Tasmina's Tale

25. Family Dinner

Tasmina

I strode through the palace grounds with Malaka by my side. Since I had decided to reinstate the royal guard, which people had taken to calling the Queen’s Guard, she had gathered twenty of the strongest women she knew. The vast majority of them were the daughters of the previous guard. Despite it being disbanded, mothers had still taken time to train their daughters in combat. 

“Will you dine with us today, Malaka?” 

“I do not wish to impose, my queen,” she said, bowing. 

“Oh, for goddess’s sake, Malaka. Call me Tasmina, there’s no one else here. And you have never imposed. We’d love to have you. I warn you though, Felan is suddenly enamoured with you now that he knows you’re fighting. You know he has a certain… amour for strong women.” 

She snorted and shook her head.

“That man will never change,” she muttered. 

We walked into my family’s new home. It was almost double the size of our previous home. There was a large dining room, complete with a dining table that seated six. When I opened the door, the smell of frying okra hit me and my mouth immediately began to water. 

Faris and Ruki were in the kitchen, working in perfect harmony, as she stirred and he added more salt to the pot. 

“Can I help?” I asked, joining them. 

“Oh, her royal highness, in the kitchen? What would Salma say?” Felan called from the living chambers. 

We laughed loudly. 

“Goddess, she sounds like an insufferable b***h,” Ruki muttered, shaking her head. “Can you drain the rice, Mina?” 

I did as she asked, carefully pouring the boiling water from the rice. 

“You should have seen her face when Mina said there would be set meal times during the day,” Faris said, smiling widely. 

“Oh, was she absolutely astounded that the lives of the omegas would no longer revolve around the royal family’s whims?” she asked, sardonically. 

“She nearly gave birth to her breakfast when Tasmina said she would be dining with us tonight,” Felan added, standing against the doorway and winking at Malaka. 

Ruki snorted, shaking her head with derision. 

“You did the right thing, Tasmina. The people will be grateful to know you’re thinking of them. Even those without status,” she said, smiling at me with pride. 

I kissed the side of her head and busied myself with grabbing plates while Malaka grabbed the cutlery. 

“Are you going to make yourself useful or are you just going to ogle at me?” she asked, raising her brow at Felan. 

“I’m quite content with just ogling, for now,” Felan replied, grinning lasciviously at her. 

“Stop flirting with my friend and grab some glasses, Felan,” Ruki laughed. 

He did as he was told and we all placed it down on the sheet that Faris spread on the floor. No one had so much as mentioned the dining table. The okra was delicious, and each and every nose present was running as the spice hit the back of our throats. It was one of Mama’s favourite recipes. 

“This is delicious, Ruki,” Felan said, his mouth full. 

“I just followed Miya’s recipe,” Ruki said, smiling shyly. 

“You did it perfectly,” I sighed, enjoying the familiar heat of the okra saalan. 

“Tomorrow is the Beta and Gamma ceremony,” I said, sighing. 

“Another royal engagement?” Ruki asked. 

I nodded.

“I’ll train with you tomorrow, then I need to go and get ready to take my place at Rikom’s side,” I said. 

She nodded, but looked at me with concern. 

“Are you alright, Mina? You look tired.” 

I was. It hadn’t even been a month since Mama had been gone and already so much had changed. Ruki seemed to reach my thoughts as she sat beside me, and gently squeezed my hand. 

“She’d be proud of you, you know.” 

I gave her a small smile. 

“She’d be proud of us all. We’ve somehow managed, even without her.” 

Barely, I thought. Though the chambers I shared with Rikom felt like home, the palace did not. It was oppressive, a vast, looming space, filled with people who despised me. I didn’t share these thoughts with my family. I knew they were already worried about me and I had no desire to add to those worries. 

“You’ll be alright, Mina,” Faris said, giving me a small smile. 

Like Mama, his intuition was second to none. In some ways, out of all of us, he was the most like her. Quietly strong, perceptive and able to gauge your mood from the moment he looked upon your face. 

“Enough about me,” I said, flippantly, “how are you? We haven’t yet spoken of… well, Lord Silas being your father.” 

He looked down immediately before sighing deeply. 

“I was angry with Mama. Angrier still because… well, she died before I could ask her anything else. Of what he was like, of whether he ever asked for me. But I realised, I don’t care. Mama has never led us astray before. And if she kept me away from my father, she must have had a good reason.” 

We nodded, quietly. He was always so reasonable, his logic always sound. He never dwelled on anger for long, choosing instead to forgive, or find the good in any predicament, even one as immense as this. 

“And what if he comes to you now? I hear he’s a power-hungry rectum,” Malaka interjected.

We burst into laughter at this and the mood had immediately lightened. 

“I have only enough space for two rectums in my life. My own, and the one I refer to as my brother,” Faris said. 

Again, we laughed as Felan looked outraged; he threw a grain of rice at Faris with contempt and grinned at him affably. We spent the evening this way, laughing over tea and mocking one another relentlessly. The only thing missing was Mama. The sun had long set when I finally stood up, ready to make my way back to the palace. 

“Will I see you all at lunch tomorrow?” I asked, looking at Ruki pointedly. 

“Oh, I don’t know, Mina. If they haven’t taken to you, they’re going to absolutely despise me.” 

“You’re not there for them, Ruki. You’re there for me,” I said, hugging her tightly as we stood by the door. 

“Even still,” she said, looking uncertain. 

“Ruki, I wouldn’t let them say a word against you. You’re my sister,” I insisted. 

“I won’t have you disrupting the royal family on my behalf, Mina. It won’t help your relationship with the dowager queens. It is better this way. I’m not quite built for palace life anyway.”

She tried laughing it off but it hurt me to know that she felt out of place. 

“Oh, would you look at your face!” she chided. “I’m fine, Mina. Plus, I have Faris and Felan here to take care of.”

“Hey! I take care of you,” Felan said. 

“Please, brother. You can barely take care of yourself,” Faris replied, rolling his eyes at him. 

“You see,” she said, laughing. “I have my hands full with these two. I shall meet you after lunch. We’ll go for a walk in the gardens!” 

I searched her eyes to be sure. 

“Fine,” I conceded. “I shall see you in the gardens after the Beta and Gamma ceremony. And whatever you’re making for lunch… save me a little.” 

After hugging and kissing everyone goodbye, Malaka and I made our way back to the palace.

“You don’t have to walk me, you know,” I said, laughing. 

“It’s my duty now, as the queen’s guard,” she replied, chuckling. 

I rolled my eyes. 

“So ridiculous,” I muttered. 

“From the streets of Daro to having your own guard. How strange it must all seem,” Malaka mused. 

I nodded in agreement.

“Strange is putting it lightly. I had to convince Kinsa and Sumara that I could bathe myself in the mornings,” I muttered.

“They tried to bathe you?” Malaka asked, aghast. 

“Oh, they succeeded a few times, let me tell you,” I replied, laughing. “It was only when Rikom insisted upon bathing me himself did they finally relent. I told Kinsa to go and spend time with her son. She brought him along once - he’s a bit of a devil child, she calls him Meeka or Mika. He does not stop screeching. That boy causes destruction wherever he goes.”

Malaka snorted at my description of him. 

“Hopefully he grows out of his thirst for destruction,” she replied, giggling. 

“One can hope,” I replied, laughing along with her. 

We stopped at the foot of the palace steps and she stood to attention. 

“This is where I leave you, my queen,” she said, bowing her head. 

I grinned and kissed her on the cheek. If I wasn’t entirely imagining things, I was quite sure she blushed as she turned to leave towards her home.