It was certainly a clever way to get out of Norland during the Christian debate, Jasmine acknowledged as she watched from a balcony as Siegfried and his army loaded up his fleet of ships with warriors to go off and conquer a foreign land in the name of the Romans. These Bulgarians weren't a name unknown to her, but every time she had heard of them she had been lacking context. But she knew her… father had supported them financially throughout the years, as had the Caliphs before him.

Having an enemy on the other side of the Roman's borders was convenient, forcing them to split their attention.

Jasmine didn't have any doubts that Siegfried would see the kingdom of the Bulgars brought low. For more than a year now she had lived amongst the pagans and Jasmine liked to think that she knew their measure. Siegfried in particular was a man who had a passion for knowledge and wisdom, but thrived in war. He was someone trying to expand his ability, but his true talents laid in a single direction.

"Norland shall be emptier," Jasmine muttered under her breath, a hand stroking Rajah, her tiger and greatest friend. His head was in her lap, eyes closed as he lazed about like an overgrown house cat.

"For the moment," Jill replied, seated across from her as she too watched her lord husband prepare to set sail. "As soon as the harbor empties itself, we will be flooded with Christian dignitaries from all over Rome and Francia." She replied, sounding exhausted at the mere thought of it. She brought a cup of tea to her lips, sipping soundlessly. It was a strange thing to notice, Jasmine knew, but she could hardly help herself.

The world was a much stranger place than she'd ever imagined. As a girl growing up, she'd heard tales of pagans that painted them as barbarians. How they smelled fiercely, lacked manners, and intelligence simply because they had refused the grace of Allah. But, Jill's manners were impeccable. Better than hers, even, and up until that fateful decision to steal away in the dead of night with a small retinue of soldiers and fake orders, her entire life had been familiar walls and familiar repetition of the same courtly manners.

The pagans certainly didn't smell. In fact, they seemed almost obsessed with cleanliness. Since the bathhouse had finished, she knew some had taken to bathing daily in the warm spring waters. No pagan went anywhere without a comb either. Many had even taken to wearing perfumes, with most favoring light scents because there was no odor that they needed to bury.

As for lack of intelligence… it would be more factual to say that they suffered from ignorance. An ignorance that Siegfried was determined to correct.

"Is it going to be an issue?" Jasmine questioned, stroking Rajah with a light touch.

"The Christians slaughter each other at the slightest excuse," Jill remarked, her tone as scathing as she had ever heard it. "The Romans have only begun to heal from the butchery that transpired during the establishment of Iconoclasm and I suspect that the repealing of it shall be just as bloody." Jasmine recalled what she heard about the movement, a light frown tugging at her lips beneath her veil.

It had been the subject of mockery from her father and his court. And seen as an opportunity. The Romans had attacked themselves with a fury unmatched, killing all those who disagreed with the banning of icons. Entire families put to the sword, churches filled with icons and their believers before both were set aflame. Truly, nothing inspired more hatred in people than only mostly agreeing with them.

"Would it not be better for Lord Siegfried to stay, in that case?" Jasmine wondered, grabbing hold of her own tea. A black one imported from her homeland, which in turn had imported it from a land called India. It had always been her favorite back home, though she was ignorant of where it came from then. It had been an offhand mention to Siegfried as she had little taste for the mead that his people favored, and on the next ship back from her homeland, there were samples of teas she hadn't even known existed.

"The whole debate is going to be trouble, but he's correct in assuming that the presence of our people, his presence in particular, will be rather… agitating," Jill admitted. "He's hated in Rome for being involved in their politics. He's hated in Francia for his victories against the Christian Emperor. If he would remain, the frustration over the debate would be directed at him because he's simply too easy of a target."

So, he sailed away to conquer a kingdom. His second, according to Astrid. And there was something so deeply romantic about a man forging a kingdom simply to make his love a princess. Jasmine's cheeks warmed at the thought of it, watching as Astrid approached with Ragnar in her arms before setting him down on the ground.

It seemed that Ragnar had learned how to run before he learned how to walk because he sped right along into his father's waiting arms. It was a reminder that for all of his fierceness, there was a much softer and gentler side to the Wolf-Kissed lord. A side he had no shame of.

"You're likely right," Jasmine sighed. Siegfried had a far greater temper than herself – her brief exposure to the supposed Empress of these lands was more than enough for her. If she never met another Christian in her life, it would still be one too many. "Hopefully this whole thing will be settled in the turning of a season and we can continue as we were."

With one small change, Jasmine amended – she wouldn't mind visiting the University of Constantinople. She had steadily been working through the scrolls and texts that her brother, now Caliph, had sent over. She had even helped translate it into Greek. She even had ink stains on her fingers to prove it!

Jill chuckled as Astrid and Ragnar said their goodbyes to Siegfried. "We, is it?" Jill asked, her lips twisting into a teasing smile.

Jasmine shifted in her seat, making Rajah open his eyes lazily for a moment before closing them. "I suppose so," Jasmine admitted.

She had been ready to hate Siegfried. And she might, just a little. When she had been captured, her imagination filled itself with the worst sort of horrors. She regretted everything, most of all not listening to her father. He had been proven right in the worst of ways. She had felt nothing but dread when she was marched up to Siegfried, through a roaring crowd, to look up at a man that seemed more of a Caliph than her own father in his later years…

"If I am to be a hostage, then there are much worse people than I could be in the hands of," Jasmine added. She'd rather not be a hostage at all, of course. She missed Baghdad. She missed the palace and the familiar faces of the servants. She especially missed her mother and brother. But, she had cast the die.

She'd only started to warm up to Siegfried once he told her outright that he wouldn't kill her on the orders of the would-be Empress. It had been hard to like a man when her life was in his hands and she had no idea what he would do with it.

"Have you given any thought to marriage?" Jill suddenly questioned and Jasmine's teacup paused halfway to her lips.

That was certainly a question. "Dare I ask why you're bringing up marriage?" Jasmine questioned, following her mother's teachings. She wasn't good at them, not like her mother was. Her mother could be feeling the blackest of hate, but she'd laugh with the purest of joys. Jasmine always found it easier to play up certain parts of her personality rather than disguise what she felt.

"My husband is seeking a more long standing relationship with the Abbasids," Jill answered and she wouldn't have been able to keep the shock off her face even if she tried. Jill favored her with a smile, "He won't break his contract, however much he might wish to. His word isn't so lightly given. But once the contract ends… It would behoove us to have a standing ally in the Mediterranean. For those that remain behind."

Politics wasn't her strength. In truth, Jasmine hadn't particularly been aware of any of her strengths. Not until her capture. But, even with her limited education, she understood what was being offered. And the implications.

Her brother was Caliph now and he had a dozen men within the city, waiting for her to give a signal to escape. Their messages were far too few between, but his intent was clear enough in them. He trusted her judgment and he desired to use Siegfried against the Romans. Or, at the very least, to have him not be used against him. But, for an ongoing alliance?

Jasmine took a sip of tea, swallowing her nervousness. Marriage was something that had always been on her mind in a passing sense – she was of age to be married, but given that Irene had paraded her like a prized cow, besmirching her reputation, Jasmine had wondered what her options might be. She could scream until she was blue in the face that she hadn't been despoiled in any way, but she knew that there would be few that genuinely believed her. And for many, being a princess would only barely make up for her perceived lack of purity.

"It is a decision for my brother to make," Jasmine replied, wondering how she would compose this message. She was aware that Regent Hadi was preparing for a future war with the Umayyad Caliphate.

Jill nodded, "I understand. My own betrothal was… unconventional," Jill admitted, watching as Siegfried gave the order to set sail. Despite the distance between them, Siegfried seemed to look directly at them, offering a gentle smile and a wave farewell. Jill returned it before continuing, "But are you adverse to the idea itself? As of now, an alliance only exists as a thought. The conditions and stipulations are yet to be decided – with the right concessions… it may be a fate that you avoid entirely."

There was a reason that of all of Siegfried's wives, Jill was her favorite. "I don't know," Jasmine admitted, watching as Siegfried started to sail away. She would miss him in these coming months, she suspected. He was fine enough company, even if she wasn't sure if she would want him as a husband. "My father… indulged me when it came to who would be my husband one day. I must have rejected a thousand suitors since I flowered, and I know I caused my father no end of grief over it."

She had been sheltered and spoiled in equal measures, Jasmine recognized only in hindsight. She hadn't felt spoiled at the time. She had felt… normal. It was normal to be catered to by an army of servants and slaves. It was normal for her whims to be indulged. It was what she imagined life to be for most people, except for the servants and slaves. But, even then, she reasoned that the servants would have slaves to indulge their whims.

She had recognized that she was sheltered, mostly because the only time she was ever denied was when she wished to leave the palace.

"I didn't want to be married, so I wasn't. Even as I grew older, and my father's pleading more desperate for me to finally settle on a husband, I still rejected them all out of hand out of spite," Jasmine admitted, knowing only now what a luxury her father's unconditional love had been. Only when she was ripped away and he had… faded away.

Jill was silent for a moment, giving Jasmine a moment to gather her thoughts before asking a probing question, "And now?"

"I don't know," Jasmine admitted, watching Siegfried sail away, off to conquer.

Jill hummed for a moment before patting her hand, "You still have some time to figure it out. A word of warning, however… decide, while it is still your decision."

…

As Jill predicted, almost as soon as Siegfried's army left for Bulgaria, the Christians began to arrive en masse. Bishops and archbishops, from both Francia and Rome arrived one after the other and their lack of respect was clear to all to see. Jill played as a host, but they were token efforts at best – she was a pagan and, worse, she was a woman. Siegfried cared little for gender roles, but these old fogies certainly did.

There were complaints aplenty. Complaints about the Muslims in the settlement. That there were pagans. And especially that it was ruled by Siegfried, in fact the only thing that seemed to unite the divided Christians was a shared hatred for the Pagan. Making his absence the correct decision. Even the Roman priests seemed sour to hear of the victories that Siegfried had in Bulgaria as news trickled to them as time went by.

After a painfully long month for everyone to arrive, the debates began.

Jasmine had nothing to do with them, which was a welcomed relief. As a matter of fact, she was going well out of her way to completely avoid dealing with it. Siegfried had his contract with the would-be Empress. She had no such attachments.

Which is why she found herself walking amongst the town of Norland with a modest guard and the few trusted companions that she had – Rajah, and young Alim.

"That one is going to Egypt. It's carrying wine and furs that will sail down the Nile River, and there it'll continue onward to the Gulf of Adren and onward to the Arabian Sea," Jasmine decided, having no idea if her tale was true or not. But it was a fun little game that she liked to play with Alim.

"No. It's going to Rome. A fat priest misses someone he left behind, and now he's going to bring them here," Alim replied, his nose scrunching up. Jasmine wasn't sure how the game began, but her part was imagining where a ship might go, the people that the sailors might meet, and who the contents would be delivered to. Alim would instead state the truth of the matter, and every time Jasmine bothered to check, he was right.

Alim was a strange boy. Strange in the way Siegfried was strange. Only, where Siegfried appeared larger than life at times, as if he had stepped out of a tale, Alim was more… quiet. Even in the past year, as he started growing from a boy to a young man, he seemed unremarkable. But, if you listened to him…

It was as if Allah was whispering in his ear at times. He simply knew things that he had no right knowing.

"That ship is going back to Acre. One of the Caliph's spies is telling your brother about the debate and the man with the funny hat's arrival." He continued, as if he could hear her thoughts. The Pope, as he was called. The debate's beginning was marked with his arrival and it was only then that she could venture out into the town without tripping over priests and their guards. "He was also carrying a message that got delivered to Lady Astrid."

He really shouldn't know such things. That went beyond merely being observant. And it was why Jasmine had requested that he stayed with her while she was a 'hostage.' One of Regent Hadi's vassals had been particularly against the idea, but with only a word from Alim, his protests were silenced.

"Was this message about the Umayyads?" Jasmine ventured as they walked, heading around the docks to walk along the shore. Norland was rather busy on account of all of the merchants smelling an opportunity while the debate was happening.

Alim seemed pensive for a moment before he nodded.

The world had gotten so much larger in the past year. For her entire life, she had lived in the palace, never even venturing out into Baghdad before she stole away with a modest guard. Names that she grew up with such as Antioch, Acre, the Romans, the Umayyads… she had known of their existence, of course, but she hadn't been able to conceive just how vast the distance was between them.

It had only been hours after she'd left Baghdad that it sunk in that she wouldn't be able to travel to Acre and return in a single day without anyone being the wiser.

Now, she understood what Siegfried was planning, and what he was dragging her brother into.

"Do you…" Alim started, looking up at her for a moment, a hand between Rajah's shoulder blades as they walked. His voice trailed off before his lips thinned, swallowing whatever he was about to say.

"Do I what?" Jasmine prodded, walking along the beach.

"Do you think the Umayyads are bad people?" Alim asked, and Jasmine furrowed her brow, not sure what to make of the question.

She should say yes, she reasoned. After all, there was a reason why they had been overthrown by her family. But, the truth of it was… "I don't know. I've never met anyone from the Umayyad Dynasty. I imagine they're no better or worse than anyone else," she reasoned.

"I think they're bad," Alim replied, his tone as serious as she had ever heard it. He didn't elaborate either, simply declaring it as if they had done him a personal insult of some kind. And, before Jasmine could question why exactly he thought so, they stumbled across an unexpected sight.

A number of children were standing in the low tide, equipped with sticks that were tied to pieces of twine that were dropped into the waves. It wasn't the fact that they were fishing that was so unexpected, it was who was teaching them.

The Bishop Otto dressed humbly, wearing plain clothing without any adornments typical of a man of his position. He sat on a rock, his own pole in hand, and because of how small the cove was, he saw them as soon as they saw him. He offered a polite smile and a bow of his head to her, "Forgive… bow? Not scared fish," Otto said in heavily accented Arabic.

Jasmine favored him with a smile, uncertain if he was a welcomed sight or not. "There is no need, Bishop Otto. I can speak Greek well enough," Jasmine informed, making the bishop chuckle. Siegfried hadn't been the only one hiding that he could speak another language that day. "I must confess, I'm surprised to see you here. I thought you would be in the debate hall."

To that, Bishop Otto laughed like it was a ludicrous thought, "I'm afraid not, Princess Jasmine. I would be no more welcomed in that hall than Siegfried would be, I suspect."

That was news to her. The children finally reacted to her presence, or rather to Rajah's, and they were torn between running away and approaching. It was Alim that put a thumb to the scales, causing a brave boy near Alim's age to approach. Rajah didn't seem to mind their presence, putting her mind at ease as he quickly became spoiled by all the attention.

"Because of your friendship with Siegfried?" Jasmine questioned as she approached, standing on the shore while the Bishop was knee deep in the water.

"In part," he confessed easily, watching with a warm smile as the children got distracted and went to approach her tiger. None dared approach her, however. The guards were a good deterrent to that, sadly enough. "It's mostly due to my own view on things suffering from theirs, I suspect. That, and because King Charlemagne shows me favor."

Siegfried respected this man, Jasmine thought. A respect that he had rarely shown to any other. He was no warrior, that was for certain, but she noticed his calloused hands. That, she noted, marked him as quite different from most of the priests that had flooded the town of Norland.

She was curious, despite wishing that this whole debate would swiftly end so that things could return to normal. "I would hear these differences, if you would tell me." It was something of a puzzle that she wished to unravel. Siegfried had an increasingly low opinion of Christians the more he was forced to interact with them. But even as Otto foisted this debate onto him, the Pagan held no ill will towards him.

Why was that?

The bishop glanced her way, his gaze curious but kind before offering a gentle smile. "The differences are many, and as large as they are small. I dare say that without King Charlemagne's protection, I would find myself labeled a heretic and swiftly put to death!" He said with a laugh, not at all bothered by the idea. "But, if we are starting with what is relevant… I find this whole debate rather disagreeable."

She was already starting to see it, Jasmine thought with some amusement. "Despite it being your idea?"

"Oh, Princess Jasmine, I could hardly call it my idea. Nor would I wish to," Bishop Otto confessed. "The debate itself is a farce, if you would forgive my boldness. The result of it was decided before anyone set sail to this lovely town. It was never a matter of faith, but of politics. That is what I find so disagreeable about it. That the schism between the West and the East will not be mended because the church wishes to heal itself, but because it shall be convenient for the worldly powers that be."

"... I take it this was an opinion that you shared?" Jasmine ventured, earning a cheeky smile.

"Honesty is a virtue, Princess Jasmine." He replied before looking good back out at his hook when the branch started to bend. "I shall tell no lies, if I can help it. Which makes it quite the shame when I find myself at odds with the clergy." His tone didn't become bitter, but it did shift. "Siegfried was right – more right than he realized. God has no need for silver and gold. Yet, the faith hoards it much like a dragon, adoring itself with vanity. It espouses the virtues of the Bible while failing to live up to them."

He pulled the fishing line up, only to find that the fish had eaten the bait. He reached down to a belt around his waist to place another piece of bait on the hook before tossing it back into the waves.

She was also starting to see why his faith would take issue with his views. "That is the nature of power, I believe. Faith has little to do with it." She had been ignorant of the labors of the lowest of society, but she grew up in the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. To many, she had been an empty-headed spoiled girl that knew nothing, and in some ways they had been more right than Jasmine would care to admit. But she had listened and watched as the most powerful men in the Caliphate dueled with words and influence.

"That, I fear, is the issue," Otto agreed. "The Church should not possess such power. That is the property of kings and emperors. Our Lord chose the company of beggars and thieves, aided them in leading a better life. Charity, compassion, and love for all. The Church would have us hate our neighbor when God wished us to love them."

"You… are a rather strange priest," Jasmine observed, finding that she didn't dislike it.

"I have been humbled by life and God's plan, Princess Jasmine," Otto said, a smile in his voice that she couldn't see. "I harbor no hate in my heart, nor would I want to. I am merely… sad at the state of things. The men that debate in that hall all know what the outcome shall be. Yet, they play lipservice for the sake of appearances instead of doing the Lord's work." There was a frustration there that Jasmine recognized. She'd heard it often enough.

She cast a glance at the children, who all had rapidly warmed up to Alim. "Such as teaching children how to fish?"

"Trying to, at least," Otto admitted with a chuckle. "Orphans live a hard life, and the only thing worse than their lack of protection is their lack of a guide. Someone to teach them the skills that they will need in life. I do what I can, but it is far too little as it stands."

And that, Jasmine thought, is why Siegfried respected the bishop. It wasn't merely a matter of faith. Otto was someone who embodied how he believed he should live his life. It was charming, in a strange way. Faith aside, he struck her as a kind and caring man.

"But, I believe I've spoken quite enough about myself, Princess Jasmine. What has brought you here? Your thoughts must be heavy to venture so far from Norland," he noted and Jasmine realized that he was right. More right than she initially thought when she saw how far out she had ventured. Jill would be cross with her.

Jasmine stilled, not sure if she wanted to say. Then again, given all that he had just confessed to… if they had shared a faith, she very well might be baying for his blood like he thought the other Christians would. Which is likely why he was being so forthcoming with her. "My thoughts are heavy at the prospect of marriage," she admitted.

Otto nodded in understanding, "Do you fear the man you are to be wed to, or is it the prospect of marriage in itself that weighs heavily?"

That… She didn't fear Siegfried. At least, she didn't anymore. Nor did she think that he would mistreat her. The opposite, in fact - the allowances he made for his wives Astrid and Jill would have seen him mocked if he were a lesser man. She knew he wouldn't rob her of her freedoms and passions, nor take a hand to her.

Marriage frightened her. It was half the reason why she rejected every suitor out of hand, regardless of their merits. The idea of belonging to another, a stranger at that, was frightening in ways that were hard to describe.

But also, especially in this instance…

"It means leaving my home," Jasmine confessed after a moment, looking out at the ocean, knowing that on the other side of it laid the coast to the Caliphate. Her home. "I've taken an interest in trade, mostly because of the ships. I like to imagine the places that they go, and the people that they visit. And every time I learn of a new place, I feel my world expanding, just a little bit."

Learning about sums and goods was mostly a byproduct of that desire, but learning why people might value furs and spices was interesting in itself.

"The distance will be considerable. There… will be no returning home, even if my husband would permit it. Even keeping in touch with letters would be difficult," Jasmine said. She had puzzled it out - at best, she could hope to receive a letter a year from her family should she marry Siegfried and follow him up to Denmark. It was a daunting thought. She knew that eventually she would be married, but she had always assumed that she would remain close by. If not in Baghdad then in the Caliphate, at the least.

"Change is a frightening thing in all forms, simply because when things change… they change. It matters little if it could be a good change, or a change for ill. The familiar becomes the unfamiliar… at least for a time." He said, the pole bending again but this time, when he jerked the hook up, a fish erupted from the water. A hefty one. The children were awed, instantly losing interest in Rajah, who seemed quite put out at his swift abandonment. "Just as strangers can become trusted friends, foreign lands can one day become a home. It may not be easy, but with an open mind and a stout heart, there are precious few things that you cannot achieve in this world."

As he spoke, he retreated from the ocean with the fish in hand while the children rushed to set up a fire. He looked at her with a gentle expression, "It is natural to fear change. As well as to miss your family. My counsel, Princess Jasmine, is to not cling so tightly to what is that you deny yourself what could be."

With that, he left her be to teach the children how to descale and gut a fish, leaving her with her thoughts.

She thought she had her answer.

…

AN: Otto is a fun character to write. But, in regards to what he was talking about, the inspiration came from the Cluniac Reforms, which won't be happening for more than a century at this point in the story. So, Otto is ahead of the curve in that regard.

The next chapter is currently available on my Pat re on and Subscribe Star, so if you want to read it a week early, all it takes is a single dollar in the tip jar. Or, for five dollars, you can read the chapter after that two weeks before its public release! I hope you enjoyed!