Chapter 4

Once the festivities began Atomas, Hester, and Alexa all enjoyed the food and drink with the residents of Kyrshom. Atomas only circulated with the wealthy merchants and minor royalty in the city. He spent little time with and paid little heed to the commoners of the city. As the night wore on, Atomas became louder and bawdier as he became drunker and drunker. He spent much time with a very wealthy merchant, Breeger.

Breeger had four wives, none of whom seemed to be happy. Breeger and Atomas commented loudly on the young girl servants as they brought food to the table, making derogatory statements the girls could hear. They blushed or turned away as tears came to their eyes.

Hester and Alexa circulated freely among the commoners and the wealthy making no distinction between anyone. They stayed until the last course had been served and then both Queen Hester and Princess Alexa excused themselves and departed, returning to the palace. Atomas departed soon after. As a family, they did not spend the rest of the evening together.

Hester and Atomas no longer shared the same chambers and Hester returned to her chambers where she awaited the arrival of a visitor. The visitor was a wealthy merchant from outside Kyrshom who, aside from attending the festival, had come to visit and show her his latest textiles. At least, that was the story that anyone who was curious enough to ask was told.

He was, in truth, her lover and one of the most important men in the city. Despite this, he was rarely seen in person.

Hester’s relationship with her lover was kept entirely secret and there were no rumours of her seeing anyone else. While Hester kept her relationship with her lover a secret, she was totally oblivious to the fact that he kept his true identity a secret from her too. On the street, Hester’s lover presented himself as someone else but the man who he really was, was well known by all in the city of Kyrshom. Some believed that he was more powerful than the King himself but there was never any display of his rumoured power in any way. At least not in a way that challenged Atomas directly.

The spark between Hester and Atomas had died a long time ago. His drinking and infidelity were to blame. Hester had, over time, found companionship in the arms of another to whom she was now true.

Princess Alexa pretended to retire to her chambers but, after a short while, she emerged again dressed in dark clothes with a scarf covering her head. She exited the palace and mingled with the crowd in the palace circle before slipping away out of the palace grounds. No-one recognized her and she bypassed the festivities moving off into the city on a secret sojourn for the evening. The clothes she wore did not suggest she was wealthy or royalty. Instead, they allowed her to blend in as a middle-class citizen of the city while she made her way to her destination and secret meeting.

King Atomas retired to his chambers and was joined shortly after by Gelyn.

Gelyn was well known to the palace guards who did not stop her from entering Atomas private chambers. They preferred to stay away from her for they were well aware of the wrath Atomas would bring to bear on any one of them if they upset Gelyn. The guards thus maintained control over the entrance to Atomas chambers but stayed a good distance from the actual doors leading to his rooms.

Gelyn had been a prostitute when Atomas had first met her. She had been sent to him by Madam Karla who ran the brothel that served his personal tastes. From the first time that he had seen Gelyn, he had been smitten. He had stopped seeing any other prostitutes at all which had upset Madam Karla immensely. She had stated that it was against their agreement for her to supply only one girl but Atomas had reminded her that he was King and could do as he wished. Shortly after, Gelyn had not arrived for an appointment and it was discovered that she had been attacked on her way to see Atomas.

Gelyn had recovered and Atomas had promised her safety ever after. He had made an offer to buy Gelyn from Karla which had been refused. Gelyn was attacked again but she had been saved by guards Atomas had instructed to watch Gelyn. The guards had pretended to let Gelyn’s attacker escape but followed him instead. The fool led them right to the door of Madam Karla.

Atomas had the attacker arrested and held in Madam Karla’s brothel. He had left the palace and gone to the brothel where he had made it clear he was king and his will would never be thwarted. He had personally killed Madam Karla and Gelyn’s attacker sending a message to all brothel owners that his will was not to be resisted.

After that Gelyn was free and she had quickly risen to the status of a wealthy lady who had suddenly acquired a small home for herself following what had happened. She was no longer a prostitute but Atomas’ mistress.

As arranged, Gelyn was waiting for Atomas when he returned to his chambers.

Gelyn stood and smiled when Atomas stumbled into his chambers.

“I was wondering when you would return to celebrate the night with me,” she said catching him as he nearly lost his balance.

“As always I couldn’t wait to leave to be with you,” Atomas slurred. He had already drunk his fill and would soon be fast asleep. Gelyn guided him to his bed where he collapsed. She helped him undress as far as possible before he drifted into an inebriated slumber.

Gelyn covered him with blankets and drank some more wine out on the balcony of Atomas chambers before she finally turned in for the night and climbed into bed next to the snoring figure of Atomas.

Gelyn lay awake for a while as Atomas rumbled next to her. She was grateful to Atomas for all he had given her. He had uplifted her from the life she had lived and ultimately released her from her life as a prostitute. In truth, she was still little more than a prostitute but she had a better life and, at some point, planned to leave Kyrshom to start anew somewhere else.

She knew that Atomas was in love with her. But she could not in truth say she felt the same way. Nevertheless, he had never hurt her or given her any cause to fear him. Although she was afraid of him. Afraid of what he would do if she asked to leave. But she was also afraid of what would happen if she was still in the city when he died. She had no doubt that the people would turn their wrath on her quickly.

Atomas was a friend to her and she would never be able to offer him more than that. But her training as a prostitute enabled her to hide her true feelings well and to pretend to be who Atomas believed she was and wanted her to be.

Gelyn felt true sadness and guilt for Hester and Alexa since she was now the woman between them. She had never intended to break a family apart although that was what she had done. With anyone else she might have had a choice but Atomas was king and he had shown the lengths he would go to to get what he wanted when it came to Gelyn. Gelyn thus believed she had little choice in the current state of Atomas’ marital affairs and wondered if Hester hated her or saw things the same way as she did. She wondered if Hester even cared.

Since becoming his mistress she had been trained in the etiquette of high society and frequently accompanied Atomas to social events as Hester refused to. He had provided private tutors to educate her and she was now a businesswoman too. But she was now, and always would be, his mistress. He was in love with her but there was no way he could marry her. He knew that his wife, Hester, and daughter, Alexa, kept the citizens at bay in respect of their anger towards him and his policies which drained them of most of their income. He knew, if Hester left, the tide would turn against him.

Hester and Atomas had reached an unspoken compromise. They had separated behind the doors of the palace and Hester had moved into her own chambers. They still appeared together in public after their separation in private but that had also eventually ended except for events such as the Festival of Kelaspin.

When Hester had first been pursued by her lover, she had initially resisted. But he had persisted and she had finally relented. She never spoke of him to Atomas or Alexa and never argued with Atomas about Gelyn. Her way to deal with the pain was simply to ignore it and give it no voice at all.

Alexa knew of her mother’s lover and her father’s relationship with Gelyn was no secret to her either. Saddened by the marriage of her parents, Alexa kept to herself and did her own thing.