Chapter 2: The Queen

After her first night in the King's bed, she was escorted by four handmaidens down a corridor which led from the King's quarters at one end, to her quarters at the very end of the old harem section of the palace. The long straight route was called "The Queen's Path".

Amilla was the most senior of her women and would act as her personal attendant. She showed her mistress round what was to be her home for the rest of her life. There was a sitting room, with doors onto a private terrace and garden. There was a large bedroom which also opened onto the terrace. It had two doors, one of which led into a pleasant private bathroom, stocked with expensive perfumes and lotions and piles of Egyptian linen towels. The other door led into a large formal bathing chamber. She asked Amilla what the room was for. Amilla explained that this is where her handmaidens would prepare her when she was formally summoned by the King.

Large chests in the bedroom were full of silk saris, some heavily embroidered with gold and silver threads. There were bodices, stoles and gold slippers; everything required in the traditional lady's wardrobe. On the other side of the room, wardrobes held every kind of western clothes, from ball gowns to smart suits to jeans. Amilla told her that the King had given orders for her wardrobes to be stocked, but that she was to send for couturiers as soon as she wished to order her own choice of clothes.

Her bed had a canopy, hung with sheer drapes and topped with a crest. Amilla explained that it was her personal cipher, which would appear on her stationery and linens and would be on the pennant of her car if she travelled without the King.

The sitting room was a comfortable western room, beautifully furnished and lined with books. As she walked out onto the terrace, she remarked that it would be pleasant to take tea out there with the King.

"Oh no, Madam," Amilla corrected her. "His Majesty does not come to us; we go to him."

She hoped that she would be able to go to him again soon.

As Amilla rang for tea, the young Queen sat at her desk, exploring the drawers and examining the fine stationery. When the servant entered with tea, she presented a note to the Queen. It read, "I hope you are well. I have so much I need to tell you about. If you cross the garden alone and pass through the green gate, you will be in my private garden. Come through the gate at 12 and I will show you the way to my rooms." It was signed only with his initial.

She looked out of her window and saw a small green gate in the far corner of the garden. She had a hour to bathe and change and she would see him again.

With ten minutes before she could go to him, she sat at her desk and wrote a short letter to her mother. Without saying anything explicit, she spoke of the King's great kindness and the beautiful quarters he had prepared for her. She said she was grateful for the great honour which had come to her and that she was utterly happy.

The time had come. She sealed the letter and gave it to Amilla to have delivered. Then, trying to remain calm although she felt great excitement, she walked across the garden and hesitantly pushed the gate. As it opened, she came immediately face to face with the King and jumped.

"I am so sorry. I have been waiting here for ten minutes. I was so eager to see you again," he laughed.

This morning he was dressed in simple western clothes and her heart raced at the sight of this handsome man who was now her husband. He reached out and took her hand, leading her round the garden, pointing out his favourite places to sit and inviting her to admire some of the exotic plants brought back from his travels or given by visiting Heads of State. Rejoining the path across the long garden, he led her into his private sitting room. Doors led to the bedchamber where they had spent the previous night, to his private bathroom and into corridors which led to the audience chamber and various antechambers.

He ordered lunch to be brought for them and they ate on the terrace outside his rooms. When the servants had been dismissed, he said that he had much to explain to her about the ways of the court. He told her that they were governed by ancient traditions and that whilst they might appear to be restrictive, they did allow them quite a degree of privacy as long as on the surface they gave the court what it required to keep it happy.

He explained that it was the custom for him to send for her when he wished her to join him in his bed. He told her that on normal days they would speak often and that he would ask her personally if she wished to be with him. If she agreed, he would then send a messenger to her and she would come along the Queen's Path accompanied by at least two of her women. He told her that her dignity required that she be escorted at all times by personal attendants, as he was.

He explained that on special feast days, or on days when they wished to draw the attention of the court to his devotion to her or her obedience to him, he would send a formal messenger to her. On these occasions of great dignity and ceremony, she would dress formally and be carried to him by an escort of eunuchs, followed on foot by at least four of her women. She remembered Amilla telling her about the ritual bathing and guessed that it was on these occasions that this would happen.

He told her that he would never summon her without her prior consent and that he would respect the rhythms of her body. He told her that even when she did not wish to join with him, it would please him to lie with her in the comfort of married companionship. As he spoke, she watched his kind eyes and soft mouth and felt sensations in her body which were like echoes of his touch. She had never experienced anything like this before.

"I have been worried about you. Do you have discomfort after last night?" he asked her with genuine concern in his voice.

She felt uncomfortable about referring to these things in the daytime and sitting out here on the terrace. But she shyly told him that she had felt a little tender, but that it had entirely passed now. The King was delighted by her answer and leaned over to kiss her cheek, causing another wave of echoes to flow over her.

He talked about the banquet which would take place that night, to celebrate the completion of their marriage which the council believed they had witnessed. She looked downwards at the thought of the eyes of the court on her, knowing what she had done with the King. He saw her discomfort and came to kneel at her feet. Looking up at her face he told her that every woman present would pity her discomfort and wish they were Queen, and that every man there would envy the King his beautiful young wife. He made her laugh and she dreaded it a little less in the knowledge that she would be close to him for the whole evening.

As they finished their lunch, the King's servant approached to remind him of an appointment. A little flustered, he sent the servant to collect his papers then turned to her with an earnest look on his face.

"Tonight after the banquet, I must send for you formally as part of the ceremonial. But if you are tired or unprepared I shall take you back through the garden when the court has retired and you may have peace. But..."

She interrupted him. "If I am tired I shall be most happy lying by your side."

His face lit up like a child's on seeing a new toy. He kissed her hand, then offered her his arm so that he could escort her back to the green gate. Before turning back towards his duties, he drew her to him and kissed her deeply.

"I shall send word to you later. Until then you should rest. This evening will be long and tedious." Then he hurried back across the garden.

During the afternoon, she lay on her bed reading books about court etiquette and traditions. The section on the wedding feast laid out in great detail the foods which should be served, each symbolic of something for which they gave thanks. She learned that the asparagus represented the manhood of the King and that eggs were symbolic of her own womanhood and fertility. She learned that the court would pay homage to the King, then to her for the first time as their Queen.

Amilla brought her some light food in the late afternoon, before the cleansing rituals were to begin. She explained that it was usual for four women to help her through the steps of the ritual and that her duty was to spend the time in contemplation of her destiny and in adoration of her King. She brought in the other three women and introduced them to the Queen. She discovered that they were all widows from good families, more ladies in waiting than servants, and that they had each chosen a life in service of the court when their husbands had died young.

A note came from the King saying that it was time for him to send for her. She replied, saying that she longed for his messenger to come. Within a few minutes, from the courtyard in the centre of the harem there was the sound of trumpets, followed by the sound of marching feet. At the door of her rooms, appeared a tall eunuch in the royal livery.

He bowed low to her, then announced, "Madam, the King sends me to inform you that you are his chosen one for this night."

"I am the King's to command," she answered with her eyes cast downwards.

As soon as he had left the rituals began. At first she felt awkward, embarrassed by her nakedness and the intimacy of the tasks these women were performing for her. But she found that their touch on her body took her thoughts back to the previous night and the echoes of the King's touch raced through her time and time again. The women spoke to her in whispers, bidding her move this or lift that. They bathed her, anointed her with scented lotions, dressed her and arranged her hair. After a long time, she stood in front of a long mirror and saw in it the Queen. She hoped that the King would be happy with the way she looked. All she wanted was for the King to be happy with her.

Her thoughts were disturbed by the sound of the procession gathering at her door to take her to the banquet hall. As she climbed into her chair to be carried along the Queen's Path, she thought that this would be the first of many times she would make this journey and her heart was full of joy. As the procession made its slow passage, she remembered his hands on her breasts and the feeling of fullness when he joined with her. She was helped to alight from her chair and took her place before the throne bearing her cipher, as the great carved doors opened and the King's procession entered the hall. As she watched him mount the dais with great dignity, she remembered the feeling of his manhood in her hand. As he reached his throne, he paused and looked directly into her eyes. What she saw in them was the look on his face when he lay between her legs and she felt she would faint at the memory.

They sat down and the feast began. Declarations were made, entertainments were performed, prayers of thanks were offered and compliments to the wisdom of the King and the beauty of the Queen flowed as freely as the wine. Dishes of symbolic foods were offered and accepted. Reaching forward, she picked up a slice of egg and laid on top of it a spear of asparagus. Turning to the King, she offered it to him and he ate it from her hand. Smiling his understanding at her, he copied her gesture, wrapping a spear in a slice of egg and feeding it to her mouth. She smiled at her husband, then shyly cast her eyes downwards, reddening at her own boldness. She heard a murmur around the hall which made it clear that her gesture had met with the approval of the court.