Success and Prizes

“Honestly, that woman is a handful. I’ve never met anyone who likes bathing as much as she does. You’d think she had a love of water, but whenever I bring her any, she casually dumps it into that cauldron of hers, as if to tell me my help isn’t appreciated.”

As she approached my office, Nalindra was once again taking the opportunity to gossip about Chika loudly enough for me to hear. It was her way of showing displeasure at me for having introduced her to the emperor in the first place, but honestly, I found it entertaining. The woman Nalindra happened to be accompanying that day, however, had reached the limits of her patience.

“For someone you claim to despise, you sure do talk about her a lot,” said Lady Shiliara, the emperor’s third wife.

“That’s only because she’s so infuriating! Just the other day, she smeared some kind of… concoction across my face.”

“Oh my. That must be why your skin is so clear and radiant today. Perhaps I should ask her for some of this ‘concoction’ myself.”

At some point, Nalindra had caught on to the fact that Chika’s compliments towards her were thinly-veiled jibes, and she had started trying to mimic that technique. Unfortunately for her, she had it all backwards. Rather than damning Chika with praise, she attempted to depict her praiseworthy deeds as damning. The only reason she hadn’t been reprimanded for such insolent behavior was that everyone in the castle, myself included, found it cute.

“I wouldn’t bother, my lady. You don’t need clear skin when you wear such fancy makeup.”

On the other hand, when she genuinely attempted to compliment someone, she often inadvertently insulted them. The third wife knew Nalindra meant well, so she didn’t say anything in return, but her eyebrow was twitching in anger as she entered my office.

“Lord Thelian, I have a letter for my sister. Please have it sent to her at the earliest opportunity.”

Taking the sheet of paper, I glanced over it. “Really? You’re going to blab about the emperor’s sprained ankle?”

The third wife had been born to the Myrindor royal family, so her communications needed to be checked to ensure she wasn’t leaking dangerous information. A little spying was expected, and even encouraged, of course. Diplomacy worked best when countries knew things about each other that they were too embarrassed to admit formally. Even knowing each others’ troop strengths could help avoid unnecessary conflict, but there were still many secrets that could be disastrous in the wrong hands.

Secrets including one that Lady Shiliara had hidden in this very letter, using a clever cipher. Not clever enough to fool me, however, and I made a mental note to rewrite the letter before sending it in order to leak incorrect information.

“That’s exactly the kind of gossip she loves. Don’t ask me why.”

“Alright, I’ll have it sent with the next envoy. Before you go, may I ask a question? Have you ever had turmeric before?”

“Ugh.” Lady Shiliara made a face like she was about to gag. “My mother used to make me swallow it when I had an upset stomach. How did you come across it? Some traders trying to foist it on you?”

“Chika enjoys meals with it, and I’m trying to figure out if that’s the reason she doesn’t need to eat vitafelars.”

“She eats turmeric? Maybe Nalindra was right about her. Anyway, that can’t be it. It’s used for food preservation among the lower classes in Myrindor, and they eat as many vitafelars as anyone else.”

After exchanging a few more casual pleasantries, Lady Shiliara took her leave, and I went back to my work, only to be interrupted a short while later when Chika walked into my office, bouncing with excitement. This had become a regular occurrence, and it no longer surprised me.

“What is it this time?” I asked, not looking up from my writing.

“Crop rotations! A few of the farmers have agreed to experiment with intercropping rice for a season. They’re really starting to trust me. I can’t tell you how good that feels. For a while there, I thought the temple had succeeded in turning them against me.”

“The tools you introduced helped. It’s difficult to take the temple seriously when they call bits of wood and metal unholy.”

Even so, the farmers had been hesitant at first. It was only after I bribed a few that they took up the tools, but I saw no need to inform Chika of my role. Witnessing the joy she felt at finally breaking through had been reward enough for me.

“What really helped was that those farmers had bigger yields than their neighbors,” Chika added. “The Aelirynthian priests were right about one thing: Business is the religion we all truly worship.”

“Don’t let Lord Gwendar hear you say that. He’ll throw a fit.”

“You’re kidding.” Chika’s chuckling made her words nearly indecipherable. “That’s never happened before.”

“You shouldn’t make light of him. He’s a very powerful man, and things would be a lot easier for us all if you got on his good side.”

Suddenly serious, Chika put her hands on my desk and leaned down until we were eye-to-eye. Her face was… uncomfortably close to mine.

“No, that would be a waste of time. Some people won’t like you no matter what you do. You can’t please everyone. Rather than futilely trying to win him over, I’ll just win those around him. As many as I can, until he finds himself isolated. He’s only powerful because he’s the head of the temple, but that can change.”

If only my father had been there, he would have ordered me to marry her on the spot. Such ambition, such confidence. I had no doubt that she could pull it off if she put her mind to it. Despite what little help I had given, it had been her actions that had convinced the emperor to hire her, and her successes thus far had more than justified that decision.

But it wasn't my father I was thinking of then, it was the woman with flushed cheeks, staring intently into my eyes. I could feel her breath on my face as she panted with excitement at the thought of deposing Lord Gwendar. Or perhaps…

There was no far-off look in her eyes indicating that she was imagining some future triumph. She was looking at me. While feeling a rush of power at having achieved her goals, she was eyeing me like a prize to be claimed, even though she was a woman, and I a man. Once again, I found myself caught by surprise by her forwardness, and once again, I was intrigued—not repulsed—by it.

“Chika, will you marry me?” The words that slipped out of my mouth surprised even me. Yes, I’d long fostered an attraction towards Chika, but I’d always thought it was just infatuation. I hadn’t realized that, at some point, my thoughts had turned to love and marriage.

“Marry?” Chika’s voice squeaked. “As in, husband and wife? That kind of ‘marry?’” Realizing how close she had gotten to my face, she snapped upright and jumped backwards. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to give you the wrong impression. I…”

It was not the reaction I expected, and I was taken aback by it. “Are you engaged to someone else? If so, I apologize for—”

“No! There’s no one else..”

“Then you find me inadequate?”

“I’m sorry!” She lowered her head into a bow, and for a sickening moment, I feared I had guessed right. I wasn’t good enough for her to consider marrying. “You’re a wonderful guy, but…” Turning quickly on her heels, she dashed out into the hallway, shouting, “I can’t get married.”