Loretta of the Lamp - The Fallout

The switch

Loretta turned in surprise. Hess was standing there, staring at her in shock. She had appeared through the vines and trailing bougainvillea amongst a whole entourage of beautiful girls.

Loretta looked back to Akil in horror, but he was gone, she hadn't even heard him slip back beneath the water.

Hess was on her in an instant, dragging her up by her wrist, and throwing her own cloak over her to hide the condition of her shoulder and her clothing. It all happened so fast that Loretta barely had a moment to breathe before she was swept along with the throng of women and into the trees.

"You are more stupid than I thought!" Hess hissed at her. Any drop of kindness Hess possessed was drowned in her horror of finding Loretta. "Can you imagine how insanely lucky you are that of all the hundreds of people within this palace compound, and of all the girls here, that I was the first to find you? It's beyond insane."

Loretta glared at her. She didn't like being called stupid. "I did what I came back to do," she told her obstinately.

"Did you now?" Hess arched one eyebrow and glanced back over her shoulder, but there was no sign of Akil.

"Where are we being taken?" Loretta whispered. Most of them were of similar age between her and Hess.

"The mistress of the harem is taking us on a turn through the royal gardens." Hess rolled her eyes.

"Did you fall in the mud?" One of the girls asked Loretta coyly, touching the shoulder of Loretta's borrowed cloak, observing her up and down with an amused expression. Loretta clutched Hess' robe closer about her, and Hess squeezed her hand tight. "Lady Misbah will be most upset," the girl continued suggestively.

"Go on. Tell her then," Hess suggested, giving the girl a dark smile. Hess was not the kind of girl anyone would want speaking to them in that particular tone of voice. The girl made this astute observation, chewing on her lip worriedly for a moment before she turned away. "I'm very quickly discovering that they're all talk around here," Hess said simply.

"Who is Lady Misbah?" Loretta whispered as she fell into step beside Hess at the back of the group.

"The mistress of the harem takes on the name of Misbah at the Djin King's request."

"Misbah was the name of the woman the lamp was created for."

Hess grinned and knocked Loretta with her elbow, "You remember my stories well."

"It's an interesting way to honour her," Loretta said.

"If you believe the tales."

"You don't?" Loretta asked in surprise.

Hess shrugged, and then they both fell silent as the throng of women came to a halt at the bottom of the grounds, right before the grand marble arches that made the entrance of the King's stables. The stables were built of a pink veined marble, different to the golden stone that built the rest of the city. In the yard Loretta could see horses being exercised with silver grey manes that fell in well brushed waterfalls.

"Aren't they lovely?" sighed one of the girls across from her. There was a murmur across the group as the girls watched the silver horses prance across the yard, kicking up their hooves in perfect synchronisation with not a beat out of step.

Loretta rolled her eyes and looked to Hess. Neither of them had need of an entertainment so empty as watching pretty horses prance about. Hess kept a bland smile painted across her lips, the art of fitting in was one she had well mastered. It was not a skill afforded to Loretta. Nor was it one she cared to learn. She did try to smile, but her mind was occupied by the singular thought of what would happen next.