Gold Dust Woman;
or
A Kerchief


Rhodis was born in a tiny island country that was a three-month journey off the coast of the mainland continent of Pangea.  Her father was a skilled hunter; he could drop a bird from the air seventy yards away with his sharp arrow and keen eye.  Her mother died giving birth to her, but her father would always tell Rhodis how lovely her mother was, and how much she would have loved her.  The island-folk were simple, happy, and kind.  Most of them were fishers, and they were fine at boating.  They worshiped a great golden fish god that they called Gaghiel.  Gaghiel had an evil half-sister called Leviathan.  Every year the people would gather the biggest and best-tasting fish and have a feast in Gaghiel’s name.  Whenever a storm came, the men of the village would kill the fattest boar and sacrifice it at the alter, to make Leviathan return to her dark underwater cave.
The island was beautiful, and wonderful, but is no longer remembered.  When Rhodis was 3 years old, her island was conquered by seafaring people called the Nór.  They came in a monstrous ship, and they wore iron plates, and carried huge axes.  They set fire to the town, killed many, and took everything for their own.  Rhodis watched the invaders slaughter her friends, her people, and her father. The Nór kidnapped the survivors, and put them all in an unused storage room on the ship.
The next two months were hell for Rhodis.  She was stuck in the tiniest room imaginable with the handful of other captives on the boat.  The room was much too small for them, both horizontally and vertically.  They couldn’t stand, and it was impossible to not be touching another captive.  They were fed very little, and never anything one would eat if they weren’t already starving, which they were.  There was nowhere to go to make waste, and almost everyone got very sick.  About a quarter of them died before they finally reached the shore, and all but one or two of them were seriously ill.
Rhodis, despite her torment, had a child’s resilience, and while her mind would forever be scarred by the experience, she did not die or take ill.  On that boat she developed the spirit of a survivor, and for the rest of her life she would be able to weather any shortcoming, best any challenge.
They disembarked in a strange land, a land that did not belong to the Nór any more than it belonged to the folk of Rhodis’s island.  The land was beautiful, but hot and strange.  It was sandy, like her island, but the sand here was of a different quality.  It was the sand of a desert.  The people had a different shade to them, not white like the Nór or tan like Rhodis but very dark brown, almost black.
It was a very advanced city, with many large buildings and grand architecture.  There were obelisks, each as tall as a man, at each street corner.  The obelisks were painted blue, came to a point at the end, and had yellow characters etched down each of it’s four sides.  In the distance Rhodis could see a large triangular shaped building, but it was too far away to properly judge its size.
Rhodis, along with the other captives, was into the town by two large Nór men, each carrying clubs in case the prisoners tried to step out of line.  Stepping out of line, however, was quite impossible due to the chains around their necks, feet, and hands.  The Nór were led through the town by a short boy from this new city.  The boy led them to a marketplace which was full of hustle and bustle.  Rhodis could see people in every type of clothing imaginable, and people of all different skin colors.  She saw a white man in a green cloak, with straw-colored hair and a short yellow beard.  The man was buying supplies for his horse.  She also saw a group of men in beautiful white and blue robes, who were being escorted by a legion of soldiers, as if they were kings.  She didn’t know it, but they were ambassadors from a distant land.  Lastly, she noticed a woman in a brown cloak, with the hood pulled up to cover her face.  She carried a baby in a basket, and was walking away from the marketplace.
The prisoners finally reached a booth at the marketplace where a group of desert men were talking to the two Nór folk.  It looked like they were arguing.  After a few minutes of debate, one of the desert folk placed a bag in front of the Nór, who took it and left.  Rhodis would never see her captives again.

***

That day Rhodis was sold into slavery to a woman she could not communicate with.  The woman herself was only making the purchase on behalf of her lord, a member of the royal family of this country.  Rhodis was taken to the palace, where she was taken to live with the other palace servants.  She found it much more hospitable than the storage room she had spent the past two months in.  She shared a bed with two other slaves, but it was spacious and comfortable, so she did not mind.
Over the years she learned to speak the language of her possessors, and she learned about the place she now lived.  The country was called Giza, and the city was called Cairo.  All of the slaves were owned by a duke of the kingdom, whose name was Khafra.  She rarely saw Khafra, though, and instead took orders from Maggie, the head servant.  The people of this kingdom ate fish, just like her own, and she found that she didn’t mind living here, though she always missed her father.
Rhodis became the everyday servant girl; she cleaned when she was told to clean, fished when she was told to fish, and was frequently given errands that required her to go into town, which was her favorite thing to do.  Of all the palace servants, she was deemed the most trustworthy, and was often showered praise by her owners.  This made the other servant girls jealous.  By the time she was a teenager the other girls constantly picked on Rhodis, insulting her and calling her names.  She would cry often and wish her father was alive.  Rhodis grew quiet, and would spend her little free time alone, wherever she could find privacy.

***

One day she was alone in the slaves’ bedroom and she took to crying.  Earlier that day a girl had slapped her, and called her whore.  She thought that she had privacy, but a maid heard her and came in.
“Hello?” asked the maid.  “Are you alright?”
Rhodis said nothing, but she did soften her crying, and stared at the girl.  The maid was older than Rhodis, probably about two decades in age.  She seemed to be old and young at the same time, like she had the energy of a youth, but the knowledge of an elder.  She was of a different race than Rhodis as well, her skin a gray-yellow and her hair a deep obsidian, and had almost a gleam to it.  The maid reached into her sleeve and produced a handkerchief.  The girl wiped away Rhodis’s tears, then handed it to her to blow her nose.  When Rhodis tried to return it, the girl gestured to her to keep it.
“What’s your name, dear?” asked the maid.
“Rhodis,” she replied, “what’s yours?”
“Well,” said the maid, “I’ve traveled a lot in my day, and served many, who liked to call me different names.  My favorite one, though, would have to be Elise.”
Rhodis was grateful to Elise, and smiled.  “Nice to meet you, Elise.”
Rhodis looked Elise up and down.  She was very beautiful, and her hair was pulled up, with curls falling behind her head.  She was wearing a black robe, with white trim, which fell to her feet and opened at the front.  The left side was folded over the right at her breast, and was held with a belt.  “You wear very strange clothing for a maid,” said Rhodis.
Elise laughed.  “I’m not from around here,” she said.  “I’m from the Ming dynasty.  I was sent here with eleven other servants last week as a sign of good will.”
Rhodis was curious.  She had heard of the Ming, but had never seen one of them before.  “Why were you sent here?”
“The Emperor of the Ming recently died.  His son has taken his place, and has already conquered three small countries,” Elise said matter-of-factly, without disdain or patriotism.  “If Prince Ming continues his conquest, this would be the next country geographically to be invaded.  The Prince sent twelve servants and two ambassadors to the palace capital a week ago to show good will to these people.”
Rhodis understood, and asked a question.  “Do you think Prince Ming will invade?”
Elise smiled lightly and touched Rhodis’s hair.  “I’m sure of it.  This small gesture of benevolence is probably just to ease this country into a false sense of security, to make the invasion easier for Ming, and the ambassadors are likely here simply to convince the king of Giza to surrender.”
This news made Rhodis uncomfortable.  She looked out the window.  “It’s getting late.  I need to finish my chores.”
“As do I,” said Elise.  “It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Rhodis.  Shall we meet again?”
Rhodis considered this.  Elise was odd, but kind and Rhodis had no other friends.  Rhodis smiled. “Yes,” she said, “tomorrow?”
Elise nodded in agreement.

***

As the next few weeks went by, Elise and Rhodis grew to be the best of friends, helping each other with chores and spending their free time together.  Elise’s prediction came true, however, and the countries of Giza and Ming went to war with each other.  Life in the palace grew hectic, and Rhodis found herself too busy to spend much time with Elise.  One day, Maggie told her in rushed words that the Ming armies were coming close to Cairo.  The Ming, however, were sending a delegation to discuss a peace treaty.  Maggie sent Rhodis to the river to catch some fish, knowing Rhodis was a fine fisherwoman.
Rhodis spent the entire day fishing, and caught fifty fish with her net, many of them very large.  The fish of the river were gray, silver, or blue, so Rhodis was incredibly surprised to find a golden one.  When she laid the net on the ground, she grasped the gold fish in her hand to get a better look at it.  The fish didn’t struggle; instead it merely stared at her.
She was surprised for a second time when the fish spoke to her.  “Hello, Rhodis.”  Rhodis gasped in shock, and dropped the fish to the ground, and it flopped into the water.  It floated to the top, however, and continued to stare at her.  
“What are you?” asked Rhodis, still bewildered.  “Are you a witch?”
“Of course not,” said the fish, clearly offended.  “Do ye not remember me?  I am Gaghiel, the god of the island you hail from.”
Rhodis vaguely remember the golden fish her people worshipped.  “But… wasn’t Gaghiel a giant?  Bigger than a whale, even?” she asked.
“When the sea men, the Nór, invaded your island, and slaughtered your people, my dark sister Leviathan cast a spell on me, making me small and weak,” Gaghiel explained.  “Without anyone to worship me, I have been unable to break the spell, nor able to return to my formal strength and size.”
Rhodis thought on this, and had an idea.  “I know,” she said, “I shall leave you a tithe each morning, as I go about my chores, and offer you a prayer each night, before I go to bed.  Maybe, over time, you will be able to break the spell.”
“Thank you, Rhodis,” said the fish, simply, and disappeared.
Rhodis kept her promise.  Each morning, as she fished breakfast, she threw something in the river for the fish, whatever she could spare.  Each night, before sleeping, she would pray that the fish’s spell be broken.
***
After her encounter with the fish god, Rhodis brought her load of fish into the kitchen, and the cooks there prepared a dinner for the ambassadors.  Rhodis stole two fish for herself, however, and she went to find Elise.  The two of them went to the hiding place they had made from an old, unused fireplace, and ate their meal, and talked about their day.  Rhodis told Elise about the fish, but didn’t expect her to believe the story.
Much to her surprise, she was wrong.  “I’ve seen some strange things in my travels,” said Elise, “and a talking fish might not be the strangest.”
After their meal Elise kissed Rhodis on the forehead goodnight.  “I’ve been assigned the job of cleaning the room for the ambassadors.  I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The next day word went around the palace that the war was over.  The king of Giza and the prince of Ming would enter an alliance, sharing control of the country.  Prince Ming would be coming in three weeks, and there was to be a party at the capitol palace in his name.  A week later a woman from the capitol came, asking Duke Khafra to send servants to help make preparations for the prince.  Both Rhodis and Elise were picked among the twenty servants sent.  When Rhodis heard she was going, she sneaked out to the river, and spoke to the waters.  “Gaghiel, I’m leaving the palace.  I will no longer be able to give you your tithes.”
Gaghiel floated to the top of the water.  He had increased threefold in size, a fish big enough to feed a family.  “Greetings Rhodis.  I thank you for your worship.  Never fear.  I have become friends with one of the deities of this land.  Each night he will come to your window to receive your tithe.  When the time comes, he will also bring you your reward.”
Gaghiel disappeared into the water, and Rhodis went to find Elise.  The two of them led to a carriage and rode to the capitol, a journey which took the entire day.  At the new palace she and Elise were both given the task of keeping all the bedrooms clean, allowing the two of them much time together.  The palace was unbelievably enormous, and every member of royalty in the kingdom had sent at least ten servants to help prepare it for the visitors.  The palace had rooms to spare, and the twenty servants Khafra sent were given their own room, which was very spacious and had ten beds, so that they only had to pair up to sleep.  Rhodis and Elise shared a bed by the window, and when Rhodis was the only servant left awake, she went to the window to look for the god who would be visiting her.
A hawk landed on the window sill, and looked at Rhodis.  She noticed that it had only one eye.  “My name is Heru,” said the hawk. “I am here to bring your tithe to Gaghiel.”  She gave Heru a trinket she had found in the palace, and the bird flew into the night.  Then she got back in bed and slept soundly next to her friend.

***

The next three weeks went by quietly for Rhodis, despite the excitement of the palace denizens.  Many of the servant girls were planning to sneak into the Prince’s party, and try to find a handsome boy to dance with.  As usual, though, none of them said a kind word to Rhodis, and none of them asked her to join.  Rhodis asked Elise if she wanted to go to the party, and Elise replied “I’d only go if you wanted me to go with you.”  Rhodis wasn’t sure if she wished to go or not.  She was not particularly interested in finding a handsome boy, but she did like the idea of seeing what the people from the Ming country were like.  She didn’t have any decent clothes, however, and doubted she could slip into the party unnoticed.
Two nights before the party, Rhodis went to the window to give her nightly gift to Heru.  When the bird landed, however, he had a package hanging from a string on his mouth.  “No tithe today, Rhodis,” said the hawk.  “Instead, accept a token of Gaghiel’s appreciation.”  The hawk then flew away, and Rhodis opened the box her gift was held in.  Inside it was a beautiful cloak. The outside was made of dark black hawk feathers, and the inside was lined with golden fish scales.  She excitedly woke Elise, hoping the other servants wouldn’t hear them.
Elise bade Rhodis to put it on.  “You look beautiful,” said Elise, smiling.  “Maybe we should go to the party after all.”

***

When the party came, the servants slipped in, Rhodis wearing the cloak gifted her by the gods, Elise wearing her black and white robe.  Rhodis was awestruck by the people there, all of whom had the same skin and facial features as Elise, though Rhodis didn’t think any of them were as beautiful.  The Ming people wore wonderful clothing, some similar to Elise’s robes, though in blue or red or yellow, never black and white like her.
Many people remarked upon the wonder and beauty of Rhodis’s cloak, though she never revealed who gave it to her.  Instead she lied and said she made it herself.  Many men asked her to dance, but she declined almost every offer.  At the end of the night, a tall man in a long, black and gold robe asked her to dance.  Feeling a strange charisma about him she agreed, and the two of them danced.  The dance was slow and elegant, and the people around them stared and admired.  Afterwards, he asked her name.
“Rhodis,” she replied, “and your name?”
The people around her gasped and laughed, and at least one of them said “How foolish.”
The tall, handsome, man merely smiled and said “I am Prince Ciar.  I am ruler of the Ming throne.”
Rhodis gasped, and couldn’t find anymore words to say.  The Prince laughed at this, then said “Your cloak is very beautiful, but I have never seen tailoring like it.  Are you a princess from some distant land?  Anathea, perhaps?”
Rhodis shook her head.  “No, I’m a slave here in Cairo.  I made the cloak myself, in my spare time.”  
For the first time, the prince looked surprised.  “Well,” he said, “I’ve never met a slave who danced as fine as you.”  The prince then said a polite goodbye, and went to speak to some other guests.
Rhodis felt dejected, and headed for the door.  She went back to the servants’ bedroom, and found Elise sitting on the bed, looking out the window.  Rhodis was reminded of how they had first met, how Elise had smiled and dried her tears.  She had the same smile on now.  “Are you okay, Rhodis?” she asked.
Rhodis sat on the bed with her, and told her what had happened at the dance; how the prince had discarded her.
“I guess the gods can’t grant you everything,” said Elise.  In frustration, Rhodis began to remove her cloak, venting her anger at Heru and Gaghiel.  “No,” said Elise, as she stood up beside the bed.  “Leave it on.”  She held a hand out to Rhodis.  Rhodis took it, and Elise pulled her out of the bed and close to her.  “May I have this dance?” Elise asked.  The two of them danced beside the window for a few minutes, and Rhodis was happy the gods had given her such a friend.

***

The next morning the servants were awakened by a knock at the door.  Ebe, the oldest servant, answered the door.  At the door was a short Ming man, wearing the clothing of a royal messenger.  “I have a message for Lady Rhodis.”  All of the servant girls’ eyes fell on Rhodis, who walked to the door in her night clothes.  The messenger bowed, and handed her a slip of parchment.  “By imperial decree, the lord Prince Ciar of the high empire of Ming declares that ye, Lady Rhodis, shall be made his wife, in holy ceremony in seven nights.”
There was a collective gasp from everyone in the room.  The messenger merely said “We will send a girl to collect you on the morrow.  Good day, ladies.”  Then he bowed and walked away.
The day went by with blinding speed.  The servant girls were more jealous than ever, but none of them said a rebuking word to Rhodis’s face.  Her masters gave her the day off when they heard the news, and Rhodis went outside to find a place to think.  She sat under a tree, and eventually fell asleep.  When she awoke form her nap, Heru landed next to her.  “Hello,” she said to the bird.  The bird responded likewise.  “Thank you for the cloak,” she said earnestly.  “Are they your feathers?”
“Yes,” said the hawk.  He spread his wings wide.  “Don’t worry, they grow back.”
“Did you intend for the prince to marry me?” she asked.
“No,” replied Heru.  “The cloak was the gift.  How it is used is up to you.”
Rhodis nodded.  “Well, I’m sure when I’m queen I’ll have much better tithes to give you.”
At this, Heru said nothing, and flew into the air.  Rhodis watched him disappear on the horizon.

***

As promised, the next day a woman came and took Rhodis and her few possessions (some clothes and her cloak) away to the section of the palace that had been allocated to the visitors from the Ming dynasty.  She was given many gifts, jewelry and perfume and beautiful clothing, and told of her coming duties as a queen, which she was surprised to hear weren’t very voluminous.  She was taken to many meetings with different members of the royal family, and welcomed by many.  No one ever asked her if she wanted to be married at her seventeen summers of age.  It seemed she was still a slave.
She only got to see Elise twice during the week, and the second time she told her how much she missed her friend.  “I miss you too,” Elise replied, before going back to her duties.
On the night before the wedding she was told that Ciar would be leaving Cairo after the wedding, and the two of them would journey to Ciar’s home country, and the royal palace of Ming.  “Are there any loose ends in this country you would like tied before we leave?” asked the Prince’s sister Jun, who was fitting Rhodis for her wedding robes.  Rhodis told Jun about Elise, and how she didn’t want to leave her friend behind.  “You say she was sent here as a gift from Ciar?” asked Jun.  Rhodis nodded.  “Then I’m more than certain that we can take her back with us when we return to the homeland.”
Later that night Rhodis happily delivered the news to Elise.  Princess Jun ordered that Elise be relieved of her duties and given her own bed in the royal guest suite of the palace.  There Princess Jun and her identical twin sister Mai, as well as Rhodis and Elise each slept in beds bigger than Rhodis had ever seen.  Princess Mai even gifted Elise with many beautiful clothes, including a light blue nightgown.
The next morning was the wedding, and as was the custom of Ming weddings, Rhodis was given her choice of bridesmaids.  She selected Elise as the maid of honor, and, not knowing anyone else, the two princesses.  During the wedding she saw Prince Ciar for the first time since the welcoming ball.  He looked more handsome than ever before, wearing a bright silver and blue robe which matched Rhodis’s own silver and red one.  The wedding was short, and the party afterwards was pleasant.  That night she slept in his bed, the first time she ever shared a bed with anyone who wasn’t another servant, and the first time she shared a bed with a man.  After their consummation, he went to sleep, and she felt alone.  She thought about the past month, sleeping next to her friend.  When sharing a bed with Elise, she never felt lonely.

***

Two days later, the people of Ming, with Rhodis and Elise, boarded their carriages for home.  For most of the journey, the Prince rode on his own horse at the party’s front, sword in hand.  Rhodis and Elise rode in the royal carriage, with the princesses, who were both Elise’s age.  Rhodis found herself becoming good friends with the two of them.  Jun and Mai were down-to-earth, intelligent, well-educated, and had quite wonderful senses of humor.  They were also very conscious of fashion, that day Jun wore a “hanfu,” an elegant type of robe-dress worn by the people of northern Ming, while Mai wore a “kimono,” a robe from west Ming.  Rhodis realized that it was a kimono that Elise had worn while working as a maid all those years.  As the days progressed the four of them talked about a great range of topics, from mundane to fantastic to strange.  Rhodis found that Princess Jun had an affinity for religion.
“Tell me, Rhodie,” Jun asked (Rhodis had not yet decided what she thought of the nickname), “what kind of beliefs do they have on this island you’ve told us about.”
Rhodis told her everything she remembered about the stories of Gaghiel and Leviathan, and about the annual rituals.
“Truly amazing,” Jun exclaimed.  “I’ve noticed that the gods people worship depend on the climates of the regions they come from.  You come from an island, and the people believe in a pair of fish gods.  My siblings and I hail from north Ming, a snowy mountain region.  There they worship a giant white-furred lynx.”
“So, you don’t believe in gods?” asked Rhodis.
Jun smiled.  “I have little doubt that there is a giant lynx in the woods near my home.  I also wouldn’t be surprised if there were a large golden fish in the waters near your island.  But, being large and powerful does not make them gods.”
This was an interesting idea to Rhodis, but she said nothing.  Instead, she was interrupted by Elise.  “Did you say we’re going to the palace in the north Ming mountains?”
Mai laughed girlishly.  “No, our mother’s palace in Ming would take nearly a year to reach, what with all the complicated mountain paths.  We’re going to Ciar’s palace, it is much closer, in Dendane.”  Elise nodded at this, but Rhodis didn’t understand what they were talking about.  She had never needed to know much about the world beyond Giza’s borders.

***

The four of them conversed for weeks in their large carriage, and were fed fine foods and had plenty of sleeping comfort, though they were close together.  Ciar would occasionally show up to join them, but he was a solemn and quiet man.  When they’d break for camp Rhodis would sleep with him, and a few times they made love, but not often.  He rarely talked to her, or anyone, for that matter.  She did not know him at all.
After about two months of travel, they reached Dendane, and two days later reached Ciar’s home.  “Welcome, my new friends,” Mai said cheerfully as they rode up, “to the second palace of Ming.”
“Or as it used to be called,” added Jun, “Castle MacBeth.  But, don’t mention that to my dear brother.”
They entered the castle, and the sister Princesses gave Elise and Rhodis the grand tour.  Everything about the stone-carved castle was enormous, tall, and gray.  Rhodis found the temperature to be very cold compared to the islands and Giza.
However, it was not the weather or the unfamiliarity that upset Rhodis; it was all the women she was introduced to.  She met women from Ming, Dendane, and three other countries.  She finally realized why Prince Ciar was so quick to marry her, why he rarely spoke to her, and why he made love with little passion.  The Prince of Ming must have had at least a dozen wives before her.  Some of them seemed to have an empty look to them, but others didn’t seem to mind the idea of polygamy, though Rhodis never dared to actually vocalize her thoughts.

***

As time rolled by, Rhodis found the days to be a dull blur.  As a prince’s wife, she had no responsibilities, and no one ever asked Elise to work either, but they had been working for so long that they would find chores to do around the castle.  The other wives seemed to have more of a malaise, doing as they pleased, watching jesters and a few of them reading.  It seemed a ridiculous and frivolous life to Rhodis, but she was sure they thought the same of her, the little foreign slave girl Ciar had brought back as a war trophy.  As for her husband, she was “visited” by him only twice more before he forgot her, and went off to war again, this time in some strange far-away country called the Land of Thorns.
Eventually Rhodis ran out of things to keep herself busy.  At night she would look to the sky and call out to Heru, but he never came.  During the day she would go fishing at the edge of the forest, but the water was swampy and she knew that she would never see Gaghiel there.  She wondered if her gods missed her, or if they were angry at her for losing their tributes.
At twilight she walked back to the castle and found an empty room.  She sat on a bed and thought of her father, and his death at the hands of the barbarous Nór.  She thought of the long, disgusting nights on the cramped slave ship.  She thought of her life as a slave in Cairo, and the girls who would slap her face and insult her name.  She thought of her so-called husband, and of the other wives with their sideways glances and condescending tones.  As she reflected on her life she cried, though she failingly tried to stay quiet.
As she tried to quiet her sobs, she heard the wooden door drift open.  In the doorway was Elise.  She wore a gentle smile, but it didn’t disguise her concerned eyes.  She shut the door behind her and sat on the bed with Rhodis.  Elise didn’t say a word; she merely pulled a handkerchief from the sleeve of her black-and-white robe and wiped away Rhodis’s tears.  Rhodis smiled back at her, though her tears did not quite cease.  Elise hugged her, pulling her close, letting Rhodis’s head lay on her shoulders, tears rolling down her breast.  She lightly rocked Rhodis to and fro, like a mother holding her child.