The Secret Weapon (14 page)

“About what,” Coraset asked as she looked at her curiously.

“This whole thing. I’m kind of excited actually. Can you imagine being
with the Chancellor of Erato? He said something to that Sekai lady while he was standing in front of me. Did you hear what he said?”

Coraset stopped her and said, “Slow down, Kata
rin. You need to take a breath.”

She
quickly exhaled and admitted, “I’m just really nervous. How come you’re so calm?”

“I can’t think of a single reason to be excited.
” Coraset remarked with a dry attitude.

“Are you kidding me, Coraset?
What if he decides he wants to marry one of us? Better yet, what if he decides he wants to marry me? I would say yes in a heartbeat.”

“
You’re not breathing again.”

Katarin kept right on going, “I would say yes, and I would be considered more important than the Senators. I will be Mrs. Erato.”

“How will you feel as a wife when he decides to bed one or more of his concubines?” Coraset asked pointedly.

Katarin pulled at her neck as the question sunk in.

“What if he gets tired of you? You’ll be pushed aside for one of the other girls he’s not so bored with, and they’ll be his wife instead. You’ll be resolved to being another concubine in his harem.” Coraset was trying to bring her back to reality. Being a concubine wasn’t a goal in life. At least, that’s what she was trying to get Katarin to realize. “How old are you?”

“I’m
…uh…twenty four years old.” She answered.

“Do you really think you’re emotionally prepared for this?” Coraset asked.

“I didn’t know there were emotions to prepare.”

Coraset didn’t even want to comment on her answer. “What was your job before you came here?”

“I was a dressmaker in the Timur Region.”

“Is there something else you wanted to do?”

“I don’t know. I never thought about it. It doesn’t matter now anyway. This is all I have. I’m tired of having nothing, Coraset.”

She wanted to speak against Chancellor Erato and tell
Katarin he wasn’t the beginning or the end of her life. But she was in a room with nearly ten women who wanted to be his wife or be his concubine. They’d probably tell on Coraset to show their loyalty, and she didn’t want to chance that. She smiled and patted Katarin on the hand.

Every thirty minutes or so, two more females were called out of the room for their exam. Coraset was called before Katarin, and she was not too happy having to go through medical prodding and testing.

In the first room she was taken to, her blood pressure and temperature were taken. Blood was drawn and she had to take a pee test. Coraset was given a medical gown with the back out, and her dress was confiscated for good. She had to take down her hair. The same nurse that took her vitals checked her body. Her ears were checked, eyesight, and the inside of her mouth were examined. She was given a breast exam and her arm pits were checked for lumps, as well. The skin between her toes and fingers, the folds of her legs and arms were checked for signs of drug use. Eventually, the doctor came in and did a pap smear and a pelvic exam. He didn’t speak a word as he worked.

Wit
hout warning, she felt a small prick in between her legs. She was startled and sat up looking at the doctor who was now standing and removing his latex gloves.

“What did you just do?” Coraset asked him as she began scooting back from the edge of the examination table.

The grey haired doctor tossed the gloves in a red bio bin and rushed out of the room.

“What the hell!” Coraset screamed at the nurse who was cleaning up and separating the test tubes.

“Get dressed. Hanako will be waiting for you outside.” The nurse left the room with a tray full of tissue samples before Coraset could get herself together.

A red tunic and a short red skirt were on the table on the other side of the room. Coraset quickly dressed and swung the door open. She nearly ran into Hanako, who stood tall in the entryway.

The native Japanese woman did not move from where she stood. Her dark eyes showed a deep solemnity, and Coraset backed off not really certain what was about to happen.

Hanako remarked, “Follow me, Coraset.”

“He stuck me with a needle, and I want to know what was in it.” Coraset demanded as she stood fast.

“Did you see him stick you with a needle?” Hanako challenged her.

“I know what it feels like.”

She asked again with a heightened tone, “Did you see him stick you with a needle?”

Coraset considered the answer and the consequences of it. She was now considered a concubine, and she knew her actions and words were closely monitored.

“Maybe, I was mistaken.” Coraset remarked with a subdued anger.

Hanako took Coraset to another room, but this time it was carpeted with a deep burgundy rug. Near the back of the office was a large oak desk. The corner posts and trims of the desk had carvings of elaborate cherub designs. A flat screen glass monitor on a wide wooden pedestal was at an angle on the left side of the desk with a wireless glass keyboard in front of it. The desk had nothing else on it. On the right, two portraits hung on an ivory textured wall. One was of Chancellor Katherine Erato sitting in a regal red chair in front of the Colors of the Erato Federation, and the second was a picture of the newest leader, Chancellor Dominic Erato. He had a wide smile. The portrait was doctored to take away his wrinkles, and his full head of head didn’t have a speck of grey. On the opposite wall were shelves full of books, bookends, and statues of all kinds. An Akhenaten sculpture caught Coraset’s attention, and she went over to the bookshelf to get a closer look at the delicate stone piece. She remembered studying about the Egyptian King, how he changed religion, and she also studied more about his wife and son. She wondered if the stone was real.

She’d heard of Erato officials travelling around the world, taking items after the population had decreased significantly. She’d heard rumors that the Mona Lisa
painting was taken and was presently in the palace somewhere. The Hope Diamond that was once in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC was rumored to be in the personal vault of the deceased Chancellor Katherine Erato.

“You recognize history when you see it.” Sekai stated as she entered the office.

“Maybe,” Coraset answered with an untrusting look.

“
At one time that piece was considered priceless. Now and days, nobody wants a tablet of a long deceased civilization.” Sekai went to stand next to Coraset and asked as she peered at the stone tablet, “You know what it is, don’t you?”

Coraset answered guardedly, “I’ve seen pictures. I’m not quite sure.”

Sekai looked at Coraset knowing full well she knew. She moved away with a wave of her hand directing Coraset to the nearest chair, “Please, have a seat.”

Coraset
slid into the high back wooden chair, and Sekai took her place behind her desk. The view behind her was of a raised pond with a rock formation waterfall. Ducks waddled around the foliage and sometimes dipped into the water. Coraset hadn’t noticed it before, but she thought it was beautiful, a wonderful change to the steel and cement structures of Erato.

“I’ve been reading through your history, Coraset. It seems as though it doesn’t quite add up.” Sekai began typing on the computer, and Coraset could see her picture pop up on the screen.

Coraset kept her cool as she continued to listen.

“You graduated from
the University of Maryland in 2009. If my calculations are correct, you’d have to be around 21 or 22 years old to graduate from college. Then you were employed with Erato Biotrade soon afterwards, and you were the Director of the International Humanitarian Aid Division. That means you were probably close to 23 years old at that point. That would make you close to 40 years old today.”

Coraset swallowed hard. She was pissed. Malie was supposed to handle her background, and now Sekai was picking it apart. Coraset’s heart was pounding hard in her ches
t. There was no fixing this. No lies to explain it all away. Coraset looked away unable to make eye contact.

Sekai continued,
“Chancellor Erato hired me as his assistant because I am very thorough in my work. Nothing gets passed me. Now, it says here on your file that you’re 25 years old. In 2009, you would have been 8 years old when you graduated from college. These are the kinds of lies that will place you square in front of the firing squad.”

Coraset rubbed at her forehead, unable to come up with anything
. Her entire face felt flushed as she angrily thought about Malie and her carelessness. She wondered if there was a way out if she had to run. Was there any chance she could make it to an exit out of the palace?

“
How old are you, Coraset?” Sekai plainly asked.

She
took her chances on the truth and answered, “I’m thirty-nine years old.”

Sekai nodded and commented, “
Why are you here? You are aware of the Chancellor’s qualifications for the harem.”

“I’m here because I want to be with him
.”

She stared at Coraset considering her answer but not believing it. Sekai exhaled and remarked calmly, “In
order for you to stay, I will have to take out the college and the job you held at Erato Biotrade.”

Coraset held her breath. She couldn’t believe what she heard. She looked back at the door and turned back around and asked, “
You’re helping me?”

“
He choose you, and I don’t want the Chancellor to think he made a decision based on erroneous information. He won’t be very pleased if he finds out he was fooled or lied to. If he ever questions you, I would recommend you simply telling him that you are a horticulturist, and you were Federation trained. Before then, you were just a kid. Your parents are dead because of the virus. You start telling anything more complicated than that, it’ll be more difficult to keep up with, and you don’t want the Chancellor to be suspicious of you.”

“Why are you helping me? You could get into trouble, too?”

“I’m helping you because I’m interested in the real reason why you’re here. I don’t believe it when you say you want to be with him. I have a feeling you have alternative motives, and I want to see what they are.”

This was not what Coraset wanted. Was this woman going to be watching her? Coraset knew she had to watch her back.

“I have no alternative motives. I am here to be with Chancellor Erato.”

Sekai
didn’t comment, but she began changing Coraset’s history in the computer completely to reflect what she told her to say. She brought up another screen and read the results of her pap smear and physical.

“
Since you’ve passed all of your testing, Hanako will take you to wait with the other women.”

Coraset stood
. She walked to the door, but then she stopped before turning the knob. She asked, “The doctor that gave me the examination gave me a shot. What was in it?”

“
A vaccination,” Sekai answered flatly.

Coraset didn’t push the issue
. She opened the door and saw Hanako waiting in the hallway. She was taken down the hallway to another room. This time, the room was filled with tables of food and sofas. Sheer curtains hung from archways that led outside. The sun was beginning to set, and a warm breeze was drifting through the room.

The women who passed their medical were in there. Some were standing at the tables and fixing their plates. Others were already seated, and they were drinking and eating, as well. At the most were ten women, and they all wore the same outfit as Coraset, a red tunic with
a gold rope decorative trim attached and a red skirt. Everyone’s hair was down, and everyone was relaxed and in a better mood.

Coraset glanced around for Katarin. She wondered if she was checked out yet, or i
f she was turned away because she failed the medical. Deep down inside, Coraset wanted her to be turned away, but she didn’t want Katarin to go back home disappointed. She sat down on an empty settee and waited to see what would happen with the young woman.

A total of
eleven women passed their medical exams and were led to the harem, their new home. They were taken through winding corridors and up five marble steep steps to a final marble landing. In front of them was an arch opening showcasing the growing skyline of the Selatan Region set against a blazing sky about to turn to darkness.

Sekai swung the double doors inward
on the right side, and all of the women flowed into a large space. The walls were a peach granite marble with gold trim across the top. The floor had paintings of cherubs and clouds. Four pillars were anchored in the main room, two on each side, and burgundy sheer curtains hung from the ceiling around the pillars. On the left was another extension, and it had tables and chairs where the women could dine comfortably. An entryway was on the far side of that room that led to the kitchen where their food would be prepared for them.