Captured For The Sultan’s Pleasure

Aabdeen was lost in thought as he walked to the harem. How had he ended up as an errand boy? Worse, he had endangered the life of his sister, thinking that he was protecting her. It wasn’t until after he had written and sent that letter that he had made a grave mistake. He had tried every subtle means he knows to get the letter back before it got to Sultan Jamal but his efforts had proved futile. His fear of the Sultan harming his sister as a form of revenge had been confirmed when the general had suggested that she be held captive. His heart had nearly flown out of his chest at that moment and had only relaxed when the Sultan had kicked against such idea vehemently.

His first mistake had been when he had sent that first letter to threaten the Sultan of Wadai’ sultanate. He had counted on the Sultan’s bad reputation of being easily angered over everything to help him, but his plan had failed when the Sultan had been looking for other alternatives rather than go to war with his neighboring sultanate. He had thought that if Sultan Jamal had come with his army to besieged them, he would have met the other armies who were trying to destroy his fortress just outside the gate. The two would clash with each other and battled themselves to death. He had been too desperate for a solution to think over his decision well.

His second mistake had been letting his sister come over here. But at that moment, he had felt like his sister could be well protected over here. And she had been, for the most part. His mind was at peace and he was able to think about the problem at hand. But when he had sent that letter and someone had suggested holding the princess hostage, he knew he had to get his sister out of the Wadai sultanate. The problem now is how to tell his sister about how he planned to sneak her away. Aabdeen knew that she wouldn’t be happy about his decision because of the friends she had made here. Even he knew her shy nature and how hard it was for her to make friends. Aabdeen also had the problem of where else he could take her to safeguard her life.

His third mistake? That was coming over to this sultanate. He had done it to spy on the Sultan and his people so that he would know the layout of the land, their stronghold, and their weaknesses. Because he had the crazy idea of moving his people to a part of this sultanate that no one knew about if worse came to worst. He hadn’t expected the turn of events he met when he had arrived. Perhaps, he should have let the Sultan die back then since he was sure none of the doctors from the sultanate would have been able to heal such deep wound the man had sustained. Again, he hadn’t expected the Sultan to take a likening to him and made sure that he was always at his beck and calls. An errand man for the Sultan, as that rude maid had titled him.

When news had hit him that his cousin, Ibrahim, had been injured during his last battle with the invaders, Aabdeen had felt really uneasy about the whole issue on the group of bandits who had invaded his Sultan. Cousin Ibrahim was older than him and knew more about how to rule than Aabdeen ever could. The man had done a great job at it too since he had left him in the position for about four months now. But, Aabdeen was beginning to get afraid. Afraid for his sister. Afraid for his cousin and his wife. Afraid for everyone living in his sultanate. Life was hard for them already even before the attacks on them by the bandit. He had to find a solution to his predicaments and that too, quick.

None of the ideas he had nursed in his head had made any appeal to him. The moment he thought of them, he had quickly discarded them. The only idea he still thought he could adopt was using the seal the Sultan gave him to mobilize the soldiers and use them as instruments of war against the bandits. But the thing is, he was beginning to like Sultan Jamal and didn’t want to hurt the man or his feelings. Whatever he had heard about the man’s cruelty, he had found to be false as he became closer to the man. Or maybe it was Lady Roksolana who was changing him. Aabdeen didn’t know, but he knew that the drama between the two was beginning to amused even him. Ya Allah, he had even begun to think of the other man as a friend. So many times, Aabdeen had nearly confessed his identity to the Sultan, but the fear of his sister being punished along with him had held him back.

Lady Roksolana saw Aabdeen walk into the harem and nearly grunted. She was in the process of trying the embroidery design Seyiddah had shown her how to make about ten times but she kept failing to do the stitches correctly. But, she was getting better than when she first started with the job. She dropped the hoop in her hands on the table and waited for the trouble she knew would definitely happen between Aabdeen and Seyiddah. The moment Aabdeen saw Seyiddah, his entire countenance changed and became rigid. Roksolana stood up immediately and apprehended him by the door before he would say something out of order again.

Aabdeen saw the way Lady Roksolana rushed towards him, looking a little worried. He knew that she could not read his thoughts, so she wasn’t worried about him. She was just being worried that he would say something out of turn to the maid with her. But, he wasn’t in the mood for an argument right now. He just wanted to deliver the Sultan’s message to Lady Roksolana and go back to thinking about how to solve the problems he had at hand. Aabdeen saw his sister look at him and nodded slightly in her direction. Her expression became a little worried and Aabdeen knew that she had guessed that something worried him. He didn’t know how she does it, but she could always tell each time he was worried about something. He smiled a little at his sister to calm her down and assure her he was doing okay, which was the moment Seyiddah chose to look up from her task.

Seyiddah was trying to learn a new stitch design from the princess who seemed to be the expert among the three of them. She had also chosen to learn the design so that she could let Roksolana know that embroidery was not easy even for someone who had experience. She had lifted her head to tell Roksolana just that when she sighted the Sultan errand man and the man had dared to smile at the difficulty she was having over the design she was making. Looks like he was tired of living, Seyiddah thought as she got up and walked straight to him. She heard the princess growl behind her, but she didn’t stop.

Oh, oh. Aabdeen thought as he saw the maid walking towards him. If he was to go by the sternness and stiffness of her body, Aabdeen knew that she wasn’t coming over to apologize for her behavior last time. His first thought was to quickly deliver the Sultan’s message to Lady Roksolana and rush out before the maid got closer to him, but then he decided against it. He hadn’t done anything to her to warrant him to run. He ignored the subtle signs his sister gave him to go away. If she wanted trouble, then Aabdeen was ready to give it to her. He needed someone to let his steam off on in any case. If she wanted to volunteer, he had no objection whatsoever to it.

“How dare you laugh at me?” Seyiddah asked in an angry tone. Roksolana turned around, surprised. She saw Seyiddah and tried to drag her back, but the woman wouldn’t budge.

“How did you know that I laughed at you?” Aabdeen asked nonchalantly. Roksolana turned back to him and pleaded with him to keep calm through her eyes but Aabdeen ignored her. He wasn’t going to back down for a woman.

“You…” Seyiddah pointed a finger at him. Aabdeen smiled at her and that seemed to infuriate her some more. “How dare you?” She shouted.

“Tell me something. Are you doing all these so that I can notice you?” Aabdeen asked purposely, just to make her angrier. He wasn’t going to be the only one who would be miserable. The only reply he got from the maid was a deep blush, followed successfully by a slap across his face before she walked away. He saw the look of disapproval on his sister’s face and chuckled loudly, which earned him a death look from each of the three women present in the room. He turned to Lady Roksolana to state the reason he was in the harem in the first place.

“Lady Roksolana, the Sultan asked for your presence.” He told her.

“Tell him I’m not interested,” Roksolana told Aabdeen and began to walk away from him.

“Lady Roksolana,” Aabdeen called and she paused. “I have instructions to bring you over by all means and that includes carrying you over if I have to.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

Roksolana turned back to see if Aabdeen was serious. The look on his face warned her that he was very serious and that he would carry her if he had to. Was the Sultan threatening her now? She didn’t blame Aabdeen because she knew that he was only following instructions, which she would too if reversed were the case. She told her friends about the newest development even though she was sure that they already heard everything. Together, she and Aabdeen walked to the Sultan’s house. As soon as Aabdeen delivered her, he bowed and left.