"So there's nothing that can be done?" Xerxes asks his advisors.
"My Lord, you are a king, so you can change the law anytime you please. All we can do however, is tell you what the tradition has been. A woman of the king has to either leave on her own free will or commit treason for her to lose that status," the Man of Coin, explains.
Xerxes has spent the past few weeks trying to figure out a way to get rid of Oma. He told her to leave but she refused. If he uses his power as king, it might upset Saya, that's the last thing he wants.
"Or, My Lord" the Man of War says clearing his throat, grabbing everyone's attention. "You can just marry the princess."
Xerxes rests his chin on his hand thinking about it. That is certainly not a bad idea, she did say she loves him, and she's pregnant with his child. His advisors look at him carefully, his face is not showing any reaction so it's difficult to understand what is going through his head.
***
"Serve this food to the king...I dare you," Oma says, taking a step closer to the princess. Nabir stands in front of Saya immediately blocking Oma from coming any closer.
"Get out of my way," Oma says angrily.
"I won't let you harm My Lady," Nabir says, looking at her dead in the eyes. Oma steps back and laughs.
"Don't worry Nabir, come on, the noodle soup is ready," Saya says going towards the pot.
Oma stands there watching her as she dishes out the soup, puts it on a tray, and adding fruits to a bowl as well.
"Nabir, could you help me carry the tray please?" Saya looks at Oma while saying this. Nabir immediately takes the tray, her and Saya walking past Oma, heading to the king's study.
"Shouldn't you have told her My Lady?"
"I did...I just didn't expand on it," she replies. Saya takes the tray from Nabir, the guards opening the door for her. Xerxes walks up, taking the tray immediately. She smiles, thanking him, they both take a seat, but as soon as Xerxes picks up his spoon, Oma barges in. Saya turns to her, her hand on the table, holding her face with her palm.
"My Lord!"
Xerxes doesn't respond, eating his meal. "My Lord this woman here has committed treason! Look at this!" She throws the scroll and book on the table, waiting for his reaction, but he just continues to eat.
She looks at him confused, "My Lord she is literate! She took these from the forbidden floor!" Oma exclaims. The king should be furious right now, dragging Saya away to be punished! Why is he acting like this is normal?
She turns to Saya who is still looking at her. "Lady Oma, I told you in the kitchen that telling him won't change anything," she says innocently.
"What charm have you used to bewitch the king!"
"You will be wise to choose your words carefully, Oma" Xerxes says, grabbing a few grapes and putting it in his mouth.
"My Lord she-"
"She is the woman I am to marry"
Marry? Saya turns to him surprised, when did they ever discuss this? Xerxes is looking at Oma clearly annoyed.
"My Lord, this is not fair! I have loved you and been with you for 3 years and counting now! Sure I clawed my way up here because you are rich but I genuinely fell for you and I love you. You can't do this to me, please do not do this to me," she says in tears.
"Speak of Saya's literacy to no one, that's an order." Oma's face is now red from tears, she turns around, leaving the room. Saya can't help but feel a bit of sadness towards her. She turns to Xerxes immediately, "You never told me anything about marriage."
"You've heard it now."
"You didn't ask me if I want to marry you," she says looking at him. Xerxes is taken aback by what she just said, he thought she will be happy and smiling by now.
"You don't want to marry me?" he asks
"Lady Oma loves you"
"And so do you"
"You want to marry me so that Oma will leave. That's the only way she can unless she commits treason"
"Saya"
"I read about it. You're a king, you can do whatever you want. No one will question you if you choose to let her go."
"Saya wait-"
"Using marriage to get her out of the castle for good won't work because I am not marrying you," she says standing up to leave. Xerxes grabs her arm stopping her, "Can you just listen to me?"
"Xerxes, I need to finish with transplanting in the garden. I'll see you later," she says, giving him a tight smile. She frees herself from his grip and leaves the study. Once she's behind the door, her hand slams against her chest as she lets out a heavy sigh.
"My Lady"
"Nabir," Saya forces a smile, heading towards the stairs. "Nabir go rest. Get a clear head, heart breaks are not easy,"
"But will you be okay? It looks like something happened"
"I'm fine Nabir, I'll be in the garden." Nabir hesitates a bit, but eventually leaves.
Saya heads to the garden and sees Peter.
"It is about time you showed up. How long does it take his majesty to eat...days?"
Saya laughs, coming closer to him. "You already started without me," she says looking at her flowers.
"You were taking your sweet time, the plants were impatient. That's not my fault"
Saya rolls her eyes playfully, before joining him.
"So...what's wrong?" he asks after some time.
"What do you mean by that?"
"You've been sighing every single minute"
"Oh...it's nothing," she says trying to brush it off.
"We're friends, remember?" Peter reminds her stopping what he's doing and turning to her. "You can tell me."
Saya sits on the bench grabbing the flower pot. "The king...wants to marry me"
Peter looks at her like she's crazy. "Are you serious?"
"I wouldn't say something as random as this out of thin air Peter"
"Yeah, I know, I'm sorry." He comes to sit beside her.
"What did you say?"
"No"
"What? Why? I thought you love him"
"I do and I would have said 'yes' under any other circumstances, but he just wants to marry me to get rid of Oma. I don't want to be used like a tool, marriage is very sacred, and I don't want to go into it just to get rid of some Lady he is tired of."
"Maybe you're thinking about it too much. The King wouldn't ask any random person to marry him just to get rid of Oma, he is fond of you, he cares about you."
Saya sighs again, but says nothing to retort his statement. "Enough about me. I have news for you...it's good new and bad news. Which do you want first?" she turns to him.
Peter sighs, "Tell me the good news first"
"Okay, Nabir has broken her engagement with the commander."
"And...the bad news?"
"Well...she broke her engagement with the commander."
"Ah, I see, so she's heartbroken. Do you think I have a shot?"
Saya giggles, "You have what it takes, even though you are younger than her."
"It's just 3 years"
"3 years isn't 3 days Peter," she says laughing.
When Peter and Saya became close friends, he shared his heart with her. He has had eyes on Nabir ever since he first saw her at the castle. It hurt him to see her with the commander and angered him when he saw her crying because of him. He talks to her sometimes, but they have never been friends. Saya is the closest person to her, so telling her was not a bad idea at all, especially knowing that she doesn't like the commander as well.
"If you want her, you should get her Peter."
"Is she even ready? She just got her heart broken."
"Then just start off as a friend. Don't push it, take it slowly. Let her know you're there for her anytime and check up on her too, we love things like that."
"Thanks princess," he says, taking her hand. "You are really a true friend."
Peter looks past her, dropping her hand immediately. "Peter?"
She turns around and sees Xerxes standing there. "My Lord," he says, standing up, bowing his head immediately.
"I'd like to be alone with 'my' woman"
"Of course My Lord," he turns around giving Saya a quick smile before leaving immediately.
Saya gets up, and kneels on the grass, transferring her plant from the flower pot to the earth, carefully dressing it.
"I was not done talking to him."
"I was not done talking to you," he retorts. She ignores him, and finishes transplanting everything. She waters the plants and washes her hands. Did he just stay there for an hour watching her? She drops her tools, and goes to the kitchen, Xerxes following her. When they get there, all the maids exit at once. Saya grabs a few tangerines, and peels one. She hands it to him but he doesn't take it. She opens the tangerine up giving him a piece but he still doesn't take it. He grabs her waist, sitting her on top of the long kitchen table so that she's at eye level with him, standing between her legs.
She eats her tangerine looking at him. "My Love, I hear frowning so much causes wrinkles," she says, giggling as she throws another in her mouth.
"Why won't you marry me?"