By the time Colene came to wake her, Esmeliyah was already up and had bent herself in several stretching positions.
She wished she could practice her sword dance in the cool early morning air. But for now she could only lightly tumble about her inner chamber. At least it helped her practice her shadow walking as she didn't want to alarm the servants by the sounds of her movement.
'Good morning, Your Highness. I have been instructed to make sure all your practice are with wooden swords, your highness'.
'Don't worry Colene, I won't tell and you won't tell'.
'If it pleases your highness. A bath is being prepared for you and maids are bringing your morning attire I would suggest that your highness discard the sword and lie back in bed'.
'So dedicated, Colene', Esme mused slightly annoyed. This was not the life of a warrior. Still she adhered to her maid and tucked the sword away where it couldn't be seen. She then layed in the bed pulling the quilts up to her chin and giving Colene a pointed look as if to say 'this enough for you?'.
Not more than five seconds after, a batch of maids sought permission to enter which Colene gave.
As the maids entered, Esme sat up in her beddings causing them to quickly courtsey.
'Good morning your highness'.
'Don't stand on ceremony'.
The maids rose and began to arrange her clothes and accessories for the day. One of them came forward and bowed her head.
'Your highness, a bath has already been prepared for you'.
It was on the tip of Esme's lips to delay the whole process and enjoy more private time.
But as soon as her expression changed, Colene spoke.
'Your highness we must hurry to greet the high women of the harem. The Empress and Empress dowager with several other high consorts would be expecting you to greet them early. Then we must return quickly to give the lower consorts a chance to greet you as is custom'
Esme wanted to roll her eyes but she knew word of disrespect would travel fast.
She motioned for Colene to step into her personal space and bring her ear closer.
Uncertainly the maid did as she was motioned.
Esme whispered into her ear, ' What rank and status was I bestowed yesterday?'.
Colene could barely hide the shock on her face but she didn't offer any rebuke or dramatically alert the others.
In a whisper much quieter than Esme's she said. 'Your highness was bestowed the title and rank of the Imperial concubine'.
Esme hummed nodding, that meant there were six or seven women to pay her respects too this morning. She was simply the Imperial concubine given that title in honour of her 'country'.
'Alright lead the way to the bath', Esme said standing.
A maid quickly rushed to lead her smiling and saying; 'If your highness would tell me what kind of flower fragrance you like the best I can get it delivered in minutes'.
It took composure for Esme to not break into a mischievous smile. She knew servants like these always doing their best to court the most of their masters favour so they could lord it over other servants. Esme itched to ask the servant to find a flower that grew only in the imperial gardens of Otunara but she resisted, not wanting to gain a reputation of moody or hard to deal with.
Many women would bully and test her patience during the course of the day. Once her own servants realised that she held no attention of the kings or any respect from the other women they were likely to turn on her especially if she had been unkind to them.
'That's fine...', she paused and motioned for the girl to give her name.
'Rekha, your highness'.
'That's fine Rekha, I have no preference of fragrances and Colene is well versed in how I prefer my bath water'.
She didn't wait to entertain anymore conversation from the maid and matched into the bathing room.
A large tube was filled with steaming warm water and there were a few fragrant flowers littered about the water. There was a pinkish hue to the water color showing that some fragrant flowers had been boiled and the extracts were now in her bath water.
'The water is gotten from a natural warm spring in the east palace garden. I walked all the way to fetch some for you, my lady. The water is said to be pure and divine' . Rekha said, she hurried on with her presentation despite Esmeliyahs face twitching in contained annoyance.
'These fragrant flowers are native to Sukech. They only bloom in the hill side surrounding the west palace, I went early in the morning to gather the flowers when the dew had just freshly on them them I extracted the essence for your bath water. The flowers are said to moisturize and smoothen skin.'
By the time she finished speaking even Colene had an ugly expression.
'Thank you Rekha, that's very dedicated of you. Now that I think about it you could be useful to me for sonething'.
'Whatever my lady wants', Rekha eagerly said.
'I like to use natural snail gel in my hair and skin. I wasn't sure any one else would be so thorough to get and purify enough snail gel for my use but seeing all you have achieved so early this morning I am positive you are up to the task. I would love some purified snail gel for my face tommorrow morning'.
Rekha's smile was dead on her lips.
'Rekha, our lady has just assigned you an important task. Won't you express gratitude for her trust?' Colene chimed in. Esme had a feeling the head maid was enjoying this.
Stammering clumsily Rekha courtseyed and expressed her halfhearted gratitude in a heartfelt manner. She then excused herself to begin her task.
Esme dismissed all the other maids leaving only Colene to bath her.
As she stepped naked into the warm and soothing bathwater she rebuked Colene.
'I am sure there is a palace rule that prohibits a maid from speaking so much especially when she isn't spoken to'.
Colene nodded in agreement while pouring the water and flower extract over her mistress and massaging the essence into her skin delicately.
'Why then did you not rebuke her as head maid. Most I listen to her chatter away so. Should you not observe my mood and act accordingly'.
'Forgive me your highness, you looked rather contemplative about the situation I did not want to make any move when you weren't certain if you wanted her for you or against you'.
Esme huffed, Colene was a very experienced imperial maid.
Her bath went by fast and silently with Colene handling it. She was then rubbed and massaged with several exotic balms.
A maid named Helia did her make up and another two maids named Leema and Uma did her hair.
Colene picked her jewelry and matched them with her dress and shoes.
Esme's dress was the color of peach blossoms. Since she was greeting women of a higher rank she had to look beautiful in a ladylike manner but she could not outshine them except of course she was looking to cause contempt by implying superiority.
This was why her dress though a beautiful and lively spring color was not bright but had the appearance of a mix of fading white and pink.
Her dress was a mix of traditional Otunarian and traditional Sukechan. This was a representation of her place as a token of peace.
The bodice of her dress was made of Sukechan silk and embroidery style with a heart shaped tube that hinted at a cleavage. A row of tiny diamond buttons decorated the bodice past her navel.
A row of pearls held the dress up and the sleeves that fell past the elbows in an open flay was of shiny lace material that blinked in the sun.
The skirt was Otunaran style full with flower patterned pleats. Thankfully the spring it required was not as full as that of the previous day. Instead the skirt was heavy with fabric which Esme found that she preferred.
Her shoes were the privileged white of a kings woman. She wore a simple necklace and several earrings in her many piercings.
The piercing on her nose was filled with a tiny diamond that blinked in the light in complement with the lace of her dress.
Her hair was in an elegant but simple hair do and only two decorative pins were in it. Finally a decorative scarf with color a little brighter than her dress dangled from both her elbows.
She looked like the perfect picture of a humble kings woman.
Humble enough to greet the high ranking women of the harem but luxurious enough to be greeted by the lower ranking women of the harem.
The perfect balance of power.
Sitting comfortably in her place where everyone expected her to be.
Unthreatening.