THE LIGHT IN THE NORTH WING, first floor hallway was much brighter than the ones that I was used to, the windows too many, the panels too big, the floor too slippery, the decor too ostentatious.
Though it was certainly not as terrible as Prince Finn's East Wing, I still thought it looked odd, especially when compared to Prince Cairo's West Wing — the same West Wing that was now closed off from any sort of entry, even for me.
"Miss, please follow me," Maria said, her head bobbing as she spoke. Her face looked paler than it had this morning, her hair a little more messy, her eyes a little more tired, but whatever exhaustion she must've felt was not reflected in her voice. "We must go to your new room."
"Where's my new room?" I asked, following after her. The dress Maria had picked out dragged along the stairs, and seemed to be even more unsuitable now than ever.
"The second floor, end of the hallway, Miss. Some of the butlers are moving your things now."
"Are any of the other women also being relocated?" As I spoke, I took special attention to my steps, careful not to accidentally slip.
Maria hesitated for a moment, looking right and left for the silhouette of a person and, after confirming that there was none, said, "No. The only woman being relocated is you, Miss. You're the only chosen woman living in the West Wing."
"What about Prince Cairo?"
"The King has insisted that he also move," she said. "It's much too dangerous for him to stay in his wing all alone. He's moving into the South Wing."
"The South Wing belongs to...?"
Maria hesitated again. "It is the King's personal living space. Even though he's the son, Prince Cairo was only allowed to stay over because he got a personal invite. Otherwise, he would not even be allowed to step foot through the doors of the South Wing."
"What about Prince Finn and Prinfe Raza, then?"
"They stay in their own wings, Miss." As we reached the top of the stairs, Maria looked back over her shoulder and smiled. "You are lucky, Miss."
"Lucky?" I didn't think finding out that there was a corpse on the second floor hallway of my west wing, a few rooms down my own bedroom was a particularly lucky experience.
"Yes," Maria answered, apparently oblivious to my state of mind. "Prince Cairo is a favorite of the king."
I know.
That's what's concerning.
"I noticed," I said. "The Vala Hazrat seems to have taken a special interest to him."
"Yes. Prince Cairo is the only son of the second Shāhbāno, so he grew up differently compared to Prince Finn and a Prince Raza."
"The second Shāhbāno? Why have I never seen her around before? What about the first Shāhbāno?"
Maria led me down a long, narrow hallway, the walls decorated with paintings and old, glass murals. Unlike Prince Finn, Prince Raza had chosen to decorate the second floor hallway without gilded arches, gold carvings or tiny stone statues, and had chosen a decor that was startlingly plainer than what I'd expected.
Perhaps the first floor decor had been intended to impress and intimidate guests, and the second floor decor was intended to remind the women he'd chosen that they were about as useful as the tapestry hanging on the wall — visually appealing, easily replaced.
In this sort of scenario, I found that I highly preferred the plain, almost empty backdrop of the West Wing.
"The first Shāhbāno passed away a few years ago, Miss, though I'm not too sure why or exactly when. The second Shāhbāno is sick," Maria said. "And has been for a little while now. Most of the time, she stays in her room, somewhere near the hallway between the third floor of the North and West Wing, so it's hardly a surprise that you haven't seen her. She doesn't like to go out."
"What is she sick with?"
"This, I don't know," she admitted. "As far as I know, this is top-secret."
"And the Shāhbāno is Prince Cairo's birth mother?"
"Yes. Prince Cairo is her only biological son, so the King treats him differently."
I frowned. "Maria, tell me something."
The twelve-year-old girl blinked. "Yes?"
"Prince Cairo is the King's favorite, yes?"
"I believe so, Miss, yes."
"Why? Is it due to his mother?"
Maria went a couple of shades paler, before she once again looked both ways. "I'm not too sure, Miss," she finally said. "This is not information I am allowed to disclose."
"I'm not asking for any details why, Maria. I'm simply asking for you to say yes, or no."
Maria went quiet again. "I don't know how to answer this question, Miss, because all of the staff have different opinions on this."
I wondered if she'd realized that she had just accidentally completely exposed the chambermaids and kitchen hands she often spoke with. "Just say yes or no, Maria."
For a long, long moment, Maria did not respond.
"According to one of the old chefs working in the kitchen, the second Shāhbāno was not very popular when Prince Cairo was younger. The King had married her because he needed a concubine. At the time, his favorites were the two legitimate princes, Prince Raza and Prince Finn."
Maria hadn't actually said anything, but the implicit meaning was clear.
Prince Cairo's mother had nothing to do with his newfound favoritism.
The question was, where did it come from? Why?
How did an illegitimate son somehow managed to gain the intense love of the King?
I thought back to the incident earlier in the dining hall, before the butler had barged in, before the corpse had been announced. When Prince Finn has tried his best to suck up to the King, he had been immediately turned down.
Worse off, the King had, in turn, turned to Prince Cairo, who couldn't seem to care less.
Something isn't adding up.
"Maria," I said again. "How far does the King's favoritism extend?"
Maria frowned. "Apologies, Miss, but I don't seem to understand the question."
"What kind of favoritism does Prince Cairo receive that the other two don't have?"
"I think that the most prevalent one is that Prince Cairo is allowed to talk to the King without formalities, Miss," she said. "He does need to address the King with Vala Hazrat, nor must he ask for permission if he'd like to call him Baba."
I frowned again. "But he is an illegitimate son."
"He is. It is why a lot of people are currently very envious of me, Miss." Maria laugher, turning down the corner. The hallways in the South Wing were different to the ones I was used to, mostly because they were much longer and more narrow than they were wide and spacious. "Prince Cairo is the favorite of the King, and you are the favorite of Prince Cairo. You will surely be able to become one of his concubines, Miss, I know it."
As she spoke, Maria's eyes almost seemed to glow, and to an extent, I could understand why. After all, for a chambermaid, becoming a Shāhbāno's personal servant, even if the Shāhbāno was a concubine, was a better position than most could ever hope.
It was just that she didn't seem to understand that I had no intentions of being Shāhbāno, second or not.
I chose not to answer her statements staying silent as we continued to walk to wherever my room would be in. In the back of my mind, I reminded myself to ask Maria once again about how to go from the staircase all the way to my room. With all the doors and twists and turns, I certainly didn't remember much of the way at all.
Finally, after what must've been a very long time — it had felt like an hour, though I'm sure, in reality, it must have only taken anywhere from ten to fifteen minutes — Maria stopped in front a big, mahogany door, gently pushing it open.
The first thing I noticed was the incredibly strong, almost overwhelming smell of jasmine perfume coming from the walls and floor of the room. It was a putrid combination of ethanol and sickly-sweet flowers, and I felt myself frown.
The second thing I noticed was how incredibly different the room I'd had before and the current one Prince Raza had given me was.
Whilst mine had been a gigantic, beautiful bedroom with blood red walls and an extravagantly beautiful ceiling, this one had white walls, white floors, white curtains, and, save for the few tapestries and paintings littered around the room that perfectly matched the outside, hallway decor, was the most bare, stripped-down version of a bedroom you'd find.
"Oh," Maria said, reeling away from the door. Her eyebrows were furrowed together in obvious disappointment. "I had thought you would receive better than this, Miss. Would you like my to ask you to be transferred to a different room?"
"No," I said. "You'll only be inviting trouble to everyone involved. Besides, it is about the same size as Maryam's own bedroom. I can manage."
Slowly, Maria nodded, still frowning. "But what about the smell, Miss?"
I paused. "The smell is a little bit overbearing," I said, walking into the room, trying not to gasp out for breath when the smell became even stronger. "Is there a way you could help tone it down?"
Maria paused. "I'm sure I can find something, Miss. Please allow me to go down and grab it, whilst you wait in here."
I nodded, and watched as Maria turned, one foot already eagerly stretched out beyond the doorway, before I said, "Oh, and Maria?"
"Yes, Miss?"
"Is there a library somewhere within the Palace?"
Maria frowned. "I'm quite sure that there is one. Why?"
"Do me a favor," I said. "Help me pick out a book."
"What book, Miss?"
"The History of the Royal Family of the Kingdom of Persia," I said. "It doesn't matter what kind or publication you choose."
Slowly, she nodded. "Are you interested in understanding the royal family, Miss?"
"Something like that," I told her. "You may go now. After you bring back the two items, go down and get some rest. Today must have been exhausting for you, and it's only been a few hours in. Go get more sleep. After all, you're still a child."
Maria smiled, turning to me and dropping a curtesy, before she slipped out the door, closing it sharply behind her.
The sound echoed throughout the room, louder and more obtrusive than I had thought it would be, and for some reason, I couldn't help but shudder.
"It's not the history of the royal family I'm interested in understanding," I muttered aloud, knowing full well that nobody else could hear me. It was an oddly refreshing thing to remember.
But then, because I was scared that Ismal or Maria or something other person would suddenly be eavesdropping through the door, I kept the latter part of the sentence to myself.
I'm only interested in understanding one member of the royal family.
KAY ©️ 2020