The Sultan's Bride (16 page)

He smirked while Richard
shuffled his feet. ‘With all due respect Sultan, I am here as the Stanton
family lawyer to negotiate a settlement on their behalf.  Catherine’s
marriage to me is none of your business.’

‘Oh but it is, you are acting
as father to my child, are you not?’  Richard felt sick.  ‘She has
not told you I am the child’s father.  I understand.  It is best
people think the child is my father’s to avoid tainting his memory.’

Arif
grinned and Richard looked at him, trying to sort out
everything he had just learned, swirling round in his head and making him dizzy. 

‘Let us sort out the details
later, now I feel like food.  Are you hungry Richard?  We could
partake of a meal together and I will tell you about the palace and all the
people who shared Catherine with my father.  She was very memorable.’

‘If you were so enamoured of
her, why did you send her home?’ Richard asked, unable to keep quiet any
longer. 

‘It was not of my choosing.
 There was the risk that carrying what was thought to be my father’s child
the councillors would see her as a threat to my taking power so she had to go
in a hurry.  In the tradition of my people, the laws we have always
followed, the old harem must make way for the new.  Some of my father’s
wives are still here, now as servants as there was nowhere to send them but the
rest went home to their family. ‘

His face fell. ‘I would have
given anything to keep Catherine here, she was carrying my child and I wanted
to, I really did but she had to go I see that now.  I’ve tried to forget
her but I would have her back here in a heartbeat if I could, perhaps I could
change the law
..’
his voice trailed off before he
snapped out of it.

‘If it was what she wanted
and the way was clear would you let her go?’ he asked.

  Richard was surprised
at the question and didn’t know what to say at first.  ‘If she was that
intent on coming back then I would not be able to stand in her way. 
Obviously I’d prefer it if she stayed with me, I have provided a good life for
her and the child and she is fond of me.’

‘I am the love of her life,’
said
Arif
arrogantly, ‘I am the Sultan now, what I
say should go.’

‘You cannot make her come to
you if she does not want to, no matter the rules.’ Richard said, unsure of how
Catherine would feel if she had the option to come back. 

Arif
, now distracted had forgotten about his promises of
dinner.  ‘You may go back to your room now,’ he said, ‘I will summon you
again when I am ready to discuss the amount of money.’

Now he wanted Richard to know
he was in charge.  Richard almost felt sorry for
him,
he was far too young to be the ruler of the region.  He turned before he
reached the door.  ‘He’s a boy by the way,’ he said through gritted teeth,
‘in case you wanted to know what your child turned out to be.  A healthy
boy by the name of
James,
looks just like his
mother.’ 

Arif
just looked back at him as if the information was not
of any importance.

The week Richard spent
negotiating the settlements seemed to drag on forever. 
Arif
constantly baited him and planted more and more ideas
about Catherine’s promiscuity.  The perfect picture in Richard’s head of
Catherine was tainted more than ever and all he wanted now was to go
home. 

In their final meeting,
Arif
agreed upon a settlement.  ‘I have also been
thinking about Catherine and my child.  Despite having had to send her
home I think they should be with me.’

Richard looked at him. ‘My
wife will not be returning to
Ajara
and neither will
her son at any time.’ 

‘The boy is the heir to the
throne, the wife I took has not quickened with child.  I feel it would be
right to have them here.’

‘Your
rules, your traditions, what of them?’
Richard asked. 

‘I am Sultan now, I make the
rules and I will make my own traditions.  I want Catherine and the boy
here.’
Arif
said sulkily.  ‘You are her husband,
you can tell her what to do.’

‘That’s not how I work, if
she decides to come back here then it will be of her own free will, not because
I tell her to or because you issue instructions,’ said Richard angrily.

He had already realised he
was dealing with a child. 
Arif
might be the
Sultan but losing both his parents had not aided his progress. Omar had already
told him the councillors he had fallen out with had been imprisoned

On the final night
Arif
sent a young woman to his room.  When she stepped
into the room and greeted him she dropped her clothing, standing before him
naked.  ‘What are you doing?’ he asked, ‘cover up and leave.’

‘The Sultan sent me to please
you
sir,
he said I was to do anything you required of
me.’

Richard sighed. ‘I require
nothing of you, I’m sorry.  I am a married man.’ 

‘You are married to Catherine
aren’t you?’ she said quietly.  He nodded.  The woman beamed. ‘She
was very dear to me, we were very good friends.’  She moved closer ‘I am
Alena
, when the other wives went home there was nowhere for
me to go so I stayed here, as a servant.’

She moved, standing directly
in front of him now, the blond triangle of hair between her legs just below his
eye level as he sat on the end of the bed.  ‘Catherine would understand
you taking me for pleasure,’ she murmured, ‘I know you have been away for a
long time now and must miss her.’

When he didn’t move she put
one leg onto the bed and began to touch herself.  ‘Please stop,’ said
Richard, feeling himself
harden
at the sight, ‘I am a
married man.’

Alena
stopped.  ‘You are a good man,’ she said. 
Placing her foot back down onto the floor, she moved to pick up her robe. 
‘Perhaps you need someone to talk to instead,’ she said.

‘From what the Sultan has
told me Catherine was with him and his father as well as all the women in the
harem and I don’t know who else.  He tells me he’s the father of my step
son when I was under the impression his father was Catherine’s husband’ 

She looked at
him.   ‘The Sultan we were married to was not a pleasant man all of
the time, the harem women all took care of each other, loved each
other.   She is not a bad person and I am sure she is waiting for you
at home.  Was Catherine given to you or did she choose you?’

His brow furrowed.  ‘I
chose her, I wanted her to have her own home and I wanted her to myself.’

‘She was not forced into
marriage with you?’  He shook his head. 
Alena
smiled. ‘Then she has given herself to you willingly.’

‘The Sultan wants her to
return to him, he says he’ll throw out the rules preventing her being here so
she can come back.’

Alena
took his hand in hers, sitting beside him on the
bed.  ‘She is better away from this
place,
it is
not a good place for a nice person.  I love her, I really do but I beg you
hold onto what you have and never let her return.’

‘Was it really that bad?’
Richard asked, sorry now he hadn’t let Catherine tell him her full story. 

‘The Sultan took who he
wanted as a wife, no matter who they were or if they were promised to
another.  Catherine spent her whole life loving
Arif
and was destined to be his but the Sultan changed his mind and claimed her as
his own.’

‘She was betrothed to
Arif
?’ he asked, confused. ‘Not officially but there was
always an understanding they would be wed,’ she replied

Richard leaned forward,
looking at the floor while the thoughts processed in his head.  ‘Did he
force her?’ he asked. 

‘The Sultan did not have to
force anyone, he was handsome and charming but you knew if you refused
punishment would await.  Catherine loved him too, we all did.’

He closed his eyes, the
bastard had not only kidnapped her but he’d forced her to marry him, breaking
her heart in the process.  What if Catherine did want to come back and he
held her back?  Would she grow to resent him?

Then she left him with his
thoughts, and he wasn’t proud of them.  He wanted to believe Catherine
would love him but once she found out she could come back to
Ajara
what would her reaction be?  Perhaps the only
way to find out would be to let her go and pray she stayed.

As Richard went to leave the
following morning,
Arif
met him outside the stable
where he was collecting his horse.  ‘Please give Catherine this letter,’
the young man said, ‘I will wait for a response or her return to me.  I
will give up my harem if she requires me to and she will be Sultana.  I
will imprison anyone who objects as I did to my father’s advisors who wanted to
dispatch with her life.’

Richard nodded. ‘I will give
her the choice, either she will sail when the seas allow it or she will send
message of her decision.’ 

Arif
smiled, the arrogance returning to his
demeanour.  ‘She will choose me, you will go home and say goodbye to her.’

‘We will see,’ Richard said,
the odds were not in his favour but he would not show any signs of weakness to
the little tyrant.  He mounted his horse and turned to leave, pressing the
mount to a gallop and leaving the Sultan in his dust.

The market was a bustle of
activity, but Catherine loved seeing the eastern arts and crafts for
sale.  Everywhere, stalls did a brisk trade of different household items
and everything reminded her of her time in the palace.

Richard had been gone two
months now and she realised that he would now be in
Ajara
. 
She no longer cared about the settlement he had gone to negotiate, she just
wanted him back.  Her heart was aching for him now and she realised the
times they had spent together had meant more than just friendship.  He
would see when he came home just how much she loved him.

When she stumbled across the
stall of wooden objects she nearly laughed out loud.  On display in the
middle of the markets was exactly what her friends had asked her about.  The
wooden
phallus’
were sitting on a shelf at the back of
the stall but she could see gaps along the wall where individual ones had been
removed, presumably purchased.

‘Can I interest you in
something?’ a voice said from within the stall.  It was a young man, from
the east as he had a tinge of accent, tall and very handsome.  She could
just picture him selling the objects to unsuspecting women and laughing about
it afterwards.

‘Those objects on the back
shelf,’ she said, ‘do you tell your customers what they’re really meant to be
used for?’

The look on the young man’s
face made her laugh.  ‘I’m not sure what you mean,’ he said
uncomfortably. 

She leaned forward. ‘I was in
the harem at
Ajara
,
I know what they are used for.’

He recoiled and she laughed
out loud.  ‘You cannot tell anyone Miss, if word got out…’

‘I have a group of women who
would be very interested in these, I would be happy to send them your
way.  May I look at one?’

Handing one to her she ran
her hand across the surface, it was completely smooth.  ‘This is very well
made,’ she said, ‘Perfect for my friends who want them.  Who makes them,
is it you?’ 

He shook his head. ‘It is my
father,’ he said, ‘he used to make them for a harem in a province not too far
from
Ajara
.’

‘I would very much like to
meet him,’ she replied.

He led her through the
market, to a little house nearby and she entered the house as he told his
father where she was from.  The old man smiled widely and held his arms
out in greeting, putting his hands on her arms.  ‘I have never met anyone
who was in a harem, I just made their…’  He thought about the word he was
looking for.
‘Toys.’

She laughed. ‘That is a most
appropriate word for these,’ she said, ‘since I have returned a group of
friends have shown interest in acquiring these.  I would like to send them
to your stall to purchase them.  No one else has to know about them. 
They are such beautiful workmanship.’ 

‘Please, take that one,’ he
said, ‘I would be pleased to supply your friends if they so wish.’  She
left, looking forward to the next meeting of the group to show them and pass on
her findings. 

When the night came and all
was quiet Catherine went into Richard’s room to close the curtains.  Still
thinking about the stall holder and the business opportunity it could present
she sat on the bed.  Finding it infinitely softer and more comfortable
than her own narrow bed in the next room she smiled, realising there was still
quite some time before her husband returned and she could enjoy the comfort at
least while he was away.