After the Grand Mage had left her room, Ashaktis spent the rest of the night awake, lying on her bed, pondering about what he had said to her. The possible future K had shown her as an option had sounded very appealing at the time but the more thought she gave it the more sure she was that this was not the way she would go.

A frown on her forehead, she took the blue vial in her hand and mustered it.
Her original aim had been to bed the king, but being the mother of his heir? She had never taken this into consideration before… if the king should eventually beget her with child, then it was the will of the gods. But she would not bring this upon herself deliberately. She was still new in the harem and her position was not settled at all. She dreaded the rivalry and the intrigues.. and then the King had an heir already and who was she compared to his queen… a harem girl, an exquisite one but still a nobody in comparison... So he might just not acknowledge such a child at all… and she would have to fear for the welfare of herself and her son all the time. Was this what she really wanted, young and inexperienced as she was? No. And if things went wrong and the blue liquid failed, what would become of her? No, no, no. She would hand it back to K at her earliest convenience.

She put it aside and took the green vial. A substance to make herself irresistible. That was easy. She would never use it, self-confident as she was about her body and appeal. If she could not do it by herself, then she did not want to go ahead at all. She wanted to be desired for what she was, not for what she might seem to be. She would return this one as well.

But the yellow one, that she would gladly use. This was exactly what she needed and it would solve the only obstacle in her way. She stored it away carefully.

The next day passed uneventful. Right in the morning in the course of her music lesson she managed to hand the two vials to her friend Ereshkigal who had experienced a somewhat more intense encounter with the Grand Mage. Ashaktis was not familiar with the details but knew Ereshkigal had ways to find him when necessary and she trusted her. Afterwards she returned to her bed and slept until sunset as she needed to be in excellent shape for the night that awaited her. As soon as it was dark she got up and started with her preparations. She would not leave any detail to chance…