The marble-pillared building was overwhelming in every aspect, from its beauty to its scale. The perfect sculptural beauty of the domed roof was awe-inspiring.
The geometric patterns densely filling the spaces between seemed to threaten the small-framed woman, as if pressing down on her.
Anais stood with her back straight and head held high, wearing a long black veil that covered her entire upper body.
The black veil was a symbol of belonging to the harem. The gold and pearl decorations at the end of the veil indicated that she was in the Padisha’s harem.
Curious gazes poured towards her as she stood in the center of the sacred temple and courtroom. Why had a woman from the Padisha’s harem come to the courtroom? And why had she accused ‘him’ sitting behind that screen?
“The trial will now begin.”
The priest, who was also the judge, rose from his seat, bowed towards the screen, and then turned to Anais.
“Anesa,” the priest-judge called Anais in the Kamar pronunciation.
“Yes, Guardian,” she replied.
In Kamar, the priest-judge was called the Guardian. It meant to protect people according to God’s will, but Hashim had told her that in reality, they were the ones who protected the Padisha, who was called the Son of God.
In this land of Kamar, the Padisha was both the Son of God and God himself. When the kingdom was first established in this desert, Kamar, the Goddess of Night, fell in love with the Padisha and created an oasis. The kingdom was named Kamar after her. The son born between the first Padisha and the Night Goddess became the next Padisha.
There was once a time when someone not of the Goddess’s bloodline ascended to the Padisha’s throne. The Goddess’s anger caused the oasis to dry up, and the people sought out someone of the Goddess’s bloodline to enthrone as Padisha.
After experiencing the drying of the oasis several times whenever the Padisha’s power was in crisis, the Padisha’s status and power in this country became unassailably strong.
“You have accused the Padisha, the great ruler of Kamar, of being a lawbreaker.”
And Anais had accused the Padisha, who held this absolute power. As soon as the Guardian’s words fell, people, as if granted silent permission, hurled insulting words at her.
“State your reason,” the Guardian’s voice echoed solemnly. It was a voice as heavy as the weight of the crime she would have to bear if she had not accused the Padisha for a just cause. The once curious gazes of the people were now full of condemnation and disgust.
“My goodness, she’s a foreigner!” someone shouted. People’s gazes changed as they took in her platinum blonde hair shining brilliantly in the light filling the courtroom, her forest-green eyes, and her skin color rarely seen in Kamar.
Enduring the mixed gazes of surprise and xenophobia, Anais spat out the words she had memorized and practiced dozens, no, thousands of times.
“As you can see, I am a foreigner, yet I belonged to the Padisha’s harem. That is the Padisha’s crime.”
Anais’s words created a ripple effect. People recalled the passage of law they remembered best.
[A foreigner cannot exist in the Padisha’s harem.]
“I believe everyone here knows the law created to protect the legitimacy of the Assad royal family, descended from the highest Night Goddess Kamar.”
Anais continued speaking in unfamiliar Kamar, awkwardly but calmly and clearly.
The three Guardians maintained their composure, but the murmuring of the people was difficult to quell.
To think that the Padisha, who stood above the law, had broken it.
All eyes slowly turned towards the Padisha sitting behind the screen. However, from the faint silhouette of the Padisha, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
The three Guardians were busy. They huddled together, whispering something, then composed their faces into solemn expressions and turned to Anais.
“You have called yourself a foreigner, now prove that you are one.”
Anais barely suppressed the urge to sigh loudly. Truly, she hadn’t expected this. It was exactly as Hashim had said.
She chose her words even more carefully. Not too fluently, but with words and grammar that were easy to understand.
“My name is Anais de McKain. My father is Count Alexander de McKain of Irene across the sea.”
As several proper nouns tumbled from her small lips, the Guardians’ wrinkles deepened. But Anais didn’t notice this.
Anais recalled the day that led her to this courtroom.
“I came to Kamar a year ago. It was when the Padisha was still a Sultan, and my father Alexander visited Kamar on business.”
The scorching sun. The endless golden desert. The sapphire-like blue oasis in the midst of it all.
The contrasting landscape of beautiful desolation and limited abundance fascinated her,
And then imprisoned and suffocated her.
TN: Padisha=Emperor/King
Sultan=ruler/leader
