That afternoon, following the Amazon being placed back in her heavily guarded chamber, Sharvur called for Zaria. It seems he was curious as to how “the beast,” as he referred to her, responded to bathing and the more humane treatment which Zaria had requested for her.
“She is like all people. She eats when hungry. She hurts when injured. She was calm and friendly with me, as I presented her no harm.”
Sharvur laughed. “If she believed she was without guards in that room she would have killed you just to escape. You don’t know about these creatures. Neither your Slavic people. They are as primitive as their horses out on the steppes . . . and they smell worse! But no one can deny their long-dreaded reputation as the killers of men, Zaria.”
“Well I did not see this side of Aella. She is every bit a woman like me.”
“Oh, so you know her name now. And I suppose you had a discussion with her about your beautiful clothing and other matters you girls discuss to no end when I am away. You make me laugh now.”
“No. But she was interested on my tattoos,” Zaria said proudly. She then instantly regretted saying this to Sharvur, as she just reminded him of something he might want to know more about—whether she had seen Tsudros recently. And if she had procured any more of the otherworldly body art he was capable of. Zaria thought warmly of the small, hidden tattoo Tsudros had in fact engraved upon her in a most delicate place. She knew if discovered it would tell all Sharvur needed to know about her and the young man's intimate relations. She also sadly reminded herself that the king was quite capable of demanding to inspect at any time the most private parts of her body, just to insure that she remained a virgin. The thought of that physical intrusion of her privacy not only disgusted her, but it would carry a death sentence for her and Tsudros if the Barbaric inspection revealed that she had been so completely and sexually with anyone.
Thankfully, for the moment Sharvur was not interested in her, but rather his mind returned to his new captive, the Amazon.
“I want to see your handiwork in cleaning up our guest, Zaria,” he playfully requested. “It would be a rare occurrence indeed for a man to look upon an Amazon as anything even close to a woman as he knows them. And my curiosity pulls me there. Arrange to have her brought here to my quarters this evening, with two armed guards. You can be with her as well. Such a comparison of beauty and savagery might make the visit all the more . . . entertaining.” The king smiled in anticipation of the event.
Zaria knew that Sharvur could easily turn their meeting that night into a dreadful game, just to pique his sexual appetite. Yet she knew trying to talk him out of the plan would be impossible. She felt it wise to not show too much compassion or protection of Aella, as he might become suspicious of her association with her—further restricting her movements within the palace.
“Very well, my king,” Zaria responded dispassionately. “I will bring the cleaner, more tolerable prisoner to your chamber this evening . . . for your observation of her.”
“Wonderful,” he exclaimed.
She was about to leave him, when he continued speaking.
“And by the way, Zaria. What did you do with yourself . . . in my absence these past many days? You know I did have a discussion with your people about our future relations with them.”
He looked into her eyes to see if that affected her.
“Though . . . there were no promises they requested which I could keep. You Slavs still see us here in the East as “Barbarians from the evil lands. And me they still see as the tyrant who kills their people and says siege to them each year.” Sharvur smiled asymmetrically, seeming to enjoy this opinion of himself. “That can not . . . and will not ever change, you know.
”Yes. I know,” Zaria answered in a resigned voice. “It is something I think of everyday as I spend my life here . . . so far away from them.”
“But tell me, Zaria. Would you be treated as a princess back in your own land?”
“No. But I am forever a slave, what ever you call me here. And the conditions you have put upon me is the worst of all curses. As a woman . . . at some time in my life . . . I should be allowed to be with a man fully and completely. It is something my friends Svetlana and Branka have all had, no matter how painfully or uncomfortably. And yet I am never to know that pain and joy.”
“Well it serves you best, my princess, that you never forget that condition. And that you will never know a man’s lustful work upon you as long as I am your master. For if any day I decide to inspect your body so thoroughly as to find you have lied to me . . . you and the man who defiled you will die a slow death in my presence. Is that understood Princess Zaria?”
“It has always been understood, my king.”
“And of your tattoos. . . have you any new works of art which I should be aware of on that beautiful flesh of yours?”
“No.”
Zaria looked down in fear.
“But I do request that you allow me more of the same. It seems it has become my only pleasure. To be seen so differently than any other woman in your kingdom.”
“Well, dear Zaria. You know I have promised you these things you wish.” The king was looking at himself now in the wall of mirrors across from them. “If it gives you so much pleasure . . . then I insist you go again to this wild artist. To have more of your wasted loveliness covered with his creations.”
“I shall then.”
“But for now, I want to see you and this . . . oddity of nature in my bedroom tonight following dinner. You see, my precious Branka has not been able to meet me these long nights. She claims Svetlana still needs her healing hands. The same magic healing she did for Moshtok, my cousin.”
“Yes. It is very shocking . . . and sad what happened to Svetlana.”
“Well I understand Murka already misses his lovely gift from me. But we both know, Zaria . . . his mate Dressa would not fail in her next attempt at murdering her.”
Zaria quietly nodded. “As you wish. I will bring the Amazon tonight.”
Zaria left Sharvur’s bed chamber as usual—angry. Only the thought of her being allowed to see Tsudros again soon, and at her own choosing, gave her any solace. For now, she had only to worry about Aella, and Sharvur’s cruel whims. Inevitably they would be disgustingly displayed later that evening.
* * *
When Zaria came to Aella’s chamber, she again brought her food and ordered the soldiers to wait outside. This time, looking at the Amazon and seeing her clean and more formally dressed, the men were reluctant to do so. Zaria insisted they move outside the door and she sat again with Aella. The young woman smiled more broadly than before and took the food eagerly. She now looked as attractive as one of Zaria’s girlfriends, and except for her tanned face and more pronounced musculature, she could pass for a Slavic youth.
“We will have to see the king tonight,” she told her. “He wants to talk with you, Aella.”
The girl stopped eating and shook her head frantically. It was clear she had no intention of confronting Sharvur, if not the fact that he was instrumental in killing her comrades and horse, by the more central point that he was her sworn and mortal enemy—a man.
“We must go, Aella. But I will not leave you alone with him. He will listen to me. And I can protect you.”
Again the girl showed in her expression a violent reaction to this plan.
“You must walk with me,” Zaria explained calmly. “Or the soldiers will force you with their weapons. Accept that I am your friend, Aella. And trust me. I will be with you.”
The Amazon resumed eating and drinking but Zaria could see that the fear never left her face. After allowing her to nervously finish the meal, Zaria stood and motioned for Aella to follow her. As before, the two women were marched between the soldiers who had their swords unsheathed and were on high alert, knowing of the ferosity and unpredictability of Amazons. In this manner they were escorted to Sharvur’s luxurious quarters at the rear of the rock palace.
Upon entering with the soldiers still at their sides, Zaria and Aella approached Sharvur, seated upon his bed. Aella stood slightly behind her when they paused. In the bright light of the wall torches and Sharvur’s oversized mirrors, the king signaled for Zaria to step aside so that he could behold his new prisoner. Standing alone in the flickering amber glow of the flames, Aella stood motionless, looking at the man who stood in the way of her freedom. It was already in her protocol of survival that she would kill or maim him if necessary to escape. The soldiers sensed this and stood ready for her to show the slightest offensive move.
“Come. Let me look at you closer,” Sharvur fearlessly said. “It is not often a man can stand close enough to one of your kind without being driven away by your smell.”
Aella looked at Zaria and then back at Sharvur trying to make some sense of his insult.
“Now, as I understand . . . you only have sex with men a few times in your life. And only to mate with them like an animal to get more girls. Is that right Amazon?”
“Her name is Aella,” Zaria exclaimed angrily.
“So is that an Amazon name . . . or a name the Greeks gave you?”
Aella looked down at the colorful carpet below her bare feet. It was the design of a hunting scene. As she refused to answer, Zaria stared back at Sharvur with a vengeful look of disgust, though she was helpless to say or do more.
Well now that you are all clean and your hair and clothing look like my other slaves, let us see what the rest of you looks like, Amazon. Take off your clothing.”
Zaria was furious. “You can not expect her to do this with the soldiers here. Please send them out,” Zaria said, tempering her anger now with prudence.
“And you expect me to put my life in danger?” Sharvur asked ironically. “These beasts can strike at you like a snake. They are expected to kill a man if they ever want to enter their paradise someday. Isn’t that right, Amazon?”
“Her name is Aella! Zaria shouted.
“And best for you to mind your words, slave princess!” Sharvur shouted back. “Unless you want me to inspect your body here, as well.”
Zaria quickly thought of her newest small tattoo and its revealing location. She too looked down at the thematic rug in silence.
“I said I want you to take off your clothes, Amazon!”
Zaria turned to her and nodded for her to comply, as she did not want the situation to escalate. She had seen how unpredictable and cruel the king could be with the other girls, and even to her.
She turned to the soldiers boldly. “Turn around,” she told them both. “If your king calls for you, then you may act. But I ask you . . . please turn away while the king looks at his prisoner.”
The men immediately looked up at their king. They awaited his response to Zaria’s request. Though they were hoping he would not agree, surprisingly Sharvur gave a slight nod, signaling to them to do as Zaria wished. Both men reluctantly turned and faced the one wall of the room without mirrors.
Aella remained frozen, and Zaria knew at this tense moment it was to be her worst response. She stepped over to her and gently touched her shoulders with both hands. She looked into her eyes and tried to covey the idea that it was in her best interest to capitulate to the king’s demands—for her to undress before him.
Slowly, Aella pulled her clean white chitin up, exposing her legs at first. She then haltingly continued moving it further upwards and over her shoulders and head. Her full body was now in view of the king. And it presented a glowing contrast of whitish flesh against the darker sun-stained tone of her shoulders and neck. The king watched silently and in awe of this spectacle which he was certain not many men had ever witnessed. He motioned with his hand for her to continue—to remove the undergarment which the Amazon had found so difficult to put on, having never experienced one before.
When she stood fully naked in front of him, Sharvur rotated his finger in the air signaling the girl to turn around and expose her backside to him. At her hesitation Zaria took her by the hand and helped Aella with the circular maneuver, allowing the king not to miss any part of her alluring anatomy.
With this the king remained silent. He seemed strangely impressed and motionless for lack of words or the insults Zaria had expected. She found this long hesitation too unnerving as she understood that he had become aroused at the spectacle. She took it upon herself to quietly tell Aella to dress herself again, feeling the king had seen enough of what he had wished to see.
Sharvur did not contradict Zaria’s suggestion to end the exhibition of Aella, and instead calmly told his soldiers, once the Amazon was fully dressed, to turn back around. This they did, while immediately taking a readied stance for any agressive action which might suddenly erupt on the part of the prisoner.
“Well, Zaria,” Sharvur said, his voice a bit weakened by the unprecedented display. “You are to be commended for working a miracle here. This . . .Aella . . . looks and indeed smells like a real woman. It is too bad, that if I were to approach her tonight she would kill me with her bare hands.”
He laughed to himself.
“Perhaps there is a solution to this,” Sharvur added cryptically.
“May we return to our chambers now?” Zaria asked, resigned that the spectacle was over.
The king thought for a moment, seemingly lost in a reverie of some kind.
“Yes,” he said suddenly, as if waking from that dream. “You may. Soldiers . . . be on extra alert returning the prisoner to her cell. We wouldn’t want this beautiful creature to end her stay with us.”
The two women were escorted out of Sharvur’s bedroom the same way they had entered it. Once back at the doorway of Aella’s chamber, Zaria told the men to stay outside as she wanted to speak with her privately. To comfort her and express that she would do all in her powers to disallow the king to ever molest her.
As the soldiers stepped outside, Zaria walked Aella over to her bed, where the tray of food and water had been left. The Amazon drank heartily from the water container, seemingly relieved that the fearful ordeal with Sharvur was over—a least for now.
As Zaria began to tell her what she had planned to say, Aella stepped up and gently took the princess’ face in both of her hands. Without giving time for her to resist, the young Amazon pressed her lips against Zaria’s lips in a heartfelt kiss of gratitude. In deference to her feelings of sisterhood and the girl’s protection, Zaria allowed the kiss to happen. But then, in the same instant, she felt Aella’s hands back in a familiar embrace of her waist. Before she could pull away, the Amazon’s clean and supple body was pressed against her own—even more directly and passionately than it had been under the bathwater. Zaria quickly moved back and held Aella once more at a distance, both girls breathing strongly from the excitement of the moment.
Zaria’s mind was racing. It was true that she still felt intense physical desire and true love for Tsudros. Yet there was something distressing, disgusting, and at the same time beguiling about this nascent excitement Aella brought out in her. She stood for a long moment reflecting while Aella patiently waited for her to move back into her open arms. Zaria understood well that the Amazon had spent her whole young life comfortable only with the caresses and affections of other females. And it was a new rising fear that she, in her cursed imprisonment from men, might be being drawn more irreversibly into the longer embrace of Aella. The haunting perception that she may never fully know the sensations of having a man completely or enjoying its lasting effect upon her was sobering.
At that moment Zaria stepped back further from Aella and made a commitment to herself. To have the total experience soon of making love to the only man she adored, whether it meant her life or her death. And that man was unquestionably Tsudros, the tattoo artist.
* * *