The Harem Master

by Megan Derr

  "Would you like assistance, Princess?"

  Euren flipped open the nearest of the two trunks and clasped her hands, sighing happily at the bright, colorful contents. "I would not be opposed, Harem Master."

  Demir slipped through the curtains, knelt in front of the trunk, and rifled through it briefly before pulling out a pile of dark orange fabric. He handed her a bundle of underclothes that she quickly pulled on herself, then stepped in close to wrap the skirt around her hips. It was beautiful, decorated with crisscrossing blue and green bands overlaid with scattered gold glowers and slit up both sides to just a little higher than her knees. A matching wrap went around her breasts, deftly tied closed by Demir's quick, efficient fingers. He draped a wrap over his shoulder and bent to the trunk once more, pulling out a comb and a gold box the size of his palm. Quickly smoothing out her hair, he tugged and twisted gently until it was pinned at the back of her head, curls tumbling down, all of it held in place by jeweled pins. He then took the wrap draped over his shoulder, folded it in half lengthwise, and wound it loosely around her shoulders. "Did you want the jewelry that goes with it, Highness?"

  "Seems to be no point for the moment. Thank you for the assistance."

  He bowed low. "It is always an honor to serve, Highness."

  "It is appreciated." They rejoined Kitt, who hopped up into the secret passage, and then offered a hand. Euren took it, stepping up inside the cool, dark passageway. "This is incredible."

  Demir and Kitt chuckled. "I will meet you both back in my room," Demir said, then pushed the door closed for them, sealing them in darkness cut only by the flickering lantern Kitt held.

  He reached out and took her hand, squeezing it as he leaned in to kiss her cheek. "Good to have you home."

  "It's good to be home, and I'm glad all of you are unscathed." They started walking, steps echoing faintly against the white stone walls. "Lord Demir says it is thanks to you that more people did not die from the poisoning. Sounds like I've missed quite a bit of excitement."

  "Quite a bit," Kitt said, chuckling in that too-casual way of his. "I would wager Lord Demir did not mention that he was one of those who nearly died."

  "No," Euren said, startling to a halt briefly. Kitt turned around, his wry smile just visible. "Does he do that a lot?"

  "He and Ihsan have certain frustrating qualities in common."

  Euren sighed, but smiled faintly. "I see. At least we have the Harem Master on our side; we could use all the allies we can muster. What else have I missed?"

  "Much—we'll catch you up momentarily. How did you enjoy your escort?"

  "They are as fierce as I've ever heard, but otherwise nothing at all like their rumors, which does not surprise me," Euren said. "How is the palace taking to you, little dragon?"

  Kitt laughed and grinned toothily before he turned and resumed walking. "I am still getting the feel for being a concubine, but so far I am being tolerated. These secret passages are abominably stupid, but unfortunately they're proving useful."

  "That is the way of secret passages. Does my father know about these?"

  "Yes, but only because he and Lord Demir have been using them to smuggle out people your father orders executed. Several concubines, the crown princess…"

  "Mercy Divine," Euren said, stumbling to a halt again "My father and Lord Demir were responsible for that?"

  Kitt looked over his shoulder, saw she had stopped again, and turned to face her once more. He tilted his head. "What do you mean, responsible for that? How could you know anything about it?"

  "I helped smuggle them out of the country after they were delivered to the monastery," Euren said.

  Kitt burst out laughing. "Of course you did. Please make certain I am there when you tell your father and Ihsan, I want to see their expressions." He resumed walking, and only a moment later they were stepping down from another doorway and into a small, handsome bedroom.

  "Somehow I always thought the harem master would have a more… interesting bedroom," Kitt said.

  Demir's soft chuckle washed over them before Euren could do more than roll her eyes. "The interesting things are kept in the hall, Lord Kitt. And anything I keep for myself I am not going to leave where others can see."

  Kitt grinned, and Euren nearly rolled her eyes again at his unsubtle flirting. "Would somebody finally explain to me all that I have missed? You can flirt with each other at a less serious time."

  "Yes, Princess," Kitt said easily. Demir's face gave nothing away, though the levity that had filled it was also gone. Euren felt bad because she'd meant it as a tease, not a reprimand, but before she could apologize, Kitt and Demir related everything she had missed: the assassination attempt, Lord Arda's death, the council's outrageous suggestions regarding the harems.

  "And now His Majesty is accusing Ihsan of doing it because that no doubt suits his purposes, and I suspect the purposes of the council."

  "Don't forget the Steward," Kitt said. "I do not trust him, for many reasons." He cast Demir a look, and there was some silent exchange that Euren did not follow, something that made Demir tense up and look away. "Should anything untoward happen, Princess, come here. Cobra will protect you, get you out, if that becomes necessary."

  Euren shook her head. "If something happens that requires I run, I would imagine Cobra will be arrested or executed faster than I simply because of who they are."

  "No one remembers the concubines until they need them," Demir said. "The same for anyone else who happens to stay in the harem hall. Like the Jewels we're called after, we are pulled out to admire for a time, then tucked away and forgotten until needed again. At least, that is how we are treated these days. It was not always so, and certainly Your Highness and Prince Ihsan remember the old ways."

  "Basic decency shouldn't be an old way," Euren said, wishing more than ever that she could sink a knife into Kagan's chest. She'd settle for breaking his nose. "I should probably return to my room before I am missed. But should something happen, I am glad I know my way here. No matter how busy you say Kagan will be, I have every faith I will be summoned to be yelled at and further punished." That was always going to happen, though. She was grateful that Kagan had never taken his anger with her out on her father. Though that could very well change now. In which case it was definitely a good thing she had access to the tunnels, though she'd prefer not to need them.

  "I'll take you back," Kitt said. He nodded to Demir, then followed her back into the passage. They walked in silence back to her room, where Kitt kissed her cheek again before leaving her alone.

  She had only taken a few bites of her meal when someone pounded on the door. Sighing, she called for them to enter, too tired and hungry to bother leaving her table. She was a crown princess, by the Divine, and she would happily use that excuse to finish eating.

  Three guards wearing the black sashes that marked them as serving the royal courts strode into the room. She vaguely recognized them and was fairly certain they had been blue-sashed hall guards when she'd left. Saa, so much to unlearn and relearn. She started to ask how she could help them, but Asli's gentle, firm voice filled her mind, recalling lessons of etiquette, protocol, and so many other details pertaining to running a court and ruling a kingdom.

  She said nothing as they bowed except to bid them to rise. Sipped at her wine while the guards exchanged a brief look before rank forced which one of them was to speak. "Your Highness, His Majesty requests your presence in the grand court room."

  "I see," Euren replied, taking another sip of wine to quell the urge to immediately rise and go. She might not have been raised to her role, and was only moderately trained, but even she knew when she was being mocked. "I will come when I have finished my meal. You may wait in the hallway."

  "Yes, Highness." The guards bowed again and departed much more quietly than they had arrived.

  She ate her meal quickly but did not rush. When she was done she went to her trunks and pulled out the jewelry she had eschewed before. There was a heavy gol
d necklace with large sapphires and emerald, matching dangling earrings, and a string of them to wrap around her hips. She slid gold bangles on her wrists and finally departed, nodding to the guards standing patiently in the hallway.

  They bowed and escorted her through the halls of the palace to the grand court room, the largest of five, where the king or queen conducted general business for eight hours, four out of eight days a week. It was something the council, and others of the court, frequently said should be handed off to other officials who could decide trivial matters just as easily. Euren had always been of the same mind as Ihsan and Asli, one of the many things that had united them as they grew older: anyone who thought them trivial should not be deciding them.

  If Kagan was summoning her to the grand court room, it was likely to make a show of something, though she dreaded to think what. She brightened somewhat when she saw Ihsan's familiar form pacing up and down outside the enormous double doors of the grand court room. "Ihsan!"

  He looked up sharply, broke into a smile when he saw her, and scooped her up as though she weighed nothing. She kissed him, sinking her fingers into his soft hair, enjoying the faint scrape of barest stubble, the softness of his warm lips. She had always adored that he had never once ever thought to kiss her like she was gentle and easily broken as some of her other suitors had when she'd actively tried not to be in love with the crown prince.

  And she absolutely did not care if they were being too effusive. She'd thought Ihsan was dead for two years. She'd locked herself away for him for five years. If the Divine told her to be less effusive, she would defy them. "Do you know what's going on?"

  "Only that my father has called the council and the primary court, and we are being left to wait…And there is your father and Lord Demir."

  Euren turned to see them approaching, her father's face so carefully composed he must have been furious. "Papa, are you all right?"

  "I'm fine, how are you?" he asked and hugged her tightly, kissed the top of her head. Euren smiled and fought a sudden urge to cry.

  She drew back. "I'm fine. I would be better if we knew what was about to happen to us."

  "His Majesty demanded four concubines to attend him during the audience," Demir said. "He also called the court and council, so he definitely wants to put on a show. I would imagine it will end with all of us in chains, though I am not certain what tipped him to include me. That is most troubling."

  Ihsan shrugged. "You are probably here to—" He broke off as the doors opened, and two black-sashed guards bowed low before motioning them to enter. Ihsan held out his hand and Euren took it, walking side by side with him as they led the way into the courtroom.

  The grip on her hand tightened when she reflexively started to kneel. She squeezed back, silently warning Ihsan to be careful; defiance and rudeness, especially in front of such a powerful audience, was not going to get them very far.

  Demir and Fatih did kneel, but even when Kagan glared Ihsan remained stubbornly standing. "Father."

  "You are being awfully rude for a man who abandoned his people and then returned only to try and kill me."

  "I have no interest in assassinating you, Father," Ihsan replied. "If you had bothered to listen to me before, I would have told you that I know the identity of the murderer and that he is dead. We found his body only a short time ago, buried at the bottom of the body carts."

  Kagan's frown deepened, cutting hard lines into his face. Though Ihsan had taken much of his appearance from his father, they only barely looked related—and it wasn't the scars on Ihsan's face that separated them. It was the pudginess formed from overindulgence on Kagan's, the meanness around his eyes and the way his mouth never did anything but scowl and frown. Euren could not remember a time she had seen Kagan smile. "You speak of Lord Arda. What makes you think he was responsible for the assassination attempt?"

  Ihsan hesitated. Euren wished she had a cover to offer, but there was literally no way she could possibly know everything.

  "Me, Highness," Demir interjected. "I held Lord Arda's confidence on a certain matter, and shortly after the poisoning he came to me and confessed all—that he was being blackmailed, that he feared his secret would be told no matter what he did, and that he panicked and tried to kill his blackmailer but in the attempt only harmed others instead. He would not, unfortunately, reveal to me the name of his blackmailer. He begged me not to reveal the conversation and said that he would come forward himself. I had only just brought the matter to Prince Ihsan, who elected to wait until after the meeting to detain him. Unfortunately, someone else discovered him and acted first."

  Kagan's face took on a pouty quality, like that of a child denied a sweet he'd been promised. "What in the world did Arda like that he was blackmailed and driven to commit murder?"

  Demir kept his head down, hands still stretched out in front of him, first two fingertips just barely touching. "Respect, Your Majesty, but dead or alive, I keep the confidences trusted to me. I cannot reveal Lord Arda's proclivities; I dislike even discussing them this far. I will not reveal them in so public a setting, especially before his family and friends."

  "You are defying me, Harem Master?" Kagan said.

  "Respect, Your Majesty, I am doing the job entrusted to me. If you absolutely must know, then ask it of me in private. I will not willfully bring humiliation and harm to a dead man or to those living who still love him and already must hear today that he was a murderer."

  "You should not have to reveal it," Ihsan said, cutting off Kagan. "That he was being blackmailed is what matters, not why, not when it was exclusive to him and he is now dead."

  Kagan said nothing, merely continued to glower at them. The silence stretched on for several minutes, until Euren wanted to scream.

  Finally, he spoke. "You are to remain confined to your rooms until I have thoroughly investigated the matter myself. Your concubines will remain in the harem hall where they belong. Your guests will leave—"

  "No," Ihsan said. "They put their own lives at risk to escort Euren home. I will not repay that favor by throwing them out. At the very least, it would reflect poorly on the throne."

  "Watch your tone. Being crown prince does not give you license to treat me with disrespect."

  "It does when you're my father and your idea of welcoming home is to slap me," Ihsan said. "Treat my friends with respect; do not punish them because you despise me."

  "Very well, but they had best not stay long. I have a wedding to prepare for—" Kagan broke off as Ihsan bellowed and the rest of the court exploded with cries hastily reduced to whispers.

  Ihsan stepped closer to the steps, throwing his right arm out. "Since when have you been courting anyone? And we should have heard about it long before you announced the formal engagement!"

  "Because you've been here so long," Kagan replied.

  "It is the shock of the court that alarms me, not my own ignorance."

  Kagan gave a mean laugh. "If I were you, I would have more care for your own ignorance. It is what is forever getting you in trouble. My engagement is my business, and mine alone, until I choose to make it known to everyone else. Which I am doing now. Lady Irmak is my betrothed, and we are to be married in three months."

  Lady Irmak… Euren frowned for a moment, the name familiar, but no face rose to meet it. She looked around, hoping for some cue…

  And saw the smug look on Steward Bulut's face. That was it. Bulut's daughter; she'd been just fourteen or so when Euren had left. It was telling that she was not present for the announcement. Poor girl. Maybe the king would eventually let Euren go see her. She was the most qualified, so far as rank was concerned, to help her prepare to be queen.

  Especially since any idiot could follow Kagan's line of thought to ousting Ihsan as crown prince. At least that was something they had known could happen—they had just hoped the king would not be so selfishly cruel. He was fifty-six; Irmak was nineteen.

  Nearby, Fatih opened his mouth, closed it again, opened, closed. Hi
s hands were balled into fists, and his dark skin had lost some of its color. Euren wanted to reach out, soothe him, somehow convey that whatever it took they would never let this terrible thing happen.

  "Majesty—" Fatih broke off as Kagan looked at him, almost as mistrustful and contemptuous as he'd been when looking at Ihsan.

  "Captain, you are confined to your rooms as well. Appoint someone to take your place until I decide whether you may return to your duties or should be removed entirely. Lord Demir, you are confined to the harem hall. You leave it only when I request your presence, you return immediately when I am through with you."

  "Yes, Your Majesty," Fatih and Demir chorused, bowing low.

  "You're dismissed," Kagan said, flicking his fingers at all of them.

  Ihsan and Euren turned as one, hands still clasped as they strode from the court room. Out in the hall, Ihsan kissed her again then pressed his lips to her ear. "Meet me for stargazing later, little soldier."

  Euren frowned. Wasn't the roof guarded? They'd always had a devil of a time slipping by and around the guards that patrolled the roof. "Is that possible?"

  "Your father has seen certain guard placements are allowed to lapse, to make it easier for him and others to work unhindered," Ihsan said with a wink.

  Smiling, Euren said, "Then I might be inclined to join you for stargazing, little prince. There had better be good wine, though."

  He chuckled, stole another quick kiss, and finally withdrew, fingertips slowly trailing across the small of her back. Euren smiled at him, stepped forward to hug her father again. "Papa, I hope you'll be all right."

  "I'll be fine." He kissed her cheek, then let guards escort him away, casting a last, parting smile over his shoulder before they vanished around a corner.

  Euren sighed. "He will be all right?"

  "We would never let anything happen to your father." Ihsan smiled. "I'll see you later. It looks like my own escort is getting impatient." He shared a silent look with Demir, then slipped away.