from an assassin ambush. After that, she had become reserved once again, and then when he had taken ill…she risked much to bring him a remedy. One that in fact, worked much better than what the apothecarist had provided.
"My King, The friend is very similar to the remedy she brought-foreign to us, but at the same time sweet and pleasant."
When the old man had revealed Farah to be the provider of the fruit preserve remedy, Sherfiruz was surprised. He was even more shocked when the old man commented that Farah had made her way to him from the outside walls because Roshanak had not allowed anyone to enter his quarters directly.
"Yes, my boy," the old man had said with amusement twinkling in his eyes. "She scaled the outer palace walls to deliver the remedy herself. I daresay, you could not have asked for a better match in a wife."
The idea of Farah navigating the outer palace walls to reach his room initially surprised him, but he was struck with an inexplicable warmth, leaving him with a fluttering, hopeful feeling. She had risked her own safety, her life. For him. Again. One could trivialize the attraction that came from lust or some other mere infatuation, but no, this was different. Farah obviously harbored some kind of feelings toward him, and it was obvious, even if he discounted their journey in Azad, of which she had no memory.
Why, then did she still avoid him? He needed to know what was going on. For this reason, he had sent a servant with a message stamped with a special seal for Farah. It would prevent her from being barred entry into his quarters.
And what of Roshanak? Sherfiruz sighed and shook his head. He had tried to be fair with Roshanak, but in all truthfulness, his relationship with her was similar to that of a business transaction. He had been obligated to marry her out of duty, and she was the mother of his son, so she was afforded a certain status, but he had hesitated in crowning her as queen because he did not trust her. And his son…
Sherfiruz shook his head. He knew the boy was sickly since the day he was born. Even so, he had left no stone unturned when it came to getting care for the boy and used to go see the child himself everyday. After the child reached about 8 months of age, Roshanak had made it very difficult for him to see his own son. These days, he had overheard from his servants that the boy, now aged 3, the same as Yasmin, was prone to tantrums and horrible fits of screaming and violence, so much so that there were only a few of Roshanak's personal servants who looked after him.
When his thoughts switched over to Yasmin, he sighed deeply again. Poor, sweet Yasmin. From what he had already seen, the girl was incredibly intelligent and good-natured, the kind of daughter that made her father beam with pride. Not to mention, when she laughed and crinkled her eyes, he could swear he saw a bit of his late brother Malik in her. Sometimes, he felt it was a real pity that she was born a female and Shaheen a male. And of her mother, Anemone? King Sherfiruz shook his head once again. If there was ever an angel in human form, he was convinced that it was Anemone. She had done nothing but give, never asking for or expecting anything in return. Had actually had time to spend with her, he may have actually grown to love her as she deserved, but she had taken ill so quickly after her Yasmin's birth. Now she remained ill and in her apartments away from everyone. The royal doctors were not hopeful about her prognosis and said that she did not have much time left. It had been ages since Sherfiruz had last visited her, and he did feel immense guilt because of this, but there were so many things that always came first: the kingdom, the court, his duties...
Tensions were already growing in the court, as he had heard the whispers about how there was currently no proper heir to the throne. With the arrival of Farah, though, there was a lot of additional talk because there was another potential source for an heir. What if Farah was the one to give him his heir? Sherfiruz could not deny the surge of hopefulness and excitement he had felt at this thought. If he was to have a proper heir, he would have undoubtedly wanted it to come from Farah, but all of that aside, he had not even had the chance to spend more than a few moments with her in private. He was hoping that tonight's meeting would be the opportunity to put all the misunderstandings and doubt aside.
Notes: I thought it was about time the Old Man made an appearance in this story.
