The Soldier's Lotus

by Adonis Devereux

  “You move like a warrior,” said Darien. “Don’t you find that your hair gets in the way if it is so long?”

  “Do you dislike it?”

  “Gods no!” Darien twined a lock around his fingers. “I mean, yes, I do like it. I can’t imagine anything more beautiful.”

  Saerileth smiled. “Keeping it twisted up as I do, it rarely hangs much below my shoulders. And Red Lotuses do not cut their hair.”

  “Never?” Darien’s fingers were busy among her tresses, seeking out the leather ties that held it in place.

  “Never. We do, on occasion, cut off a single lock to give as a favor to an honored client.” Saerileth felt strange. No one, no client, no guild-member, not even the guildmaster himself, had ever touched her without her express permission, and yet here was Darien making utterly free of her person. She told herself she ought to be offended; she told herself that as a concubine, this was only right. But she did not listen to herself. She felt Darien’s touch, and she was satisfied.

  “And have you ever given away a lock of your hair?” asked Darien.

  “No.” Saerileth was glad she had not. The guildmaster had wanted her to send a lock to Ulen Ahnok, the one who had purchased her, but she had refused, saying that he had not earned such a favor.

  Darien did not respond verbally to Saerileth, but he found the last of the black leather ties in her hair. He loosed it, and her hair tumbled down about her in a curtain of black silk.

  “Glorious,” said Darien. He clutched her to him, letting her hair run through his fingers. “You’re mine now, you know. It doesn’t matter who bought you before, you understand?”

  Saerileth nodded. There was an almost anxious note in Darien’s voice, and she understood. “I have no attachment to the one who had bought me. He saw me only once, and I never saw him at all. I will not try to run away to him.”

  Darien kissed her mouth, and his tongue forced its way between her lips. Never before had anyone kissed her without permission, and while earlier she had been too overcome with a combination of gratitude, relief, and primal desire, now she was able to appreciate the sensation. Darien was taking from her, not receiving from her.

  Saerileth slipped her arms around his neck and let her hands run freely over Darien’s shoulders. The scars there would, she thought, usually be considered flaws on a body otherwise flawless. But not to her mind. To her, those scars signified the rough and dangerous life that this rough and dangerous man had led.

  When at last Darien released her lips, he pulled her to sit beside him on the divan. “Are you hungry? Thirsty?”

  “Yes, both.” Saerileth smiled when Darien rose and fetched her a mug of ale from his private keg, along with an apple, also from his private store. As a Lotus, such attentions were no more than her due; as a concubine she should have been serving Darien, not the other way around.

  “Thank you.” She took the food from him, and she saw his gaze fix on her mouth as she ate.

  “I plan to have a retirement party,” said Darien suddenly. “Are you able to arrange something like that?”

  “Yes, Darien.” She looked up at him, and the desire to kiss his lips surprised her. She did not, of course, take the liberty, but the very fact that she wanted him was unsettling.

  “You’ll have anything you need. I have plenty of money, so whatever you think is necessary, we can get.” Darien took the empty mug from her and set it back on the table.

  “How large is your household?” asked Saerileth. “How many guests will you be inviting? What sorts of entertainment do you want?”

  “Well, I had thought of inviting Kamen and his family – they’re nobles, so the party has to be elegant – maybe some of the other nobility?”

  Saerileth understood at once. Darien wanted to begin to move up in society, but he did not know how. She would be able to help him with that, and at the same time she would be able to learn more about the massacre. Perhaps, if she were quite successful in helping Darien, she might even be able to get a look at the royal records. Then she would know for certain if it were, as she had always thought, the Sunjaa King himself who had ordered the destruction of the Kesandrahn clan. “Is your wife nobly-born?” asked Saerileth, and inexplicably her breath hitched.

  “I don’t have a wife.” Darien laughed. “I have four concubines, though. I mean, besides you, Saerileth. So five.”

  “So you have a harem then?” Saerileth wondered what the women in Darien’s harem looked like. It was always possible to determine a great deal of a man’s tastes by looking at his harem. She hoped that they were not all Sunjaa. That would put her at a disadvantage that only being a Red Lotus could outweigh, and Saerileth preferred a larger margin than that.

  “Not really.” Darien was not looking at her.

  “What?” Saerileth stared. “You have four concubines who are not a harem?”

  “I have four concubines, and I keep them all in the same house with me,” said Darien.

  Abrexa’s chain! Saerileth shifted from her place on the divan, sliding up onto Darien’s knees. She settled herself in his lap, facing him, forcing him by her very nearness to look into her eyes. “You don’t have a harem because you didn’t buy your concubines, did you?”

  “No.” Darien’s cock was swelling beneath her.

  “You saved them, the way you did me, didn’t you?”

  “Yes.” Darien pulled her flush against him, and the hardness of his shaft rubbed against her still-sore pussy, causing it to flood.

  “If you like,” said Saerileth, leaning forward so that her lips nearly brushed his, “I will be your chief concubine and make the others into a proper harem for you. If you are going to move upward in Sunjaa society, you will have to behave as noblemen do.”

  Darien jerked her pallav downward, and, as her shirt was ripped and gone, her breasts were bared to him. “Yes, Saerileth my Lotus, you are my chief concubine. You can teach me to behave as noblemen do.” He took her breast into his mouth, pulling off only long enough to say, “But I will continue to fuck in my common way.”

  ****

  Saerileth slipped out of the litter into Darien’s waiting arms. He had not originally intended to hire a litter, having planned to walk from the port, where news of his retirement had sent ripples of shock throughout the fleet docked there, to his home. But Saerileth’s surprise at being expected to walk so far in her flimsy slippers had been enough. Darien had instantly hired a litter.

  “Thank you, Master.” Saerileth slid her hands down Darien’s chest as he put her on the ground. His cock was so large in his breeches that she would have assumed he was already erect, except that when she touched him, his cock sprang to life, growing beneath its leather covering. Saerileth’s pussy was still sore from the last time he had fucked her, but she already wanted him again.

  “You can have the concubines summoned to you,” said Darien, taking her by the hand as he led the way into his house. “You are the chief concubine, and you are in charge of everything.”

  Saerileth looked up at him. “You entrust everything to me?” That was unexpected. Lotuses were rarely purchased; they were prohibitively expensive. But when they were, they were given charge of their owners’ social lives, never of everything.

  “You’re a Lotus. You’re educated. You know how to do everything, right?” Darien’s teasing smile was gorgeous. “You can give instructions to whomever you please. I have a steward, yes, but he will answer to you.”

  Saerileth had to use all her training to keep her breath from speeding up and betraying her emotion. Darien was allowing her total liberty. She was to have as much or as little responsibility as she desired, but no one, not even the steward, was to outrank her. Darien’s generosity astounded her. She would be as free to pursue her vengeance here as if she were living alone in the city. “I know how to do most things, yes.”

  “You’re home, Darien!” It was a woman’s voice, speaking in heavily-accented Sunjaa, and Saerileth immediately recognized this for one o
f Darien’s concubines.

  “This is Saerileth, my chief concubine.” Darien did not show any particular response to the woman’s effusive greeting, and Saerileth narrowed her eyes.

  “Chief?” The woman, a homely blonde-haired Vadal woman of nearly forty winters, stopped just short of Darien. “But she’s so young!”

  “Saerileth is a Red Lotus,” said Darien, and he slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her to him.

  Saerileth saw the woman’s flash of anger, despite how quickly it was smothered. Anger, Saerileth noted, not jealousy.

  “Now, I have to attend to more paperwork.” Darien bent down and brushed a kiss across Saerileth’s forehead. “Retiring is more of a pain than I had expected.”

  “Will you be dining here tonight, Master?” Saerileth laid emphasis on the word “master”. Though because she was a Lotus she would call Darien by his name in private, it was unacceptable for any concubine to address her master by his name. His other concubines would have to learn.

  “Yes.” He dropped his kiss to her lips, and then he was gone. He moved so quickly that Saerileth was astonished. She realized afresh how physically perfect he was.

  “So, you’re to be chief concubine.” The woman was still glaring at Saerileth. “No doubt you’ve used your Lotus training to twist Darien—”

  “Master,” said Saerileth. “You are not to refer to him by his name. That is forbidden to a concubine.” The words came out automatically, but she was not thinking of them. She was, instead, realizing that this woman was wrong. Saerileth had not used her Lotus wiles on Darien, not once. “What is your name?” asked Saerileth.

  “Lia.” The woman put her hands on her hips and looked Saerileth up and down. “You’re a little minx, I can see that clear as moonsrise. But maybe we’ll be able to get on.”

  “We shall.” Saerileth smiled, completely masking her irritation. “I take it that you, Lia, have been the chief concubine until now?”

  “Well, Darien—”

  “The master.”

  “The master never made anyone chief. I was just here first.” Lia shrugged.

  “And how long have you been here?” Saerileth continued her walk through the house, surveying the rooms as Lia spoke to her. Darien’s house was spacious, full of wide windows and large, open rooms. It was an elegant design, showing Saerileth that Darien had some innate taste. However, she also saw that everything inside the house had been left to the whims of the concubines.

  “I came here right after Da – the master bought the house with the plunders from his first spoils as a captain in the infantry.”

  “Infantry? I thought that he was a sailor?” Saerileth did not allow anything beyond the idlest curiosity into her tone, but her puzzlement was great. She knew that Darien had been a sailor. The Sunjaa who had massacred her clan had sailed in on their own ship.

  “He was. He was a sailor for seven years, but for some reason, even though he had a fair bit of money even then, he left the navy. He was in the infantry for six years after that. He was made a captain almost at once, and I was his first concubine.”

  Saerileth filed away the bitter pride that tinged Lia’s words. “So he transferred back to the navy when?”

  “Seven years ago.”

  “So you’ve been with him for twelve years?” Saerileth calculated that Darien would have made captain within a year and probably have gotten his first plunder a couple of months later. She was correct.

  “Yes.”

  “And the others? Where are they? I should like to meet them.” Saerileth stopped in a particularly large room, one with a balcony that overlooked an enclosed courtyard. The room had two or three divans haphazardly placed around, and some cushions lying about on the floor.

  “They should be in here soon.” Lia stopped in the doorway. “Would you care for some tea, Saerileth?”

  “Yes, thank you. And have the rest of the concubines sent in immediately.” Saerileth sat on one of the divans. This room could easily be converted into the primary chamber for the harem. She, as chief concubine, would have a room of her own, but the others would have this one for their living space.

  Just then three giggling young women entered from the balcony. When they saw Saerileth they stopped.

  “I didn’t think it was true!” exclaimed one. She was probably in her late twenties, and her dark skin showed that she was a Sunjaa.

  “Darien really found a Lotus!” This one was mixed-blooded, but at least partially Sunjaa.

  “You are not to call him ‘Darien’ any longer,” said Saerileth. “You are to be a proper harem, and as concubines you must refer to him as ‘Master’.”

  “I always thought we should.” The Sunjaa girl smiled at Saerileth. “My name is Aneke. I’ve been Da – the master’s concubine for three years now.”

  “Here’s your tea.” Lia returned and placed a steaming mug in Saerileth’s hand.

  Saerileth took it. “Thank you.” She raised it to her lips and inhaled the aroma. A black tea, probably Vadal in origin. The Sunjaa were not fond of tea. But underneath Saerileth detected another odor. She was familiar with herbs from her training. Contraceptives were a staple for Lotuses, and she always drank them. But this was not a contraceptive. She rose and poured the tea onto the floor.

  “Hellebore? Really? If I were carrying the master’s child, you would have me expel it?” Saerileth shook her head. “You really thought to deceive a Lotus? You are a fool then.”

  Lia was shaking in fury, but the other three girls were merely confused and frightened. Saerileth knew they had not been involved in this. “I would never—” said Lia, but Saerileth interrupted.

  “Do not pollute the air with your lies. Go to your chamber, and do not leave it until I summon you.” Saerileth watched Lia go, her unwilling steps betraying her wrath as clearly as her tightened shoulders. “Things are going to be different here from now on,” said Saerileth. “Very different.”

  Chapter Four

  Darien sat in his walled garden and stared at the cherry-wood stringed contraption on his lap. He turned the instrument over in his large, rough hands, holding it by its neck and base with his fingers for fear of breaking it. Saerileth had called it a “dulcimer”, a device foreign to the Sunjaa. She had said she wanted to play one at Darien’s party the next day, so he had made sure to order one and have it delivered in time to meet with her approval. The specifications of the instrument he had surreptitiously gained when he had engaged her in conversation about the dulcimer she had lost at sea.

  He ran his calloused right hand palm across the dulcimer’s smooth surface, and his finger traced the shape of carvings of lotus blossoms, which he had specifically ordered. This task he had done alone. Saerileth ruled his household; he had freely given her that honor and authority, but this little thing he had wanted to do himself. Just the thought of her delight and surprise at seeing his gift pleased him. His smile melted into a quiet laugh as he resolved to demand a thousand kisses from Saerileth in payment for the dulcimer.

  As the morning sun rose in the sky to bake the city, the stones that led into the pool began to burn Darien’s bare thighs. He took his feet from the cool, clear water, rose, and slipped into his sandals. He was no longer dressed as a sailor but in fashions that Saerileth had said befitted a man of his wealth. Darien was not used to such garb, and he looked over the edge of the pool to check himself again, to try to acclimate himself to his new look. He stood bare-chested, his dark skin covered in a film of sweat which highlighted the curves of his muscles. A simple gold medallion of a rayed sun rested between his pectorals. But it was the skirt that took some getting used to. Sure, he had seen plenty of rich men wear the traditional Sunjaa fashion, but before entering the military, he had grown up poor. Now that he was retiring and had more money than he knew what to do with, Saerileth had told him it was time to dress the part. The wrap-around skirt fell to his mid-calf, was held on by an ornate belt of black leather, and was almost completely see-through, so thin
was the white linen. The loincloth underneath could not hide the length of his cock; its head peeked past the hem, and Darien knew it was not difficult to notice.

  Though his steward walked briskly and quietly across the lush grass of the inner garden, Darien heard him coming before he ever opened his mouth to speak.

  “What is it, Aben?”

  Aben bowed. “Sir, Kamen Itenu is here.”

  “Already?” The party was scheduled for the next day. Still, Kamen was an old friend and was welcome any time. “Show him back here.”

  Aben bowed in acknowledgement and departed, and as Darien watched him go, his thoughts turned toward his household affairs and his future. If he was going to move up in society, the question of slaves would have to be answered. Saerileth was surprised that he kept none, but slavery – though common among the Sunjaa who took from their enemies human plunder – was distasteful to Darien. As captain and leader of men in battle, he realized long ago that a man with free heart and will was a truer follower, stronger and braver in combat, more ready to do his duty, even unto death. Slaves ran in fear when free men stayed to fight. Although his house was no battlefield, the same sentiment reigned.

  “Lounging about already, Captain?” Kamen called out across the garden. He stood on the back porch, framed between the imported marble columns, easy in the very fashions that Darien found uncomfortable. Kamen was beautiful, tall and sleek, and he wore his jewelry well. His nose ring, his nipple rings, and his many earrings enhanced his animal grace. His dreadlocks were tied back with a gold cord.

  “Captain no more.” Darien walked across the grass, bounded up the two steps to the porch, and grasped his best friend by the forearm. “Just plain Darien.” And he pulled Kamen into a bear hug.

  Kamen held Darien tightly, and when he pulled away, he rubbed the muscles of Darien’s powerful upper arms. “Darien, perhaps, but never plain.” His dark eyes shone.

  Darien stepped back and held his arms out wide. “So, what do you think?”