The Harem Master

by Megan Derr

  Kitt scowled. "Secret passages are stupid. Do you know how many people I've killed by way of secret passages?"

  "You've mentioned it before, once or twice." Ihsan's mouth ticked up at one corner. "But I'm not getting rid of them. I don't think it's possible, even if I wanted to."

  Kitt huffed but let the matter rest. Ihsan drew to a halt as they reached one of his favorite rooms. It was a gathering room, large enough for thirty or so people to mingle comfortably. The center was taken over by a pool deep enough to reach his knees, filled with lazily swimming fish and bright flowers floating along the top.

  "Where does a desert country come by so much water?"

  "The baths come from hot springs piped here from the hills where they're located. The drinking water and such are fed by an underground river," Ihsan replied. "People think the city was built here because of the coast, but the coast was merely a bonus. There's an enormous underground river that comes all the way from the mountains and dumps into the sea. We pull water up from it. These decorative pools come from the sea, however."

  "That's a lot of pipework."

  Ihsan shrugged. "I admit I do not know well how it all works. I was given rudimentary knowledge, but mostly what I learned was to leave it to the people who understand and maintain it. Haluk knows much more, but I am sure that does not come as a surprise."

  Kitt snickered. Haluk might be a soldier by trade, and a concubine by choice, but he was endlessly fascinated—obsessed with—engineering, mechanics, and other such sciences. He was forever reading and talking about things that Ihsan only vaguely followed. Though he always enjoyed listening, because Haluk was rarely so animated.

  Leaving the gathering room, Ihsan continued the tour through the public places and into the restricted areas, pointing out living quarters, meeting halls, offices, dining rooms, and the library. They paused outside it, as Ihsan explained, "Once it was much larger than this, but my great grandfather wanted more room for his harem. He had a record seventy-six concubines. So the library was largely packed away and sent off to the archives, and what remained was put here."

  "That's unfortunate. Who in the world really needs seventy-six concubines?"

  Ihsan shook his head. "I do not know. That was never how it was meant to be. It is one of the many things I hope to fix." He gestured down the hall. "This way is the Jeweled Garden, also simply called the harem hall. Do I need to ban you from it, or can I trust you to leave Lord Demir in peace?"

  Kitt cast him a look. "The real question is can any of us be trusted to behave around him. Do not think any of us missed the I want you naked and spread open look you were giving him. Though to be fair, I do not think his thoughts were any more proper."

  Ihsan curled his fingers inward to avoid touching his scars. He seriously doubted anyone found him attractive, especially not a man like Demir, breathtakingly beautiful and constantly surrounded by beauty. Only Ihsan's men and Euren still found him attractive, and that was different. Save for Kitt, they'd loved him before war had ruined his face and much of his body. And Kitt had scars of his own, even if they weren't the visible kind. Ihsan shivered as memories washed over him: darkness, hot sand, and the sound of an explosion before his body was struck by countless shards of glass and metal. "I think even if that were true, he is smart enough to keep his distance."

  "Maybe. So what does being a harem master entail, exactly? Other than the obvious… which, well, I don't even know that much, really. He babysits concubines and makes us look pretty?"

  Ihsan laughed so hard he was forced to stop walking and lean against a wall to brace himself, pressing the back of one hand to his mouth to muffle the noise, the other clutching at his aching sides.

  Grinning, Kitt crowded in close, forced him upright, and kissed him softly. "Always prettiest when you laugh, lomista." He nuzzled Ihsan's cheek. "No amount of scarring changes that. I promise Lord Demir was looking at you with pure want."

  "Enough," Ihsan said. He had a sister to mourn and a father to depose; he did not need the distraction of inappropriate lust.

  Kitt drew back, dragging his fingers lightly down Ihsan's chest. "I like the way you look in palace clothes. You need to fuck me while you wear this."

  Gripping Kitt's biceps, Ihsan drew him back in close. He sucked on Kitt's bottom lip, dug his teeth into it, and then slowly pulled away only to dip back for a proper kiss that left them both panting. "Whatever you want, but not out here."

  "We'll work up to that." Kitt pushed away, took his hand, and squeezed it briefly before letting go and gesturing down the hall. "So tell me of the harem master and what he does beyond make me hard."

  "The harem masters are charged with the care, protection, and training of the concubines."

  Kitt made a strangled noise. "Training?"

  Ihsan grinned. "Yes, training. Not the training you're thinking of… well, not very often, anyway. Harem masters are thoroughly trained in the erotic arts since they must know and understand anything a king or queen might desire. Usually they appoint other concubines to do the hands-on training, though they've been known to do it themselves where necessary. Some monarchs are extremely particular about who touches their concubines."

  "So if you wanted me to learn something new but didn't have the time or inclination to do the teaching yourself, you would appoint him to see to my instruction?"

  "Yes, but you can stop contriving plots. If there is anyone who can best him for erotic knowledge, it's you," Ihsan replied, shaking his head when Kitt grinned. Ihsan reached up to trace those pretty lips with his thumb. "That's not the only training he oversees, and it's probably the duty he performs least. Mostly he sees to it they know how to entertain and how to behave when they are attending the king or queen. That is the main duty of the concubines, after all: to sit with us in meetings, feed us at banquets, attend our every little whim and desire while we attend matters of the kingdom. Concubines are a display of perfect loyalty and adoration. Why would you choose a life of pleasing me if you did not adore me absolutely?"

  A pity that philosophy had become lost somewhere along the way.

  "Because you adore us far more," Kitt said quietly. "I did not know such was possible until you."

  "I think we've taught each other plenty. You kept me sane in that place." He pulled Kitt in, hugged him tightly, letting the warmth and comfort push away the dark memories that wanted so desperately to feed on him. Kitt stroked and petted him, clever fingers so gentle though Ihsan knew well how deadly they could be.

  After a few minutes, Kitt said, "So does he do anything else? It seems such a strange post, but then again, I know nothing of harems. I'm used to answering only to you. I'm not sure I would take it well, all jesting aside, if you charged him with babysitting me."

  "I wouldn't put you under his charge unless it was a matter of protection or some scheme we were playing out. I am much more interested in seeing if we can make him our ally. They say if you want to know a secret, ask the harem master. They are privy to all of them. In many respects, harem masters know the monarchs better than even the steward and council. They also know much about the rest of the court. It is not unusual—is in fact common practice—for the harem master to be an understanding ear, even a consultant, to any in the palace who require assistance or advice in regards to intimate matters."

  "He's a sex expert for the whole palace? I guess he would be, looking like that."

  Ihsan pinched him. "Behave. He looks like that because he is proud of what he does. Would you trust Captain Fatih if he looked more like a noble? Would you trust a merchant who looked a dancer? Why, then, would you trust a harem master who did not look his part?"

  "Not arguing the logic, just commenting on how well he does his job."

  "You are incorrigible."

  "But not wrong."

  Ihsan leaned down to quiet him with a kiss, but the sound of voices made them both go still. Kitt muttered something in Rittuen and moved quickly but silently as he pulled Ihsan down a side hallway.


  They crouched down low to the floor, letting the shadows hide them as much as possible. Ihsan's mouth flattened as a hidden door swung open and two familiar figures stepped into the hall: Captain Fatih and Lord Demir.

  Demir swung the door shut and locked it, then hooked the key back on the ring that hung from the chain around his waist. Where had Demir gotten a key to the secret passages? Only the king and queen should have them.

  More importantly, why were he and Fatih using the passages?

  The two men stood speaking quietly, too low for Ihsan to hear, for several minutes. When they finally parted ways and the hall was empty and silent again, Ihsan rose to his feet.

  "Do you want me to learn what they were doing?" Kitt asked in an idle tone.

  "Not yet," Ihsan said. "We've only just arrived and so know nothing. I would rather get comfortable, learn the lay of things. I want to speak to my father, then the council. Then we will begin to creep around and demand answers. Let us hope Lord Demir and Captain Fatih are friends, not foe."

  Three

  Euren scowled at the target board, where two of five throwing knives had failed to land in the center mark.

  "You're nervous. Your face hides it, but the knives never lie."

  Huffing, Euren turned to focus her glare on the woman sitting against the nearest wall of the practice yard under the shade of the overhang that protected the walkways from the relentless sun. "Maybe. Not all of us can be like you, never nervous about anything."

  "Me? Never nervous?" Asli laughed and rose, brushing orange-brown dust from her dark red skirt. "You appear to have forgotten that night several days after your wedding, when I came to your room and begged to be the first in your harem."

  "If you were nervous about that, this is the first I've heard of it." She smiled as Asli looped an arm around her neck and drew her into a soft, lazy kiss. Asli smelled like dust and the white flowers that made the monastery's wine unique, eagerly sought, and obscenely expensive.

  Drawing back, idly playing with the loose knot of Euren's ink-black hair, Asli said, "No reason to be nervous, Sunlight."

  "No reason at all. Deposing a king and learning how to be a queen is as easy as finding sand. Especially after five years of hiding away in a monastery, two of which were spent thinking my husband was probably dead." She blew out a breath. "Nothing to it."

  Asli smiled, cupped her face, and kissed her again. "I have been teaching you how to be an indolent noble all these years, and you have always done very well. If my mother can master Tavamaran court life, so can you. And you'll have your crazy, very-much-alive husband right beside you, and he'll probably be causing so much ruckus you can work undisturbed."

  "That is certainly true," Euren said, matching Asli's smile as she thought of Ihsan. He had stumbled into the monastery starved and exhausted and half-mad from overexposure to the sun and heat, saying her name over and over until he passed out. He and his harem had barely been able to leave their beds for a week. She had never cried so much or been so happy.

  Or angry, but Ihsan had always been infuriatingly skilled at banishing her anger.

  "I cannot wait to see you a queen," Asli said, hands sliding from Euren's face to smooth down her throat and along her shoulders, skating along her bare arms before she let go and stepped back. She looked Euren up and down, grinned when their eyes finally met again. "Though I will miss seeing you half-naked all of the time."

  Euren rolled her eyes. "I suspect you will not care, actually, because you'll be having too much fun walking around in concubine finery and half-naked yourself." She reached out and tugged at the beaded red fabric wrapped around Asli's breasts. "Your old betrothed will hate me even more."

  "I'm sure he moved on years ago," Asli replied with a shrug. "It was not as though we actually cared for each other. You can tell that one grew up in a stodgy old city in eastern Tavamara. He cares about his horses, not who he marries."

  "There is that," Euren said, mouth twitching. She let her hand fall and turned back around to stare at the target board. "I hope this entire venture does not come down to my aim."

  "Your aim is fine when you're not worrying yourself to death." Asli patted her ass playfully, then crossed the yard and pulled the throwing knives free. Returning to Euren, she held them out. "Have another go. Think about the reward you'll get if all the knives land true." She fluttered her lashes, pale, pretty mouth curving in a wicked little smile that made Euren shiver, recalling all that mouth had done just that morning before they all got out of bed to get on with the day. In a couple more days they would be ready to leave and return to a life they'd not seen for five years. Soon they would be too busy trying to stay alive to have many chances to enjoy each other. Every stolen moment mattered. "I do like rewards."

  Motioning for Asli to return to the safety of the wall, Euren focused on the target, felt the familiar, comforting weight of the knives—then threw them in rapid succession, exactly the way her father had taught her when she was still a girl, so young her aunt had been furious with him for days.

  Homesickness washed through her then, an old, familiar ache, but it was soothed by the knowledge that in a matter of days she would finally be home again—and would never have to leave it. By law, once on the throne, the king and queen never left the palace of Tavamara except under rare, usually dire, circumstances.

  "Beautifully done," Asli said from behind her, arms wrapping around Euren's waist, lips pressing to her shoulder. Her fingers dipped into the waistband of Euren's pants.

  "Not here," Euren said, even as she pressed back against Asli. "The monks get irate when we're a little too public."

  "We'll be gone soon, and they can go back to playing in the yard themselves," Asli said but withdrew and took Euren's hand. They paused to retrieve the jug of water they'd brought along, then slipped into the temple.

  The cool dark of its halls was refreshing after the blazing heat of the yard. Even in only a wrap and knee-length pants, she was sweltering. "We should go to the river, enjoy the cold water one last time."

  "That sounds fun." Asli pushed open the door to the large room that had belonged to Euren and her harem for the past five years.

  The door had barely closed behind Euren when she was pushed up against it and given a ravenous kiss that made the cut in her lip sting. She dug her fingers into Asli's short, dark, red-brown hair, returning the kiss full measure. Asli pushed a thigh between hers, lifting her so her feet barely touched the ground, fingers slipping into her pants to grip Euren's ass firmly.

  Tearing away from Euren's mouth, Asli put her own to work on Euren's jaw, down to her throat, sucking gently on the mark she'd left there the previous night. It throbbed under the careful assault, and Euren didn't even try to hold back a soft moan.

  She swore when Asli abruptly drew away but ceased complaining when she realized it was only so Asli could unknot her top and cast it aside. Next Asli untied the strings holding her pants closed. Pushing her back up against the door, Asli put fingers and mouth to work. Her mouth alternated between sucking kisses and gentle scrapes of teeth on Euren's breasts. She pushed Euren's pants further out of the way, then braced one hand on the door while the other continued to work Euren's clit. "Can't wait to see you dressed as a queen, fuck you when you're still in all your pretty clothes while people wait impatiently in the hall to speak with you."

  "Troublemaker," Euren gasped out and then muffled her cry in Asli's mouth as she came.

  She slumped against the door, sated and wrung out—and scowled when Asli danced away from her touch. "Get back here unless you're actually trying to avoid reciprocation."

  Asli smiled. When they were children, and Euren was the soldier's child who shouldn't have been playing with a crown prince and a nobleman's daughter, that smile had gotten all three of them in a great deal of trouble. Since she had become the crown princess and Asli a concubine… that hadn't really changed much. Asli would always have an affinity for mischief. Euren loved the quality—always h
ad, always would. If not for Asli, Euren and Ihsan might never have taken a risk on each other. "I am enjoying the rush of anticipation, Sunlight. Let's find our errant sisters and go bathe in the river."

  "They're probably overseeing the packing, even though I told them to leave it to the monks."

  "Probably." Asli tossed her a bathing robe, then shucked her clothes and shrugged into her own robe. They gathered up the baskets that held their bathing supplies, then went to the south end of the monastery.

  As expected, Gulden and Canan were supervising the packing, fussing and questioning and slowly driving the poor monks mad.

  "Enough, you two," Asli said. "I think they can manage to pack a few trunks. Come with us to the river for a bath."

  They turned around as one. Complete opposites in almost everything, but somehow they managed to get along like sisters who had never spent a day apart. Gulden was tall and extremely slender, with long, dark brown hair she kept braided and wrapped around the back of her head, often decorated with silk flowers and butterflies. At the moment it was messy and undecorated, hastily done up that morning before she'd darted off for her morning exercises. "A bath sounds like a wonderful idea, Highness, but—"

  "But nothing," Euren said. "You can fuss over it all later, if you must."

  Gulden opened her mouth to argue, but stopped when Canan touched her back. She was short, brown skin not quite as dark as Gulden's, and kept her hair shaved extremely close to her scalp. Large gold hoops hung from her ears, and she had a smaller one in the center of her nose and two in her bottom lip. Hidden from sight were the hoops piercing her nipples, but the one on her stomach, slightly larger and decorated with a ruby, was visible.

  Though Canan had never been fond of the priesthood, and had gladly walked away from it to become part of Euren's harem, she still retained much of the appearance and practices of a priestess, her manner of dress and demeanor restrained around others, given to long stretches of silence. Gulden was a former tutor, hired by Euren's father after she'd married Ihsan, to help Asli train her to be queen. He would probably be torn between amusement and annoyance when he learned Gulden had become one of her concubines.