"Why should I Commander Meyer?" she asked arrogantly, turning to look at him.
Damn, those eyes! he thought.
She was ridiculously beautiful, and that was without seeing the rest of her face.
Famed for their beautiful women, the Chastain family had provided senior consorts to every Emperor, and it wasn't hard to see why. He forced his eyes back on the road with some difficulty.
"We need to protect you and your sisters, and it makes it hard if you take off like that. The guards need to ride ahead of you and behind you and keep an eye on the surroundings."
"I have no doubt you're more concerned with keeping us in your sight than you are with protecting us from some nebulous threat, Commander," Delphi called back at him after kicking her horse up a notch.
He urged his horse back up to ride alongside her, watching as she flicked her horse with the reins to inch ahead of him again.
The little minx! he thought, chasing her down again.
"Are you worried some band of renegade men will try to steal the Emperor's women, Commander?" she called over the thundering of hooves. "They'd have to have a death wish, and for what gain?"
He could think of some significant 'gains' said group of renegade men might get, but he wouldn't go there if she couldn't see it herself.
"You can't be too careful, Miss Chastain. History tells us that rebel groups grow in the dark and then take everyone by surprise."
Her eyes widened in concern.
Did he know something? Was this a subtle warning?
"Is that so Commander Meyer," she said flatly, pulling her horse up on a dime, smoothly moving him into a quick trot.
The girls behind her followed suit, like a dressage team.
"I wouldn't know anything about that, but I am fairly sure a rebel group would have more important targets to risk their lives for than a group of teenage girls, Price Alton," she said sarcastically, using his royal title as a form of insult.
Anyone related to the Emperor, no matter how distantly, earned her instant distrust.
"And by the way, we're not 'sisters'. Only India and Ruby are biological sisters. We're unrelated girls who were taken from our families because of someone's subjective opinion about women's beauty."
This woman was hard work, he thought, wiping the sweat from his brow now that they were trotting again.
And it wasn't someone's subjective opinion; they were all very beautiful women, measured against any yardstick.
"I was referring to you as sisters as in 'sister wives'," he said coolly polite, biting down on his cheeks in an effort to keep his temper in check.
She heard the change in his tone and knew she was getting to the man. Mission accomplished! she thought with satisfaction.
"We're not 'wives' yet Commander. We're seventeen-year-old girls who haven't even come of age."
She was clearly splitting hairs given most of this group came of age, hmm, let's see, next week?
"I stand corrected, Miss Chastain, you are indeed, unmarried this week. Next week, you'll be an adult, and our Lord will be a very lucky man to make you his bride and enjoy the great pleasure of his wedding night. A very happy event for you both, I'm sure. I only hope I'm invited to share in the joy of the ceremony."
He knew this would needle the girl, and he mentally chastised himself for letting her get to him.
Don't let her provoke you, he thought. He could not afford to get on her bad side and have her complain about him to the Emperor.
Everyone knew she was their Lord's favourite. He'd been waiting a very long time for this beauty to turn eighteen.
Delphi deliberately sped up to a fast gallop again, leaving the commander in a cloud of dust.
Alton shouted orders at his men to change their formation to keep ahead of the girls and work around the headstrong Miss Chastain.
She smirked as she looked back, watching the guards scramble to react, kicking her horse into an even faster gallop.
She crouched low against the wind, loving the feel of the air blasting against her face and tugging at her hated veil. She only wished she wasn't wearing a headscarf and could feel the wind in her hair.
Feifei, Loveday and the others streamed after her, shouting with delight at the crazy pace, and urging their horses into a full gallop.
Delphi could dimly hear the eunuchs yelling behind them to slow down, but she had no intention of listening to those effeminate clowns.
The only person in this world who could tell her what to do was the Emperor himself, and that was because he had shown a willingness to discipline her personally, if she overstepped the fairly significant headroom he gave her.
She shuddered at those memories.
He had stopped short of taking her virginity before she came of age, but there were plenty of more subtle ways to abuse and humiliate an unprotected young girl.
"What the fucking, fuck?" yelled Niko to his commander, as they galloped flat chat like they were in a horse race. "Can't you tell that she-devil to slow down? They're going to kill someone riding like that into the city."
"I tried," Alton yelled grimly. "No joy. She's uncontrollable. A real firebrand," he said half admiringly.
"The Emperor needs to pull her into line, she's way out of control the little wench. Her eighteenth birthday can't come soon enough. Let's see how she behaves after she joins the harem," Niko said disparagingly.
"He's deliberately let her have her head growing up," said Alton. "He has something planned for her after he weds her. Do not interfere if you prefer your head attached to your neck. She's his greatest treasure. He calls her his 'jewel', and you know he has a lot of women..."
"I don't see what's so special about her," Niko played down her obvious beauty. "I like blondes with big tits myself."
"Yes, we all know you have refined tastes, Niko. Hopefully the Emperor answers your crass prayers when he chooses you a wife."
"If he doesn't, I'll just have to earn myself a second one that's an upgrade," the man grinned.
Delphi pulled her horse up outside a high-end jeweller fronting the harbour.
The commander was close on her heels, and he leapt down, sticking to her like glue.
Delphi smoothly jumped off her horse and threw her reins at Commander Meyer like he was her groom, looking at him witheringly as she did so.
She pulled her veil down, stunning him with the full force of her beauty, so that he was momentarily speechless, when he should have been telling her to cover herself.
She watched as the handsome, arrogant man went slack jawed at the sight of her face, and she laughed at the ease with which she could silence him.
As the consorts said, men were simple creatures.
Gosh, imagine if he saw her ankle, or even her neck. He might have a heart attack! she thought contemptuously.
"Seeing as how you're so keen to stay close to me, I'm sure you won't mind looking after my horse, Prince. I'll be sure to let my husband know how much you admire my pretty face."
She slipped her veil back up and sashayed into the store, leaving him holding her horse's reins.
"Don't follow us in," she called to him, without looking back. "This is a shop for women and their husbands, not their jailors."
He had to smile. She was good. She had definitely won this round.
He watched her appreciatively from behind. Even under her jilbab, you could tell she had killer curves.
He pulled at his collar, suddenly unbearably hot.
Six more months before he would earn himself a docile and obedient bride, he thought, nothing like this girl…
Why did that happy event that he'd been looking forward to for so long, suddenly feel depressing?