The Seventh Handmaiden by Judith Pransky

Author:Judith Pransky
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Young Adult Fiction / Historical /Ancient Civilisation
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2021-01-18T00:00:00+00:00

Twenty

The rolls were long gone by the next afternoon, and Jaleh’s appearance in the shed the day before began to feel like a dream. Golnar found herself another rod, although she did not use it as freely—at least not on the girls. Instead, she made sure they had even less to eat than previously. Only a visit to the shed by Nasim raised the girls’ spirits. But he was filled with worrisome talk of the new Queen.

“People are saying she was sent here by the daeva,” he told them in a low voice, looking over his shoulder to make sure he was not overheard. “They say that she has dark powers.”

“Why would they say that?” Darya asked in surprise, also keeping her voice low.

“Why else was she chosen? And so quickly!” Nasim retorted. “The King was with her just one night. She is completely unknown. She will say nothing about her home, her family, her people. And yet the King insists he must have her as his Queen. She is a witch. That is what people are saying.”

“She is no such thing!” Parvaneh exclaimed.

“Hush!” Nasim warned. “The walls have ears, and we are talking about the new Queen.”

“She is no such thing,” Parvaneh repeated much more quietly. “She is lovely and kind and good. That is what the King saw in just one night. And that is what the people will see when they have the chance.”

“Perhaps she does have some sort of power,” Darya put in, thinking of how Hegai had favored Esther, and how all her handmaidens adored her. “But it is the power of the ahura, not the daeva. Parvaneh is right. That is what the King saw.”

Nasim just shook his head as he moved toward the doorway to return to the stables. “Whatever power she has, it will need to be strong,” he said, almost whispering, “because there are many who are not pleased with this choice.”

The girls looked at each other with concern when he left. “She could be in danger,” Darya murmured.

Parvaneh nodded. “And if she is in danger, then there is little hope she will be able to help us.”

Darya wanted so much to contradict her friend, but she realized that Parvaneh was right. “We cannot help her, and we cannot help ourselves,” she said. Wearily, she lifted a chamber pot and dipped it in the cauldron of boiling water, trying her best not to scald her fingers as she had already done countless times in the past two days.

The girls worked silently until nightfall. They loaded the cleaned pots onto carts for other slaves to wheel back to the palace and place discreetly in each bedroom. Hopelessly, they dragged themselves back to the slave quarters, where they scraped another meager meal from the bottom of the pots, then crawled into their cold, dark corner, trying their best not to be noticed by Golnar.

The dawn brought the rising winter sun, but no lifting of their spirits. It seemed that Jaleh had not been able to help them.

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