The 14th Concubine of a Harem King

Sayra's Naked Secret

Lorora

"I could have gotten stabbed! Or killed!" Sayra whines when the princes and princesses are our of earshot.
"There was no way an issue like that could be solved by talking it out with an 8 year old," I reply over my shoulder. Sayra is following me down the stone garden path panting and protesting about my methods.
"You risked my neck for that!" She snaps.
"You already said you like to gamble. Isn't nothing risked nothing gained the motto for gamblers?" I reply.
Sayra trips and falls towards me but catches herself before she falls on the trail. I sigh, pause and take her arm. As we walk I notice her posture is straighter than usual and she has a slight limp in her left leg. I click my tongue. She must have gotten badly bruised from that fall.
"You made up with Harlym. Clearly he needs you so be careful in the future not to do anything that would get him hurt or you will lose that trust forever," I say.
She trips again, her wet dress dragging her down. I can see her corset underneath and her drenched white pantaloons. Thankfully I sent the kids away before they could study her too closely. The poor girl needs to maintain some dignity.
"How old are you?" She asks in a shy voice.
"I'm 19, you?"
"25."
I nod, sounds about right. "Your body has that maturity that comes with being over 20," I say.
She coughs.
We reach my house and I instruct Yalise to draw a bath for her.
I take her to the guest room once again where Yalise had laid out ointments and water for healing.
"Take off your dress, I'll help you with your corset," I say after I shut the door.
She steps back for a moment.
"I need to see if you got any bad injuries from that fall in case they get worse," I say sharply.
"My maids can look for me when I get home..." she protests.
"And report back to the king and queen that you fell backwards into my pond after you'd been publicly banned from my garden?"
She frowns. "They wouldn't have to know it was your pond."
"None of the other concubines have ponds," I reply. "Take your dress off. Perhaps Yalise can save it somehow. It's such a lovely dress on you," I shake my head. "It would be such a shame if it got wrecked."
Sayra sits down on the floor and tries to unlace the back of her dress. I sigh loudly.
"Here, I'll do it," I say and immediately begin loosening her dress. By her left leg there's a bloodstain. I feel a slight pang of remorse that my scheme got Sayra hurt. She deserved it, but still, I hate seeing people or creatures in pain.
"You did well, protecting Harlym. You might not be a lost cause after all," I say softly as I pull the dress off her shoulders and down her waist. Goosebumps cover her arms and shoulders, she must be so cold. She trembles when I touch her. I rub my hands together to warm them up.
"You mean, perhaps I'll learn my place and protect the aristocracy with my life like a proper peasant should do?" She replies curtly.
"No..." I pause. "You protected a child from getting hurt at the expense of yourself. You proved you have a heart underneath that perfect skin of yours in a moment when it counted the most."
"He... tried to help me as well..." she says softly.
I begin to undo her corset. My breath catches when I see her back. One large bruise, about 5 inches long covers her shoulder down to her mid-back. Another bruise lines her lower back halfway across.
"Lay down on the bed," I say. She obeys quickly, hiding her breasts with her hands. What a silly thing to be caught up about at a time like this.
"I'm sorry," I say. "It's my fault you got hurt. He's 8 and you're really smart so I didn't realize an accident like this could happen."
Sayra continues to tremble.
"I need to take a look at the wound on your upper thigh, can you take off your pantaloons?" I say standing up to grab the bowl of warm water and a cloth Yalise prepared.
"Then... I'll be naked." She says muffled into the blanket.
"Is this really the time to be caught up in something so trivial? You've seen the other concubines naked all the time! I'm sure you stripped as well to cover your tracks before as well," I reply curtly. "Would you prefer Yalise to treat you?"
She shakes her head. "No! Her hands are so big!"
I laugh. "You say such funny things sometimes."
"Can you... rip it instead?" She asks. My heart melts a little. When did this menace of a woman become so docile in my hands? My hands...
"No, I need to see if you have any injuries on you butt," I reply.
"Don't you dare tell anyone about this!" She says.
"Alright, alright, you know I'm not that kind of woman," I say.
"Turn around," she says. I do so and she shuffles out of her pantaloons. "Okay, you can look now..."
The first thing I see is a gaping cut on her upper left thigh. A stick or rock in the pond must have pierced her. I'm suddenly struck with the desire to clean out my pond of any sharp things! I mean, it could hurt the fish...probably.

I wipe away the blood, and wrap a clean bandage around it gently. My fingers caressing her leg under, over as I bind it up. Her skin raises in goosebumps again and I know she must be so cold. I take ointment Yalise laid out in preparation and carefully apply it to her bruises. It's fairly expensive ointment so it should heal her up quickly. My fingers tingle a little as they run over her smooth skin. She has freckles on her bare shoulders and arms but none further down her back. Her face is buried in the blanket and she periodically squirms, she must be in so much pain. I feel horrible. Poor little thing. She might be older and taller than me, but she seems like a wounded puppy in my hands whimpering and squirming at my touch. A strange rush comes over me and my fingers tingle as I'm applying ointment. Every touch makes her body tremble. I brush away the blanket that was laying over her right buttcheek and notice a small tattoo. Instinctively, I touch it, its so small and cute. She jolts, pulls the blanket over her chest and recoils from me.
"You...you didn't have to touch it!" She says, her face almost as red as her hair. Clutching the blanket tight to her, her hair, disheveled she's quite the picture curled up at the corner of the bed.
My face flushes. "I'm sorry," I say hanging my head. I had no right to touch her beyond her injuries, what was I thinking?
"Don't you.... know what that is?" She pauses.
I search my memory. It's a small tattoo of a bull's horns and a chain. My jaw drops. I forgot! That's the brand they'd use on child slaves in the Westand kingdom before it was banned for inhumane treatment by the other nations. "I thought your family ran a gambling house..." I say. No wonder she didn't want to take off her lower undergarments for me.
"My adopted family. The family who bought me to get me out of that hellhole," she replies.
"How old were you when you were adopted?" I ask in a soft voice like I'm talking to a scared animal.
"8..." she says, her voice so soft it's barely audible.
"Why did you risk me being able to see it?" I ask.
She shakes her head. "I don't know."
Her thick red lips tremble, her eyes stare down at the blanket.
"I'm sorry for touching your tattoo. Can I..." am I really going to ask this? "Can I hug you?"
Her eyes widen but she slightly nods her head. I embrace her with all my being like I would a weeping child. I stroke her hair and carefully unpin the wild tresses to fall down onto her shoulder. Whatever happened to that child could not have been pretty if the gambling house was an improvement.
"I have to make enough to provide for my brother... he has a bad gambling habit but its my job to protect him, that's what father asked me to do," she says.
I grind my teeth a little bit. So the money she makes from the king is used to perpetually bail out her worthless adopted brother. No wonder she continues to be so desperate after everything she gets. No wonder she despises anyone of authority. No wonder she wants to reach the top.
"I'm sorry I pried into your personal affairs," I say evenly. "I can find a way for you to get your tattoo removed without being discovered by anyone," I say.
She moves back. "You promise?"
"I will do my best," I say.
She frowns. "Why are you nice to me? Do you want my body? Do you want to humiliate me because of what I tried to do to your maid?"
I sigh. "I'm sorry." I don't even know why.
"You pity me, don't you?" She frowns. "Of course you do! I'm like one of your pet fish to play with! You protect me, forgive me, and care for me a couple times and you think I'll be loyal to you! Swim around in a pretty fish pond for you to look at?" Her eyes flash. "You already told me I'm below you, I know what you think of me!"
I bite my lip. I don't want to tell her I said that because I knew it would enrage her like she had enraged me.
"I am a naturally protective person. I've always been this way. If someone or something trusts me.... I have to help," I say simply.
"You're going to get eaten alive in this world if you keep that up!" She snaps. "Or maybe you can afford to be so nice because you're a privileged princess!"
I lower my eyes. "That's why I joined this harem," I stare at my nervous hands. "Because I didn't want anybody to see me and my weaknesses and exploit me for them."
Her eyes widen. I've just given her my weakness. What will she do with that?
"Lie back down and let me put a cold compress on your bruises, then you can bathe. There's a robe hanging on the door you can use after I leave," I say.
She obeys quickly. "I could do anything with that information," she says.
"I know," I reply.
"Why would you trust me with that?"
"Because it's not fair for me to have all your secrets and you have none of mine," I say. It's both the truth and a threat. If she takes advantage of my weakness I will spill her darkest secret and now she knows it.
I get up and leave, closing the door behind me. My heart pounds loudly and my fingers tingle for some reason. Yalise greets me the moment I close the door. She crosses her arms and frowns at me.
"Shall we talk?" She says.
My heart speeds up even quicker. I suddenly feel guilty, for what I'm not sure. I nod slowly and she leads me to the main living space