CHAPTER ELEVEN: One Way Or Another
"Lady Arwen, it is time for you to present yourself. Lady Arwen!" The soft voice was followed by a gentle shake. "Queen Zuleika of Zin Zaraboob will see you now."
"Yes, of course. Thank you for waking me." Arwen recognized the frail, elderly servant in black who bowed to her. But she didn't remember falling into deep slumber. Just moments ago the room had been full of women, young and old. The giggly young girls who scrubbed away weeks of grime while she bathed soon passed her off into the care of several older women. They painted her nails, arranged her hair, and applied soothing ointments to her skin. Strong skilled hands rubbed tired and aching muscles, relaxing her. Afterwards she must have slept for hours, not just minutes. Now it was time to think about what had happened to her before she arrived in Zin Zaraboob, the city of pleasure!
"Pirates." Zuleika of the Shifting Sands repeated the plain, simple word as if it were the name of some absurd, mythical beast. "You say it was pirates who carried you off against your will, and took all the gifts and tribute from Queen Galadriel. And so here you are, empty-handed."
"That is correct, yes." Arwen squirmed in her seat, uncomfortably aware of the symbolic value of the missing gifts. This was an awkward start to her diplomatic mission. Without treasure and tribute, what reason did the ruler of Zin Zaraboob have to take the proposed alliance seriously? Already Arwen felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment and shame. Though opulently furnished, the queen's musty, cluttered office suddenly seemed unbearably hot, the humid night air stifling instead of cool.
"Death is usually pretty certain when one meets a merciless pirate," Zuleika observed, in a soft voice. "Given the circumstances, your survival is positively miraculous. Would you care for a little more wine, Lady Arwen?"
"Yes, thank you." Arwen licked dry lips, watching as the queen poured wine into a gold goblet. "I ran from Ling Kray at the earliest opportunity," she shrugged, raising her goblet. "I fled through the swamp at the risk of drowning – or being dragged to a far more terrifying death by monsters of the deep." The elf-maiden gulped her wine, remembering how the slimy, slithery tentacles had whipped out and seized her.
"Ah, yes. My border captains told me that they saw Ling Kray dragged underwater by some sort of creature. Yet they were unable to recover my treasure. I suppose it's at the bottom of the sea. Unless someone else got hold of it in the swamps?"
"Well – I think Ling Kray's men sailed away with most of it." Arwen could see that Zuleika valued wealth above all things. Heavy gold bracelets jangled on the queen's flabby arms. Her thick fingers were adorned with diamonds and rubies. A life of pleasure showed plainly in her sagging facial features, and in the broad contours of her heavy but shapely build.
Yet for all these reassuring signs of human weakness, the elvish maiden sensed an uncanny aura of power about the woman. In spite of her double chin and flabby face, Zuleika looked dangerous. Her dark brown eyes were sharp and clear. And Arwen Evenstar was not about to tattle on the innocent frog-creatures, who after all had done her no harm.
"Don't lie to me, girl!" The queen thumped her ringed hand hard on the cluttered desk. The sound made Arwen jump.
"I'm not lying to you!" she cried breathlessly. "I don't have – I mean I didn't have any gold or jewelry on me when the patrol captured me. You can ask your counselor Omar." Arwen was glad she remembered the man's name. But her cheeks burned, for she remembered being stark naked when he rescued her. At the moment all she owned were borrowed garments, given to her when she awoke. The blue satin trousers and the skimpy blue and gold string top were comfortable enough, but far more revealing than anything she would have worn in her father's house. Of course, just wearing these things put her in debt to the sorcerer-queen. The rings and jewels and jingling bracelets were even worse!
"Omar says you were quite willing to surrender yourself. But Gwenna and Tamara both report that you were a willing partner of Ling Kray," Queen Zuleika informed her briskly. "They stated that when they captured you the pirate was not killing you – he was kissing you! And you were kissing back."
"He'd just saved me from being eaten alive by a monster!" Arwen protested, feeling a fresh wave of heat rise to her cheeks. "I was his prisoner for days, forced to obey him. I hated the man with a passion, and I told him so!"
"Yes, of course." The majestic older woman with the tightly curled red-brown hair gave Arwen a knowing sort of look. "Be careful, my dear. When dealing with a man like Ling Kray, one sort of passion can lead very quickly to another."
"Not when he's dead as fish bait." Arwen meant to sound snarky, not sad, but a ripple of loneliness went through her. Her eyes filled with tears, and she fought to hold them back.
"You're tired," the queen told her. "Rest. We'll talk trade in the morning. My treasury needs filling – one way or another."