Star of Persia

Chapter 8

"You can't be serious," I gasp, casting a furtive glance at the ever-patient, watching eunuchs.

"I wish I wasn't," Yasamin whispers to me as they escort us back to our rooms. Anxiety lights her eyes for a moment before it fades behind her practised smile. 

The golden-haired woman walks silently beside us, eyes cast to the ground as if unseeing. A strange desire to reach out and comfort her comes over me, and I rest a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"It's going to be okay," I tell her, not really believing my own words but willing her to understand the compassion and empathy behind them.

She shrugs me off, turning away from me. My heart sinks as she sends a piercing glare my way, sapphire eyes flashing in a warning not to touch her again.

"Sorry," I murmur, settling back into step with Yasamin.

"Don't mind her," she instructs me with a pointed look at our fellow captive, "she's been sour since we arrived."

I frown as Sara stiffens in front of us.

"We've all been through a lot," I say quietly, "I think we're all entitled to having a bad day."

Yasamin nods half-heartedly as Sara strides ahead with purpose and is the first to disappear into her lavish suite. We halt next to a door across from mine, and my new acquaintance turns beseechingly to the leading eunuch standing rigidly next to us.

"You wouldn't mind if I brought my new friend in to ask her opinion on some jewellery," she simpers, smiling charmingly up at the bald man.

"I was instructed you are to rest—"

"We'll rest, I assure you," she grins, linking arms with me and pulling me into her room.

She sends one last brilliant smile at the unimpressed eunuch before closing the door with a flourish.

"You will both need to report for the examination when we summon you," a muffled voice tells us sternly through the door.

"Yes, yes," Yasamin says dismissively, "we will be there."

I lift my eyebrow at her, and then the door, but she waves me away.

"Oh, they'll be fine," she intones, collapsing on a plush settee in the small dining area in her expansive private suite.

I follow her slowly, sinking down on the opposite lounge and allow myself to look around the quarters. It is much the same as mine, but layered in dainty light pink and accented with baby blue flowers and drapery.

"Can you believe the luxury of this place?" Yasamin sighs, sipping a cup of hot tea that sits steaming on the narrow table between us. Servants must have slipped into the room before us to leave the refreshments here.

"I have seen nothing like it," I reply honestly.

"So, what is your story?" She inquires, leaning forward with interest and gesturing for me to help myself to the tea.

"My story?" I ask, opting for a dry biscuit instead of the herbal tea.

"You know, how you ended up here."

"Oh," I say contemplatively, nibbling on the edge of the wafery treat, "Well, they grabbed me. And here I am now."

"There must be more to the story," Yasamin exclaims, and I resist a sigh inwardly. I wasn't mentally prepared to talk about what I have lost and the people I unwillingly left behind. But the young woman's bright, curious eyes plead with me, so I give her a brief rundown on the events that unfolded in the last two days.