It was at that moment, the period of time in which Vaile’s boot was placed firmly between the legs of the obvious plant, that the ball started rolling. The sound of people retching, hurling, and heaving wasn't lost on either Zahra or her unneeded guards, who had long since put two and two together, even before Vaile had arrived on-scene. You don't get to be as powerful as they were without being able to spot such weak little wannabe spies like one would spot Waldo (or Wally, depending on regional variances) in an empty, pure white page of the book. In a flash, the people hanging out in the rafters were being targeted by spell and arrow alike and said potential ‘assassins’ were not in a very good position to either hide, flee or go on the offensive. In the end, while they tried to mount a counterattack, the mixture of arrows, spells, and feet planted between legs was enough to prevent any danger from rearing its ugly head.

Unsurprisingly, the current session of court came to a very abrupt end and not the end that Vaile had wanted, although whether it was what was actually intended by another individual was still unknown to a certain Player. Court would need to be resumed another day once the gunk was cleaned up and the smell was purged either by intense cleaning or via overwhelming amounts of incense. This did, however, leave Vaile and Zahra’s relationship in a rather tenuous position, as the former was still effectively under a house arrest that he did not wish to endure.

A more… private meeting was therefore in order; in order to sort all of this out, of course. And Zahra knew just what to do to (hopefully) convince Vaile to stay ‘safe’ inside her palace. To her, it was rather enjoyable watching the whole show play out. She had known that they were there, of course, but being a being with her level of power the whole thing they were almost certainly planning was too much of a chance to pass up. She had to see if they were really that dumb, after all.

…

Vaile was being escorted through the palace by a few guards who now had quite a bit more respect for their Pharaoh’s guest. Not only was he able to spot the assassination attempt that even they had been unable to notice, but he had actively participated in the defeat of said assassins and spies! To make matters even more intriguing, he had been hiding his godly attractiveness beneath his clothes, suffering through the heat to prevent his visage from having even the slightest chance of making anyone question whether he was more worthy of being called the truest embodiment of attractiveness than the Pharaoh. Obviously, his humility was second to none!

With his face having been revealed and causing as much of a stir as it had, it didn’t surprise the guards that their divine Pharaoh was calling for this outsider at this time of the day, and to her personal chambers no less. Once word got out about this, the rumors started circulating like nobody’s business and speculation abounded regarding whether Zahra intended for this to be a one-night-stand or if she intended to finally settle down and take a husband. After it came out that this outsider, Vaile, was responsible for the discovery regarding the semi-hidden weakness of the unknown objects, and that he had used a bunch of birds to deliver numerous explosives to said objects... well, then the rumor train effectively lost its brakes.

Now Vaile was being delivered to the Pharaoh’s private suite, and as he walked down the hallways the murmurs and whispers only grew in intensity. Once they reached the door separating them from the Pharaoh herself, Vaile fully intended to run if and when Zahra tried to jump him. Unfortunately for those readers who were wanting a sex scene, Zahra had no intentions of forcing herself on Vaile anytime soon. At least, the normal side of her that wasn’t dripping in the darkness implanted into her by the mage who shall forever remain unnamed had no intention of doing that. On the other hand, the other, darker side was waiting for any opportunity to take control of Zahra so it could break Vaile in and keep him forever, but that dog would remain in her cage for now.

…

The knocking on her door was a sign that her summons had been answered. She did not get up from her reclining position, and instead ordered one of her handmaidens to open the door and direct not only Vaile but the other guards in as well. She needed eyes for what was to happen here, even if only to prevent there from being rumors of her being a ‘loose woman’. She would use the very people who were expecting her to bang Vaile as a tool to show that she could indeed avoid shagging anyone with a pretty enough face; she didn’t want to be known as a ruler who could be manipulated via sexual gratification, after all.

She was still a virgin, but in her eyes one of the best part about being a ‘God’ was that she was in some small way connected to all of her subjects and therefore had a wealth of ‘experience’ even if it was essentially second hand. Not that such a thing mattered, as she had been keeping herself just for Vaile, although she had no intent to force herself on him. No, in her eyes, a relationship was borne best through mutual love and affections; to force your desires upon a partner who does not desire it would (at least to her) be a form of r*pe, even if both were wed to each other.

Yes, perhaps she was a bit idealistic, but when you have the kind of power and influence that she did you could afford to be.

Anyways.

Vaile and the guards were brought before her, and while the guards immediately got on their knees before her, Vaile did not. All save Vaile and Zahra seemed unsatisfied by this, but they both knew exactly what kind of relationship they shared.

“I know you desire to leave this place, and I suppose you did show that not even this bastion of my might and control is safe from those who seek to bring my downfall. If they knew of the intricacies of our rather complex relationship, they would most assuredly come for you as well.”

Vaile blinked several times under his mask. He did not expect Zahra to talk like this.

“As a result of this little debacle and in order to avoid your ire, I will permit you to go wherever you wish, whenever you choose to. I do desire that you stay out of combat, but I can tell that you rather enjoyed making a mockery of my many mortal menaces, and therefore while I request that you keep your fights to a minimum I will permit you to bring the wrath of us both down upon the foes of the Solusand Dominion. That is all I called you here for, and whether you choose to stay here within this room or not is irrelevant. However, I refuse to let you stay here with me alone; every moment you are here with me is a moment where the gossipers have free reign, so unless you are accompanied with an escort you cannot stay here with me. Are we clear?”

Vaile just nodded and turned to leave.

“I just ask this one more thing of you.” Zahra said to Vaile’s back, which caused the Player to turn.

“If you must flee, please let me know that you are safe and not lying dead on some sand dune in the middle of nowhere, alright?”

Vaile looked over Zahra, smiled under his mask, gave a thumbs up and left, leaving the murmuring crowds wondering what exactly had transpired to make the ‘affair’ end so quickly.