Cultivating Plants

“That’s right, let it all out,” Mirah whispered in Aloe’s ear as she patted her back and stroked her hair, the girl weeping lay defeated on her knees. “But try not to make a mess.” She added with a smile as she pushed a handkerchief to her. “Here.”

Aloe gladly took the piece of cloth and promptly whipped her never-ending stream of tears. It was only after blowing her nose that she noticed that the handkerchief was made out of fine silk.

“I didn’t tell you could...” Mirah reacted strongly to the mucus-filled silk. “Bah, just let it out.”

The housewife sighed and continued to caress the girl’s back. And stealthily fix her hair.

After a few minutes, only dehydration being able to stop Aloe as her eyes ran out of fuel, she stopped. As she tried to stand up, she felt incredibly dizzy, her eyes felt as if they were going to fall out of her sockets or turn into stone, if not both.

“We...” Aloe closed her mouth, savoring the air that entered through it, before coughing. She breathed once more, except now through her nose, and cleared her throat. “We should get going.”

“Yeah, we should,” Mirah said as she grabbed Aloe by the arm, not only helping her stand up but maintaining her equilibrium. “Making the emir wait is a recipe for disaster.”

“Sounds good.” Aloe took a short but fast breath to keep the snot from pouring out of her nose. “But first I need a glass of water.” Then her stomach growled. “And perhaps a piece of fruit.”

“Yeah, that sounds nice.” Mirah smiled at her. “With the bath and clothing, we skipped lunch. Let’s grab a bite first, we wouldn’t like that monster to growl at the emir, would we?”

“Oh, come on, it isn’t that bad.”

“I think otherwise, little monster.” Mirah snickered as she made her way out of the office and Aloe groaned after noticing the slight variation on Jafar’s favorite moniker.

Some fruits had gone bad, even rotten, after a week of being out there without anyone to eat them or maintain the house, but the bananas persisted. They always did.

Well, until Mirah and Aloe downed them, of course.

The water was also a bit stale after a week of spending still on an amphora, but it wasn’t bad. Just a bit hot and sour, but still drinkable.

“What now then?” Aloe asked after finishing her second banana. “Should we go straight to the palace?”

“I mean, that can work, guards should know the emir has summoned your namesake, but it will be better to search for Jafar first to save ourselves unnecessary waiting and discussions,” Mirah explained. “If he accompanies you, they’ll let you straight into the palace, and judging by the sun, it isn’t like you can afford to waste time.”

“Alright then, let’s do that.” Aloe stood away from the kitchen table. “So, where’s Jafar exactly?”

“He should be around the palace perimeters, so we won’t have a problem finding him, but first, let’s make a stop at my house.” Mirah stood up with a sly smile on her face.

That didn’t make Aloe feel very secure.

---

In the end, Mirah’s intentions weren’t as nefarious as her smile led Aloe to believe.

They weren’t pure, though.

“I think that’s enough, Aunty Mirah,” Aloe told with her mouth half-closed. 

Now she realized that she hadn’t been calling her ‘aunty’ since... this morning. This day is being too damn long for my psyche and well-being.

“Just a bit more!” Mirah added with giddy. Aloe could easily imagine her jumping around, even if she had her eyes closed.

“What am I, a courtesan or a courtesan?” Aloe asked, the implication obvious.

“Hey! More respect to the ladies of the night!” Mirah uncharacteristically shouted. “There’s a lot of work behind the make-up, you know?”

Indeed, all this time the housewife had been applying make-up to Aloe. They had only been a few minutes in so far, but it felt like an eternity for Aloe.

“Yeah, but you only need to hide the tear marks, not give me a full body layering.” Aloe refuted.

“Now you are being melodramatic.” Mirah scoffed. “Here, open your eyes.”

Aloe did as told and looked at the hand mirror Mirah handed her. Before looking at her reflection, the intricacy of the piece didn’t go unnoticed by her. The borders were made out of painted wood to give it a golden touch, even though the paint itself was a cheap alloy like brass. No, the highlights of the mirror were the single small ruby in the top section of the edge and the mirror itself was made out of a thin but shiny silver sheet.

It was an expensive piece.

“Oh,” Aloe muttered as she finally bothered to check her reflection.

She looked... normal. And she meant that as a compliment. After her distressful weeping, her face and eye had been all but ruined. Yet Mirah had managed not only to recover Aloe’s beauty but also amplify it a bit.

“It looks good...” She said at a loss for words.

“See!” The woman boasted proudly, pushing her chest outward, making Aloe’s mood instantly sour.

“Yeah...” The girl didn’t hide her discomfort, but she tried not to frown in front of the mirror to not mess up the makeup. Frowning also made her look ugly. “I expected to look like a marble column with all the layers you were putting in, but my skin still is black.”

“It’s gonna take a lot of face dust to turn your skin white, darling,” Mirah commented as she stored her tools.

“No way! I didn’t notice!” Aloe opened her face in feigned surprise.

“Yeah, yeah, stop joking and get ready. We are now really pressed for time.”

“And whose fault is that?” Aloe frowned but didn’t elaborate further as she stood up.

The girls made her way to the palace with a spring on her footing. They didn’t go fast, lest Aloe’s dress or makeup got ruined, but they weren’t slow either. The main avenue quickly passed by – it was uncanny seeing this low amount of people out on the street on the afternoon – as they followed the artificial river to the center of the city, where the palace of Sadina resided.

By the end, Mirah was panting, the woman showing an atrocious display of stamina. Aloe, on the other hand, felt... fine. She was surprised with herself considering how awful she felt in the morning because of her menstruation, but now she was even normal.

It was off-putting.

Normally she would have stayed all day made a mess, with difficulties walking even in the next day, but she recovered in half the expected time without even needing to sleep. And even more, Aloe had her ‘toughness’ internal infusion still active, meaning she had less endurance than normal. Yet she didn’t feel the effects of their jog.

I should be far worse. She knew it, and whilst she wanted to meditate on this strange change, alas they had made it to their destination, cutting her thinking time short.

“Oh, there’s Jafar.” Mirah pointed at her husband a stationed a few streets down. “Oi!” She shouted at him, the guard instantly recognized them.

“Oh, Mirah. What a blessing for sore eyes.” Jafar instantly lunged for his wife’s lips, his hands lunging also elsewhere. Whilst Aloe felt repulsion as the man grabbed Mirah's buttocks, his fingers sinking in the soft mounds, the woman only deepened their kiss.

“Not here, moron.” Mirah chastised him as she led a finger to his lips, even if her face said otherwise.

“And what have we got here, is it the little plant?” Jafar smiled at Aloe as he approached her, yet his hand still lingered on his wife’s body.

Aloe groaned though she didn’t know at what specifically. Everything, probably. “Hello, Jafar.”

“You know, I was going to compliment you on your makeup, but after that groan, I have thought otherwise.” The guard joked.

“Not that I needed it.” The girl scowled. “Anyways, are you going to guide me inside?”

“Yes, of course.” Jafar posture turned upright and worthy of the status of a guard. ONLY IF HE HAD REMOVED HIS HAND OUT OF THE WOMAN’S ASS. “Please follow, me.”

Aloe was seething at the man’s unapologetic behavior – it didn’t matter if Mirah was his wife and the woman herself didn’t mind it – but nonetheless, Aloe complied.

She and Jafar found themselves walking up a massive flight of stairs up to the palace. Mirah stayed back and she waved at them as her figure became smaller and smaller by the second.

“Woah, it’s massive,” Aloe commented as they entered the palace. 

No doors were stopping them from going inside, just a massive archway tiled with blue, white, and yellow colors that gave the entrance a refreshing but regal ambiance.

Aloe turned her head to Jafar, and she saw how the man’s face contorted in pain as he held for his life a “That’s what she said,” joke. Aloe knew it. The man was a nince-damned open book.

“Have you never visited it?” Instead, Jafar let out a simple question as he managed to contain himself.

“No,” She added briefly.

“Huh, curious. Given how your parents' workplace was this very building.”

Before Aloe could elaborate on her answer, she was cut short as they had made it to the audience room. This specific room did have a set of doors.

Jafar whispered to the ears of one of the two guards at the entrance, making him move out of his station and open the door.

“My emir, Aloe Ayad has responded to your summon.” The guard announced into the room, even if Aloe could see the place through the half-open door.

“Let her pass.” A voice that confused Aloe announced.

“You are on your own now,” Jafar whispered next to her, not giving Aloe time to think, and pushed her forward into the room.

Aloe shakily walked forward, cursing the man for destabilizing her step, but also thanking him for pushing her. She doubted she would be able to take the first step. Aloe kept her gaze on the ground as she followed the long red carpet into the throne.

With every step she grew more confident, looking more and more up. And as she finally had a look at the pillowed throne, Aloe’s face twisted in confusion. Huh?

The person sitting on the throne, the emir of Sadina, was a woman.