Page 1 of The Prince's Wife

Chapter One

"Your Highness, I'm so sorry, please forgive me!" The woman dropped to her knees, bowing low and covering the back of her head with her hands.

Aradishir wiped whatever substance had just been accidentally thrown in his face out of his eyes so he could see. Nearby, doing a poor job of smothering his laughter, Heydar handed off a strip of cloth offered by one of the guards. A headwrap. He'd have to make sure it was properly replaced. "Thank you," he said, and cleaned up as best he could.

It was sweet smelling, whatever it was, accidentally tossed from a clay jar as the woman argued with someone else in the pavilion. Such carts were not supposed to be here, but people new to the job always made that mistake.

"Please, it's fine," Aradishir said. "As long as no one has been hurt. What is the problem here?"

The woman didn't stand, but she looked up briefly before dropping her eyes to the ground again, voice shaking as she said, "I am so very sorry, Your Highness. This man here was trying to take my goods, and when I tried to take them back…"

"I see." Aradishir looked to the posted guards, who nodded in confirmation. "Summon further guards, have the cart and all these people escorted to the proper yard, and have the House Mistress sort the matter out."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Make certain someone brings you a new wrap as well, and I'll return or replace this one." Aradishir sighed. "Would you send someone to let Mother know I'll be a little late to lunch?"When the guards confirmed they would, he headed back inside and through the palace to his chambers, ignoring the looks and snickers from the people he passed.

In his room, he immediately went to bathe. "Whatisthis stuff?" He sniffed it again, but all he got was sweet. Like liquid sugar, thick and sticky. "Why would they have entire jars of liquid sugar?"

"All sorts of cooking applications," Heydar said, cleaning up the small bits that had struck him. "We're lucky it was cooled and not still hot, or you'd have lost skin at the very least."

Aradishir shuddered. "What a delightful image, thank you."

Heydar laughed and went to change his clothes, returning shortly with new clothes for Aradishir.

Dressed again, Aradishir sat at his dressing table so Heydar could fix his hair. He'd known nothing of such things when first joining the harem, and it wasn't a duty he was expected to fill, but he'd proven interested and deft and so most often did it now.

"There," Heydar said after a few minutes. "Like it never happened at all, and your mother will love the tale."

"I can hear her laughing already," Aradishir said with a sigh, even as he smiled. "Shall we, then? I really want to know why she wants to speak with me so suddenly. I've behaved for the past three weeks!"

Heydar chuckled as they walked through the halls. "Maybe she wants to make certain of that, given you and your siblings can't generally go three days without stirring up some sort of mischief."

"You're not funny."

Every now and then Heydar nodded to one of the many guards lining the palace walls, part of the small group he stillspoke to now and again, those he'd gotten along with when he'd been a guard.

When they reached the Butterfly Room, his mother was already there with two of her concubines, one on each side, the three of them exchanging sips of wine and brief kisses. As ever, his mother was beautiful and perfect, the Jewel of Tavamara, the very definition of a queen. Aradishir did not envy the woman who would have to follow in her footsteps. He also didn't envy his brother having to follow in their father's.

He was perfectly happy being the youngest child, and no hewasn'tspoiled rotten like his siblings insisted. "Good afternoon, Mother. I apologize for being late."

Fahima smiled. "I hear you were doused in sugar syrup."

"That stuff is unreasonably sticky," Aradishir replied as he took his seat opposite her, Heydar sitting on his right.

"What in the world were you doing in the main pavilion anyway?"

Aradishir rolled his eyes. "I was passing by on my way here and heard a ruckus." He took a sip of wine as Heydar offered the cup. "Better me than the poor guards."

Fahima smiled, soft and fond, eyes full of warmth. "Yes, I hear someone threw wine on them last week. That vendor did not enjoy what happened to his contract."

"Good," Aradishir replied. "Now stop torturing me, Mother. Why did you want to see me so abruptly?" He took a bite of spicy meat as Heydar set a full plate in front of him, thanking him in a quiet murmur.

"So impatient," Fahima said, clucking her tongue. "You must learn patience, Ari."

"I sat through all of dinner last night while that oaf droned on about his stupid farms and didn't say one single rude thing."

"Your face said enough," one of her concubines, Matiana, said dryly.

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