Zuleika and the Barbarian

Chapter Four

"My father is dying, Kansbar. Can you restore his health?" Zuleika asked the genie.

"If it is his time, my princess, then it is his time," the genie responded sanguinely.

"Would you have Haroun rule Dariyabar, Kansbar? You may speak with my father. He would have Amir Khan succeed him. But to make that happen we need more time. If my father dies this night, or in the next few nights to come, then Haroun will seize power here. Sultan Ibrahim must make his wishes publicly known. To do that he must be restored to his previously good health."

The waters in the golden bowl grew dark for a moment, and then light again as the genie considered the problem. "I can give your father a moon's span, but no more, my princess. It is simply not in my power. If I do, I tamper with the will of the Gods, but I have not asked them for a favor in eons. They will grant me this, I know, for Dariyabar's sake. I shall also make both you and your father impervious to poisons of any kind, for Golnar is an impatient and vengeful woman. She already sees herself ruling Dariyabar through Haroun, but she will not allow that buffoon to live long, I suspect, before she kills him and takes the power for herself through the son she will seek to give your cousin. Haroun's heir may certainly come from her wicked womb as long as his sultana is of respectable lineage."

"Golnar tells me he will seek the vizier's youngest daughter, Tahirah, who is still a child," Zuleika said.

"Ahhh," Kansbar said, "then I am right. Golnar wants to give your cousin his heir. Pray she is not already with child, or if she is that the child is a female."

"What are we to do with Haroun?" Zuleika asked. "Should we not kill him so he may not prove a problem for us?"

"Fierce! Fierce!" the genie murmured. "You should have been your father's son! Still, you should not have his blood on your conscience. Haroun is a fool, my princess, but I believe we might allow him his life. However, I think he should live it in another place," he chuckled. "There is a land called Kava where women rule, and men are their slaves. His pretty face and randy cock would be much appreciated by the women of Kava. Of course he will, I expect, need to be retrained to know his place in their unique society," the genie said with a wicked and knowing smile. "I can arrange to send him there, my princess."

"But what if he should escape Kava, and attempt to return to Dariyabar?" she asked him.

"Kava is almost two years of travel from Dariyabar, my princess, but more important, the women of Kava have learned how to control time. For each year Haroun is in Kava, twenty-five of our years will have passed. If that does not reassure you, let me tell you that no man has ever escaped from Kava. Only a fool would want to, and while your cousin is indeed a fool, he will adjust. The women of Kava are very beautiful. They know pleasure well. After the shock has worn off, Haroun will find himself a mistress who will cherish him, and cosset him. He will live in luxury, his every need met as long as he pleases his mistress. He will quickly learn that those men who are recalcitrant find themselves in either the gem mines, or the fields behind a plow. Haroun would not enjoy that. But if the impossible happened and he did escape and find his way back to Dariyabar, he would be a very old man himself, for once he has entered Kava he remains young. But if he leaves, he will return to what he is, for he was not born of Kava. It is the perfect solution, and you will not have his blood on your hands."

"What of Golnar?" Zuleika queried.

"That is for Amir Khan to decide, my princess."

"Very well," Zuleika said. "But my father?"

"Will awaken in the morning healthy and well. He will be stronger in body and mind than he has ever been," Kansbar promised. "But in one month he will go to his bed, and not awaken again in this world. He has but thirty days in which to make his will known to the people of Dariyabar. He must bring Amir Khan into the city tomorrow, and the khan must marry you before all the people. This binds your father's blood to that of Amir Khan, and to the previous sultans of Dariyabar. Amir Khan will only co-rule with you, my princess. It is your first son who will inherit after his father, and his maternal grandfather."

"And where is Haroun in all of this?" she demanded.

"Your cousin even now is awakening to find himself in Kava," the genie chuckled, well pleased with himself. "He is among a group of slaves brought in from a nearby city to restock the stud pool."

Zuleika giggled. She couldn't help herself. "He will be so confused," she said. "He may even think himself mad." She sounded rather pleased by the thought, remembering how he had squeezed her breast and threatened her just a short while ago.

"He will survive after the shock has worn off," Kansbar said. "I will check on him now and again, but once he learns the lay of that particular land, and that there is no escape, he will adjust quite nicely, I am thinking. Perhaps I shall see he is given a stern mistress to start. One who will whip his bottom to train him to obedience."

"Ohh," Zuleika murmured, "the very thought excites me, genie."

Kansbar chortled. "Tell your father what I have told you, and then return in the morning to your khan." For a moment he arose from the waters of his bowl, and smoothed his big hands down the sultan's frail body. "There," he said.

"Ibrahim is healed, and free from death for the next thirty days." The genie reached out and put his hand upon Zuleika's dark head. "You will be free of poisons forever, my princess," he told her. "Do not leave me behind again, however," he gently scolded her. Then he disappeared back into his bowl, the waters drained magically away, and the golden vessel once again became a plain metal container of no import.

To her surprise Zuleika fell asleep for several hours, awakening to see a thin shaft of light pushing through the curtains. She arose and opened the draperies to a glorious morning. She opened the windows, allowing the soft fresh air into the room. Then she went to the bedchamber door and unbolted it, walking through to unbolt the main door to the sultan's apartments. When she returned to her father's bedside he was awake. His color was restored, and he looked better than he had in many years. "Father!" she cried happily. "Kansbar has kept his word!"

"What have you done, daughter?" the sultan asked her. "I cannot ever remember feeling this well."

"Kansbar has restored your health for a moon's span, father. At the end of that time you will join mother in the other world," Zuleika explained. "Today, the first day of the new moon, the genie says you are to bring the khan into the city with me. We will wed, and you will declare him your heir."

"And Haroun? What of your cousin in all of this, my daughter?"

"Haroun is no longer in Dariyabar. The genie transported him in the night to a place called Kava." And then Zuleika explained.

The sultan chortled. "It is an ideal solution, my daughter. I should not like to have had your cousin's death on my hands. Lock the bedchamber door again, and summon the genie for me now."

Zuleika did as she was bid, and then placed the bowl in her father's hands.

The old sultan called, "Kansbar, genie of the golden bowl, your master, the sultan of Dariyabar, summons you to him."

The bowl immediately filled, and Kansbar was there, his voice deferential. "I am here, Master. You have but to command me, and I will do it." The turbaned head bowed.

"I thank you for the opportunity you have given me," the sultan said. "Now give me your wisdom. Is this Amir Khan the man to follow me? You are certain of this?"

"I am, royal master," the genie said. "And your blood will flow in the veins of the children he gets on your daughter, princess Zuleika. The line of Dariyabar will not be broken."

"Then so be it, Kansbar, guardian of Dariyabar," Sultan Ibrahim agreed. "I give my power over to you, to my daughter, and to Amir Khan from the moment they are bound together in marriage."

"It will be according to your will, my lord sultan," the genie replied.

"Farewell, Kansbar," the sultan said softly.

"Farewell, Sultan Ibrahim," the genie replied, and Zuleika would have sworn that there were tears in his eyes, but then he was gone, and the bowl drained of its water.

"Take the bowl out with you to the khan's encampment, and tell him of my wishes. He will take you as his wife this very day, and then I will declare him my heir before all the people." The sultan threw back the coverlet, and stepped from his bed. "The Gods! I feel better now than I have felt in years, daughter. Find Maryam, and tell her I am hungry! I want a joint of roasted kid, fresh bread, cheese, and melon for my meal! Hurry! Then go back to your khan."

Zuleika bent, and kissed her father happily. Then she left his bedchamber to find Maryam, his personal servant, entering the royal apartments. "Maryam! My father has recovered from whatever it was that was ailing him. Go and see, and then fetch him his meal. He wants roasted kid, bread, cheese and melon. I will wait for you."

Maryam hurried into her master's bedchamber, and when she came out she was beaming with happiness. "It is a miracle, my princess! It is a miracle. It was your visit, I am certain, that has restored him. Ahh, but I have news. Prince Haroun is nowhere to be found in the palace. His bodyslave put him to bed last night, but when he went to awaken him this morning he was gone. The imprint of his head was on his pillow, but he could not be found," Maryam said. "His servants are in an uproar."

"He is probably with Golnar," Zuleika said.

"No! She swears he did not come to visit her last night," Maryam said. "She is very upset, my princess."

"I am sure she is," Zuleika said, "unless this is some plot of hers, for we all know the sort of woman she is. Tell my father. It is he who rules here, not Prince Haroun. I am ordered to return to the khan's encampment." She picked up the metal basin. "And I am to return here later today with the khan. I shall see you then, Maryam."

Zuleika moved swiftly through the marble corridors of her father's palace, and out into the courtyard. Her golden gelding was immediately brought to her, and with it were the khan's two guards, her escort. She mounted without a word, and carefully holding the bowl against her she moved off, out through the palace gates and into the city. Again the people greeted her with smiles and words of blessing. She smiled back at them, happy to know that she would soon be living amongst them one again. She found that she was excited to be returning to Amir Khan. She wondered if he would cooperate with Kansbar, but then if he refused, Kansbar would destroy him. And that would be a great shame, Zuleika considered. Amir Khan was a beautiful man with a fine cock. They would make wonderful babies together for Dariyabar.

He was awaiting her at the entry to his pavilion, a small smile upon his face. She slid easily from her gelding, even holding the bowl next to her. His eyebrows quirked. She nodded in response, and walked into his vast tent. Her heart was beating a tattoo. Just seeing his strong face thrilled her. When would he make love to her again? she wondered. It could not be too soon, she decided.

"This is your fabled golden bowl?" he asked, reaching out for it.

Zuleika drew back. "It is not yours to have yet, my lord. I must explain what the genie has said, and what he has done. Then I will summon him, and introduce you to each other."

"Very well, but come and sit, my princess," he said, taking her by the hand and drawing her down into a pile of multicolored silk cushions. "And give your lord and master a kiss, for I find that I have missed you, Zuleika of Dariyabar. Is it possible that you may have missed me as well?" His big hand caressed and cupped her face.

"Perhaps, my lord, the longing I felt in the night was for you," she teased him. "Amir!" she squealed as he pushed her back into the cushions, his hand sliding beneath her gown and up to brush her thigh. "You are too bold, my lord!"

"And you, my princess, are shamelessly eager. You are wet with your desire, and ready to accept me, are you not?" His dark eyes looked down into her violet ones. Then he pushed two fingers into her love sheath, and began to move them back and forth.

"Ahh, you devil! We must conclude our business first!" she protested. "Ohhh!"

"Aye, we must," he agreed, and covered her body with his own, pushing her gown up to bare her lower body. Then his love lance was pressing into her, and she was wrapping her legs about him, and making little noises of distinct pleasure.

"Oh yes, my lord! Ohhh, yes! Oh! Oh! Ohhh!" Zuleika cried, pushing back at his every thrust and clinging to him.

He began to laugh with his delight in her, and her obvious pleasure in him. "I adore you, Zuleika of Dariyabar!" he cried as his juices flooded her hidden garden of love.

When once again they had come to themselves, and restored their disarrayed attire, Zuleika told the khan of the visit she had had with her father; how the genie had restored his health for a single cycle of the moon so they might wed, and the sultan might declare Amir Khan his heir. "We are to enter the city this afternoon and we will be married tonight," she explained.

"And Prince Haroun will stand by and permit this?" the khan asked. "I think not. I shall have to kill him first, and that may not prove easy, Zuleika."

"No! No! Kansbar has transported my cousin by means of his great magic to a land called Kava. There, he will live his life a slave in this society of women. Kansbar says that once he accepts this fate he will be very content. No one escapes Kava. He will never return. Already they seek him in Dariyabar, but they will not find him. Nor are there any signs of violence, for there was none. Haroun is simply gone from Dariyabar."

"Has he offspring?" the khan wanted to know. "We can leave nothing of him if we are to rule Dariyabar in peace, Zuleika."

She shook her head. "Golnar, his favorite, has seen that Haroun did not spawn children. She wanted him sultan first. She planned to have him marry Bahira's little sister, Tahirah. The child is too young to be bred, but Haroun would have had a sultana who would be accepted. Then Golnar would have birthed my cousin an heir of her womb. A sultan's first son, be his mother the sultana or a concubine, is the heir."

"A clever woman," Amir Khan noted. "I look forward to meeting her, my princess."

"Why?" Zuleika demanded to know. She had hardly expected this.

"One should always know one's enemy," he said quietly.

"I want her sent from Dariyabar!" Zuleika said angrily.

"We will consult the genie on the best way to manage this woman," Amir Khan told Zuleika. "Come now, my beauty, and remember you promised to introduce us."

"I do not know if I should," Zuleika said.

He laughed. "Are you jealous then, my princess? You should not be. I am yours, and yours alone," he swore.

"Golnar is very beautiful, and does not appear to be what she really is," Zuleika said. "She will present herself to you as meek and mild, but she is evil incarnate."

"Is she really that wicked, or do you not perhaps exaggerate just a little to protect your place in my heart?" he asked her gently.

Zuleika could not believe what she had just heard from his mouth. Why was it that men could be such fools, and believe that every action or word a woman suggested had to do with them? She swallowed back her anger. "Golnar," she told him, "is far more iniquitous than you can possibly imagine, my lord Amir. When you are chosen by my father over my cousin, Haroun, when Haroun cannot be found, no trace of him at all, she will see all her plans and schemes coming to naught. That is when she will prove the most dangerous. She has an entire harem at her command, and she will use them and her own body to regain her objectives. If you believe otherwise, then I fear for Dariyabar."

"You will be my wife," he said to her in an attempt to reassure her. "But when your father crosses into the other world, I will be sultan, Zuleika. It is my will that will be law, and not yours. I have already warned you that I will not be tampered with in my rule."

"And I have promised you that I would but advise you. I advise you now to beware Golnar. Not because she is beautiful, and I am jealous, but because she is wicked, and will seek to destroy you. I cannot make you listen to me, my lord, but I hope that you have heard, and believed." She arose from their bed. "I must tell poor Rafa not to unpack, as we are to return to the city shortly," she said. And she left him.

Was she jealous? he wondered. He did not know her well enough to be certain, but her devotion to Dariyabar was fierce. Would her loyalty to him be as strong? Or would her allegiance to Dariyabar overcome even her fidelity to a new sultan, not of her family's blood? He could not know that until more time had passed, but by nightfall she would be his wife, and as she had so succinctly put it, she was the key that would open the gates of Dariyabar to him. The war was over, but was yet another war beginning?

Sultan Ibrahim sent out two litters. They were of sweet-smelling cedar, gilded in gold leaf. The larger and more elegant of the two had coral-colored silk gauze draperies and matching cushions edged in gold rope, decorated with gold tassels. The smaller litter's drapes and cushions were turquoise and gold. The sultan had also sent an escort of her personal guard, and his war elephants, who were dressed in bejeweled green silk covers fringed with gold beads and pearls, with matching bejeweled headpieces. There were blackamoors holding purple, rose, silver and sky blue silk parasols fringed in gold, and set upon tall ebony poles banded in silver. There were musicians in their colorful robes of stripes and brocades.

"What is all of this?" the khan demanded of Zuleika.

"My father is bringing us into the city with honor," the princess explained. "You do not come as a conqueror, but rather you enter as a welcomed friend. This way his people will more readily accept you as his chosen heir. While my cousin was not well liked, there will be questions that cannot be answered about his disappearance. Kansbar, however, will have the answers for us."

"You have yet to bring the genie forth, my princess," the khan said. "Should I not know this magical creature before I enter into Dariyabar?"

"Yes! Yes!" she agreed, and ran to fetch the battered metal bowl in which the genie resided.

"I thought you said the bowl was gold," he remarked.

"Do you believe I could have brought a gold bowl from the palace unimpeded?" she laughed. She set the basin on a low table, and invited him to sit next to her. When they were both settled she said, "Kansbar, genie of the golden bowl, great guardian of Dariyabar, come forth, I pray you."

"You are very deferential," the khan whispered to her. "I thought genies were at our service, and must obey."

"You haven't met Kansbar," she murmured with a smile.

"Where is he?" the khan inquired.

"Wait, and be patient," she said. Then, "Kansbar of Dariyabar, come to me, I beg you!"

Suddenly, before the startled eyes of the khan the bowl began to glow, and become the most shining gold he had ever seen. The dents and scratches disappeared, and it was filled with a crystal clear liquid. Then a turbaned head appeared on the surface of the water. The genie had a beautifully barbered black beard, and for someone as old as Zuleika claimed he was, his face bore no signs of age. Atop his head was the most fantastic cloth-of-gold turban with a pigeon's-blood ruby in its front folds, the like of which the khan had never seen. Black eyes stared up at them from the liquid.

"Well," Kansbar said, "what is it you wish of me, my princess?"

"I would present Amir Khan to you, great Kansbar," she replied. "I thought it only proper you meet before we enter the city."

The genie nodded. "Shortly, my lord khan, you will be my new master," he said. "I can but hope our faith in you is justified. Do you swear to rule wisely over Dariyabar?"

"I will do my best," the khan answered.

"You must do better than your best!" the genie roared. "The Gods! The Gods! Is this human no better than the fool, Haroun? My princess, have you been befuddled by passion, and a lusty cock? You are certain this man is the one?" Kansbar looked distinctly dubious.

"I will rule with justice and equanimity, Kansbar," the khan replied. "I am a human, and more I cannot promise, for I will not lie simply to placate you. I am a warrior. I expect you to advise me in matters of governance so I may be fair, and learn from your wisdom."

"He shows promise, I will agree," the genie said grudgingly in response to the khan's speech, looking directly at Zuleika.

"And he would, it seems, have a sense of honor which is more than the foolish Haroun had. Very well, I will accept him on one condition, my princess."

"What is that, mighty Kansbar?" she flattered the genie.

"My bowl must remain with you until I am certain that he can be trusted," the genie said. Now his gaze swung to that of the khan. "Will you agree, Amir Khan? Will you accept my judgment in this matter, and know that Zuleika of Dariyabar will understand when the time is right for you to have possession of me?"

"Are you not obliged to obey me when I am sultan of Dariyabar?" the khan asked.

The genie shook his head. "I am only required to obey those in the direct bloodline of Dariyabar's founder, Sultan Sinbad," he explained. "When the time comes that the princess believes you are fit to be my master, that will change, but the choice is mine, not yours."

"I have no option but to agree, then," the khan replied, "but I trust Zuleika. Shortly she will be my wife. I know she will not act against me or the best interests of Dariyabar, great Kansbar."

"No, she will not," the genie responded. "Zuleika of Dariyabar understands loyalty, and will keep faith with you, Amir Khan, as long as you keep faith with her. Listen to her, and trust her words. Now, it is time for us all to return to the city." And the genie was gone, his bowl emptied, dark and battered again.

Amir Khan didn't know whether to laugh, or not. "He is a powerful presence," the khan finally said.

It was Zuleika who laughed. "He is, but wise beyond all. My ancestor found him in a bottle by the seaside, and released him. He granted Sinbad three wishes. The third wish was that Kansbar remain as the protector of Dariyabar always, and be subject to the will of Sinbad's direct descendants until the day came that there were none, at which time the genie would choose his new master."

"So the key to Dariyabar must open two locks, and not just one," the khan observed.

Zuleika thought a moment, and then she nodded. "I suppose that you are right, my lord Amir," she told him.

"I do not know if it pleases me that you have such control over my life, Zuleika," he told her.

"Because I am naught but a woman?" she asked him.

"No, because I prefer to control my own fate, princess," he responded.

"None of us controls our own lives, though sometimes we believe that we do," Zuleika answered him wisely. "We are, all of us, in the hands of the gods, my lord. You are, I believe, meant to follow my father on the throne of Dariyabar, and you will. That I possess the golden bowl counts for little, for in time I will give it to you. But Kansbar is right when he says you are untried yet. He will, himself, I promise you, instruct me when the time is propitious for you to have the bowl. It will not really be my decision at all. I am but his caretaker by virtue of the fact that I am my father's last child."

"You have the skills of a diplomat, Zuleika," he said with a small smile. "When shall we go into the city?"

"First I must bathe," she said to him. "I scent your lust upon me, Amir Khan. I would prefer my father did not when we meet again. Can a bath be brought to me?"

"We do not have such accoutrements to offer, being an army," he said, "but we bathe ourselves in a stream behind the camp out of sight of the city, my princess. I shall call Bahira and Rafa to you, and see that the area is free of my men." He bowed to her, and then was gone from his tent.

Shortly afterwards Bahira arrived, looking slightly the worse for wear. "I have found a man who can actually tire me out," she announced with obvious pride. "Never did I dream of such a lover as General Sabola. Now, tell me what has happened." She sat down on a pile of cushions opposite her friend.

Zuleika once again told her tale of the last day; of how the genie had managed to restore her father's health for a moon cycle, but no more. The secret of Haroun's disappearance was also shared, and Bahira laughed to learn of the prince's fate.

"What of Golnar?" she asked the princess.

"Her fate will be decided later," Zuleika said.

"Then we are to go home!" Bahira clapped her hands.

"I am to wed the khan tonight. I will see that Sabola is wed to you as well, Bahira. You must have the authority of a wife, as must I, for these men will want other women, you may be certain," Zuleika said.

Bahira nodded. "Yes," she agreed. "We must be mistresses in our own homes. Then the beautiful litters and the caravan sent out from the city are our escort."

"Yes," Zuleika said.

"Come, my girls." Rafa now reentered the pavilion. "I am to take you both to the bathing pool. The khan and his general have seen that the area is cleared of others. The sooner you both bathe, the sooner we can go back into the city, and civilization."

The two young women followed Rafa from the tent and through the encampment down a small hill and into a grove of trees. There was a crystal clear stream that entered the pool, with a delicate waterfall that soared above the pond. The girls quickly threw off their robes and dove into the water, squealing at its icy cold.

"I am told there is a warm spring to your right," Rafa called.

They moved to where she pointed, and were rewarded with a flow of almost hot water. Rafa handed them soap-filled sea sponges, and they washed quickly, then swam back beneath the waterfall to rinse themselves. Then the two frolicked, laughing and splashing water on each other as they played.

"Go back to the pavilion," the khan murmured in Rafa's ear.

She turned, and cast a surprised look at him and the general.

"You will all have to bathe again," she warned them.

"We will," the khan chuckled.

Rafa shook her head. "The enthusiasm of youth is to be most wondered at, my lord," she remarked, and then she moved back through the trees, and was gone from their sight.

The khan and his general stripped their loincloths off, and dove into the pool, startling the two young women who screamed at first, not realizing who had joined them. When they saw however that it was Amir Khan and Sabola, they began throwing water at them, laughing.

"You must not get us dirty," Zuleika protested as the khan swam next to her.

"We will bathe again, my princess," he said. "Sabola and I are filled with a wicked lust, and must satisfy it before we go into the city. You do not want us to disgrace ourselves before your father." He pulled her into his arms and began kissing her, his tongue pushing past her lips to seek her out and play.

Reaching down, she caught his engorged rod in her hand, and fondled it. "You are hard with your desire already. Men can become aroused so quickly, but women cannot. I must be stroked and caressed before I am ready to entertain this eager fellow." She gave him a little squeeze, which only served to render him harder than ever before.

He picked her up and carried her from the water. "I shall prepare you myself, my princess, but you must prepare Bahira for Sabola while she entertains his lance."

"As my lord desires," Zuleika murmured docily.

He laid her on her back upon the mossy bank of the stream. The positions of their two companions were acrobatic in nature. Bahira squatted over Zuleika's head, revealing her secret parts to her friend, while Sabola, legs wide, stood before Bahira, placing his already hot love rod between her lips. Bahira suckled upon him, her head awash with her emotions as Zuleika foraged between her nether lips, teasing the sentient flesh. The khan prepared his lover in the same manner, but then he mounted her, slipping his great length into her hot and welcoming sheath. Bahira was swiftly in her lover's arms, taking him into her body. The moans of pleasure grew in intensity as the quartet drove themselves to nirvana, and collapsed in a heap of arms and legs with their mutual satisfaction.

"The Gods!" Zuleika finally spoke. "I do not think I can get up. That was much, much too wonderful."

"Ummm," Bahira agreed.

Both men laughed weakly.

For several minutes they lay upon the stream bank while their hearts slowed and some small strength flowed back into their limbs. Finally the khan managed to arise to his feet, pulling Zuleika up with him. Together they walked back into the water to wash the scent of their new lust from their satisfied bodies. At a distance, Sabola and Bahira joined them. The four lovers were careful not to touch too fondly or come near to each other. Bathed once again, they emerged from the water to reclothe themselves and return to the encampment. They did not speak, lest they spoil the moment. It would never again be that way for them, and they understood it.

Rafa dressed both Zuleika and Bahira in exquisite garments. The princess wore a loose-fitting gown of white silk gauze shot through with threads of pure gold. It was sleeveless, had a keyhole neckline, and was fitted beneath her firm young breasts. The skirt of the garment fell in long, narrow pleats from her bust to her ankles. Her feet were fitted with delicate gold sandals, her hair braided in a single plait with strands of tiny pearls, diamonds and sapphires. About her neck was a thin gold chain from which fell a large sapphire oval. The gemstone hung directly in the center of the keyhole neckline. In the princess's ears were great hoops of gold from which hung more sapphires, diamonds and pearls.

Bahira was garbed in very similar fashion, but where Zuleika was the sun, her friend was the moon in a gown of wispy white silk gauze shot through with threads of pure silver. The style of the garment was identical to Zuleika's. On her feet the vizier's daughter wore silver sandals. Her rich auburn hair was braided into several narrow plaits intertwined with silver chains strung with turquoise. She wore a collar of turquoise, black onyx, and red agate. Her ears sported turquoise hoops. "Am I beautiful again?" she demanded of Rafa.

"As always, Bahira, daughter of Abd al Hakim," Rafa replied with a smile. "And you, my princess, are regal as ever."

The two young women entered their litters, Rafa riding with Bahira. The procession now began to form. The khan, upon a great white stallion with a silvery mane and tail, would lead it. Amir Khan was garbed in his black leather pants and a gold breastplate. His dark horsetail of hair was intricately braided behind him so that the people might see his strong, handsome features. On his feet he wore red felt boots, showing that he was not prepared for battle, but rather a social encounter. He would lead the procession, followed by a troupe of the sultan's guards and then a troupe of his own men. Zuleika would follow in her open litter for all the people of Dariyabar to see.

"Let the musicians go before you, my lord," the princess suggested. "It makes your entry into the city even less ferocious, and more felicitous."

He nodded at her with a smile, and signaled the group of players forward. They carried pipes, and oboes, cymbals, drums, and trumpets. Immediately they began a triumphal march, and the parade began to move forward. They passed through the great iron-bound gates of Dariyabar, the musicians playing. Behind them rode Amir Khan, and to his surprise the people cheered him. Accompanying the soldiers behind him were men on horseback with drums who beat a rather fierce tattoo to remind the people that they really were warriors. Then came the princess, and the citizens of Dariyabar were driven into a frenzy of delight.

"Zuleika! Zuleika! Zuleika!" they called out her name.

From her litter the princess smiled, and waved until her arm was sore and threatened to fall by her side.

She was followed by General Sabola and another mixed troupe of soldiery. Then came Bahira's litter. On either side of the entire procession walked the slaves carrying the parasols. And finally, the great lumbering war elephants in their bejeweled green satin coverings brought up the rear of the procession, which marched down the main avenue of the city to the great white marble palace with its gold-leafed gates and gilded towers. The khan's men were astounded by the richness of it all, and by the loyalty of the people to their princess.

In the palace courtyard the princess and Bahira, along with Rafa, exited their litters. Now they walked in procession to the great audience hall of the sultan of Dariyabar where Sultan Ibrahim awaited them, smiling broadly.

"I welcome you back to Dariyabar, Amir Khan," he said in a strong voice such as Zuleika had not heard him use in many years.

A servant ran forward to take the bridle of the khan's horse, and Amir Khan dismounted the beast and it was lead away. The khan bowed with a deep flourish. The courtiers nodded, pleased by this show of respect for their sultan, and when Amir Khan stepped forward to kiss Sultan Ibrahim's ring of office a distinct murmur of approval hummed through the hall.

"I thank the sultan for his generous welcome," the khan said. "Now I would ask one other thing of him. Give me your daughter, the Princess Zuleika, for my wife. My pleasure in her far exceeds that of a man for a mere concubine. And give my general, Lord Sabola, the daughter of your vizier, Abd al Hakim, the lady Bahira to wife as well."

"My daughter you may have to wife, Amir Khan," the sultan said, "but the lady Bahira is not my child to bestow upon your general. It is her father's choice. Come forward, Abd al Hakim, and say what you will do," the sultan commanded his vizier.

Abd al Hakim was a plump little man with a small white beard. He came forward, his red-and-silver striped robes flapping. "Her mother would know if she is happy with this arrangement, my lord sultan," the vizier said, bowing low to his master. His voice was high and reedy.

"If I get any happier," Bahira said boldly, "I shall die of it, my father. Aye, I am more than content to be this lusty man's wife."

The sultan's court erupted into laughter as this blunt statement from the vizier's eldest daughter, who had always been thought to be a meek creature, met their ears.

"So be it, then," the sultan said, a twinkle in his eye. "Bring forth the temple priests, and the marriages shall be celebrated now."

The priests, with their shaved heads and their loins wrapped in white linen cloths that fell to their ankles, came into the sultan's hall of audience. They were bare-footed. The chief priest, distinguished by a gold-and-onyx collar about his neck, signaled for the two couples to come before him. "We worship the lords of the sky, the waters, the earth, and the winds. Do you respect these gods, my children, and agree to abide always by their natural laws?"

The four voices agreed, and the four heads nodded.

"In the name of the gods, and in accordance with the laws of our world, do you take each other as mates till death parts you?"

The voices once again agreed, and the heads nodded.

A young priest stepped forward and held out a small round gold salver to them. Upon it were four small pieces of bread. The four lovers each took a piece of the bread, and fed it to their chosen mate. Two cups of sweet wine were presented. Each couple took one, and offered their mate the cup. When all four had drunk, the cups were removed.

"Two have become one now," the high priest said. "The feeding of the grain, the sip of the grape, binds you to each other in the sight of the gods. Multiply, as do all the creatures of the earth, and you shall be blessed." The high priest turned to the sultan. "It is done now, my lord Ibrahim. Is there any other way in which I may serve you this day?"

"Nay," the sultan said. "I am content to see my child wed. Come now, and let us partake of the feast that has been set out in their honor."

"You feast? You dare to celebrate when Prince Haroun is missing?" They all turned to see Golnar, who had come into the hall. "What have you done to my good lord?" she cried piteously, stretching out her gold-bangled arms.

The sultan signaled to his guards. "Remove the lady Golnar from the hall," he said in his strong voice. He watched impassively as she was carried, struggling, from his presence. The old man turned to his court. "I do not know where my nephew is, but none here can say I have ever borne him any malice. I am as mystified as you all are. But now is not the time to discuss or investigate this matter. This is my only child's wedding day. I will not have it spoiled! Come now into my banqueting hall," the sultan said, and they all followed him without another moment's hesitation.