Zuleika and the Barbarian

Chapter One

"You would give me to the barbarian for his harem?" said Zuleika, Princess of Dariyabar, disbelieving.

"It is the practical solution to our problem," her cousin, Haroun, said. "Your father, the sultan, agrees." He was a man of medium height with a too beautiful face, dark blue eyes, and curly black hair.

"I thought you loved me! It has been planned since our shared childhood that we marry," Zuleika responded.

"But it is no longer necessary that I marry you, dear Zuleika," he told her. "Your brothers are all dead. I am the only male heir your father has. Even without you I shall be the next sultan of Dariyabar."

"I never realized what a snake you are, Haroun," the princess replied, her voice suddenly cold. The Gods! What a fool she had been!

"You see, cousin," he continued, "I have the throne, and I shall be able to keep my favorite, Golnar, which I could not have done if I had married you. I need a more complaisant wife. I have chosen the vizier's daughter, Bahira. She is a pretty little thing, and will do precisely what she is told. You have never done what you are told, Zuleika, unless, of course, it pleased you to do so. I cannot have a wife who would attempt to rule Dariyabar through me. I need a wife who will be loyal, and never criticize. Bahira will suit me admirably."

"Have you told her that yet, Haroun?" Zuleika asked him dryly. Bahira was her best friend. They were like sisters. Haroun was very mistaken if he thought Bahira a meek little ewe sheep who would follow her lord and master without question. She must find a way to protect her friend!

"The time is not right yet for me to announce my choice of a wife. Not until you are safely ensconced within the camp of the barbarian, Amir Khan. I suspect he will be quite pleased to have the sultan's daughter for his new plaything, cousin." Haroun smiled broadly.

"But not as his wife?" Zuleika probed.

"This is not a negotiation we are having with Amir Khan," Haroun said. "You are a gift. One does not put conditions on a gift."

"You are a fool, Haroun, if you believe that by giving Amir Khan the sultan of Dariyabar's daughter he will pack up his armies and go away. Do you think he has been besieging us for three years so he might be given the gift of a woman?"

"They say that Amir Khan is an intelligent man. Surely by now he has come to realize he cannot take the city. Without the city, the rest of Dariyabar is useless to him. We make a great public presentation to the khan of the princess Zuleika, Sultan Ibrahim's only surviving child. A peace between us is inevitable under such a circumstance. We give him the means of saving face. He can depart without embarrassment, or shame. After all, cousin, no one has ever successfully besieged Dariyabar."

Zuleika swept her cousin a low bow. "I bow, Haroun, to your clever plan," she told him. Then she turned and left him in the sultan's gardens, knowing as she went that he wore a smug smile upon his too-handsome features. He was a fool! And she would make certain that he did not follow her father as ruler of Dariyabar. But she must work quickly for Haroun, she now realized, was a ruthless man. As soon as he had gotten rid of her, and made Bahira his wife, her father's very life was in jeopardy.

The sultan was a beloved ruler who had brought Dariyabar great prosperity by encouraging a ship-building industry that built merchant vessels that traversed the known world buying and selling luxury goods of every kind. They traded in ivory, gold, silk, and slaves, among other things. Their ships carried fine oils, wines, olives and grains. There was no one in Dariyabar who did not have a home, or food in his mouth each day, or warm clothing and shoes in the rainy season. Children were schooled to their abilities so they might be of use to Dariyabar one day, no matter the circumstances of their birth, or their parents' path in life.

But the sultan had married his only wife late in life because of this deep devotion to his homeland. It had been ten years before his sultana had borne children. But she had then birthed four in the next eight years. Sultan Ibrahim was now in his eighth decade of life. He had watched proudly as his three sons, Cyrus, Asad, and Jahi, had each in their turn sallied forth from Dariyabar at the head of their troops to defend their homeland. But each in his turn was slain, and returned upon their shields. Now he was left to mourn with his surviving child, for the sultana had died giving birth to that last babe, his daughter, Zuleika. The sultan drew his wool shawl about his narrow shoulders, and sighed.

His only male heir was his much younger half-brother's son, Haroun. Sultan Ibrahim had raised this nephew almost from birth for both his half-brother and his wife had disappeared from the palace one night, and were never again seen. It was a great mystery. Sultan Ibrahim had always planned for Haroun to wed his daughter, Zuleika, but now Haroun said that was impossible. Zuleika must be given to Amir Khan as a peace offering. Surely his nephew had Dariyabar's best interests at heart. Hearing a footfall, the old man looked up to see his daughter entering the garden courtyard.

Zuleika went to her father and knelt before him, taking his hands in hers and pressing them to her heart. "Good day, my father," she said sweetly to him.

"Get up, my daughter, and come and sit with me," the sultan said in his reedy voice. "Haroun has spoke with you, I can tell, for your eyes are stormy no matter that your mouth smiles at me."

Zuleika laughed, rose gracefully, and sat by her sire's side. "Haroun is not fit to rule Dariyabar, father," she began. "You know in your heart that his only interest in our land is the riches it can bring him. He will ultimately drive the people to misery." She sighed. "I will do what you desire of me, father. However, for my sake, as well as for the prestige of Dariyabar, I beg you that I go to Amir Khan as his wife, not his concubine. I am your daughter, and the daughter of a princess. I am not some slave girl!"

"Haroun says you are a gift, and we cannot attach conditions of any kind to a gift," the sultan said in a voice that indicated his confusion over the matter.

Zuleika realized then and there that it was useless to argue the matter further with her father. Haroun had convinced him of what lie must do, and being a male it was his word that would prevail over hers despite the fact her father loved her. Her facile mind was already forming a plan of action. "It will be as you wish, my father," she told him meekly. "But would you permit me a boon?"

"I will give you whatever you desire, my daughter," the sultan said, eager to please Zuleika under these circumstances. He had to trust his heir's judgment in this matter, and yet he was not certain he was really doing the right thing.

"Other than my servant, Rafa, I would take one person with me when I leave Dariyabar, father."

"You may have whomever you desire, my daughter," the sultan promised her. "You have my word on it. Who would you take?"

"I am not certain yet," Zuleika lied smoothly. "I shall tell you on the day that I leave." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "You have not yet told Haroun about Kansbar, have you?"

"No," her father said.

"Do not," Zuleika implored the old man. "Until we can be certain that Haroun's motives are pure, we must not put Kansbar into his hands. Promise me that, father! Swear on my mother's memory!"

"I pledge you silence on Jamila's memory," the sultan vowed to his daughter. "I know you are right in this, Zuleika."

"Thank you, father," the girl said, then arose, and kissing his cheek again she left him with his memories and his thoughts. Hurrying to her own quarters she entered, saying to her servant as she did, "I am betrayed, Rafa. I am to be given to Amir Khan as a peace offering!" Her eyes met those of her best friend, Bahira. "And Haroun has decided to take you for his wife because you are meek and mild."

"Me?" Bahira looked astounded. She was a plump, pretty girl with dark auburn hair and blue eyes. "I never thought he even noticed me, but I should not marry Haroun if he were the last man on earth!"

"And your father approves of this perfidy?" Rafa demanded, outraged. "My poor master! He is old, and confused. Prince Haroun takes shameful advantage of him."

"Father takes his word over mine only because he is a man," Zuleika said, almost bitterly.

"What are you going to do?" Bahira asked.

"First you must tell me if you are certain that you will not have Haroun?" Zuleika replied. "Think carefully, Bahira. If my plan fails, then you could be the sultana of Dariyabar."

"And if your plan succeeds?" Bahira wanted to know.

"I will be the sultana," Zuleika said with a smile.

"And Haroun?" Rafa asked, her black eyes curious.

"He will not be the sultan," was all Zuleika would say.

"I will take my chances with you," Bahira told her friend.

"Good! I have asked my father for Rafa and one other person to go with me to the barbarian's encampment. He swore I might have anyone I desired. Haroun will not approach your father until after I am gone. I intend asking the sultan for you, Bahira. He has given his word, and will not take it back no matter Haroun's protests. That way I can keep you safe from my cousin." She reached out and took her friend's hand, and the hand of her servant. "Will you both trust me to bring us safely back to Dariyabar? I will, you know."

They both squeezed her hand in response.

"Good," Zuleika told them. "Now let us go and see what Kansbar will show me, provided he is in a mood to cooperate."

Without being asked, Rafa scurried across the room to a tall ebony wood cabinet. Opening it, she drew out a concave vessel, and bringing it to her mistress set it upon a low table. It was a bowl, wide, round, and almost flat in design. It was oddly plain, having no decoration upon it at all, neither carving nor bas-relief. It was dull in color, appearing to be made from some base metal. Rafa and Bahira sat about the low table on red silk cushions. Zuleika knelt before the bowl.

"Great Kansbar, guardian of Dariyabar, and supreme genie of the golden bowl, come forth, I beg you, and speak with me," she said.

The bowl filled with clear crystal water.

"Please, Kansbar, we are in danger, and need you," Zuleika pleaded politely.

The dull bowl suddenly shone itself a bright and shining gold.

"We are at your mercy, and await your august presence," Zuleika murmured.

Suddenly a face appeared on the smooth surface of the water. It was a male face, ageless, and his head was topped by a cloth-of-gold turban in the front of which was set a large pigeon's-blood ruby. Black eyes looked out upon the trio, curious, and perhaps just a trifle irritated at being disturbed. "It must be great danger, my princess, that you are so deferential to me," the genie said. "What has happened, and how may I serve you?" His voice was deep, and like thunder.

"I am to be given to the khan as a gift," Zuleika said. "My cousin, Haroun, has betrayed us. I fear when I am gone he will see my father dead so he may rule Dariyabar."

"He is the male heir," Kansbar said.

"You would serve him?"

"I did not say that, my princess. I said he was the male heir," the genie responded. "I know your cousin's worth even as I know yours Now, how may I serve you today?"

"Show me Amir Khan," Zuleika said.

"It is done," Kansbar said as he disappeared from the surface of the water, which grew dark again.

And then the liquid grew quite light, and there before them was a man. He was taller than any man Zuleika had ever seen. His body was perfect, and in absolute proportion. He was well-muscled, with quite graceful hands and feet. His head was shaven, and from his smooth skull fell a single swath of black hair, dressed with narrow gold bands. His face was beardless. He had high cheekbones, a long straight nose with flaring nostrils, a generous mouth, and dark brown eyes that mirrored his intelligence.

"The Gods!" Bahira breathed aloud. "He is gorgeous, Zuleika! I should far rather have him between my legs than Haroun the Handsome."

"He is mine," Zuleika said, quietly admiring the curve of his buttocks as he turned. He was dressed only in a loincloth.

Suddenly Kansbars face reappeared upon the surface of the water. "Have you seen enough, my princess?" he demanded.

"Yes," she answered him. Then she turned to Rafa and Bahira. "Leave me," she said. "I need to speak with Kansbar alone." When they had withdrawn, Zuleika said to the genie, "I would meet Amir Khan privately when none are about. No one must know that I do this. And I would be clothed in moonbeams when we meet."

The genie smiled sardonically. "Do you mean to seduce him, my princess?" he mocked her gently.

"If I must, but I think not," she replied. "Haroun would send me as a gift, a concubine. It is an insulting gesture to us both. If I must take this man, then it must be as his wife. This is why I need to speak with him, Kansbar."

"Look at me, my princess," the genie said, and after their eyes had met for a long minute he continued, "I see what it is you will say to him, and he should see reason, my princess, for he is not a foolish man."

"How can you be certain?" she asked.

"I do not spend all my time in this bowl," Kansbar said sharply. "While I am bound to serve Dariyabar, I need only come when I am called. Tonight! You will go to him tonight, for there is no time to waste, my princess. At the midnight hour I will send a gentle fog across the city and the khan's encampment. All will sleep but for you and Amir Khan alone. You will find his command tent in the very center of his camp. The moon will clothe you and light your way. No one will challenge either your coming or your going. My spell will only hold to the dawn, however."

She nodded. "Thank you, Kansbar," she told the genie.

He nodded at her in acknowledgement, and then both the genie and the water in the bowl disappeared, while the round vessel again took on a dull sheen with no hint of gold at all. Zuleika arose, and taking the bowl replaced it back in the cabinet. She rejoined Bahira and Rafa in her small private walled garden.

"What mischief do you plan?" Rafa asked her, suspicious.

"None," Zuleika assured her.

"I think I shall remain with you tonight," Bahira said.

"No," Zuleika told her. "You will rouse my cousin's suspicions if you do. Particularly in light of what he has told me today."

"But what if he speaks to my father?" Bahira asked.

"I have already told you that he will not until I am gone, and in the khan's embrace," Zuleika replied. "You need have no fears unless we force Haroun to a premature action. Play the quiet maiden for now, Bahira. Can you not imagine the look on Haroun's face when I snatch you from beneath his nose?" She laughed.

Bahira laughed too. "He may be handsome, but I have always thought there was something slimy about your cousin," she admitted. "He is like one of those creatures who sometimes appear in the garden and leave a trail of muck behind them." She shivered. "I would kill myself before I married such a man!"

"He thinks you would be obedient, and not object to Golnar, or thwart her authority in his harem," Zuleika noted.

"They say Golnar has magical powers," Bahira remarked. "Do you think it is true?"

"She is an odd creature," Zuleika replied. "I cannot imagine what Haroun sees in her. I find her too-pale hair, skin and eyes repellent."

"I should not like to share a harem with her," Bahira said. Then she stood up from the marble bench where she had been seated, and stretched. "If I am going home, I had best leave now. It is almost sunset, and I prefer my litter traversing the streets while it is still light." She bent, and kissed Zuleika's cheek. "I will be back tomorrow."

"I may have some interesting news for you then," the princess of Dariyabar answered her best friend. And when Bahira had gone, Zuleika said to Rafa, "I think I shall bathe after I have had my evening meal."

Rafa bowed low. "I shall bring your food now," she said, and went off to fetch it for her mistress.

Zuleika sat quietly, letting the peace of the early evening and the fragrance of the flowers soothe her. At the far end of her garden she had a view of the blue sea beyond a low wall. There was no need for a high wall, for that end of the sultan's palace sat upon a steep cliff. The sun now set to the west in a magnificent display of color. Zuleika liked to watch the sunset every day, for no two were alike. Tonight the sky above was a rich blue, streaked with glorious pink and peach clouds edged with gold. The sun itself blazed scarlet as it sank into its bed of orange and gold with just the thinnest line of pale green. As the colors muted in crimson and tangerine, she noted a bright diamond star directly above her. Rafa's voice broke into her thoughts and Zuleika turned with a smile.

"Your meal awaits, my princess," Rafa said, and she smiled too, knowing her mistress's love of the sunset. "It is especially beautiful this evening, isn't it?" she noted.

Zuleika nodded, and then rising, followed the older woman back through the colorless gossamer draperies that separated her quarters from the gardens. "What have you brought me? I find I am ravenous tonight."

Rafa chuckled. "You cannot tell me that you do not plan some mischief, my princess. You are always extra hungry when you do." She seated the girl at her table. "See for yourself."

Zuleika's violet eyes swept over the table, and then with a grin she began to eat. There were chunks of lamb upon a skewer with tiny whole onions, and bits of melon that had been brushed with olive oil and roasted over a slow fire. There was a plate of warm flat breads, and a dish of yogurt that had been strained through a piece of silk, and then mixed with an apricot puree.

"Will you drink wine tonight, my princess?" Rafa asked.

"Nay. I will have pomegranate juice," came the reply.

Rafa's eyebrow raised itself just slightly as she poured the required beverage from the silver pitcher. Something was indeed afoot, that Zuleika would not have her usual cup of wine with her evening meal. She placed the pomegranate juice by her mistress's right hand. If Zuleika did not wish to tell her what she was up to, there was nothing she could do, but she still worried. She had raised this maiden from her birth when the poor sultana had died.

"Is it dangerous?" she probed.

"Nay, and ask me no more," Zuleika replied. "Do you think I am a fool to risk my own safety, and that of Dariyabar?"

Rafa nodded. "I worry," was all she said.

"Do not, old woman," came the command, and the princess turned back to her meal with enthusiasm.

"Because you tell me," Rafa said with a wry smile.

"Because I tell you," Zuleika nodded.

Rafa chortled. "I will see that your bath is prepared," she told her mistress.

And when the princess had finished her meal, and bathed, she lay down to sleep. She would awaken at the proper hour, she knew. And when she opened her eyes again and arose, she looked at the water clock and saw it was the midnight hour. With a smile she slipped a pair of kid slippers upon her feet. Rafa lay sleeping soundly on a mat at the foot of her bed. A soft smile touched Zuleika's face. She loved Rafa as she would have loved her mother had the sultana Jamila lived. Taking up a dark cloak from a cedar chest, the princess slipped from her apartments.

Outside her doors the guards slumbered, leaning upon their lances. Everyone she passed within the palace slept. She walked through a small door in the tightly shut palace gates. The city was silent. There was not even the barking of dogs, or the howling of felines at the bright full moon. Zuleika moved swiftly through the quiet streets, now coming to the closed and barred city gates. Again she made her way through a small door within the barrier, stepping out into the countryside beyond. There, but a quarter of a mile ahead of her, lay the camp of their enemy. Zuleika walked more swiftly now, and reaching the throng of tents she stopped momentarily to get her bearings.

Amir Khan's tent would be in the center of the encampment, the genie had said. Then as if a puzzle had revealed itself, Zuleika saw the proper path to take. She moved forward, and made her way to the magnificent pavilion with its multicolored pendants now at rest in the still night air. As everywhere else, the guards were asleep before their campfires. Zuleika moved past the entrance of Amir Khan's tent, saying as she did so, "Good evening, my lord."

He looked up, startled at the sound of the woman's voice. "Who are you?" he asked, moving away from the table where he had been studying several maps. "And how did you manage to gain entry? My guards are usually not so lax, but if you are an assassin I warn you that my dagger tip is poisoned. If I touch you with it, you will die almost instantly."

The princess let her cloak fall from her shoulders. She was garbed in the sheerest garment that appeared to have been woven by spiders out of moonbeams. "I am Zuleika of Dariyabar, Amir Khan," she said quietly. "I have not come to assassinate you, but rather to parley with you."

"Your father has offered you to me as my concubine," he answered. His dark brown eyes roamed slowly over her visible form. She was probably the most beautiful creature he had ever seen, with her long ebony hair, her heart-shaped face and the unflinching violet eyes now observing him boldly. He felt a tingle in his loins. Just looking at her made him lustful.

"It is my cousin Haroun's idea to offer you the princess of Dariyabar, not my father's. But my sire is ancient, and no longer strong. His will has been weakened by his many years. He wants only quiet days, and peaceful nights. Haroun actually believes that you will go away if I am given to you. He thinks that you have come to realize Dariyabar is impregnable. He assumes the gift of its princess will allow you to withdraw while saving face, the sultan's only child now in your possession."

"What do you think?" he queried her, curious.

"I think you will not go away," Zuleika began. "You have not been besieging my city for three years for spoils, my lord. You need a window on the sea, and Dariyabar can give you one. But the city is indeed impregnable. We have never in our known history fallen."

"So you have come to dissuade me from having you, princess? Seeing you, I do not think I could now deny myself the pleasure of your body," Amir Khan told her.

A faint blush touched her cheeks, but then she continued, "I can help you gain your objective, my lord, but I want something in return for my aid. Tell my father you will not accept me as a concubine, but rather you wish to take me for your wife. I know you have no wife."

"Why do I need one?" he asked her, amused. She was tall for a female, but he still topped her by almost a foot, he considered.

"You do not need just any wife, Amir Khan. You need this wife. You need me. I am the key that can open the gates of Dariyabar to you. And I shall do it without further bloodshed, but for one man."

"Prince Haroun," he said.

"Aye, my cousin. He is an evil man, and will destroy my land if he is allowed to follow my father to the throne. If you take me for your wife; if you slay Haroun; it is you who will be the next sultan of Dariyabar. And you will be followed by the son I shall give you, insuring that my father's blood remains in the line of descent to follow. Haroun encouraged my father and my brothers in this war against you, my lord. I suspect he would have cajoled my father to battle were he not so old, and feeble. As it is, Haroun remained safe within the walls of the city while my brothers marched out to defend Dariyabar, losing their lives in the process. Now he would rid himself of me, and you as well. He would take my best friend, Bahira, daughter of our vizier, Abd al Hakim, to wife, against her will. He chooses Bahira because he believes her a ewe sheep who will allow his favorite to continue to control his harem. He will bleed the people of Dariyabar to fill his own coffers, and my people will suffer."

"Why should I not just take you for my concubine, and then continue my siege?" the barbarian khan asked Zuleika.

"If all you desire is my body, my lord, it is yours to take now," she told him. "But I believe you would rather have your window on the sea. Is taking me to wife so high a price to pay?"

She roused him in a way in which he had never been stirred before. Her very presence was kindling a fire in his loins. His fingers closed gently about her slender throat. "I could have my way with you, princess of Dariyabar, and force your secrets from you one by one." The dark eyes blazed down at her, his handsome face stern. His strong fingers tightened just slightly.

Her lips curved into the hint of a mocking smile. "No, Amir Khan, you could not," she told him in a soft, assured tone. "You could take my body, but there is nothing that could pry my secrets from me if I did not wish to share them. Not passion. Not torture. Besides, if you should harm me then Kansbar will destroy you." Reaching up, she removed his hand from her throat. "You must not bruise me, my lord, lest I be asked questions that I shall not be able to answer."

"Who is Kansbar? Your lover?" He was shocked to hear the jealousy in his own voice, and he put an arm about her, pulling her close in order to reassert his dominance over her.

Again, her mouth twitched with her amusement. "Kansbar is the genie of the Golden Bowl. He is the guardian of Dariyabar. After my brothers were slain, my father gave the bowl to me as it was expected that Haroun and I would wed. My cousin does not even know the bowl exists. Kansbar, will be to your advantage if you wed me. He is a very powerful genie, and I will bring the bowl with me as part of my dower."

"If I agree to your proposal, princess, then you must give me your vizier's daughter for my general, Sabola. Such an alliance will make my position stronger."

"As his wife?" she queried.

"Agreed!" he said. "Now tell me, how it is you were able to leave your palace and walk into my encampment without raising any alarm?" He pushed her gown off her shoulders, his hands caressing the soft, silky skin.

"Kansbar has put a spell upon all of our little world this night but for you and for me," she explained. She shrugged her garment off, and it dropped to the floor of his tent.

He felt his breath catch in his throat. "Are you a virgin?" he asked her. Her breasts brushed against his broad chest, and he admired their perfection, not to mention the exciting contrast between his pale gold skin and her creamy ivory flesh.

"Of course I am a virgin, but I have been taught all the ways of pleasing a man, Amir Khan." Her hand reached beneath his sand-and-white striped robe. She fondled his rod with surprisingly skilled fingers. "You are very big," she noted. Then her hands moved to undo his robe so she might see his body as he was seeing hers. When she had succeeded she moved back slightly, saying, "You are very beautiful for a man, Amir Khan. You are not overly handsome like my cousin, but rather you are manly. I believe that you will arouse me when the time is right between us."

"Why not now?" he asked her, drawing her back against him, one big hand roughly fondling her breasts. By all the Gods! They were like the plumpest of summer peaches, and just filled his palm with their delicious ripeness.

"Patience, my lord Amir Khan. One should never hurry too quickly along roads to paradise, I have been told."

"Give me your lips!" his deep, rough voice grated out to her.

Zuleika raised her head up to meet his kiss, and the sensation that exploded within her took her by surprise. His mouth was hard, yet it was soft. It demanded, but oh, so sweetly. Her lips seemed to part of their own volition. His tongue plunged into her mouth seeking her tongue. Again she was overcome by feelings that threatened to overwhelm her. So this is passion, noted the small part of her brain still functioning. It was really quite breathtaking.

He lifted his leonine head from hers. "You kiss well for a novice," he told her, and Zuleika laughed aloud.

"I expect you kiss very well for a lover," she observed.

"You have never been kissed before? How is that possible?" he demanded of her, astounded. Surprised.

"I told you, I am a virgin. I was taught to practice kissing upon a sheet of beaten gold, my lord Amir Khan. This is the first time I have ever been kissed back. It is quite pleasurable."

Now it was he who laughed, and the sound was deep and rich. It sent a delicious shiver down her spine. "A sheet of beaten gold," he said. "Not silver? Or copper? Why gold?"

"I am a princess," she responded simply.

Suddenly his hand was smoothing her soft dark head. "Zuleika of Dariyabar, you are a conundrum I shall enjoy both exploring and solving," he told her. He was shocked by his great desire for her, but he also had the most incredible need to protect her. She was that rarest of women, strong, yet fragile too.

"I can feel your lust against me," she said in a soft voice. "Let me ease it for you, my lord Amir, as I am obviously the cause of your discomfort." Then she slipped from his tender embrace, and fell to her knees before him. She took the ruby-eyed head of his love lance between two fingers of her hand, holding it straight. Then she began to lick its length with slow, deliberate strokes of her tongue. "I shall sup upon your juices," she told him.

He closed his dark eyes. His temples were pounding in rhythm with his heart, and all of his pulses. When she took him into the warm cavern of her mouth, almost swallowing him, suckling strongly upon him, he wanted to scream with the incredible pleasure that she was giving him. He had never permitted a woman this privilege of his body, yet he could not have made her cease even if he wished it. And be didn't. Wave after wave of delight washed over him until his juices finally exploded, and she swallowed them almost greedily, retaining his flesh in her mouth until he finally softened slightly. His legs felt like water. Amir Khan was amazed that he did not collapse like some maiden, for he felt weak with his satisfaction. For a moment he could not speak.

Zuleika arose to her feet, reaching out first to pick up her delicate garment which she restored to her lush body. She licked just the tiniest pearl of his juices from the corner of her mouth, smiling. "I can see I have managed to put you at your ease once more, Amir Khan. Your juices are quite refreshing, as I had been told they would be."

"You never did that before either?" he asked, reaching for his own striped robe, and putting it on again.

"Of course not," she returned with a smile. "Bahira and I were taught the art of using dildos made of some magical material that grew hard and bigger as we sucked upon it. The juices within were always sugar water. Your juices are creamy, and slightly flavored with salt. They are very stimulating. Now, shall we conclude our bargain, Amir Khan?"

"I will take you to wife," he said, "and as you yourself have said, you will be the key that opens Dariyabar for me. And your vizier's daughter will wed with my general, Lord Sabola."

"And you will destroy my cousin, Haroun," she reminded him.

"Agreed. I agree to it all, Zuleika of Dariyabar! But you must know something before we conclude our compact. Once you are my wife, and Bahira is Sabola's wife, you are both bound to obey us in all things. Do you understand me?"

"Of course," she replied. "Wives are meant to obey their lords and masters, Amir Khan. Is that not the way of the world?"

"Will you attempt to rule Dariyabar through me, Zuleika?" he asked her bluntly.

"I will offer you the benefit of my advice, my lord Amir, and nothing more. Whether you choose to accept my advice is up to you." She smiled prettily at him, and her teeth were very white.

He had to laugh. "You are not very subtle," he told her.

"I will be a good wife to you, my lord. I know that my first duty is to give you a son. I will do it as quickly as I can," she swore. Then she took up her cloak, and drew it about her. "Kansbar's magic will not hold past the dawn, and the night wanes, my lord Amir. Come to my father's palace beneath a flag of truce today. He will not, despite my cousin, refuse you. And you must insist we be wed as quickly as possible. Do not allow Haroun to delay our marriage while he considers ways to thwart you. He is not particularly intelligent, but he has the slyness of a dishonest peasant. Both he and his favorite, Golnar, are wicked. They would stop at nothing to gain Dariyabar. That is why you must act quickly. Will you trust me in this, Amir Khan?"

"In this matter I shall heed your advice, Zuleika of Dariyabar," he told her. "Meeting you tonight has been both a surprise and a delight."

She gave him a final quick smile, and then disappeared through the entry of his tent into the moonlit night. Curious, he moved to watch her go. Her shadow passed swiftly through the maze of tents until he could see it no more. He stepped back into his pavilion and poured himself a goblet of wine. What had just happened here? Was it real, or had he imagined it all? No. His male member was still tingling from her bold attentions. Zuleika of Dariyabar had indeed been in his tent tonight.

He would take her to wife. Aye, he would! He had no wife. He had barely had time for any woman, particularly in the last three years. She was beautiful. She was clever. And she would give him Dariyabar! But she was right when she said her cousin, Haroun, would attempt to stop them. Haroun, who had encouraged his cousins to take up arms against Amir Khan, thereby insuring their demises while he remained within the safety of his city's walls to become his uncle's only male heir. The man was a coward, and he was a bully.

But Zuleika was also right when she said he had a peasant's cleverness. Choosing the vizier's daughter as his prospective wife was indeed a sly move. The khan chuckled to himself. General Sabola was his best friend. They had been raised together in the camp of his own father, The Great Khan. Sabola would be reluctant to have a bride foisted upon him, but by the Gods! If this maiden, Bahira, was as sensual as was the princess, Sabola would have no cause for complaint. Suddenly Amir Khan was overcome with a feeling of exhaustion. Was it natural, or was it the work of the genie, Kansbar? It mattered not. He lay down, and fell into a deep slumber.

When he awoke, strangely refreshed, he heard the sounds of activity in his encampment. His servants were immediately there bringing him his morning meal. He had barely begun it when Sabola arrived to share it with him. He was almost as big as Amir Khan, smooth-shaven, with the powerful frame of a bull. His dark hair was cropped very short. His brown eyes were intelligent. He sat down at his lord's table, and then his jaw dropped at the words issuing forth from the Khan's mouth.

"We are going to be married, old friend," Amir Khan said with a chortle. "Both of us! I shall have the princess of Dariyabar to wife, and you shall take the vizier's fair daughter as your mate." Having said it, the khan began to eat heartily.

"I slept the sleep of the dead last night, Amir," Sabola said.

"Of course you did," the khan noted. "A spell was placed upon the city and our camp by the genie whose task it is to watch over Dariyabar. All slept but for Zuleika, princess of Dariyabar, and me." Then the khan told his best friend everything that had transpired between him and the princess.

"How can you be certain it is not a skillful trap hatched by this princess and her cousin, Haroun?" Sabola asked, suspicious.

"It isn't. The princess hates her cousin. She realizes that it is he who was responsible for her brothers' deaths. Having finally understood his true character, she is determined he not follow her father as sultan of Dariyabar. By marrying her I gain a legitimacy as the sultan's heir. Zuleika is the key to Dariyabar for us as long as she is my wife. The vizier's daughter binds us ever closer if you wed her."

Sabola nodded. "If she is as skilled as your princess, my friend, I shall not be unhappy. I don't suppose we might share our women now and again?"

"Of course we will share them," the khan replied. "After we have had their virginities of them, we shall spend a night of pleasure and passion together with our wives. Have we not always shared out women? Zuleika will obey, and her friend as well."

"I suppose we must bathe if we are to marry today," Sabola considered. "We will wed them today, won't we?"

The khan nodded. "I think it best we do, if we are to thwart Prince Haroun. I will send a messenger with a flag of truce and a message for the sultan that I wish to meet with him. I shall say nothing of what I want, lest Prince Haroun read the message first and realize what we are about." He looked to a servant. "Fetch my scribe," he instructed him.

The scribe came. The message was dictated. The messenger was dispatched to the palace of Dariyabar beneath a flag of truce. He returned to say that the sultan would receive Amir Khan in the late afternoon.

Sabola nodded. "The die is cast," he said.

Amir Khan nodded. "Soon, Dariyabar will be ours," he said.