Topic: A King's Fortune

Safiya Teliran

Date: 2018-07-06 04:03 EST
July, 1617

Locating a diviner in Iska was harder than it first seemed, especially for a woman of the royal harem. Thankfully, Teres was not being watched, and her personal servant was able to slip out into the city to uncover the location of the woman most in the city knew as a witch. Little more than a week after they had first discussed it, Safiya helped her friend to prepare for a short trip into the city, complete with a lock of her own hair in case the diviner needed something more personal than a friend to make a fortune. Then all she could do was wait as the day dragged on, trying to keep herself occupied and out from under the Queen-Mother's sharp gaze until Teres returned to her.

The young Teliran rose to her feet as her friend entered her suite, reaching to pour her a drink. "Are you well?" she asked worriedly. "How did it go?"

Under the guise of going to the market and accompanied by a harem guard who had been sworn to secrecy, Teres had little trouble slipping out of the harem for a few hours. She had mixed feelings of excitement and worry about what the diviner had told her, some of it in the form of cryptic warnings Teres did not understand. Now that she had returned, she was understandably anxious to share what she had been told, and relieved that she had not been followed and caught. "I am well," she assured her friend as she unwound the silk scarf from her face and head. She hadn't worn it for fear of being recognized, but because it was customary for an unmarried woman to do when in public.

"I was so worried for you," Safiya confessed. "You should not have had to take such a risk." But far better to take the risk than face the future without some idea of what was to come, she thought.

"We have to know a little about what to expect, Safi. It was worth the risk," Teres assured her friend, reaching into a small pouch to return the lock of the Teliran's hair.

Safiya's fingers curled about the little black lock with something akin to relief. She was glad to see it back; there had been a worry in the back of her mind that the diviner - the witch - might have wanted to keep it, and having something so personal in the hands of someone who could do arcane things was not a happy thought. "Come and sit," she encouraged her friend, moving to take a seat herself. "Tell me everything."

Teres followed her friend to a couch and took a seat beside her, winding the scarf between her hands - a sign of nervousness, but this had been her idea, and she intended to see it through to the end. "I shall start at the beginning ..."

The market was always crowded - a bustling, lively place, where honest merchants plied their trade and sold their wares from stalls and shops that seemed intentionally built on top of one another, as though each were trying to push the others out of business by presence alone. It was a place where a face could get lost in the crowd very easily, and few eyes followed the path of anyone who seemed to know where they were going. The diviner made her home behind an apothecary's shop, a sudden place of calm and quiet, heavy with the smoke from incense and dark behind drapes that shut out the sunlight.

Teres had no problem finding the diviner, as she first stopped at the apothecary shop to inquire as to what potions or concoctions she might purchase that might encourage pregnancy. After all, she couldn't return to the palace without something to show for her trip to the market besides a fortune. The smell of the incense made her light-headed and it took a moment or two before her eyes adjusted from the bright sunlight to the darkness behind the drapes as she quietly made her way inside.

The diviner was not, as she might have expected, an aged hag, but was actually a middle-aged woman who seemed remarkably well-off for someone the Church would happily burn for crimes against the Goddess. She stepped out of the shadows, tilting her head to study Teres. "Come you for a man, or a fortune told?" she asked in strange cadence. "Or come you for a friend who is not so bold?"

As much as she might have wanted a man, that was not why Teres was here. "I am here for a friend," she said, withdrawing a silk embroidered pouch from somewhere inside the layers of her dress. Inside the pouch was not coins, but a small lock of dark hair brought so that the diviner would have something of Safiya's to work from.

The diviner's strange eyes lowered to the pouch. "And what fortune do you seek?" she asked curiously. "Of life or love" Which is worth the keeping of a promise of aid when times grow dark for the diviner?"

"How much to tell the fortune of a friend?" Teres counted, finding the woman's way of speaking a little too cryptic, but perhaps some of it would make sense to Safiya.

The diviner's fingers touched the silk pouch, fingering the lock of hair through it. "Your friend is touched with royal hands," she said mysteriously. "A royal fortune may be told in exchange for a promise of a royal pardon if the dark priests come for me."

"That is all you want?" Teres asked incredulously. It was a difficult promise to make, one she did not really have the authority to make, and yet if this was the cost of her friend's fortune, she would have to promise something. "I cannot personally promise that, but I can speak with someone who can."

The diviner held her gaze for a long, uncomfortable moment, with eyes that seemed to see through her and into the friends she held dear. Then the woman nodded. "A promise for a promise," she said, opening her hand for the pouch. "Give it me freely, and the fortune will be true. Make me take it, and darkness will cloud the truth in my tale."

"It is not for me," Teres reiterated again, as she handed the pouch over not wanting to touch the lock of hair held inside. If the diviner chose to tell her something of her own future, she would not argue, but this was for the sister of her heart.

"Nay, 'tis for the king's heart and blood," the woman said confidently, gesturing for Teres to take a seat on the myriad cushions that littered the floor. She moved herself to a small brazier, sprinkling something pungent from a small pot over the coals ....something that created clouds of sweet-smelling smoke that she passed the little lock of hair through over and over again, muttering to herself.

Teresa did as indicated, settling herself on the cushions, her hands folded in her lap about as demurely as possible. She watched with a mix of skepticism, hopefulness, and curiosity as the woman went about her business.

"Threes," the diviner said suddenly, sitting back on her heels, still fingering the black lock in her hand. "I see threes. Three male seeds of the king's line; two men his companions to make three. Two women of your number his heart's companions, and this, too, makes three. And you shall be one of them, heart and soul and mind. Beware of the night's shade and the knife in the dark. If the king's heart is cut out, he will not find another."

Teres furrowed her brows as she listened, trying to deciper the woman's cryptic predictions, which seemed to include her. "Night's shade?" she echoed. Didn't that word have something to do with plants" Three male seeds of the king's line. What could that possibly mean' Was she referring to the king's cousins, and then perhaps the king and two of his friends or advisers" It was very confusing, and as interesting as it was, it did not really answer the one question she needed to know. "Yes, but will she give him an heir?" she asked, impatiently.

The diviner turned her head to look at the young woman pointedly. "Listen with your mind and not your heart," she advised. "What does one do with seeds?"

"Plant them," Teres replied, stating the obvious. Could she have misinterpreted what the diviner had said. Could the three male seeds she had mentioned by children, and if so, were they children of Safiya's, too' "But two women of our number" Does that mean he will have two concubines?" she asked, still confused.

"I see threes," the diviner responded. "Three seeds, three men, three women. Three hearts made whole in joining." Teres was not going to get a straight answer from her; what was the point of having your fortune told if it was easy to interpret?

Safiya Teliran

Date: 2018-07-06 04:04 EST
"I see," Teres murmured, looking a little less confused. Perhaps she meant three women for three men and three children from those men" Was one of them her" She found her heart skipping a beat at the thought of that, but she wasn't quite bold enough to ask. "Can you see how soon there will be an heir?" she asked, hopefully.

"I see threes," was the patient, crytic response. "Three days, three weeks, three months, three years ....but nothing at all if the night's shade falls on the king's heart."

"Night's shade," Teres echoed again, brows furrowed thoughtfully, a thought coming to mind. "Poison?" she guessed, her blood going cold at the thought of it, and suddenly she was flooded with a wave of panic and fear.

"The night's shade upon her, the knife upon him," the diviner mused. "Threes, threes ....three dawns before the danger comes."

Three dawns - three days. Teres understood with a nod of her head. "Is there anything else?" she asked, feeling her hands starting to shake. She needed to get back to Safiya and warn her to be careful.

"Remember me," the diviner told her sharply. "A promise for a promise, or the darkness falls." She slid the lock of hair back into the pouch and handed it back to Teres. "An act of faith."

"I will remember," she promised the woman. Though there was nothing she could do for her if the woman if she needed a pardon, she could pass the promise along to Safiya to ask the king. She carefully took the lock of hair back and slipped it into the pouch. "Thank you, Yasli Anne," she said, with a reverential nod of her head, calling her Old Mother.

The diviner inclined her head, and stepped back, seeming to melt into the shadows of her own home. It was time for Teres to leave.

" ....And that is what she said," Teres told her friend, a worried frown on her face at the mixed and confusing message, she was now sharing with Safiya.

Safiya frowned thoughtfully, turning the snipped lock of hair over and over in her hands. "Three boys," she said slowly, piecing it together as best she could. "Three boys within three years, that would secure the line easily. And Nasir will have two friends to support and advise him, and those friends will have wives from the harem, and one of those wives will be you." She couldn't help smiling; even if she was wrong in her interpretation, she would not be alone in loving her husband, it seemed.

"Do you think that's what it means?" Teres asked, uncertainly. Some of what the woman had told her seemed to make sense, while parts of it were still confusing. How had Safiya managed to sort it out so easily"

"It's what I want it to mean," Safiya admitted. She shook her head. "You know that a fortune is never obvious until after it comes true, maymun. But perhaps, if I aim for what I believe it might mean, that will be what was meant all along."

"Yes, but there was a warning, too, Safi," Teres reminded her with a worried frown. Good news mixed with bad. It was the warning that worried her, not for fear of her own life so much as that of her friend's.

"Someone will try and poison me," Safiya said quietly. "Try to kill Nasir with a knife or a sword. I can take antidotes, as many as we can find, but how do I protect him against a knife when I don't know who will be holding it?"

"Hmm," Teres mused quietly. "We make a list of all his enemies!" she suggested, though that wouldn't help if the king had any enemies who were pretending to be friends.

"A shorter list would be those who are not his enemies," Safiya admitted with a rueful flicker to her smile. "But you are right. We know this palace, we know the people in it. We can certainly work out who might threaten him here."

"But what of those who might visit from somewhere else?" Teres pointed out with a worried frown. In truth, she was more worried for her friend than for the king. The king was nearly always surrounded by guards and friends and advisers; the same could not be said for Safiya.

Safiya bit her lip unhappily. She cared little for her own life if Nasir was in danger. "I think I shall have to tell him of this oracle, Teres," she admitted in a low tone. "She said three days, didn't she?"

"Yes, everything was in threes, it seemed," Teres replied, that worried expression still on her face. "I think you should tell him, Safi. He should know you are both in danger," she said, gripping her friend's hand, the cold sense of dread making itself known again.

Safiya squeezed her hands gently. "I will," she promised faithfully. "As soon as I can. But if we survive these three days ....a son, Teres. I'm going to have three sons!"

Teres smiled softly, happy for her friend, though that smile was still tainted with worry. "Do you really think I will meet someone?" she asked, turning the conversation away from the warnings, if only for a moment. She didn't want to be selfish, but the diviner had made mention of her, too.

Safiya's smile deepened as she nodded. "I do," she promised her friend fervently. "I truly do, Teres. You will meet someone and love him, and he will be one of Nasir's closest friends, I am certain of it."

"But not Ezra Turzic!" Teres insisted, making a face. "That man is too ....too ..." She sighed, annoyed at a loss for words. Too what? Stoic" Cold" Boring" Skinny"

Safiya snorted with laughter. "We have not seen him in almost fifteen years," she reminded her friend. "He might have changed. You might like him after all."

"Pfft," Teres scoffed. "How much can one boy ....er, man, change?" Then again, Nasir had grown from a gangly, awkward boy into a handsome king.

"As much as a king?" Safiya asked innocently, leaning over to embrace her friend. "Thank you for doing that, Teres. I can never repay you for taking such a risk on my behalf."

"Nonsense, you would do the same for me," Teres said, hugging her friend close, before pulling away to give her a stern look. "But do not forget her warning, Safi. You must not eat or drink anything without having it tested first. Take care who is near and who is serving your meals. You may have made some enemies in being chosen by the king."

"I will be careful," Safiya assured her though, given her tendency to trust everyone, it wasn't much of a promise. "You should rest now. I ....I believe I will ask the king for an audience."

Teres could not argue with that. She knew her friend needed to speak with the king, and the sooner the better. "Take care, Safi," she told her friend, gripping her hand tightly in her own, that look of fear and worry clearly seen on her face. "I do not know what I would do without you."

"I pray you will never need to discover that," Safiya answered fiercely, embracing her once again before she rose. "I am sorry, I need to see Nasir."

"Yes, of course," Teres replied, returning her friend's embrace. She frowned again, realizing she would now have to return to the harem and face the other women there, some of whom might not only be jealous of Safi, but of her friendship with Teres, as well. "I will take my leave of you then," she said, taking a step back and offering a respectful curtsy.

Safiya Teliran

Date: 2018-07-06 04:04 EST
"Don't curtsy to me, maymun," Safiya told her, touching her cheek affectionately. "You are a sister to me, not lower in my eyes." She did not like anyone deferring to her, though it seemed likely she would have to get used to it.

"But you are Teliran now, and I am just a woman of the harem," Teres pointed, even less than a concubine and with little chance of ever becoming one of the king's women.

"You will always be my sister," Safiya insisted fervently. "Always, Teres. And I will not have you curtsying to me when no one is here to see it. Even when other eyes are upon us, your curtsy is to keep them silent, not for my pleasure."

"As you wish, my lady," Teres said, eyes sparkling with a hint of amusement. "I will take my leave so that you may confer with the king," she said again, stepping close to give her one last hug and a kiss to the cheek. "Be careful," she whispered before turning to return to the harem, at least for now.

Safiya watched her go with a faint smile, torn between relief and concern at the fortune her friend had relayed to her. She paused, looking out through the window to be certain Nasir was still in conference with his cousin, the prince, in the garden. Then she lifted her skirts and marched confidently out of the harem, secure in the knowledge that only the king's personal secretary could prevent her from interrupting the king's private time.

Nasir was still there in quiet conversation with Felipe, a few stolen glances at the window above them every now and then, as if hoping to catch another glimpse of his Teliran.

Yet a few minutes after those glances began to fail to show even a glimpse of Safiya, his personal secretary entered the garden to bow to him. "Majesty," he said with quiet reverence. "The Teliran Safiya requests an audience with you."

Felipe bit down a smirk, glancing over at his cousin.

"Ah," Nasir said, trying not to look too pleased or relieved. "I suppose I should acquiesce, then," he said, with a completely straight face. "Thank you," he added for the man's sake.

"Majesty." The man bowed again, turning to exit the garden.

Felipe tilted his head toward his cousin. "Would you prefer to be alone?" he asked pleasantly. "It is not often you have an afternoon to enjoy with her, rather than a night."

"I think that might be wise," Nasir said. "I expect you would not want me there if you were visiting with your Jane," he pointed out, allowing a faint smirk for his cousin.

"Wait until you've seen her in a mischievous mood before you make proclamations like that," Felipe told him with a laugh, rising to bow to his royal cousin. "Enjoy your afternoon, your majesty."

He turned to go, pausing to bow to Safiya as she strode into the garden. She hesitated at the sight of the Pomeran prince and lowered her eyes as she curtsied, hands folding calmly at her waist.

Nasir had to bite back a laugh at the two of them acting so courteously formal. He had grown to know Felipe well these past weeks and had become fond of him, just as he was growing fond of Safiya, though in a different way. He waited for Felipe to disappear before going to her and taking her hands, to kiss each one in turn.

She smiled as he took her hands, her eyes never leaving his face as he kissed her knuckles. "How are you, Nasir?" she asked softly, finally having grown accustomed to not referring to him as "majesty" when they were alone.

"I am well. Better now you are here," he replied with a warm smile as he drew her a little closer, her hands still in his. There was little chance of anyone spying on them here, but there was a chance of being interrupted if something needed tended to.

"I am not interrupting anything, am I?" she asked, perhaps a little belatedly, only too pleased to be drawn closer. This was the king's private garden, but there was always the possibility of further interruptions while the business of the kingdom was being attended to.

"No, Felipe and I are finished, for now," Nasir assured her. "I should like you to meet him soon," he said, though what he meant by that was not just to meet his cousin, but to become better acquainted with him. "He is wed and expecting a child. He thinks you and his Jane could become good friends."

"I should like that very much, if you wish it," she agreed, not one to disagree on anything much where he was concerned. She hesitated, glancing at the ever-present guard. "Nasir ....I need to tell you something. And I do not think it should be for any ears but your own."

"Oh?" Nasir said, brows arching upwards in surprise and curiosity. Even if she was with child, she could not know that so soon. "Very well. Walk with me," he said, tucking her hand into the crook of his arm before turning to the guard. "Remain here. We are going to walk in the garden," he instructed. There was little chance of any danger lurking for them among the roses.

Hugging her hands to his elbow, Safiya walked beside him for long minutes, breathing in the sluggish heat that lingered over the garden. When she spoke, her voice was soft and almost tentative. "I-I know of the dangers in the palace, in the city, at present," she said quietly. "And how important it is that I bear you a son very soon. I hope you will forgive me for this, but I have consulted with a diviner."

Those brows arched higher at her confession, a startled look on his face, though he could not chide her for it. "A diviner?" he echoed quietly. This was against the tenets of the Church, and yet, he couldn't help but wonder what she'd been told. "What did this diviner have to say?"

"Several things, in fact." She told him what Teres had told her - everything except the threat to her own life. His life was far more important than hers. But the news of sons, and friends he could trust and lean upon, were good news enough to outweigh the concern that in three days someone would try to kill him with a knife.

If he'd known how she felt, he would have disagreed; she was just as important as he was, more so even, to him. "Everything in threes, it seems," he remarked, not overly surprised to hear news of an assassination attempt. Even without a diviner's warning, he knew that was something he needed to be wary of.

"So it would seem," she agreed. "Though it makes sense, does it not' The king, the Church, and the state - the number three is embedded in our consciousness."

"Yes, but three days, three friends, three sons?" he asked skeptically. "It's a bit coincidental, don't you think?" he asked as he led her slowly through the garden to a bench that was shaded by a rooftop of flowering vines.

"It is a fortune," she pointed out. "They are always told in patterns, and they are not always easy to interpret. But I would rather believe this one to be true than live in terror of never giving you the son that will secure your place here."

Nasir wasn't quite sure what to believe. He had been taught not to believe in fortune-tellers of any kind but to trust in the Goddess to guide his future. Still, it was certainly an interesting fortune, albeit mixed with good and bad. He took her hand as they settled beside each other on the bench, and he turned to face her. "We are doing everything we can, Safiya. We must trust in the Goddess to watch over us."

"I know," she admitted, easing down to sit beside him, gathering his hands into her own. "But the diviners are as much a part of our culture as the Church is. Perhaps their power is even given by the Goddess. It is something to cling to, for I know you will be in greater danger until you have son to pass the crown to."

Safiya Teliran

Date: 2018-07-06 04:05 EST
Nasir frowned, not so much because he was worried about himself, so much as her. "We will have a son, Safiya," he assured her, giving her hands a gentle squeeze. "We must," he added quietly, almost as if it was a prayer to the Goddess.

She studied his face for a long moment, feeling the pressure settling on her shoulders once again. Only she could alleviate that burden on him, and perhaps she was even expecting a child already. But they would not know if it would be a son for many months yet. "We will," she promised him, hoping she was not making a promise she could not keep. "And your friend will be here soon, will he not' The Queen-Mother said something about him making port at Valens a few days ago."

"I believe so, yes," he replied, wondering if Ezra was one of the three friends the seeress had mentioned. "Safiya, you must know ....I do not intend to take another woman to my bed, but you," he told her, though he'd told this at least once before.

She bit her lip as she held his gaze. "Not even when I am unable to share your bed?" she asked softly. It wasn't that she wanted him to love another woman, but more that she had been raised to expect not to have all his love for herself.

And he had been raised to share his bed with multiple women, not with the goal of loving or being loved, but with the goal of ensuring heirs for the kingdom, but the time spent in Carib had apparently changed him. "I do not wish to share my bed with anyone but you," he assured her again.

She smiled, almost shy in the face of his assurance, leaning close to touch her brow to his tenderly. "Is it too soon to know my heart, Nasir?" she asked him softly. "Would you think me a liar if I told you what I feel?"

"Only if it is too soon for me, too," he replied, leaning close to touch his lips to hers in a tender kiss. He had not yet spoken of love, but there was unspoken love apparent in that kiss.

One hand slipped from the tangle of fingers between them to stroke her fingertips against his jaw as she answered that kiss with her own, pouring her own unspoken heart into that moment of contact even as her lips curved in a soft smile. "I love you," she whispered to him, needing him to know it. If the dawn in three days' time killed her, she needed him to know that she had loved him.

He smiled, her words touching his heart like no others could. "As I love you," he replied, just as quietly. Traditions be damned! He loved her and was bound and determined to make her queen, whether the seeress was right or not.

Hearing those words reflected back to her, knowing he meant them to his bones, Safiya let loose with a quiet squeal of delight, throwing her arms around his neck as she lunged toward him, peppering his face with playful kisses. Perhaps it wasn't the calm display he might have expected, but how often did a woman raised in a harem find herself loved in return by the man who held her heart"

He laughed as she lunged at him, his arms going around her waist as she smothered him with kisses. Apparently, he had said the right thing, as it seemed her reply had made her happy, and why wouldn't it' "We will change Valentia together, Safiya," he told her.

"All I want is to be at your side," she promised him, pressing a fervent kiss to his lips. "For as long as you want me, I will be there. With our children."

He paused to return that kiss, as loving and fervent as the one he was given. "You will be, sevgilim. I promise you that," he assured her, sealing that promise with yet another kiss, there in the shade of the flowering vine, away from the eyes of the court.

Soft fingers caressed his cheeks as he kissed her smiling lips, drawing back to embrace him tenderly. "You will be careful, won't you?" she asked, unable to conceal her worry. "I could not bear to lose you."

"I cannot hide forever, Safi," he said, shortening her name affectionately, just as those closest to her had a habit of doing. "I will be as careful as I can be. I will not be disposed of so easily."

"Please do be careful," she pleaded softly. "She said the threat to you was a knife in the dark. I am afraid for you, I cannot help it. I love you, Nasir."

There was only so much he could do to be careful. They had swept the palace for traitors and spies, but there was always a chance that someone might have been missed. He could not hide forever in his quarters. He would just have to be careful and make sure he was surrounded by people he trusted, with guards on duty at all times.

"What can I do to put your mind at ease?" he asked, taking her hands in his again.

"Be with the people you trust, always," she told him. "With your cousin, with the friends you know will never betray you. Do not put your life into the hands of guards whose names are unknown to you."

"I will, I promise," he told her, giving her hands a reassuring squeeze. It was a hard promise to make, as he was almost always surrounded by guards, but he would talk to Felipe and make sure those guards were trusted ones.

She smiled, reassured that he would be well protected. She, personally, might not eat or drink much over the next few days, but she'd promised Teres she would be careful herself. "Thank you, beloved."

If he'd had any idea she was in danger, too, he would have insisted on taking as many precautions as possible. He was doing all he could to protect them both, but their safety was mostly in the hands of those around them. "Will you spend the night?" he asked hopefully.

"Whenever you wish me to, I shall," she promised him affectionately, leaning close to kiss his cheek. "But you are to dine with your mother this evening. I will come to you afterward. I do not wish to be a cause of friction between you."

Nasir frowned a little at her reminder. It wasn't that he didn't like his mother or enjoy her company, but she would want to talk about politics and impress upon him the need to provide an heir. She would not be happy about his decision to take only one woman to his bed; one wife, and one queen. The sooner Safiya was with child, the better. All the more reason she should spend the night.

"She is fond of you," he reminded her. At least, there was that.

"She has been very good to me," Safiya admitted gently. "And I am trying to keep her approval, Nasir. I do almost nothing without her permission."

"You do not need her permission any longer, Safiya," Nasir reminded her. It wouldn't be long before Safiya became queen, and then she would replace his mother as most powerful woman in Valentia. But it wasn't about power or politics; for Nasir, it was only about love. He would always love his mother, but he wanted a wife to share his life.

"But I do not want her enmity," she countered gently. "She could make my life very difficult if she chose to, and you do not deserve to be caught between two women who love you. I will do whatever I have to do for life to remain civil, even if it means consulting her on everything before I make my personal decisions." She squeezed his hands affectionately. "You did ask for a peaceful harem."

"I do not want a harem," he reminded her with a frown. Small steps, one day at a time. It would take time for things to change, and more time for people to accept those changes. There was no better time to start than now, with his mother.

"You will not be able to abolish the harem entirely," she predicted gently. "But we may be able to change its purpose. If women of rank are given a place where they may congregate, as the men do in your court, then the harem may well have a use beyond the protection of the royal family."

Safiya Teliran

Date: 2018-07-06 04:05 EST
"I had thought they could become like Pomerania's ladies in waiting - companions for the queen," he suggested, knowing how radical that sounded, but it was not so very different, really. The only difference was the fact that he would not be sleeping with them and they would not be bearing him any children.

"We will make the change slowly," Safiya promised him, though she had no real idea of what he was talking about. Perhaps Prince Felipe would bring his wife through Valentia when he returned to Pomerania, so that she could explain how it all worked to the king's chosen. "It will be better to take our time. It is too easy to make enemies."

"Agreed, but I have a feeling it will be my mother who is the hardest to convince," he said, with that worried frown still on his face. He was going to have to tread carefully tonight and make sure he didn't offend her.

"Your mother loves you, Nasir," she reminded him gently, drawing her hand against his cheek with a smile. "She lives in terror of losing you, of losing any hope of keeping a piece of you should the worst come to pass. She is not pressing you for an heir, but for a grandchild. A legacy, so that you will be remembered as the founder of a new line of kings."

Nasir arched a brow, obviously surprised by her statement and perhaps even more so by the fact that she seemed so sure in making it. "How can you know this" Has she told you?" he asked, curiously.

Her smile softened. "I do not need to ask her such things," she admitted softly. "I need only consider how I would feel if I were in her place. To have my only son's life hanging in the balance, and to know that if he dies, I would have nothing left of him, unless he fathers a child I could protect on his behalf. It is the way women think, Nasir. Our lives are not about politics, they are about family."

"Then I suppose we shall have to try doubly hard to give her grandchildren," he said, a half-teasing smile on his face. He knew how important it was for him to provide an heir, but he hadn't considered that heir would also be a grandchild. And what if they had daughters, instead of sons" "Do you think it is too soon to change our laws so that an heir does not need to be male?"

She laughed, leaning close to touch her cheek to his shoulder. "Perhaps a little," she admitted fondly. "But there is nothing to stop us from teaching a daughter, if she is born first, all she needs to know to rule. Perhaps she herself could persuade the men of the court that women are not so unfit as they like to believe."

"I do not think it is a matter of being unfit, so much as it is tradition. I, for one, am not against a woman ruling. A woman rules equally alongside a man in Carib, and it is the woman who is the more adept with a blade," he pointed out, though she was not the one he needed to convince.

"Then perhaps you should invite them for a state visit," Safiya suggested, unable to disguise the twinkle of eagerness in her eyes at the thought of meeting a woman who had been raised exactly the same way as her male peers - a woman who had always expected to take the throne, even if the throne she had ended up with was a long way from the one she had anticipated.

"I will always take your thoughts into consideration, Safiya," he told her, assuring her that he did not think her only a vessel for making a baby and nothing more. "Perhaps we shall, in good time," he replied to her request with a smile of his own, amused at the thought of what the court might make of Brynhilde.

"When do you expect your friend to arrive in Iska?" she asked then, changing the subject gently, albeit with a smile. "Teres is absolutely certain that she will hate him on sight. I must confess, I am eager to see her determination crumble."

"In the next day or two," Nasir replied, arching a brow. "Teres ....She was the one with you at the window," he said, in hopes he remembered her correctly. He did not know all the women in the harem personally, but he remembered a few who had been friendly to himself and Safiya.

"Yes." She nodded, glancing automatically up at the window that was still open. "She is my closest friend, the closest I will ever have to a sister. I have almost convinced the Queen-Mother to allow her to share the concubine's quarters with me." She laughed, a little embarrassed at this admission.

"Almost?" he echoed. He could have over-ruled his mother in that regard, but he thought it better if she was left in charge of the women, as much as possible. Otherwise, she would feel as though Safiya had not only replaced her in his heart, but in her place of authority, as well. He was hoping for a peaceful harem, and there would be no peace if there was a power struggle between his mother and wife. Somehow, he needed to figure out how to keep them both happy. "I am sure you will find a way to convince her."

"I would not add to your troubles for all the wealth in the world," she assured him. "I will find a way, in everything. And we will have sons a-plenty for her to love."

"Are those the words of my beloved or of the diviner?" he asked, assuming it was a little of both. Not everything the diviner had told them had been bad, after all.

"My own," she promised him. "I will give you sons, Nasir, even if the diviner had said it would not happen. And I will give you daughters, too. A family to love you and protect you."

"Not only me, sevgilim. You will be their mother ....and one day, my wife. We will have a family together. I promise you this," he told her, pressing her hand to his heart, as if this simple gesture would demonstrate his intention to keep that promise.

"We will," Safiya agreed with easy hope, nestling close to kiss him - a slow, languid kiss that was as much loving as desiring, unafraid to share her affection for him no matter where they were. Being interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat politely was not part of the plan, but it was still the middle of the afternoon.

Nasir reluctantly tore himself away from that kiss at the sound of the interruption. "Yes?" he asked in a slightly irritated voice, without looking to see who it was that was interrupting them.

It was the king's secretary, keeping his eyes turned away from the clinch he had awkwardly interrupted. "Many apologies, your majesty," he said smoothly. "The Lotharingian ambassador has arrived at your summons."

Safiya glanced at Nasir curiously. Why was he meeting with the ambassador from the heretical center of the continent"

"Thank you. I will meet him in my audience chamber shortly," he replied with a brief glance at his secretary, to ensure he'd heard and understood his directions.

"As you command."

As the secretary bowed and moved away, Safiya turned her eyes back to Nasir with wary curiosity. "Why have you asked to see the heretic?" she asked, a little more bluntly than she usually spoke.

"I need to know whether he is behind these ....plots," Nasir told her, pausing to search for a word that wouldn't frighten her. "Don't worry. I'll have Felipe with me," he said, trying to assure her with a well-meaning smile. He doubted the ambassador would so boldly attempt assassination, but he'd take be careful to take the proper precautions.

"Surely he will not simply tell you if you ask him," Safiya worried, unable to keep her concern from showing. She wanted the heretics gone, yes, but she did not want Nasir to be in direct danger from them - at least, not yet. "They are crafty in their ways, Nasir."

"Do not worry, love," he said, taking her hands between his, that attempt at a reassuring smile on his face. "I promise I will be careful," he told her, but that was all he could promise for now.

"You had better be careful," she told him, trying to put a brave face on her fear for him, for his sake more than her own. "I will summon you back from the dead and make you haunt me for all eternity if you die before we have a chance to live the lives before us."

He couldn't help but chuckle a little at her remark. "I will see you at the evening meal. Promise," he told her, leaning close to seal that promise with a kiss. He was worried that the Lotharingian ambassador might try to kill him. After all, it hadn't been three days yet.

She smiled into his kiss, stroking his cheek tenderly. "I will be there," she promised him in turn, rising to curtsy to him, a cheeky glimmer in her eyes. "Your majesty."

He rose with her, smiling as he glimpsed the teasing gleam in her eyes. Whatever the diviner had said, he would do everything in his power and then some to prevent any harm to either of them. "Safiya," he replied with a formal nod of his head, though no one was there to see them.

With a last smile, she left the garden, her heart lighter for knowing that he was aware of the threat and would take steps to negate it. Now all that remained was to keep the Queen-Mother her friend and ....oh yes. Not to eat or drink anything that hadn't already been tasted by someone else for the next four days. She might well be hungry by the end of her fast, but at least she would be alive. Not even Teres could argue with that.