"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 answ
er."
"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 wh
en 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.
Zuleika and the Barbarian Page 2