Monarch’s Requiem

”See that woman over there? The one wearing a red dress with a big ruby necklace. Shes Lady Marianne Denkart, Count Denkarts daughter. She pretty much rules the harem as she holds the Lords favor, so it would be in your best interest to avoid grabbing her attention. ”

Both girls sat by the end of the long row of tables after Alea had grabbed Neeras hand and pulled her forward. She was now busily explaining the intricate political workings of the harem, advising her new companion about the dos and don s.

”Surrounding her are all the daughters of the influential nobles here in the dukedom. Their houses sent them here in exchange for the Lord passing a law that prevented their first-borns from being forced to fight in the war. ”

Alea then turned to their own side of the dining hall.

”On this side gather the women of lower standing. Like me, for example. ”

Her eyes suddenly turned darker and her smile slightly faltered.

”My father, Baron Fierster, sent me here as a gift to the Lord after he heard he greatly valued young girls. The bastard still sends me letters expecting me to capture the Lords attention so that he can ask for monetary relief after the capital raised the grain requisition to feed the army last year. ”

The young lady used many complicated words that Neera didn understand. All she learned from the conversation was that many women here were nobles sent as gifts to the Duke, including Alea, and that the powerful ones sat towards the other end of the dining hall.

”Obviously, I don intend to comply. Ill fall dead before I do anything that the bastard asks of me. ”

Neera was surprised about the vulgarity of her words and the anger in her tone. She had always imagined the young ladies of affluent houses to be elegant and obedient, smiling and speaking in soft voices, but Alea had shattered all her expectations.

Although her voice was not loud to avoid others from listening to their conversation among the chatter that echoed around the room, her hand gestures were strong and abrupt, making Neera slightly jump every time the fingers came too close to her body.

”Anyway, thats just my own problem. Now, tell me, how did you end up here too? ”

Turning her attention back to the new girl, Alea stared at her with curiosity shining in her eyes. A lock of curly blonde hair moved from her shoulder as she turned her head to the side to look at Neera.

”I was- I… ”

She struggled to find the words to tell her story. She wasn actually sure why she was here. She only knew the Duke had liked her face and that was it.

”I don know why Im here ”, she finally managed to say.

”You don know? Do you even know what a harem is? ”

Neera shook her head.

”God, you really don know anything. ”

Alea sighed.

”Okay, tell me what you do know then. ”

A couple of seconds passed as the girl twirled the end of the shawl between her fingers. She gathered her thoughts and opened her mouth.

”I was in the alley two years ago with the other children when some men in armor dragged us here. Not all of us made it. We were then taken down the stairs. ”

”Downstairs? To the basement? ”

Alea opened her eyes wide. She had heard about the dungeon beneath the castle, from which nightmarish screams came out every time the Duke went down. It was rumored that no one who had ever gone in there maid it out alive. Every once in a while, guards carrying large boxes were seen coming up from the underground.

Once, Marianne who had the closest relationship with the Duke in the whole harem asked him what was inside them out of curiosity during dinner in the hall. The Lord had smiled at her and simply answered:

Broken toys that need to be disposed of.

After Neeras silent affirmation, Alea watched her figure shrinking in the chair, as if trying to make herself invisible.

”What happened in the basement? ”

At the question, she contorted her body even further, ignoring the stinging burn the movement produced. Pain, childrens screams, warm blood and empty eyes swirled around in her mind, creating a horrendous kaleidoscope that made her start violently shivering. Tears fell down her cheeks in a constant stream as her sight grew blurry.

The young lady next to her immediately recognized she was extremely traumatized by something that had happened down there, and instead of prying any further, chose to sit quietly to avoid aggravating her state even more.

Eventually, Neeras sight became focused again and her breathing calmed down. The scene of the dining hall came back to her with Alea by her side.

”Don worry. All of us here have things we don want to remember. ”

They stayed like that for some time, only reacting when the food was brought in by a dozen maids. The other side of the table was served first so that the two of them were the last in receiving their plates.

The smell of warm soup filled Neeras nostrils. She scarfed it down in seconds, only taking breaks to shove large pieces of bread into her mouth.

”Calm down! You look like you haven eaten in ages! ”

After she had finished devouring everything in front of her, Neera turned to look at Alea.

”Its the fist time Ive eaten anything warm in a long time. ”

With that softly spoken statement, she disregarded the confounded Lady to her side and reached over for more bread, stuffing it in her cheeks as well.

Alea shook her head but didn reprimand her as she slowly started drinking her own soup. Along the meal she explained to Neera who everyone in the dining hall was, including their rank in the harem and any gossip she had heard about them. Her companion nodded along and interjected with simple questions from time to time. One of them though, left the young Lady speechless.

”You don know what a Count is? ”

”I don . ”

”Do you understand anything about nobility titles or rankings? ”

”No. ”

Another sigh escaped her lips.

”Nobility titles are um… Names given by the King to people he finds worthy. This gives them privileges above commoners like managing a piece of land along with the right to command the people inside it. A noble is considered to be more valuable to the kingdom than a commoner. Thats why hitting a noble is sometimes even punishable by death. Since god gave the royal family the right to rule over the people, the titles they confer are sacred as well. ”

”So all of the people here are nobles? ”

”Most of them, yes. Commoners don tend to… Last here. ”

Neera nodded. She understood what Alea meant as she had experienced the Dukes way of treating commoners first hand.

”So a Count is a noble. ”

”Yes, but nobles also have a hierarchy of their own. The lowest title is that of a Baron. It is sometimes given to people who have made great contributions to the kingdom but are not part of the nobility, like my grandfather, who fought bravely in a war against the kingdom of Vorua. Above Barons are Counts and Viscounts, then come the Marquises and finally the Dukes like the Lord. ”

”Dukedoms are the largest pieces of land, with the biggest castles and the most resources, so its not uncommon for neighboring nobles of lower standing to reside there during winter, creating courts around the Dukes. That is why people like the Lord have so much power. ”

Power. The word made her shiver as it reminded her of the commanding presence of the well dressed man with a whip on his hand from earlier in the day.

Yes, he does have power. He had tortured her for years, and on a blink of an eye he had moved her here and provided her with all the commodities she couldve ever asked for, when even normal families still struggled to earn a single piece of bread.

Looking back up she asked:

”So, why are we here? What is a harem? ”

”A harem is a group of women that are to service a man. We cannot leave as we are his property. Although not all of us are treated the same, women from relevant families are treated more fairly since the Lord is reluctant to offend their houses, losing their support. ”

Both of the girls turned their gazes towards the head of the table, where Marianne and her entourage chattered loudly while sporadically checking the main door of the hall.

”Why are they looking over there so much? ”

”Oh, thats because they
e waiting for the Lord to appear. He sometimes joins us during dinner, but he hasn been coming as of lately. There are rumors about the royal family increasing the tax rates, and many nobles could be soon put in a very difficult situation. ”

Neera froze on the spot. Her chest hurt and her shoulders shook once more. Noticing the change in her state, Alea could only guess the Lord had done something really terrible to the child for her to be traumatized to this extent.

”Don worry, dessert is about to be served and he usually arrives early. If the Lord is not here by this point its most likely he will not come at all. He is probably dining with his family. ”

The girl regained some of her calm after watching Aleas certain blue eyes.

”His family? ”

”Yes, the legitimate one at least. The young Lord and the two young Ladies are the only officially recognized children since they were birthed by the Duchess. The illegitimate children from the harem are usually hidden from view from the rest of the women, or are even sent back to their mothers original households for safety. ”

”So, some women here have children with… Him? ”

”Yeah. Marianne over there already has two, but they reside in the Denkart County. ”

Just as Alea had said dessert was soon brought in, interrupting their conversation.

Tasting the sugary goodness for the first time, Neera appeared like a ravenous animal to those surrounding her. This time, the young lady decided to save herself any commentary on her companions dining etiquette.