Captured For The Sultan’s Pleasure

A few minutes later, Aabdeen came into the house. Jamal looked at him and saw that he was trying hard not to laugh. Jamal fixed his gaze upon him and dared him to laugh, the other man raised his hands in surrender. The Sultan got up and dusted off dirt from his clothes. He heard Aabdeen laugh at him hard and Jamal narrowed his eyes at him. That didn’t stop Aabdeen from laughing. If anything, the man’s laughter grew louder. Jamal removed one of his shoes and threw it at the other man who simply stepped out of the way. Jamal picked up a small stool and ran after Aabdeen. The other man ran out the door.

“Told you it wouldn’t work,” Aabdeen shouted on his way out, still laughing.

Jamal stopped running after the other man, walked back to the room, and sat on a chair in the room. Looks like he had just made matter worse than before, he thought as he placed his head on the edge of the chair and slept off.

As Jamal walked to the courtroom for a meeting with his emissaries the next day, he kept thinking about how much he had offended Roksolana. He hadn’t treated her right even once ever since he had brought her to his sultanate. If anything, she had only suffered in his hands. And the worst of it was that he had had sex with her against her will. Why had he let jealousy take hold of him that night? He should have calmed down and let her decide what she wanted. Now, he had to look for a way to make amends to the wrong he had done. Worse, he was sure that she was still furious with him over his actions yesterday.

He walked into the courtroom and saw Aabdeen standing by the door. The other man bowed to him slightly as he walked to his royal seat. Jamal thought that by right, Aabdeen should be living like an elite now since he still had the seal with him. But, he hadn’t been able to talk to Sodeeq about his decision yet and Jamal didn’t want it to come as a shock to the general. That was why he hadn’t commemorated Aabdeen to his new post. The other janissaries also bowed as the Sultan walked past them. Jamal saw that Sodeeq was back and thought that he could take the chance to breach the topic of Aabdeen with him. When he got to his seat, he asked them to rise.

“What is the agenda for today?” Jamal asked after they had all risen.

“The people of Azera tribe are late in paying their taxes this month.” The finance minister said.

Jamal knew the Azera tribe. They were the smallest in his sultanate. And not just the smallest, they were the poorest. Their main source of income was through their agricultural farming which they sell out to the other tribes.

“What is their mode of paying taxes?” Jamal asked.

“Through jewelry, gold among other things.” The finance minister answered.

Jamal thought hard about that. If they were asking for expensive things from such people, then it would take a huge toll on the tribe. They would never be able to produce enough food to sell to buy such things for taxes. Perhaps, he could change their mode of payments to the things the tribes have readily available. And he could find a way to help them expand their farming process so that they would produce more. It would help the tribe and the sultanate together.

“Reduce their tax rate by half,” Jamal told the finance janissary. He heard everyone in the room gasp, but he ignored them and continued. “Also, from today henceforth, let them pay only with food and not jewelry,” Jamal finished.

“Yes, Sultan.” The finance janissary answered with a slight bow.

“Next.” The Sultan called.

“Sultan. Another letter arrived from the Sultan of Jedi.” The information minister said.

Jamal sat upright. He had nearly forgotten about the threat from the other sultanate. He wondered what the letter was about as his court assistant took the letter from the information minister and brought it over to him. The Sultan opened the letter hurriedly and read. He opened his mouth wide open as he reread the content of the letter to be sure that he hadn’t read it wrong. The other Sultan had told him to get ready for an invasion in a month.

Jamal pondered hard over what the other Sultan wanted from him as none of his letters had ever explained the reason for the threat. Every time a letter came, it was always about war and nothing else. Didn’t the Sultan of Jedi know that he was at a disadvantage since the princess was here? It only shows Jamal how naive the new Sultan was. He looked up and saw his janissaries staring at him curiously and spoke.

“It’s another letter threatening to invade us in a month.” He told them.

Everyone in the room began to show their panicking state. Their eyes furrowed in frowns and tensions radiated from their bodies. The only two people in the room who didn’t seem to think much of the threat were Aabdeen and Sodeeq, and Jamal saluted their courageous looks. Because even he was a little afraid of what the future would hold. He wasn’t ready for war or anything like that. He was learning his lessons about the damages of war from Roksolana. There had to be a way to make the other Sultan see some reasonings and reach an agreement with him.

“We could use the princess as a hostage,” Sodeeq spoke up.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

While Jamal had thought of the same thing, he had dismissed it as a bad idea immediately. The princess was Roksolana’s friend and if she found out he was trying to hurt her friend, he would never see the end of her anger. She was too protective of her friends, and he wasn’t ready to add more crimes to his deeds before her. Besides, making the princess a hostage would only infuriate the Sultan of Jedi some more, and Jamal was ready to do anything to stop the impending war. He would have to think about other ways to appease the other Sultan. Besides, he was ready to end this meeting and go see Roksolana.

“We’ll think about a way to act later.” He told them and they all bowed in agreement. “Is there any other matter?” He asked them.

“None, Sultan.” The information minister answered.

Jamal dismissed everyone in the courtroom and walked away without waiting for the usual bow he was accustomed to. He was halfway through when he remembered that he had forgotten to talk to the general about his intentions. Well, that could wait. But his decision to talk to Roksolana couldn’t wait. The more he lets her stay angry with him, the harder it will be for her to forgive him later.

When he got to the harem, he saw Roksolana sitting with Seyiddah and the princess. She was holding a hoop in one hand and a needle in another. Except for the three of them, the hall was empty. He watched in silence as Seyiddah showed Roksolana how to make a design, then asked her to replicate. Roksolana stuck the needle into the cloth on the hoop and yelped. When she brought her middle finger up, it was bleeding. Jamal shook his head at her poor attempt to learn. Perhaps, he should tell her later on to stick to fighting and dancing since those were the things she knew how to do well.

Jamal cleared his throat to reveal his presence to the women before walking over to them. Seyiddah and the princess stood up from their sitting position and bowed their heads in respect to him. Roksolana remained seated, still focused on the design she was trying to recreate, and totally ignored him. Even when the princess tapped her lightly on the shoulder, she ignored the subtle sign she was being given. How was he supposed to communicate with her if she wouldn’t even give him a chance? Seyiddah and the princess bowed again and walked away.