“I see,” said the King again. “And of course you might have written to your family for help at any time, if you could have managed to get a letter sent on your behalf.”

“Oh, that I could have easily done, but it would never have been necessary. Had I wished to leave, I might have put my case before the Queen and she would have immediately accepted a rich bounty in return for my freedom. I knew this, but I stayed on for all the reasons slaves of this kingdom always stay on, and so often return, because I loved serving Queen Eleanor, loved her, and loved my fellow slaves, and also because I had another purpose. And that other purpose was to bear in mind always that Khaharanka at any time might need a new and mighty monarch. You could say I lived a life of dizzying subjugation as I kept my eye out for the perfect soul who might someday mount the throne of Khaharanka.”

“Khaharanka has no royal family of its own?” the King asked.

“No, sire, the monarchy is not hereditary. And the subjects of Khaharanka do not descend from families. The monarch of Khaharanka is chosen and always for life, and the subjects choose to be subjects—as the slaves of Bellavalten today choose to be slaves.”

“And you came here now to look for a new monarch?” I asked. I had spoken without the King’s leave but he was entirely accepting and seemed eager for the answer.

“I did,” he said. “The last monarch of Khaharanka was chosen from Bellavalten.”

“Sonya!” I said. “Your mistress, Sonya. But she disappeared years ago, or so you told Alexi.”

“No, my lady, she did not disappear at that time. She disappeared only to the world from which she’d come, and was borne to Khaharanka, and I grieved for her because my family did not permit me to go to Khaharanka at that time to be her loyal subject. It was my task to find ladies of her mettle to serve as new members of her Court, and only two years later was I allowed to become Queen Sonya’s devoted servant. And I have been Queen Sonya’s obedient slave ever since.”

“I see.”

“Well, Queen Sonya has long wanted freedom from Khaharanka. She has been one of the greatest queens ever to rule the little city-state, and her Court has been perfection. But she would return now to Europe, and to Bellavalten, and when your many letters were brought to her, for me, from my family home, Queen Sonya allowed me to answer and she has sent me here to find a new queen for our people.”

“A new queen!” I scoffed. “And you have selected me for this singular honor, have you? And for this reason, you burst into my chambers like a foot soldier in a conquering army?”

“Yes, my lady, I had to. I had to test your mettle. I knew your fame. I knew so much of your gifts and your strength that I did not question it. Yet I had to be certain of your unconquerable spirit.”

“As if you and your blandishments and your crude assaults were the test of such a thing!” I said. “How dare you!”

The King was trying to hide his smile now.

“My lady, I worship you,” Lexius confessed. “I am a poor person for such a test, I confess. I am. But your response to me gave no doubt whatsoever of your immense strength. Your indignation and fury were, how shall I say, natural.”

I laughed. “And so your queen must be as resolute and merciless as Queen Eleanor,” I said.

“Yes, my lady, and more so. Much more so, for she rules a most unusual realm made up of singular worshippers. And do understand, our queen is a goddess in our eyes, and all obeisance shown her reflects this. She and her Court of women are held to be divine beings of unquestioned authority.”

“I see. Or I think I see,” said the King. “You are saying that all those in authority in this Khaharanka are women.”

“Yes, my lord,” he said. “It has always been so and will always be so, and the great resources of my family provide the soldiers and guards of the secret city, and uphold the sacred authority of its female rulers.”

“Certainly not all who serve are men!” I offered.

“Yes, my lady, all are male, but not men in the conventional sense.”

“I have no interest in eunuchs, my lord, never have,” I said. “I am a great devotee of the cock and balls of men. That’s why I live in Bellavalten.” I looked to the King. “Need we hear any more of this?”

“You misunderstand me, my lady,” Lexius said. “There are no eunuchs in Khaharanka.”

“Then what sort of men are these unconventional males?” I asked.

He bowed his head, and then he looked to Dmitri.

I couldn’t see Dmitri, as he stood behind me and behind the King. I was before the King and facing Lexius.

The King could see that Lexius was struggling. Lexius’s face was red, and in such a dark face, such a blush has a purple tinge to it, and tears stood in his eyes for the first time, not the gushing tears of disobedient slaves, but the hesitant and silent tears of someone engaged in a deep inner struggle.

“My lord,” Lexius said, looking up at the King, “I cannot hope to fulfill my mission now, without revealing great secrets. Might I ask of you that no matter what you think of me and my quest, whatever you think of Khaharanka, that you hold inviolate the secrets I reveal here?”

“I cannot do that, Lexius,” said the King, “without the Queen present.”

Lexius appeared to think this over.

“Dmitri, go to the Queen and ask her if she will join us now,” said the King. “I don’t know whether or not she is still in the gardens. Likely she is in her chambers. Ask her to come alone with you here.”

Dmitri went off at once, and the King continued to study Lexius.

“You do understand, don’t you, Lexius, that it is Queen Beauty who actually rules Bellavalten?”

“I have heard it said, sire, that you have great love for one another which is the marvel of the realm and that you rule it together.”

“That’s a clever and agreeable response,” said the King. “But it is the wisdom of the Queen that has rebuilt the realm. If you are asking Lady Eva here to go with you and become your sovereign, if you are to reveal secrets that I must keep, then the Queen must be here, as I keep nothing from the Queen, and cannot keep anything, and cannot continue to encourage you if she does not consent to it.”

Lexius nodded. “Yes, my lord,” he said.

“And do you also realize that my queen might be mightily displeased with you that you have come here with the express purpose of taking Lady Eva from us?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” said Lexius, “but I had hoped that you and your queen would both indulge my loyalty to my beloved Khaharanka, that you might look kindly upon our need for a great ruler, that you might extend to me tolerance and understanding, as we hold so many views in common.”

“You’ve gone about this clumsily, sir,” said the King. But he was not angry.

“I know, sire,” said Lexius. “I have, but had Lady Eva not been the goddess described to me, well, had I not felt the need to test her mettle— Forgive me, my lord. I have indeed been clumsy, devious, desperate. . . .” He stopped as the doors opened.

Dmitri appeared with the Queen. She had obviously been in her rooms close by, as she was dressed now in a long rose-colored silk dressing gown. A bit of her lace chemise showed at her throat and at her wrists, and she wore a pair of silver cutwork slippers. Her flaxen hair was charmingly undone.

“My lord,” she said, going at once to the King and taking her place at his right side. Once again Dmitri vanished into the shadows.

The King took Queen Beauty’s face in his hands and whispered to her a few brief sentences which summed up the situation. I caught the name of the secret city, and the word “confidences.”

“As you wish, my lord,” said the Queen. “Lexius, I will respect your confidences as my lord respects them. But tell me, why is Lady Eva here? And why Prince Dmitri.”

“Prince Dmitri can attest to the truth of all I say,” said Lexius, and then blushing deeply again, miserably in fact, he said, “I have come to beg Lady Eva to become the next absolute sovereign of Khaharanka.” Quickly but smoothly he reiterated much of what he’d said before.

It was enough.

The Queen had the picture.

She looked at me and I saw the sudden panic in her eyes. It was as if she were saying aloud, Eva, I don’t want you to go.

I felt it deeply. A thousand thoughts crowded my mind. A moment ago, I had felt certain I would reject this outrageous proposal out of hand. Now suddenly I was more intrigued than resolute.

“Well, now, Lexius,” said the King. “Will you explain further as to what characterizes the devotees of this queen of yours and her Court of women if your men there are not eunuchs?”

“My Lady Eva is well known,” said Lexius, “for her potions, for the many kinds of potions she had developed in her alchemical studies. Perhaps the lady will understand as I explain. Those who would enter life and service in Khaharanka must be nourished by a special potion. Wild tales now shroud the discovery of this mysterious elixir. But it is the tradition in our family that after many trials and many failures it was developed by a clever doctor who tested it on numerous applicants before perfecting its final formula. Whatever the case, it is most effective and easy to produce and has no unintended or ill effects on the men who choose to imbibe it. And indeed, many who leave the kingdom—and who drink it no more—lose all the outward attributes they acquired under its influence. Not all however.”