Zuleika and the Barbarian

Chapter Five

Golnar, Prince Haroun's favorite, had been returned most forcibly to her harem. "When my lord is sultan here you will pay for this outrage!" she screamed at the guards who none-too-gently thrust the struggling woman back into her quarters, closing the great doors to the harem firmly. Golnar shrieked with her fury, and looked about for some hapless soul upon whom she might vent her anger. There was no one. Slaves, eunuchs, and harem women were nowhere in sight. The fountain in the main chamber tinkled pleasantly, but the air was devoid of any other noise. Even the birds in the gardens beyond seemed hushed by her anger.

Taking a deep breath, Golnar calmed herself. She reached for a piece of paste candy on a nearby silver salver, and sucked upon it thoughtfully as it melted in her mouth, releasing the flavor of plum as it did so. Where was Haroun? How could he have disappeared at just the perfect time for his enemies? And disappeared without any trace at all? She had personally questioned Haroun's bodyslave. He was as mystified as they all claimed to be. He had put his master to bed. When he had gone to awaken him in the morning, Haroun was gone. There were no signs of a struggle. The imprint of his head was yet upon his pillow. What had happened to her prince?

Golnar was no fool. Haroun was gone, and suddenly Zuleika was returned into the city amid great pomp and spectacle. She was married to Amir Khan before the court. Her best friend, the vizier's daughter, was wed to the khan's general. Something was afoot, and Golnar suspected that Zuleika's husband would be appointed the sultan's heir, as Prince Haroun had so conveniently disappeared. And the sultan. He had been dying but two days ago. The physicians all said so. Yet now he appeared in miraculous good health. How had that happened? And then Golnar knew. There was magic afoot here!

She went directly to her private apartments. Her personal servants were also among the missing. So much the better, she thought, as she locked the door to her bedchamber behind her. Then she pulled the latticed shutters tight, and drew the gauze draperies over them. No one must see her. Opening the painted wood cabinet she drew out a slender alabaster vial, and setting it upon a table, uncorked it. "Mother," she called. "I need you now."

Violet smoke, first little in color, and then growing darker, arose from the vial. The smoke began to take shape, and it was a beautiful woman with silver hair, and eyes like blue ice, very much like Golnar in appearance. "What is it, my daughter?" the woman said. Her voice was smoky, and yet pleasant.

"Haroun has disappeared!" Golnar cried. "And no one seems to care, mother. I think they will make Zuleika's new husband, Amir Khan, the sultan's heir. And the old man, dying but a few days ago, is suddenly restored to good health!"

Keket looked at her daughter irritably. "Of all my children," she said, "you seem to be the most hapless, Golnar. Why do you allow your humanity to overrule your mystical side? Even your father was not this unfortunate. I do not know what I shall do with you." Keket was a magical creature born of a fairy mother and a genie father. She had certain powers she used for her own amusement. "I allowed your human father to raise you. I saw that you caught Prince Haroun's eye. I taught you how to please him so mightily that you became his favorite. All that was required of you, Golnar, was that you give him a son. Now he has gone missing? Well, child, I do not know what else I can do for you, but tell me everything in detail, Golnar, not just what affects you and your comfort."

"Everything was going exactly as we planned," Golnar whined. "The princess had been given to Amir Khan, and devastated by her loss, the old sultan took to his deathbed. Learning of it, the princess returned to the city, dutiful daughter that she is," Golnar sneered, "to sit by her father's side. But when morning came the sultan had recovered his full health and strength, and Haroun was gone! Zuleika returned to the khan's encampment, and later she was escorted with much pomp back into the city with the khan. There were musicians, and even the sultan's war elephants all caparisoned in their green jeweled satin. The populace threw rose petals, and shouted the princess's name over and over again. I hate her!"

"Do not waste your energies hating, Golnar," her mother advised. "Concentrate upon your revenge. Now continue," Keket ordered.

"There is nothing more but what I have already told you, mother. The khan asked the sultan for Zuleika in marriage, and he asked for the vizier's daughter for his general."

"I thought the lady Bahira was to be Haroun's choice for a wife," Keket said. "What happened? I can see things have been going wrong for you from the beginning."

"When the khan first accepted Zuleika as his concubine, he also asked that his general be rewarded with the vizier's daughter, Bahira."

"How did he know of the lady Bahira?" Keket asked.

"I don't know!" Golnar whined impatiently. "He just did!"

"Hmmmm," Keket said thoughtfully. "Go on."

"So when the princess married Amir Khan today, Bahira was also wed to General Sabola. They are feasting in the sultan's banquet hall even now. Mother, there is absolutely no trace of Haroun. None! I know that the sultan will make Amir Khan his successor; and what is to happen to me then? The princess will be Dariyabar's sultana, and she will not want me about. What will become of me?" Golnar wailed.

"There is magic here," Keket said slowly. "Do you have something that belonged to Haroun, daughter?"

Golnar thought a moment, and then her eyes lit up. "Yes!" she cried. "He gave me this ring from his own finger last week." She held out her hand to display the large diamond.

Keket pulled the ring impatiently from the girl's hand, ignoring her squeal of protest. "Be silent now, and let me see what I can see." Keket looked deep into the ring, concentrating. An amused smile suddenly touched her full lips, and she began to chuckle.

"What is it?" Golnar demanded. "What do you see, Mother?"

"Someone has transported your lover to the kingdom of Kava, Golnar. It is a place where women rule. You will not see him again," Keket said. "Oh, my!" And she laughed aloud.

"Can you not bring him back?" Golnar demanded. "You have powers, mother. I want him back."

Keket looked up. "No one ever returns from Kava, Golnar, and whoever sent him there knew it. Obviously, the princess has very powerful friends. Here, look into the diamond, and see your prince."

Golnar stared hard, and then she saw Haroun. Fascinated, she watched as his bottom was whipped until it was pink and glowing. She gaped as he was then spread-eagled upon a block, and women, one after another, came to use his upstanding cock, some sucking on it, some mounting him and riding him until his mouth opened so wide Golnar could almost hear him scream. "What are they doing to him?" she gasped, looking to her mother.

"Obviously he is proving recalcitrant, daughter. He has been brought by his new mistress for public punishment at the palace of common pleasures. The women of Kava do not allow their men rebellion. Hopefully Haroun will learn obedience, for it is his only salvation. They will be more patient with him than others for he is so pretty, and his cock so randy. Eventually he will learn to be happy again, even if he does not rule in Dariyabar. And, you daughter, must now decide how to save yourself."

Golnar grew pale. "Tell me what to do, mother," she begged.

Keket smiled, and put a comforting arm about her daughter. "Do you know why I allowed your human father to have you, Golnar? Do you know why I saw to it that you caught Prince Haroun's eye? Do you know why I have advised you what to advise your prince?"

Golnar shook her head in the negative.

"I did it because I want to destroy Dariyabar," Keket replied.

"But why?" Golnar was very surprised.

"Long ago," Keket began, "there were two genies, brothers. They had the misfortune to fall in love with the same young girl. One, in an attempt to gain an advantage over the other, entrapped his brother in a bottle, and threw it into the sea. After some days the bottle washed up on this shore, and was found by an adventuring prince named Sinbad, who was in the process of building this city, and this kingdom. He released the genie from the bottle, and to revenge himself upon his brother, the genie showed Sinbad the beautiful girl. One look and the prince was in love. The genie brought this girl to the prince. She loved him, and so they were wed. The other genie, learning of this turn of fate, was about to revenge himself on them all when he discovered that his magic was gone. Stolen! Furious at losing the girl as well as his magic, he flew into a temper, and burst into a thousand pieces. He was my father, Golnar. All my siblings since have been told this story in order that one day our family might wreak their revenge upon Dariyabar. You, and your prince, were to be my tools," Keket said.

"What happened to the other genie?" Golnar asked. "The one that helped Sinbad?"

Keket shrugged. "It doesn't matter," she said.

"If you believe that magic was involved in what has happened, mother, could not your father's brother yet be involved in Dariyabar?" Golnar questioned. "What was his name?"

"Kansbar," Keket said, and her look was thoughtful. "Golnar, my daughter, you have never been particularly clever, but perhaps in your curious innocence you have discovered something. It would take a genie with truly great magic to protect Dariyabar, to transport your prince to Kava, and to strengthen the sultan's life force. Kansbar, if it is indeed him, would have that magic because he has his brother's magic as well. I cannot fight such powers. You must outwit this genie, whoever he is, if you are to help me destroy Dariyabar and avenge your grandfather. The sultan will die within the month. Even the most powerful necromancer cannot maintain a life that has come to its end."

"But then this Amir Khan will be sultan!" Golnar began to weep.

"You must seduce him!" her mother said. "And then you must seduce General Sabola as well. We will make certain that both men know that the other is using you. They are certain to quarrel, particularly if you tell each of them that the other forced you. These human warriors are so noble. With luck, Amir Khan and Sabola will kill each other. Without its sultan, Dariyabar is lost. They will not listen to a woman, and so the princess will have no influence. With no one to rule its empire, Dariyabar will collapse. It is a simple and foolproof plan," Keket concluded.

"But what of this other genie?" Golnar asked.

"The genie will have no interest in you, Golnar," her mother told her. "It will be over and done with by the time anyone realizes what is happening. Even the most powerful genie cannot bring a man back to life, my daughter. Dariyabar cannot do without its sultan, and there will be no sultan." Keket smiled, and arose from the chaise where she had been sprawled. "I must leave you, Golnar. Do as I have instructed you, and destroy Dariyabar for your family. You will be well rewarded for your success, I promise you, and you shall never have to worry about yourself again." Keket bent, and kissed her daughter upon her forehead. "Farewell, my dear. Call me if you need me." She began to dissolve into a deep purple smoke that grew paler and paler until what was left of it made its way back into the alabaster vial. When she was gone, Golnar corked the vial, and lay down upon her bed to consider what her mother had told her.

It was all well and good for Keket to say she would be the instrument of Dariyabar's downfall, but she had not her mother's magic, Golnar thought. All she had ever wanted was to be the mother of Dariyabar's next sultan so she might have power. Now she was expected to seduce the khan and his general, and bring Dariyabar to its destruction? And what of this genie that had all that power, and might very well be guarding the kingdom? Haroun was gone, and was unlikely to ever return. I need to think of myself, Golnar considered. I still might be the mother of the next sultan, if I can seduce Amir Khan into my bed.

It was a tempting thought, and a little smile played about Golnar's lush lips. I do not want to destroy Dariyabar. I want to rule it from behind the sultan's throne. Zuleika is beautiful, but I am just as beautiful. No man is ever completely content with just one woman. That is why princes and sultans have harems. Even my merchant father had a small harem.

I must bide my time, and make certain that I am not sent from the palace. Tomorrow, I will go to the sultan and beg his forgiveness for causing such a scene today. And I will beg the princess' forgiveness too. Her heart is good, for all she is fierce and proud. Haroun always said it was so. I wonder if the feasting is over yet? She went to her windows, drew back the curtains, and opened the latticed shutters. She could hear music from the banqueting hall. They were still celebrating. She wondered if the brides and their husbands were still in the hall, or if they had retired to their nuptial beds. Yes, tomorrow she must make amends for her hysterical outburst. Golnar lay down on her bed. She thought about Haroun being whipped, and the thought was satisfying. She wished it were she who might wield that whip.

In the morning, Golnar awoke to her bodyslave knocking upon her door. Irritated with herself for forgetting she had locked the portal, she arose and opened it.

"Ohh, mistress, I was so fearful for you!" her slavewoman cried, and kissed her hand.

"Not so fearful that you disappeared last evening," Golnar snapped. "Word of my removal from the sultan's hall of audience must have traveled even more swiftly than the wind, for when I returned to the harem there was no one in evidence. The place might well have been deserted! Fearing for my life, I locked myself in my bedchamber. Go to the baths, and tell them I am ready for my morning ablutions."

"Yes, mistress," the slave replied, and scurried off.

In the baths, the slaves were silent as Golnar entered. They tended to her efficiently, and without their usual chatter. Like the prince's favorite, they had no idea what would happen now that Haroun had disappeared and the princess had returned triumphant with her khan. They dared offend no one until it was decided what was to happen.

Golnar was silent also as she was bathed, massaged, and oiled. She had to consider carefully how to remain within the palace. She was not a slave, at least. Haroun had seen her, and admired her, and asked her father for her as his concubine. Her father could not refuse, and was encouraged by his favorite wife to see that Golnar was brought to the palace as if she were a bride. The women had never particularly liked Golnar, but becoming the prince's concubine could but bring honor and glory to her husband's family. Now with Haroun gone, there was no excuse for her to remain unless she was asked. To be returned to her father's house, even with honor, was unthinkable!

She returned to her quarters, and ordered her servants to dress her carefully in sky blue silk robes. Her silver hair was dressed with small, fragrant flowers sewn to silver ribbons. Then she went to find the sultan. He was with the vizier, Abd al Hakim, but hearing she was at his door, Sultan Ibrahim told his guards to allow her to pass.

Golnar threw herself at his feet, and taking the hem of his red silk robe in her hand, kissed it.

"My lord! My lord! I beg your forgiveness for my behavior yesterday. You must understand that the great love I bear my lord Haroun precipitated my outburst. I did not realize that the princess was being wed. I am so ashamed if I spoiled her day. I hope you will forgive me, my lord sultan." She did not look at him, and kept her head bent low.

Neither the sultan nor his vizier were fools, but they were also men with daughters, and their hearts were good.

"Arise, my dear lady Golnar," the sultan said. "You have my forgiveness. I know your love for my nephew."

She stood, and there were tears in her light eyes. "Is there… is there any word?" she quavered in a voice filled with emotion.

The sultan shook his white head. "I am sorry, my dear. It is as if the earth opened up and swallowed him. Still we are searching every corner of the city, and the kingdom."

"Should I return to my father's house, my lord sultan?" Golnar asked him. It was a bold move, and one that could easily backfire on her.

"I have not given up hope, my child," the old man said. "Until we know for certain what has happened to my nephew, you will remain in your harem as you always have. It would not do for Haroun to come home and discover that you were missing, now would it?" He took her plump hand in his, and patted it in fatherly fashion.

"Ohh, thank you, my lord sultan!" Golnar cried, the relief in her voice palpable. She bowed low to the sultan, and asking his permission withdrew from his presence.

"Are you really unknowing of Haroun's whereabouts?" the vizier, Abd al Hakim, asked the sultan.

"I am indeed, and I expect I do not want to know," the sultan answered his old friend. "Zuleika has promised me that they have not killed him, but also that he will not return. If I sent Golnar back to her father's house now, it would appear that I knew something, and actually I do not. Nor do I wish to know."

"With your health so wonderfully restored," Abd al Hakim said, "you will reign over Dariyabar for many more years, my lord."

"No, old friend, I will not. My health has been returned to me for but a single cycle of the moon. My miraculous restoration began on the first day of the new moon. When that moon wanes into the darkness, I will die. This I know, for the genie told Zuleika it was so."

"Then you mean to make the khan your successor," the vizier said.

"I do. Who else is there? And at least my blood will flow in the sultans that follow Amir, as will his. He is a strong man."

"If your days are numbered, my lord, when will you announce this change in succession?" the vizier wondered. "If you say it too soon, there will be those who will wonder if you yourself did not dispose of your nephew."

"I know, and since I am unique in the knowledge that when I lie down to sleep on the last day of the waning moon I shall not awaken in this world, I shall make my announcement in the week before I die."

"There will be some then who will believe that the khan has had a hand in your death when you leave us," the vizier noted.

"There will always be those who believe that every coincidence is a conspiracy, my friend. It is human nature to see plots where there are none. You have been my vizier long enough to know that."

The vizier chuckled. "Too true, my friend. Too true. And you will leave the problem of Golnar to the next sultan, then?"

Now it was the sultan who laughed. "I think it better that I do, don't you?"

"The princess will not be pleased," Abd al Hakim said.

"My daughter will manage, nonetheless. She has, by a quirk of fate, been given a good husband. He is a strong man, and while he may listen to her advice, for she is wise, he will be the sole ruler of Dariyabar," Sultan Ibrahim said.

"For now I think both our daughters will revel in their lust with these men they have wed," the vizier chuckled. "Ahhh, to be that young, and full of love's juices once again. Bahira can scarcely keep her hands from her general, and the looks that the princess casts in her husband's direction are fiery."

And they were. The entire court had seen last evening how Zuleika of Dariyabar felt about the tall barbarian now her legal mate.

She could scarcely wait to leave the hall, and several times attempted to do so, but Amir Khan had prevented her, catching her hand hard, smiling at her and murmuring, "Not yet, my princess." Finally she had decided that if she left him, he would certainly follow.

"I am going to our apartments," she whispered softly. "Come to me as soon as you can," and she nipped at his earlobe.

"I will come when I can, Zuleika. There are many men here of great importance to Dariyabar whom I must meet. You know what is to come, but they do not, and I would have them our friends," the khan told his wife. Then he turned away from her to speak with a wealthy merchant of the city.

Zuleika decided that she was offended. This was their wedding night. Their real wedding night. There would be no amusing sexual games with Bahira and Sabola. Tonight they would be together, and have the leisure to enjoy each other. And he preferred to remain in the hall to chatter with merchants? He would pay for that insult, she decided silently to herself. She walked slowly through the hallways of the palace to her own apartments.

Rafa greeted her, her look questioning. "Where is the khan?"

"In the banquet hall talking with the city's men of business," Zuleika responded, her tone distinctly annoyed.

Rafa considered a moment, and then she said, "He is wise to do so. When he is sultan one day, he will need their cooperation."

"Any other time but tonight," Zuleika replied. "This is our wedding night! And do not tell me that I have already tasted pleasures at his hands, that is not the point. This is our wedding night!"

"You are a grown woman now, my princess," Rafa said. "You will be our sultana one day. You must think of Dariyabar."

"Do not presume to tell me my duty towards Dariyabar, Rafa," Zuleika snapped. "I have done my duty toward this kingdom always and ever. But this is my wedding night! Go now, and leave me to myself. I do not need you to find my lonely bed."

Rafa bowed, and departed. It was always better to take Zuleika at her word when she got like this.

Alone, the princess looked about, and decided that she would bathe in her private bath. She shrugged her gown from her body where she stood. Rafa would pick it up in the morning. She walked naked to her bathing room, filled the sea sponge with fragrant liquid soap, and washed herself. Next she rinsed herself in the marble shell basin beneath the fish spigots, finally descending into her bathing pool. She felt calmer now, but she was still angry. Well, had she herself not told him she was the key to Dariyabar? He had possessed himself of the key, and now he had what he had fought for for three years. He had Dariyabar. Her father would be dead by the end of the moon's cycle. She looked through the pale cream and gold marble pillars separating her bathing room from her gardens, and saw the thin crescent in the sky.

Each day the moon grew fatter brought her closer to losing her father. Would it not have been better if he had died several nights ago? At least then he would be safely with her mother, and she would not have to bear this eternity of waiting. Ibrahim had always favored her brothers, but she knew now that her father admired and respected her even if she was a female. And he had always been good to her. It was something to remember, and it was a good memory. She floated lazily in her bathing pool, her long, dark ebony hair streaming out behind her.

But she would not be just a sultana. She knew everything that there was to know about Dariyabar, and its history. Amir Khan had to listen to her, and at least consider her advice. She would not be an ornament, or a creature to be appreciated only for the pleasure she could give him. She was far more intelligent than her brothers had been, and she was equal in intelligence to the khan. Why were men so stubborn? Sabola wasn't that difficult. He had departed the banqueting hall with Bahira early. But Sabola is not to be the next sultan, a small voice murmured in her head. "The Gods!" Zuleika swore. She hated that little voice, especially when it was right.

"May I join you?"

Zuleika turned her head in the direction of her husband's voice. "Have you concluded your business, my lord?" she said, half-angrily.

"I have," he calmly replied. He went about washing himself in an efficient manner, rinsed, and then dove into the bathing pool, surfacing next to her. "I am surprised that you do not understand the importance of what I was doing tonight," he began.

Zuleika's feet hit the marble bottom of the bathing pool, and she whirled about to face the khan. "I understand everything, my lord! Given the brief time we have for you to soothe the citizens of my city before my father dies, you must make the most of your time. But this is our wedding night! Could you not have waited until tomorrow?"

"Now, my princess," he began, almost laughing at the look of pure outrage on her beautiful face, "the opportunity was there to show the merchants and ship owners of Dariyabar that I am not a barbarian, though you have all called me thus. They needed to know that I understand the various elements that make up their great trade. That my main goal in attacking the city was merely to gain an entry to the sea and that trade. They needed to understand that I am not a monster, that I love and adore their princess," he finished with a mischievous smile.

"Do not try to wheedle me, Amir!" she grumbled at him.

"But, my princess, who else is there for me to wheedle?" he teased her, and reaching out, he pulled her resisting form against his.

"I hate you," she said, half-heartedly.

"No, you don't," he replied.

"So you love me?" she said, and began to melt at the pressure of his thighs and his belly on her thighs and belly.

"From the first moment I saw you," he confessed.

"Indeed?" she replied.

"I am an impulsive man," he told her. "You do not yet love me, my princess, but in time you will. You are a careful woman who must consider the entire issue before you will commit yourself, or in this particular case, your heart."

It startled her that he should know her so well after only three days. "You are arrogant, and you presume far too much," she responded, and pulling away from him swam to the steps of the pool and stood up, looking back at him a moment. Slowly she ascended the marble steps, the droplets of water gleaming like diamonds on her beautiful lithe body. "It is possible that I just might forgive your behavior tonight," she told him, drying herself off. "You have pleased me in the past. It is possible you may do so again, my lord."

He chuckled. "Now, my princess, who is being naughty?"

Zuleika ignored his remark, and picked up a crystal flask containing a thick pale green cream. "You will rub me with this lotion," she said, and turning, moved slowly back into her bedchamber.

He quickly dried himself with a length of toweling, and then followed her. She was already lying upon her belly. A warm breeze, scented with damask roses and lilies, blew through the silk gauze draperies that hung between the marble pillars through which he viewed a walled garden. There was the song of a nightingale coming from that garden. Straddling her, he used her delightful and provocative bottom as a seat. Uncorking the crystal vial, he watched as the pale green cream coated its sides, finally pouring itself out into his palm. He set the container aside on the ebony table. Then rubbing his two hands together to distribute the fragrant cream, he began to massage her with slow strokes of his big hands.

"Ummm, that is quite satisfactory," she murmured as those hands swept up the long line of her back and over her shoulders.

"Just satisfactory?" he mocked her. Then he continued to massage her until all the cream in his hands had been worked into her pale skin. Now he reversed his position, and poured more cream into his hand. Distributing the lotion between his hands a second time, he began to massage her round buttocks with an expertise that frankly surprised her. His supple fingers dug into her flesh.

"Ohhh, yes!" Zuleika said. She could feel her desires beginning to rouse themselves. "You have obviously done this before, my lord?"

He smiled, but said nothing, instead going on to massage each of her long legs in its turn with the spicy liquid. Now he turned about once more, pushing her wet hair from her graceful neck and pressing little kisses upon the damp skin. He poured more cream, and rubbed each of her arms, her hands and long fingers.

"Amir?"

"Yes, my princess?" he answered in dulcet tones.

"I think you can cease now," she said. Her voice was almost a squeak, and she could not prevent herself from wriggling about though she tried. When she had started this she had not anticipated how exciting it would be. She was quivering with her desire.

"You want me to cease now, my princess?" he replied in innocent tones. His hands slipped beneath her to seize her perfect round breasts. Then he pinched the nipples hard, enjoying her gasp of surprise as he did so. Now he stretched his length to cover her body with his own. Tenderly he nipped at the nape of her neck. "You are a wicked little tease, Zuleika," he told her.

"If you think to discourage me with your anger, you have but succeeded in arousing me." He nipped softly at her neck again.

Zuleika shuddered as tiny flames of desire began to lick at her. This wasn't turning out the way she had planned it. "Amir!"

For all her schooling in the erotic arts, she had no real experience other than that he and Sabola had given her. The lovely vessel that was her body was filling to overflowing with lust for him. He had heard the plea in her voice although he suspected that she had not meant it as one. He rolled off her, and then reaching out, turned her over onto her back. Her exquisitely perfect breasts rose and fell with her emotion. He gazed down at her, smiling at her closed eyes. Then his dark head bent to capture a pert nipple. He caressed it with his tongue, encircling it over and over and over again until she was moaning softly with her open longing. He moved to her other breast now while a hand fondled the breast he had just left.

Zuleika was astounded to find how sensitive her breasts were. She would not yield easily to him, however. Reaching out, she tangled her slim fingers into his thick black hair, and yanked him from her breast. "You must kiss me!" she demanded of him, and her now open violet eyes met his gaze.

He laughed softly. "With pleasure, little princess," he said, and his lips took fierce possession of hers. Their tongues fought a battle to fill each other's mouths. Hers battled his with skill and newfound cunning. She could not be subdued, and she brought quick hot fire into his loins.

She sank her teeth into his shoulder, laughing when he swore softly. She moved provocatively, whispering wickedly in his ear, "Now, my lord, Amir! Now!"

"No!" he said. She was the princess of Dariyabar, and key to her kingdom, but by the gods, he was the khan of khans, and he would rule her in their bed.

She thrust her pelvis up at him.

"No!" he repeated, and turning her over swiftly, he gave her several spanks on her buttocks before rolling her back to face him. "Passion should be savored, Zuleika, and not hurried." He shifted his body in order to put his head between her milky thighs. His fingers pushed the tender pinkish flesh apart, and his mouth fastened on the delicate bud of her womanhood. Then he began to suckle upon it.

Zuleika gasped with surprise, but she was not displeased by his actions. He was unleashing delights within her body that sent her gasping for air. The waves of heat came quickly in explosions of rapture that caused her to consider she might be dying. "Amir! Oh, Amir! It is too sweet. Too sweet!"

There was a tone in her voice that alerted him that he might be driving her too far. She was not really that experienced in passion. He stopped, and pulling himself up again, covered her body with his own. "Zuleika, my love! My own true heart!" He murmured the soft words of low passion into her little ear even as he plunged deeply into her burning flesh. He thrust hard, slowly, slowly until she was almost weeping in his embrace. "Tell me you love me," he murmured to her. "Tell me!"

Her arms went about him, holding him tightly. Her breasts flattened against his smooth chest. She pretended that she had not heard him, and he was wise enough not to press her further.

Then together they found a perfect rhythm. Their passions drove them higher and higher until together they finally found a nirvana far above that of the gods. They clung to each other in that perfect little world of exquisite rapture. And then, since paradise is not permitted humankind, they descended in a rush that left them both half-conscious and breathless. When they came to themselves once again, Zuleika found herself wrapped in Amir's arms, her cheek against his chest. Beneath the flesh she could hear the strong beat of his great heart.

"I do love you, princess of Dariyabar," he told her.

"But you do not understand me," Zuleika said. "You love my body, and the pleasure that we can give each other, but do you respect me as an intellect, Amir? Can you listen to my judgment, and weigh it carefully before making a decision? I do not know if I can be satisfied just to be a trophy for you."

"What would you be, then?" he asked quietly.

"If you are to rule Dariyabar successfully, Amir, then we must be equal partners. I need no public acclaim, but what do you really know of my country but that you wanted it because it provided Khanistan with a window to the sea, and beyond? You have no great cities in your land, Amir. Your people live a different life than mine live. You cannot make decisions for Dariyabar based simply on your own experience. You need mine as well."

"We are herdsmen and warriors, it is true," he agreed, "but does not common sense apply equally on the steppes as well as in the city, Zuleika?"

"If you are dealing with cattle, perhaps," she said with a smile, "but you cannot treat the merchants of Dariyabar as you would your cattle, Amir. I will gladly teach you the language of diplomacy that you will need to be a good sultan. My father rarely made a decision that he did not consider in private first. I have learned much from him."

"Yet he favored his sons over his daughter," the khan said shrewdly.

"Yes," she admitted, "he did, but it did not keep him from despairing over Cyrus, Asad and Jahi. Like you, they were warriors. My father has in the past year come to rely upon me, and upon Abd al Hakim, Bahira's father. You must do the same, Amir."

"I had thought to make Sabola my vizier," he said.

She shook her head at him. "Nay, keep Bahira's father as your vizier. You need Sabola to lead the armies. You will not be content to sit here in Dariyabar. You will go forth, this time across the sea, to find and conquer new lands. You need Sabola by your side. Besides, he has no real administrative experience in the government of any country."

He nodded. "You are indeed clever, my wife," he told her.

"And I will come to love you, Amir," she said softly.

He smiled down into her violet eyes. "I think you probably will," he replied.

"So arrogant," she laughed up at him.

"So haughty," he chuckled down at her.

"You spanked me before," she said, remembering.

"I did," he answered her with a grin. "You were being most recalcitrant, and I must be master in our bed, princess of Dariyabar."

Suddenly she was astride his chest, and laughing at the look of surprise upon his face. "And I shall be mistress!" she told him.

His look grew serious, and then he said, "Yes, Zuleika, my princess of Dariyabar, you shall, for I can love no other."

"It is a grave vow you make, my lord," she answered him.

"I know," he responded. "Trust me always, Zuleika, and I swear that I shall never fail you. Believe in me, my darling, and I will trust in your judgment though it be difficult for me to accept the council of a woman. I shall, nonetheless, for I adore you!"

Her look was equally sober. "Do not say these things to me, Amir, if you cannot keep your promises. I will forgive much in you, but never will I forgive betrayal. As I will be loyal to you, so must you be loyal to me."

He drew her down into his embrace. "Then we are agreed, my darling princess of Dariyabar. I shall love you always, and be ever faithful." His lips brushed hers softly. "What vow will you make me?"

She smiled now into his dark eyes. "That I will always be faithful to you, my lord. And that I will love you too." Then she kissed him passionately, and Amir Khan knew in that instant that he had found a treasure beyond all price.