It was Zuleika who laughed. 'He is, but wise beyond all. My ancestor found him in a bottle by the seaside, and released him. He granted Sinbad three wishes. The third wish was that Kansbar remain as the protector of Dariyabar always, and be subject to the will of Sinbad's direct descendants until the day came that there were none, at which time the genie would choose his new master.'
'So the key to Dariyabar must open two locks, and not just one,' the khan observed.
Zuleika thought a moment, and then she nodded. 'I suppose that you are right, my lord Amir,' she told him.
'I do not know if it pleases me that you have such control over my life, Zuleika,' he told her.
'Because I am naught but a woman?' she asked him.
'No, because I prefer to control my own fate, princess,' he responded.
'None of us controls our own lives, though sometimes we believe that we do,' Zuleika answered him wisely. 'We are, all of us, in the hands of the gods, my lord. You are, I believe, meant to follow my father on the throne of Dariyabar, and you will. That I possess the golden bowl counts for little, for in time I will give it to you. But Kansbar is right when he says you are untried yet. He will, himself, I promise you, instruct me when the time is propitious for you to have the bowl. It will not really be my decision at all. I am but his caretaker by virtue of the fact that I am my father's last child.'
'You have the skills of a diplomat, Zuleika,' he said with a small smile. 'When shall we go into the city?'
'First I must bathe,' she said to him. 'I scent your lust upon me, Amir Khan. I would prefer my father did not when we meet again. Can a bath be brought to me?'
'We do not have such accoutrements to offer, being an army,' he said, 'but we bathe ourselves in a stream behind the camp out of sight of the city, my princess. I shall call Bahira and Rafa to you, and see that the area is free of my men.' He bowed to her, and then was gone from his tent.
Shortly afterwards Bahira arrived, looking slightly the worse for wear. 'I have found a man who can actually tire me out,' she announced with obvious pride. 'Never did I dream of such a lover as General Sabola. Now, tell me what has happened.' She sat down on a pile of cushions opposite her friend.
Zuleika once again told her tale of the last day; of how the genie had managed to restore her father's health for a moon cycle, but no more. The secret of Haroun's disappearance was also shared, and Bahira laughed to learn of the prince's fate.
'What of Golnar?' she asked the princess.
'Her fate will be decided later,' Zuleika said.
'Then we are to go home!' Bahira clapped her hands.
'I am to wed the khan tonight. I will see that Sabola is wed to you as well, Bahira. You must have the authority of a wife, as must I, for these men will want other women, you may be certain,' Zuleika said.
Bahira nodded. 'Yes,' she agreed. 'We must be mistresses in our own homes. Then the beautiful litters and the caravan sent out from the city are our escort.'
'Yes,' Zuleika said.
'Come, my girls.' Rafa now reentered the pavilion. 'I am to take you both to the bathing pool. The khan and his general have seen that the area is cleared of others. The sooner you both bathe, the sooner we can go back into the city, and civilization.'
The two young women followed Rafa from the tent and through the encampment down a small hill and into a grove of trees. There was a crystal clear stream that entered the pool, with a delicate waterfall that soared above the pond. The girls quickly threw off their robes and dove into the water, squealing at its icy cold.
'I am told there is a warm spring to your right,' Rafa called.
They moved to where she pointed, and were rewarded with a flow of almost hot water. Rafa handed them soap-filled sea sponges, and they washed quickly, then swam back beneath the waterfall to rinse themselves. Then the two frolicked, laughing and splashing water on each other as they played.
'Go back to the pavilion,' the khan murmured in Rafa's ear.
She turned, and cast a surprised look at him and the general.
'You will all have to bathe again,' she warned them.
'We will,' the khan chuckled.
Rafa shook her head. 'The enthusiasm of youth is to be most wondered at, my lord,' she remarked, and then she moved back through the trees, and was gone from their sight.
The khan and his general stripped their loincloths off, and dove into the pool, startling the two young women who screamed at first, not realizing who had joined them. When they saw however that it was Amir Khan and Sabola, they began throwing water at them, laughing.
'You must not get us dirty,' Zuleika protested as the khan swam next to her.
'We will bathe again, my princess,' he said. 'Sabola and I are filled with a wicked lust, and must satisfy it before we go into the city. You do not want us to disgrace ourselves before your father.' He pulled her into his arms and began kissing her, his tongue pushing past her lips to seek her out and play.
Reaching down, she caught his engorged rod in her hand, and fondled it. 'You are hard with your desire already. Men can become aroused so quickly, but women cannot. I must be stroked and caressed before I am ready to entertain this eager fellow.' She gave him a little squeeze, which only served to render him harder than ever before.
He picked her up and carried her from the water. 'I shall prepare you myself, my princess, but you must prepare Bahira for Sabola while she entertains his lance.'
'As my lord desires,' Zuleika murmured docily.
He laid her on her back upon the mossy bank of the stream. The positions of their two companions were acrobatic in nature. Bahira squatted over Zuleika's head, revealing her secret parts to her friend, while Sabola, legs wide, stood before Bahira, placing his already hot love rod between her lips. Bahira suckled upon him, her head awash with her emotions as Zuleika foraged between her nether lips, teasing the sentient flesh. The khan prepared his lover in the same manner, but then he mounted her, slipping his great length into her hot and welcoming sheath. Bahira was swiftly in her lover's arms, taking him into her body. The moans of pleasure grew in intensity as the quartet drove themselves to nirvana, and collapsed in a heap of arms and legs with their mutual satisfaction.
'The Gods!' Zuleika finally spoke. 'I do not think I can get up. That was much, much too wonderful.'
'Ummm,' Bahira agreed.
Both men laughed weakly.
For several minutes they lay upon the stream bank while their hearts slowed and some small strength flowed back into their limbs. Finally the khan managed to arise to his feet, pulling Zuleika up with him. Together they walked back into the water to wash the scent of their new lust from their satisfied bodies. At a distance, Sabola and Bahira joined them. The four lovers were careful not to touch too fondly or come near to each other. Bathed once again, they emerged from the water to reclothe themselves and return to the encampment. They did not speak, lest they spoil the moment. It would never again be that way for them, and they understood it.
Rafa dressed both Zuleika and Bahira in exquisite garments. The princess wore a loose-fitting gown of white silk gauze shot through with threads of pure gold. It was sleeveless, had a keyhole neckline, and was fitted beneath her firm young breasts. The skirt of the garment fell in long, narrow pleats from her bust to her ankles. Her feet were fitted with delicate gold sandals, her hair braided in a single plait with strands of tiny pearls, diamonds and sapphires. About her neck was a thin gold chain from which fell a large sapphire oval. The gemstone hung directly in the center of the keyhole neckline. In the princess's ears were great hoops of gold from which hung more sapphires, diamonds and pearls.
Bahira was garbed in very similar fashion, but where Zuleika was the sun, her friend was the moon in a gown of wispy white silk gauze shot through with threads of pure silver. The style of the garment was identical to Zuleika's. On her feet the vizier's daughter wore silver sandals. Her rich auburn hair was braided into several narrow plaits intertwined with silver chains strung with turquoise. She wore a collar of turquoise, black onyx, and red agate. Her ears sported turquoise hoops. 'Am I beautiful again?' she demanded of Rafa.
'As always, Bahira, daughter of Abd al Hakim,' Rafa replied with a smile. 'And you, my princess, are regal as ever.'
The two young women entered their litters, Rafa riding with Bahira. The procession now began to form. The khan, upon a great white stallion with a silvery mane and tail, would lead it. Amir Khan was garbed in his black
