by Megan Derr
"I feel like I'm missing something," Euren said.
"Not at all, Highness," Demir said with a smile, bowing slightly. "I hope you have a good night."
Euren smiled. "Thank you, Lord Demir, and I hope your night is a good one as well."
"Sleep well, Highness." He strode off surrounded by guards, leaving Euren to go off with her own.
Back in her room, her earlier meal had been cleared away, but a light snack and wine left in their place. Euren poured a dish of wine and sipped at it as she walked over to her trunks to examine the clothes within more closely. When she'd finished the wine, she stripped out of her clothes and pulled on a dark, multi-layer skirt in various shades of teal, followed by a white top. She tucked away all her jewelry since she was hardly going to need it. Unbinding her hair, she tied it loosely back with a white ribbon.
She returned to the table and poured more wine, taking a sip before setting the dish down and heading to the door. The guards turned to her and bowed politely when she opened it. "I would prefer not to be disturbed the rest of the night. I'm tired and going to bed early; should I wake later I will call for dinner then."
"Yes, Your Highness. Sleep well."
"Thank you." She closed the door, then went to the chest near the table and looked through the books, writing materials, and other simple entertainments. Pulling out a book of poetry, she settled at her table and read until it grew dark.
Once it grew too dark to read and the stars were vibrant, she closed the book with a soft snap and crossed the room. Slipping out the door to the garden, she looked around and weighed her options. She settled on the garden wall, kicking off her shoes and tucking them into her waistband before testing the dense, heavy ivy that covered most of it.
When she was certain the ivy would hold her weight, she scaled it quickly and walked along the narrow garden wall to the edge of the roof. She jumped and grabbed the edge, then hauled herself up over the edge onto the flat, rough rooftop.
Laughing softly, she shook out her skirt and headed quickly across the roof to the area above the harem hall that overlooked the cliffs and the sea beyond, so dark it was nearly impossible to tell where the sea ended and the sky began.
She could only just see him, stretched out on the blankets and pillows he'd arranged. There was also a small tray table, and she didn't need light to know the carafe on it held her favorite wine. Reaching the little nest, she knelt down and crawled to him, laughing softly when he reached out and pulled her close.
Euren kissed him hard, cupping his face, fingers tracing the lines of his scars. "Hello, Husband."
"Hello, Wife," Ihsan replied, and kissed the hollow of her throat. His fingers, warm and calloused, ran down her back, pushed just barely into the waistband of her skirt. "I'm sorry your homecoming was not better. I will make it up to you with a proper banquet when everything settles down."
Laughing, Euren sat up, shifted to more comfortably straddle his thighs, and splayed her hands across his lovely bare chest. "I can think of better ways you can make it up to me."
Chuckling, voice going deep and husky, Ihsan shifted his grip to hold her tight, then abruptly moved, flipping their positions so suddenly that it left her breathless a moment.
Only a moment though, and in the next one she was moaning softly from the teeth that bit her ear, teased the soft skin beneath it before dragging down along her throat. Her skin prickled, delicate shivers running down her spine.
Ihsan pulled away briefly, but only to remove her top, leaving cool evening air to wash over her newly-bared skin, drawing up her nipples in an invitation Ihsan was happy to accept. He licked and sucked in that soft, gentle way that drove her mad, chuckled when she pulled on his hair but obediently pressed his attentions harder. The bristles on his cheeks abraded her skin in a shiver-inducing way, tightened her lungs, made her breath come sharper, faster.
Especially as he worked his way lower still, fingers and mouth taking turns in teasing and caressing. Euren moaned louder as those knowing fingers explored deep, rubbing her swollen clit, drawing out more moans and breathless pleas.
When he finally put his lips and tongue to use, her skin was so hot even the cold night air couldn't cool it, only seemed to make her more acutely aware of the hot hands on her thighs, the warm mouth and tongue working her, tormenting her, drawing out gasps and moans and finally a scream that mostly sounded like Ihsan's name.
"It's been far too long since I've gotten to see you so," Ihsan said, crawling back up her body to kiss her softly.
Euren laughed, skated her own hand down between their bodies and wrapped a hand around his cock, dragging her thumb over the wet tip. "Far too long, indeed. Let's see what my mouth remembers, hmm?"
Ihsan made a low, rough, growly sound, and Euren gave a shrieking giggle of delight as he flipped them again.
Ten
Demir had never needed a drink so badly. He could still taste bile in the back of his throat from having to defy Kagan in front of the entire court. Dread made him restless, but thankfully he had plenty to keep him occupied—including a late night journey into the city, but not for at least another hour.
Locking his office behind him, he headed down the main corridor of the women's hall. The concubines had all left their doors open, to more easily talk to each other, but he could not hear anything save the faint tinkle of bells. He glanced in each room, unsurprised to see the concubines fast asleep. He slipped in briefly to turn out lights and adjust blankets when necessary, murmuring goodnight to those who stirred enough to notice him before drifting off again.
The last room had an occupant still wide awake. Meltem was bent over a small chest of bells on the left side of her room. She looked up, smiling a bit sheepishly when she saw him. "Harem Master, good evening. I tried to follow the others into sleep, but found myself a bit too restless to settle. The royal palace is lovely, and your hall here is especially beautiful." She laughed faintly. "These rooms have some curious items. Some I knew the purpose, others I figured out. But I admit the bells continue to elude me. Are they meant for the concubines when they perform?"
Demir smiled, stepped into the room, and crossed to kneel beside her. "No, they're for training." He took the pile of bells in her hand, small, gold jingle bells strung together with a series of small, narrow loops at one end through which he slid his fingers before he fastened the clasp on the other end around his wrist. Reaching into the chest, he pulled out another set and slid them on the fingers of his other hand. "There is an entire set of these bells each piece meant for a different part of the body, from head all the way down to toes." He shook his hand, making the bells ring softly. "Concubines are trained to be graceful, elegant, and beautiful in every movement."
"You do move beautifully," Meltem said with a small, shy smile.
"Thank you," Demir replied. He moved his right hand again, flicking through various practice moves, the bells never once chiming. He finished by holding his hand out, palm up. "I do not move nearly as beautifully as my mother, but I never cease working to reach her level of mastery."
"You make it look so easy; that is a testament to true skill." Meltem picked up another set of finger bells and tried to mimic his movements, but the bells rang with every gesture.
Demir took her hand. "Relax your hand, do not be so tense. I do not know much about sword fighting, but I would wager it is much like anything in that too much tension is as bad as too little. As to my skill, I have the advantage of being born and raised to this. I was training with them as a boy, learning to move purposefully while other children ran around without such concerns." He guided Meltem's hand through a basic movement that would build into those used in serving food and wine, smiled approvingly when she got most of it without ringing the bells. "You're a quick study, but soldiers often are since they must learn how to be quiet and conservative in movement, if for very different reasons."
Meltem laughed as she pulled the bells off. "Yes, quite different. I prefer your reasons." She re
turned the bells to the chest then tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Her impressive tattoo was inked all the way up to her ear, where it then curved around behind it. That would have required shaving her head. How high did it go? It definitely went down her torso to cover her abdomen. Whether it went further, he would not ask; curiosity was not an excuse to pry. "Do you know how long we will be confined here? The hall is beautiful, as I said…"
"No offense taken, my lady, I promise. I love the hall more than anyone, and even I do not want to be confined here. I think His Majesty will relax in a few days, at worst a few weeks, when he realizes none of us poses a threat and he becomes more preoccupied with the wedding."
"I hope so," Meltem said. "Her Highness promised we would have a knife-throwing contest, and I was looking forward to it, though I know that's a selfish reason when there are much larger concerns."
Demir smiled. "We will make certain it happens, my lady. Her Highness is due a welcome home banquet, and the court would enjoy the happy distraction. Would you like some tea? That might help you relax enough to sleep. Tomorrow, if you like, I can set you to the bells."
Laughing, Meltem nodded. "It sounds like it will keep me occupied, if nothing else. Life here is so very different from life in the Desert."
"I hope you are able to enjoy those differences while you are here, despite the rough start. Goodnight, Lady Meltem." He rose to his feet and departed, returning to the main hall and then down to the men's hall. The rooms allotted to the Cobra and Ihsan's men were empty, which did not surprise him.
He kept going until he reached the small practice hall at the end of the living quarters, laughing when he heard bells and then saw the group clustered in one corner of the hall. "The training bells seem to be an object of curiosity tonight. Are they so peculiar?" He padded across the room to stand at the edge of the loose, vague circle the men had formed. Sabah and Kitt stood in the middle, amusement and slight aggravation on Sabah's face as he watched Kitt move with almost no sound. Sabah glanced at Demir. "He found them in one of the chests and has been distracting himself since. We were making a game of it. I am a bit aggravated that I trained for some time and have not even half his skill, though I am not surprised you are good at it, Kitt."
Kitt laughed and spun around, a few of the bells at his hips, throat, and feet ringing. "I should pose this training to my instructors; they would weep with joy. I am astonished they have nothing similar."
"The bells are intended to train concubines to be pleasing," Demir replied. "I think that is slightly different from what you were trained to do, Lord Kitt."
"Mmm," Kitt agreed, smiling wryly. "Have you come to put us all in our place?"
Shaking his head, Demir looked around until he saw Haluk, tucked into a corner from which he silently watched everyone else. "I have a previous engagement. It would not be a very entertaining thing to watch, anyway, I promise. Lord Haluk, are you ready?"
Kitt's grin turned evil. "Enjoy your lessons, Haluk."
Pushing away from the wall, Haluk joined them in the circle. "At least my lessons will not consist of how to serve wine and bow properly."
Kitt's grin collapsed into a pout. "That's not fair. Those sound like dreadfully boring lessons."
"The duty of a concubine is to serve," Demir replied, holding out his hand to take the bells as Kitt began to remove them. "To show their love and faith and devotion in perfect service. No task is too boring if it pleases those for whom it is done."
"I love Ihsan more than life, but I still find the idea of practicing wine pouring boring." Instead of dropping the bells as a pile into Demir's hands, Kitt draped them over his fingers and arm all the way up to the elbow, grinning slightly. "I have a well-honed patience when I need it, Harem Master, but I think you would best me."
Demir shrugged as he walked toward the chests where the bells were stored. They never once made a sound. "If grace is learned with bells, then patience is learned in meetings. One learns quickly to endure when one must sit through an eight hour court session without moving, speaking, or ever drawing attention." He knelt in front of the chests and quickly stored the bells.
"Not a single bell rang," said a gruff voice. One of the Cobra, though Demir did not know the man's name. He'd not had a chance to learn them. He knew Meltem and Emre, but it was not Emre who had spoken. "Impressive, Harem Master."
"Thank you," Demir said, smiling faintly. "You would scoff at my skill were you to see my mother, I promise. Lord Haluk, if you'll come with me. Lord Sabah, Lord Kitt, if you will join us briefly, we will finalize the schedule for your training."
"Of course." Sabah bowed to the Cobra. "We'll return shortly; I aim to defend my honor in taaki." Emre and the others laughed, then waved them off, falling into a discussion that Demir understood little of, save it had to do with troublesome ghosts. Some superstition?
He led the way to his private quarters, pausing only to inform the guards he was to be left alone unless he received a summons from the king or crown prince and princess. Once they were in his room, he locked the main door, then led them into the bedroom and locked that as well. "Hopefully we will be left in peace," he said. "And the talk of training should keep anyone from noticing if it takes Haluk some time to reappear."
"Well I certainly would not leave in a hurry if I were receiving hands on training," Kitt said with a grin. From most, Demir would have been discomfited, even offended, but Kitt was so… harmless about it, so cheerful and obviously playful in his flirting, Demir could only smile in return.
Sabah and Haluk lifted their eyes to the ceiling, and Sabah huffed softly. "Kitt, you are going to be trained mercilessly on keeping that tongue of yours still."
"That doesn't sound like much of a threat," Kitt replied.
That earned him a smile from Sabah that was as sharp as a blade, evil as a cat crouched to pounce the unsuspecting toes of its half-asleep master.
Kitt looked momentarily alarmed, but then his eyes narrowed and he said something in Rittuen that Demir did not entirely catch.
Sabah replied in kind, and Demir left them to it, stripping off his jewelry as he walked over to his dressing table. Laying it out neatly to put away later, he then walked over to his trunks and pulled out clothes more suited to his late night adventures. He stripped off his harem clothes and threw them on the bed.
The low buzz of conversation behind him abruptly stopped; he almost laughed, he could feel eyes on him so acutely. "Your tattoos are amazing, Lord Demir," Sabah said.
"So is—" Kitt broke off with a grunt. "That was uncalled for."
"Not nearly as whatever you were about to say," Sabah retorted. Kitt muttered something in Rittu, too low for Demir to understand.
"Thank you." Demir pulled on form-fitting, dark brown pants, a sleeveless shirt of the same color, and wrapped a dark blue sash around the waist, tucking the ends into the small of his back. Picking up his sleeves, the same dark blue as the sash, he pulled them on and buttoned them into place at his shoulders. Next he picked up a padded vest of brown and blue stripes that fastened with hidden hooks. Sitting down on the bed, he pulled on knee high boots, stamping his feet to settle them.
Standing, he picked up a wide swath of fine, dark blue wool and wrapped it around his shoulders so that he could pull it up to form a hood when he needed. He looked at Haluk, who had also changed, though his outfit was entirely black and there was a proper hood attached to the stiff jacket he wore. "Ready?"
"Yes, Harem Master."
"Outside the palace, you should simply use my name, or a generic honorific if that is more comfortable for you." Haluk nodded. Demir turned to Kitt, frowning when he saw that Kitt was also dressed for venturing out. "I thought it was just Lord Haluk and I visiting the brothels."
"It is," Kitt replied. "I want to do some investigating on my own; that conversation you overheard troubles me. Sabah will cover for us should someone come." He grinned at Sabah, who rolled his eyes. "Shall we, my friends?" Kitt asked. Sabah opened the d
oor to the secret passage, and Kitt slipped inside first, lighting the waiting lantern before he beckoned to Demir and Haluk.
When they were inside, he leaned out, rested a hand against Sabah's cheek, and leaned in to kiss him briefly. "Be careful, beautiful. Do not have too much fun while we're gone."
"Stay out of trouble," Sabah replied. "Keep the body count to a minimum."
"Of course." Kitt smiled and stepped back so Haluk could give Sabah a parting kiss as well, and then they followed Demir deeper into the passage.
It took them several minutes to thread their way through the maze of passages to the one that ran through the king's chambers. The secret passages had only two ways in and out of the palace, and they could only be reached by the passages that led from the king's chambers. One exit, the one they needed, put them on the side of the palace facing the city. The other exit led to the far side of the palace, far from the city.
Demir stepped out and breathed in the jasmine-scented night air, a hint of smoke wafting from fires built to keep back the chill. Below, at the bottom of the low hill, the city of Tavala was lit with the soft, muted glow of colorful evening lanterns that marked late night tea and wine shops, the notorious night market that sold items too private and risky to be sold where children might come upon them, and the brothels and dance houses. Plenty more was not lit by lanterns, could be found only by those who knew where to look.
"Feels like home," Kitt said, and Demir did not need light to see his reckless grin.
"Nefarious doings in the dark?" Haluk drawled. "You have peculiar notions of home."
Kitt chuckled. "We are what we are, and I am a night viper. So where exactly are you going, should I need to find you?"
"We will be visiting three houses," Demir replied. "The two that I know he frequented, and a third that he might have without informing me. Those second two are the House of Dreams and the House of Harmony. But the first stop will be the House of the Moon Orchid. It has long ties with the royal harem, as it was the sister of the first harem master who founded the house. Moon Orchid caters to every whim and desire; there are four hundred prostitutes employed there, and another hundred or so associated with it who do contracted work. When Lord Arda first came to me, I took him there. He was, so far as I knew, happy after that. Moon Orchid is selective and exclusive, and visits must be scheduled." He smiled briefly. "Many in the palace have regular appointments."
