Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 104842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
I was a social worker, diplomat, liaison, and dress-up doll all rolled up into one. I was tired. Leaving for a month sounded heavenly. Best of all, I had made certain to catch the king in a moment of distraction, and asked if I could travel with only my champion and one other.
“Of course, Jason,” the king had replied, on his way to speak to a stunning woman whom he’d offer to be yet another of his courtesans.
Initially, I thought that when the king released all the concubines from his service, no longer having a harem that entertained him and the others, gone would be the days of him collecting beautiful men and women. I had no idea why I ever thought anything so stupid.
Now, instead of having a harem that served for an agreed-upon amount of time and then left, giving the king a revolving door of new blood, his only allowance to them being room and board, now each person signed a contract that promised money and property when they wanted to leave.
What was worse was that he’d grown tired of many of the older courtesans, those women and men who’d been with him for centuries. And now, with a reason to remove them from the palace—“space concerns” was what he told me—they were being relocated in droves.
Was it a lie? Of course it was. The palace was enormous, and the wing Messina Maedoc inhabited was the biggest part of the whole.
It was so sad. Many of the courtesans wanted to be the king’s one and only love, spending days and nights alone with him. I wondered how they could be so obtuse. They could plainly see how many of them there were. How in the world could there be an expectation of exclusivity? How could they ever imagine they’d captured his special interest? Young and beautiful was what he wanted, not companionship. If he wanted to be with someone he actually loved, he would send for the queen, or leave the palace to visit her on her island in Greece. I was always taken aback at their surprise that he’d grown tired of them. I always wanted to say, really? You thought you were the one? It was mind-boggling.
They reminded me of mistresses who became wives who were then astounded when their husband ended up having an affair, except that what the king did couldn’t even be classified as cheating. Our monarch was allowed unlimited bed partners, so for them to think they were more was heartbreaking to witness. Their crestfallen faces when I had to unceremoniously ask them to leave the palace killed me.
Every day I would receive a list of names from the king, those of courtesans who were to be removed from the royal abode. Each of them was given an exorbitant monthly allowance and an opulent residence, here in Malta or abroad. The issue was, most of them had only known life within the walls of the palace and serving Messina Maedoc, their king. Worst of all, once he decided he wanted them out, he refused to see them again. He would not receive them in his chambers, only wanted all trace of them removed.
Those who had produced offspring, at last count sixty-three, were allowed to remain in the palace until the children themselves were ready to leave. The moment they left for school or to travel or simply to follow their dreams, their mothers were given their stipend, the choice of where to live, and were banished from the palace. The children were allowed to return whenever they wanted, to visit their father, but many did not. If I were them, I wouldn’t have either. Screw him. Centuries of devotion from their mothers, only to be cast aside for a new pretty face? Were he my father, it would have been a cold day in hell before I went back. The older male courtesans were dismissed in the same way, though without children, they were culled far more quickly but with the same amount of tears.
I had to stand in front of wailing, heartbroken men and women, and my only words of comfort to them were about being provided for monetarily. There would always be lavish clothes, jewelry, material things, as well as homes to call their own. Honestly, I was thinking that were I a courtesan, I’d take the exit package and be thrilled. I’d buy an apartment in Paris or a cottage in the English countryside or a darling home in the French Quarter, make friends, fall in love… It could all be wonderful. Unfortunately, they all felt about the king the way I felt about Varic and were utterly heartbroken. Though if the prince ever took another lover, I would not stick around. It was why I thought of my friend Nerilla often, the dowager princess who died. The woman who’d stepped aside when her own prince chose a courtesan over her. I couldn’t do it and had informed the present heir to the throne of that fact. The men of the Maedoc line, those who were kings, did as they wanted with those they claimed to love, and they had all been the same, taking what they wanted…until Varic. Until my Varic. The one I loved, loved me back just as fiercely. I had to remind myself of that, as he’d been gone now five months.