"Rina? The new girl? " Some women murmured to themselves. Others giving up when they weren't among the chosen.
Meanwhile, Izrina remained still where she sat. Her face reddened, her hand grabbing her chest. The girl's breathing was rough and rapid.
The Head Courtesan mentioning of Izrina's name among those serving the king and the princess's silent fight for her life tore Spinola. Life didn't mind if it wanted to ruin a person.
"Darling, are you okay?" she rubbed the girl's back. "Breathe...you have to breathe," Spinola pleaded desperately.
The women who had been called with Rina stepped forward, excited to have the best night of their lives pleasing the king they've only heard about in passing tales.
"There are seven of you here.... where is the eighth person?" Lady Feyrne asked with a frown.
One woman pointed at Izrina with contempt. "She is still over there, Lady Feyrne. I can do better."
Lady Feyrne ignored the clamoring in the room as each woman tried to be a substitute for the young girl. She despised more than anything slow and clumsy people, but she was willing to compromise because she already had eyes on the girl.
"Lucy, Doris....bri-drag Rina with you." She ordered.
Spinola tried to stop the women when they came for Izrina, but others held her down. "She is not...please wait....wait...please..." she tried to explain, but her words fell like water on a rock. Nobody listened. Nobody was willing to. Instead, they mocked her.
"Do you feel jealous?"
"You think latching yourself onto her will make you stand out?"
"Hang those old bones up somewhere."
They taunted Spinola, who was barely listening but ran after the women that now dragged an almost unconscious Izrina out of the room.
"Wait!!!"
Izrina knew she was moving, but she couldn't feel her surrounding. It felt to Izrina as if someone had chained her hands and feet, trapped her in a small box, then pushed her into the ocean. Her lungs were clogged, preventing her from screaming. She couldn't make a sound.
"Hel..." Izrina tried to make a sound. Her feet got dragged down the hallway.
"Keep moving!" Lady Feyrne ordered without looking back.
As they got to the grand hall where guests were already settled, some nodded along to the soft melody from the lute. Royal dancers graced the floor, entertaining the guests while servants moved around with trays of drinks and snacks of all kinds.
"The eight of you doves will be serving the king directly." Lady Feyrne order. "And remember, they are all watching you. Act according to your training. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Lady Feyrne." The women chorused except for one person.
Izrina tried to open her eyes, but the sudden brightness and noise in the room affected her balance. Forcing herself to stand straight, Izrina staggered to the side but didn't fall.
"Spinola..." she murmured. Izrina glanced to her side. "I don't feel well." She muttered. Slowly opening her eyes, Izrina noticed she wasn't in the room and Spinola was not the one beside her.
"Be sure to have fun and please the king but don't get drunk." Lady Feyrne continued with her instruction. Seeing an odd movement from one of the girls, the woman snapped her finger.
"Rina? Come over here." She made a come-hither gesture with her fingers.
Izrina rubbed her palm on her neck when she heard her name. Pushing her leg to move, she walked over to the woman. Trying her best to stay calm.
"I noticed you didn't want to serve the king." The woman scoffed, "Did men praising you for your innocent beauty get into your head?"
Izrina shook her head. That wasn't it. As a matter of survival, she was fighting for her life instead.
"I don't care about the men you used to serve, but here in Zephyrus, King Neron is supreme." She moved her arm around Izrina's neck, pointing at the crowd below.
"Look at them....same voices that cheered for your beauty now, can and will applaud for your decimation. Never feel that what you have in life stays forever."
Izrina's welled up, her heart aching as fresh wounds opened up. The woman spoke as though she had witnessed it. Her own people...her kingdom turning back on them. Same faces that smiled, cheered and hailed for their eternal reign. Turned around and gave the applaud which sent her parents to afterlife.
"Nothing lasts forever, not even innocence. Or love."
This time Izrina shifted her attention from the crowd and settled it on the woman. Something sparked in her eyes like she was talking to herself and not Izrina anymore. Her eyes held pain. A pain of loss. Something Izrina could confirm because she hadn't recovered and wasn't sure if she ever would.
Lady Feyrne cleared her throat. "So...don't ever think you are better than others." The woman dropped her hand from Izrina's shoulder.
"Go on, get working." Lady Feyrne waved her hand for them to leave.
Izrina followed the other girls. She turned once more to catch the woman's face. It must have been because her eyes were clouded, but Izrina noticed Lady Feyrne's eyes had tears in them. It made her wonder what could make the fox cry.
"I wish to serve the King's chamber tonight." One woman fantasized. "I drank the Turán oil...I heard it will help me stay awake and ready for him all night."
"Do you have some of it left? Can I have?"
Izrina trotted behind the women as they chattered about their plans to seduce the king. It was her stupid luck that led her to where she was at the moment. Of all persons to serve was the king? Spinola will be having a crash out, that was certain. Izrina thought. The woman would be worried sick for her sake. Izrina prayed these women worked so hard that the King won't recall there was another person with them.
"All stand!" The court Herald announced with a loud voice. "All hail the Emperor of Zephyrus."
Izrina noticed a door behind the throne open with two guards stepping inside first, followed by him.
He was here.
Izrina held her breath, her eyes pinned to her feet, hoping a hole would appear and suck her into the depths of the earth.
"He is....he is as they say.... he is eerily breathtaking."
Izrina totally agreed. The man's presence alone ascertained his dominance over every creature in the room. He lived up to his title.
The candles blew with vigor. The strings of the lute came to a halt. Servants got down on their knees. Noblemen bowed until their bodies made a perfect curve. Women genuflected with their eyes down.
Neron wore a patterned silken regalia with shades of blue, and ivory embroidered. Fitting his exceptionally muscular but sleek- not bulky build. A belt around his waist inlaid with rubies drapes across his torso and hips. He had armlets, golden bands and cuffs around his arm. A golden dragon hairpin held his styled and neatly packed hair in a single bun.
His skin glistened under the golden flame of the candle. Deep, warm polished bronze.
The man was like a breathing work of art.
Neron got comfortable on his throne. With a dismissive wave of his hand, others sat down, and the music came alive again.
Power. Izrina thought. This man had power, and he knew just how to use it.
"Let's move." One girl suggested for others.
Izrina tried to hide between them, moving her hair forward to cover her face.
Neron sprawled relaxed on his throne. One hand holding up his chin, his lazy resting eyes glazing the people that had gathered in his favor. When the doves walked past him, he arched his full brows.
"That scent..." he sniffed deeply with his eyes closed. When he opened them, a mirthless grin curved his lips.
"I know that scent."
Izrina increased her step, praying that the woman in front of her would stop cat walking or trying hard to be a temptress so she can hide behind the King.
"Brubles?"
Izrina found all her effort crashing and washing down the sea. The deep dark sea.
"Is that you?"
Act a fool. Act a fool. Izrina clenched her fist. Her name was never Brubles...it's not her. He might be talking to someone else.
Neron frowned. He sat up properly. "It is Brubles," he confirmed with a nod.
Everyone around glanced at each other, not sure what the king was talking about, but they wouldn't dare look confused. The King is always right.
Neron pushed his feet down, sauntering down the stairs of his throne. He made his way towards the doves.
The women stopped, so did Izrina. She moved her hand to her mouth, biting her nails. Izrina was thinking about what to do. Run out of the room? Scream? Pretend to know the king? Pass out?
He is coming...He is coming....Izrina, do something...do something!
Neron finally stood in front of her with his eyes staring down at the girl, who stood at an amusing height below his chest. He leaned forward, his face moving towards her ear. Sniffing her neck, like it were an elixir. He groaned with pleasure.
"It is really you.... trouble that dance in bubbles... Brubles..."