A crowd larger than the two previous days waited for me in front of the ministry HQ. I could see they were separated in groups, the general and his soldiers further apart than the hired workers and the magistrate and the people he brought. If I had to guess, there were three hundred people there. I felt a wave of dizziness wash over me and if it weren't for the stirrups and Penny feeling my own sense of balance I'd have kissed the ground.

I forced the bile back down my throat and approached. "Good morning, everyone," I shouted with the best fake smile I could muster.

It was not the time to show weakness. Although I had three days before I had to show up before the Enshi to reinstate the two to their jobs, they would surely use anything they learned here to oppose me. I had no reins to hide my hands so I crossed them behind my back to avoid fiddling.

Greetings were thrown my way but I was distracted. I got down and Penny instinctively went to have a nice chat with the wagon drivers' oxen. She was here. Princess Snowflake, or Emes-Bintu to those that cared about her. I didn't. I do mind her existence but I don't care what happens to her. I won't stoop as low as to torture her during these three days, however.

"Minister," General smiled and saluted as one would a superior civilian officer. Emes-Bintu, I won't address her by the nickname, was about to speak but he clapped his daughter's shoulder.

"General," I made a point of using his rank. "Magistrate, miss Emes-Bintu, welcome. I see you brought more than the required amount of people. Well, I have something special to do with a workforce this huge and this motivated. I hope you all do your best today, for the sake of this city. Zar-Kiira, Utuaa, please come inside with me, we will hold a brief meeting."

I usher everyone inside and let the workers into the backyard that got a bit crowded. The three VIPs and my two taskmasters follow me into the main house where the scribes are waiting for us.

"Minister, good morning," Gu-Maranu greets me. "We finished copying the documents you requested."

He points to a pile of parchments that are still drying on the racks at the back of the room. I can see the magistrate is keen on getting his archives restored but I raise a hand. I also notice the scribes are tired, certainly from pulling an all-nighter.

"Our deadline to deliver the documents is in three days. We will have the Magistrate and General, as well as miss Emes-Bintu here as our guests to learn about our job. The blurb you hear outside are the extra hands they kindly brought with them. On the third day, we will hand over the documents to the Magistrate."

"I am no Magistrate, milady," He protested. "As you surely remember, the Enshi temporarily demoted me."

"And speaking of that, I want to know your names. You are right, I can't call you Magistrate and General and nobody introduced you to me."

"I'm Nootesh-Geerzu," The General politely said, "And I am looking forward to seeing how you work, Minister."

His military discipline is something enviable. Of all three, miss Sno... Emes-Bintu is pouting, the Magistrate is brooding but Nootesh-Geerzu - and I'm transcribing it phonetically - is disciplined and eager to work.

"Pleased to meet you, Nootesh-Geerzu. In my homeland, we have a saying, ?????????? (yoroshiku onegaishimazu). It has a really deep meaning, mostly used as a greeting as a way to say "thank you" but goes along the lines of let's work in harmony and achieve our goals together, in this case. So, ??????????!"

As I was the higher-ranking one in the room by a whim of the King, I did just a polite nod. To my surprise, Nootesh-Geerzu didn't reply immediately. He tapped his chin and then smiled.

"Captain Al-Amir warned me, but I didn't believe him. I'm sorry, milady. I've talked to your taskmaster before you arrived, and I am convinced. Let's work together then. I won't insult your language by trying to imitate your greeting."

Their way of speaking was really different from ours. If I had to explain briefly, they used the back and roof of their mouths more. And they snap the T's and hiss the S's. It is sometimes slurry, definitely sounds ancient. The crystal clear Japanese phonemes are hard for them. But he was respectful and it made me happy.

"There's no problem. I am glad the spirit was conveyed. My people put a great deal of emphasis on working with harmony and mutual respect. And you can ask anyone here, that's how I do my things."

With that said, I shifted to face the Magistrate. I knew they abandoned their names on tenure but I was curious as to what he'd do.

"You can call me 'Kazeed'. That will be acceptable," He said with his uppity tone of voice.

"Great! And miss Emes-Bintu will be with us. In fact... Can I leave the gentlemen alone for a moment while I talk to her? Please?"

The men nodded and the girl made a face of terror. I took her by the wrist and tugged her up the stairs. She only uttered a yelp when I first tugged, remaining silent until I closed the door to give us privacy. Then she went to the far side and turned, the face of a lioness.

"My father will avenge me!" She hissed.

A misguided lioness.

"Em--"

"I know you won't let me get out of here alive. But you won't have Al-Amir anyway!" She dialed crazy to 11 and rambled on. "He will avenge me. You can't have him. I'll curse you in the name of Ishtar!"

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"I..."

"So kill me. C'mon. Father told me my life was forfeit anyway. That you had power over us and the Enshi's ears. How does it feel, to bed such a wretched creature? I bet he left flakes of skin all over your body!"

She was screeching so annoyingly sharp and loud anyone would flinch. I had no idea where she was coming from or why all that was happening. I think were we on the ground floor, she'd have fled through the window. She was trembling, crying, her whole face flush with blood. Her eyes darted around looking for a way out. I was blocking the door. I couldn't let her go out as this or she'd just set fire to everyone downstairs.

"Emes-Bi--"

"Curse you! You... homewrecker! Whore! AH!" She just shrieked. If any crystal cup happened to be around, she'd have broken it.

Crouched on the ground, not even looking at me, hair falling over her face, she screamed her lungs out. I... couldn't do anything. So I let her scream. The walls were solid sandstone but the rooms were far from soundproof. But there was one thing I could do.

Shoot her.

A video, I mean. I took my GoPro and quickly turned it on, recording. It had a better sound quality than my Android phone. After some solid ten minutes of wailing, she tired out. Emes-Bintu sat down on the floor, her eyes puffed from crying.

"You are still alive," I told her. "I won't kill you. No reason."

"Liar," She pouted and panted.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Milady minister, is everything alright in there?" Kuma-Nu's voice.

"Yes," I shouted back without opening the door or taking the camera off her. "Tell Nootesh-Geerzu his daughter is hale and just venting her frustrations. I'll join you as soon as she calms down."

"As you will, milady," He saluted and moved away. I heard his steps going downstairs.

Alone again, I tried. "Emes-Bintu, can we talk now? I won't hurt you."

"Shut up!"

I wish I knew something to cheer her up but nothing came to mind. She was really a very special... tiny ice crystal from a rain cloud. Therefore we just stayed in the room wasting valuable time, me standing up holding the camera and the girl sitting on the floor, massaging her sleeping feet. I should make her sit seiza to reflect but I didn't.

"Do you want some water?" I asked her, holding a PET bottle. "It is not poisoned, here." I drank a swig. "Go ahead."

I held the bottle but she'd have to cross the room to take it. Emes-Bintu didn't stand up, she just looked at me and mumbled.

"Let 'em have him," She whimpered. "I'll even let you be the second wife."

I think that was my cue. She wasn't rejecting me absolutely.

"No can do. And I don't own Brandon. You can't have him, he's not for sale or grabs. And if he's going to be with me, it is either me alone or none of it."

She stared at me as if I was an alien. I mean, I came from another world but I was a human. Still human. I guess.

"You can't tell your husband what to do," She gasped as if it was perfect commonsense.

Probably was, in their culture.

"From where I come from, people don't marry several other people. It is either one or none. If Brandon is not willing to commit, then he won't commit. Neither will I. Your voice is cracking. Drink some water."

She took the bottle. "Thanks," She said curtly.

This girl received the best education, I was sure. Not a girl, an adult already. I'd give her fifteen years. Most women were already mothers at this age, putting the recycling rate of the population at that many years plus one. Men died in troves, a sad reality. Dangerous jobs, fighting, wars. I bet most places would send an army to fight elsewhere when too many men gathered just to cull their population. So long the women kept living and birthing, the Realm would prosper.

There was also the matter of the "bridal price", that should be paid to the father to compensate for the cost of raising the woman. It was a double, no multi-edged tragedy.

First, the father wouldn't "invest" in education because it didn't pay off in the price of the goods, leaving the girls uncultured.

Second, they were treated like merchandise, the upcoming "bridal market" proof of it. They had little to no choice on whom to marry.

Third, it caused pressure in the male population to save money to buy a bride.

Fourth, the daughters were sold much earlier than the brothers. Most of the money from the sale of the girls - I'm disgusted from writing it - would go to buy brides for the sons but it wasn't enough. They had to work to cover the difference.

Fifth, the dispossessed men would turn to crime to get money fast.

Sixth, the wives would be treated like property forever.

Seventh, the wealthy would usually buy several women, making harems. The poor girls would be little more than slaves, never mention experiencing love.

Eight, they were pressured into producing heirs. A woman that couldn't give birth would be discarded or sent back, even if it was the man that was sterile.

Do I have to go on? No. This is my journal and I say enough is enough. Just to not leave it hanging, It is bad for both genders. My bias is obviously with the female camp but it was terrible for the men too. All the violence they were subject to, for one.

Excuse me but I need a break.

----------------------------------------

Sorry for breaking the wall you should not speak about. After I took a short walk outside under starlight I feel better. Right, back to the room with the princess.

Those brooding thoughts took me away from the room I was currently sharing with Emes-Bintu. The girl took to the water bottle like a wanderer in the desert. But it was a two-liter bottle and she stopped halfway. Once she noticed how much she drank, she felt guilty and handed the bottle back to me.

"Don't worry, I'll fill it later. Feeling better?" She nodded. I used that goodwill to probe her. "Does Brandon even have the money to pay your price? I mean, your father dotes on you enough to give him a discount, but I know our esteemed Captain is not wealthy even though he lives frugally."

I recalled Nanna telling me that Brandon was a traditionalist. I doubt he'd take her without some sort of monetary compensation to our dear Nootesh-Geerzu.

"He has to put up the effort if he wants to be worthy of me," She scoffed, haughtily. "If only some cheap whore wasn't straying him from the path," Emes-Bintu snickered.

Game on. As if I'd let that slight slip.

"Cheap? Prince Marduk-Sapik-Ziarat brought fifty thousand soldiers to pick me up, girl," I replied. "And it wasn't enough. Have you seen what I'm doing here? Do you have any idea how valuable is the knowledge I have? Go around and ask. I saw you wearing one of Cloe's dresses the other day. One she was making for me. Did you like it, thief? I bet you pressured her into selling it to you. Did you feel pretty wearing my clothes, your highness?"

"I didn't... I paid well for that... Prove it was yours!"

GoPro on one hand, phone summoned on the other. I browsed to the folder with the ripped images from the fashion game. It took me a few minutes but I found the image that inspired the dress she stole. It was worth to see her stretching her neck to see the images I was flicking through. "Here. This is the original design. And there are thousands of clothes in here you would never even imagine.

"Too bad we are not friends. You can't see them." And the phone vanished back to storage. "I will tell you the same thing I told Nephew, girl," I did a Freudian slip. "My friends prosper, my enemies suffer. Pick your side carefully. We're done here. Let's go downstairs to work. And worry not, miss Emes-Bintu. In respect of your father, I won't give you any menial job like clearing the latrines of the hundreds of people working with us."

I didn't give her a chance to talk back. I dropped the mic and left the room, gracefully.