Chapter 10: Substitution

Yasina was delighted when the tale of my encounter with Mira spread across the city. Semira herself had something to do with that. The story became known as the Four Candles: apparently we had met in a plain room, lit by a single candle. We ate plain bread and cheese, and drank the cheapest of table wines.

But we talked, and talked, until the candle burned low, so that we had to light another. And so on, until, we burnt through all four candles. Then we repaired to her bedroom, and had sex four times - once for each candle? I only remembered three, but who am I to argue with a good story? Even the twelve roses made their appearance.

Bishkur was pleased that the tale specifically referred to his water project, and his cherished fountains and cisterns. Yasina loved the fact that the story was on everyone’s lips. And I am quite sure that it didn’t harm Semira’s business, either.

The Empress kept me busy. She even let me choose which concubines to call upon. But that made me nervous. Perhaps I was becoming paranoid. So I chose all of them. I put my two pregnant girls, Olom and Nima, first, but little Avadi was also near the top of the list.

Yasina also resumed her pressure on Bishkur. I was given two nights off, without explanation, and then called to see the Empress the following morning.

- “What is wrong with him?” she asked.

I didn’t know how to answer that, so I chose to treat it as a rhetorical question.

“Can you not teach him better?” said Yasina.

- “We can try, Highness -” I began.

- “Or are we wasting our time? Can he do it? Tell me the truth, Carrach: do you think he will ever be able to ... father children?”

Was that a little slip, on her part? Yasina had become less careful, with what she said around me. I knew better than to believe that she cared for her son’s well-being. But her worries about his marriage weren’t primarily a question of alliances, or of prestige. She wanted a legitimate heir.

- “There is still hope, Highness.” I said. “It may just be a matter of finding the right woman.”

Yasina didn’t share my confidence. I’m not sure if these things were connected, but Bishkur went on more inspection tours, visiting army garrisons as well as fountains and aqueducts. That gave me the opportunity to go home a few more times.

Father was not as well. He looked worn, and tired more easily. Minika was clearly worried about him. She also worried about me. But other than provide money, there wasn’t much I could do.

Bishkur was gone for almost three weeks. That left me with an unusual amount of free time. Yasina only called on me for sexual services once. I suspected that someone else was ‘pulling her yarn’, as they say. So I read, and tried to think of a way out of my predicament. That’s right: I was sleeping with a dozen beautiful women - and looking for an escape.

I was allowed to sleep with Nanka once as well. Though I saw her every few days, in the baths, our brief exchanges of words were always guarded. It was different, lying in her arms, able to whisper a little more. And she was more appealing, more arousing, than most of the concubines.

- “Will Yasina let me see the children, when they’re born?” I asked her.

- “You worry too much.” she said.

- “I don’t have much else to do. And don’t you think that I should worry, in my position?”

- “No. Worry when you can make change - on’y then.” And with that fatalistic comment, she slipped from bed and left me to sleep.

Bishkur came back from his tour, and turned everything upside down. He arranged a meeting with the Empress, Opkor, and me.

- “Why this gathering?” she asked. Why is Carrach here? And Opkor?”

- “Carrach, because what I have to say concerns him directly. And Opkor, because he would be listening in any case.” said Bishkur.

Yasina didn’t like that comment, but she couldn’t deny that it was true. Opkor showed no reaction. “Well?” said the Empress. “What is it?”

- “I was in Valkh, and I found ... the Emperor’s first wife.”

- “What are you talking about?” shouted Yasina. “Are you speaking in the third person, now? And are you saying that you’ve contracted a marriage? Without asking me?”

A small part of my mind noted her choice of the word ‘asking’, as if the Emperor needed her permission. He did, of course, but she was not usually so blatant about the imbalance of power between them. Bishkur, by contrast, would have chosen a much less offensive term - ‘consulting’, for example.

The rest of my brain was struggling to understand what he was doing. How could he arrange a marriage which he was - at present, anyway - unable to consummate?

- “That is precisely what I am telling you, Mother.” said Bishkur. “I did not have time to ... consult you, because the father of the young lady in question was considering a marriage alliance. An alliance which I believed we should prevent, if possible.”

- “WHO?” shouted Yasina.

- “I arrived in Valkh, and met with General Vanzahd.” said Bishkur. “He gave a banquet in my honour. I met his daughter, Bereyar.”

- “Where have I heard that name before?” asked Yasina.

Opkor spoke up for the first time. “She was to marry Prince Alperix.”

- “Oh, her.” said Yasina. “Isn’t she old?”

- “Nineteen.” said Bishkur. “Pretty, and very charming.” Coming from Bishkur, that meant that the girl was intelligent. He had no use for giggling debutantes, or flirtatious conversation.

- “And who was she supposed to marry this time?” asked Yasina, obviously nearing the end of her limited patience.

- “The eldest son of General Pittarryat.” he said.

There was silence in the room, as the Empress and her eunuch considered this revelation. Even a neophyte like me could figure it out. Valkh was the second-largest city in Zamarka. Because of its location, the Governor had access to considerable wealth, and controlled a large army, for the defence of our frontier with the Kilchiks.

General Vanzahd had been seeking an alliance with one of Zoer’s sons, before Alperix died in the Night of the Knives. But now, if he forged a close alliance with Pittarryat, the victor in our campaign against the Anysi ... between them, they would control two armies. That would pose a sizeable threat to the present occupants of the Palace.

Bishkur let it sink in.

- “I believed that it was ... essential, to act quickly.” he said.

- “So you offered to make her First Wife?” asked Yasina. “We don’t need Vanzahd, though. Not that much.”

- “I disagree, Mother. As of now, you have the support of Pittarryat and Tarasp. But would Pittarryat remain loyal, if we ... forbade his son’s marriage? And Tarasp is aging. He will be stepping down in a few years. This is the best opportunity to tie Vanzahd to us for good.”

Yasina glanced at Opkor. The eunuch inclined his head. But the Empress was still angry, still unconvinced. “Aren’t you forgetting something, Bishkur?” she said. “It’s not like you to overlook the obvious.”

- “I have considered all of the possibilities.” he replied.

- “Really?” said Yasina, with a smirk. “What about the wedding night?”

- “I considered that as well.” said her son.

- “What are you talking about?” she said, loudly. “You aren’t going to be able to consummate the marriage! Have you ’considered’ how you’re going to fuck the girl? Because you won’t be able to send in Carrach as a substitute this time!”

- “Why not?” said the Emperor.

Now I understood why he wanted me at this meeting. But if there had been a hole in the floor, I would have tried to burrow into it.

Yasina was so shocked, she couldn’t even answer.

- “You ... you can’t be serious.” she said, finally.

- “Why not?” he said, again. He was more in control of his emotions than even Opkor (whom I suspected of not even having any).

- “Because... he would know. She would know. They’d both know!” said the Empress. “You couldn’t keep a secret like that!”

- “Have we not done exactly that, Mother, these past months? Bereyar has met me once. Briefly, at that. If Carrach stood in for me at the wedding, there is no reason why he could not ... substitute in the marriage bed as well. How would she ever know?”