Hunger.
At first, the change had startled Sita. It forced her to see those men—some of whom she’d known since they were boys—in a whole new light. Forced her to see herself in a new light too.Perhaps her striking appearance wasn’t a disadvantage at all, but a strength. After that realization, she’d quickly developed a hunger of her own, and longed to satiate it.
Unfortunately, doing so was no easy feat. Sita rarely left the palace aside from official functions, and none of the men within its walls were available for a tryst, even a playful one, without serious political consequences.
None of them, that is, except for the servants.
And the guards.
One of the ducks on the pond squawked and flapped its wings, sending a ripple across the water. Sita held her breath and remained perfectly still, listening.
A woman’s quiet giggle reached her ears.
Sita slithered her body lower to the ground, her heart racing. She wasn’t the only one who knew the garden offered privacy at this time of day. And although she enjoyed watching the fish, they weren’t the real reason she came.
She peered through an opening between the rosebushes that lined the opposite side of the pond, which gave her a clear view of the sycamore tree that stood nearest the garden wall. Two figures appeared—a maidservant and a guard—each scanning the garden to ensure they were alone.
Sita smiled, invisible among the lotus flowers.
Satisfied, the maidservant turned back to her companion and threw her arms around his neck. “I’ve missed you,” the girl said. She was slight and narrow-waisted, her arms and shoulders muscled from carrying trays of food and drink for the king’s meals.
The man grinned with a voracious look that Sita recognized at once. He was bare-chested and wore a schenti, a white pleated skirt that ended just above the knee. The curved blade of a khopesh was tucked into its scabbard at his side, and a collar bearing the Eye of Horus encircled his neck. “What did you miss?”he murmured, his eyes drinking her in.
“Your touch,” she said, coy.
“What else?” he asked, his mouth at the hollow of her throat.
“Your lips.” Her eyes closed, her face upturned.
“I’m so sorry to have kept you waiting,” he said huskily. With one hand he reached through the fold of her dress, searching for what lay beneath.
Sita watched, her lips slightly parted, a delicious warmth blooming in her belly. Above, in the branches of the sycamore tree, two long-tailed monkeys seemed to be watching too.
“Quickly,” the girl said. “We don’t have much time.”
“As you wish,” the guard replied, pressing the woman’s back against the tree’s rough bark. The monkeys chittered, but neither of the lovers seemed to notice.
Sita’s cheeks reddened. She knew she should look away, but she couldn’t. Her gaze was fixed on them, hypnotized by the sway of his hips, the arch of his back, and the way the woman had to cover her mouth to keep from crying out. She stared, her whole body leaning forward. A soft moan escaped her lips, floating into the air like a wisp of smoke.
Sita clapped a hand over her own mouth.Fool!she scolded herself.Have you no sense at all?She studied the couple intently, praying to the gods that they hadn’t heard her.
To her horror, the maidservant and the guard had stopped.
“Did you hear something?” the girl whispered.
Sita’s insides turned to water at the thought of being caught spying. True, she was the king’s daughter, and they were mere servants—but she knew the ways of the palace. That girl need only whisper the story to one of her kitchen friends, and soon the attendants would know, and then the lesser wives and their hangers-on would know, and before the sun set, her mother would know too. Queen Bintanath would not look kindly on herdaughter having such an unseemly hobby.
It was the monkeys, she thought, setting the idea into the breeze in hopes that one of the lovers would catch it.Just the monkeys, nothing more.
“Someone’s coming,” the guard said urgently. “Go out the gardener’s entrance. I’ll make sure they don’t see you.”
Sita was confused. If they didn’t hear her, whatdidthey hear? She watched the girl place a hurried kiss on the guard’s cheek before disappearing behind the rosebushes. She was about to slip away herself when she heard footsteps on the stone path, followed by a familiar voice.
“Femi! Enjoying the pleasures of the garden, are you?”
The guard cleared his throat. “Indeed, I am, my queen,” he replied.
Sita felt the blood drain from her face.
