Chapter 28: Who's Whose What

Nobody in the harem understood why the eunuch doctor came round taking blood samples from everyone in the harem, even the other eunuchs, but it was the Emir's wish and so it was done. Maryam was amused at the varying reactions to this silly sampling. She knew that it did not mean that a part of your soul was being stolen, as Waris, the Somali girl seemed to believe. She also knew that blood was blood and was the same whoever it was taken from.

When the results of the DNA analysis came back from the laboratories at the University of Kobekistan the Chief Eunuch was fascinated to discover that his careful charting of the use of the hostesses, especially, had some glaring errors in it. One had a child whose father was listed as "unknown, definitely Caucasian, probably French" while his records showed that she had been service by a visiting French businessman, but had then menstruated and after that he thought she had been impregnated by an Arab diplomat. Evidently she had bled a little after conceiving and then been taken by the Arab when she was already pregnant. Another child attributed to a visitor was actually the offspring of the old Emir, who must have used the girl without the Chief Eunuch's knowledge. He would certainly have to tighten up his system of spying on such matters.

The results confirmed that Maryam was not a close relation of anyone else in the harem, which the Chief Eunuch already knew. More interestingly there were three half-sisters of the present Emir in the harem, all of whom had been born outside his control and had been inherited by the old Emir when the late Prince had died.

The Emir studied the results until he felt his head would whirl; to one trained and expert in mathematics, such as he, the topology was interesting but so complex that it seemed to need more than a Ph.D. to understand all the interconnections. His grandfather had evidently been quite indiscriminate in spreading his seed about the land and in one incredible case it appeared he had sired two daughters by one woman and then children by both those daughters, so the pair of babies were at once cousins, half sisters and had identical grandparents, one of whom was also their father.

There and then the Emir decided to remove the three women who were his half sisters from the harem. He didn't want to cause any more inbreeding and he was looking to have an heir as soon as possible. From a strictly genetic point of view, Maryam seemed the best bet to bear him a Crown Prince, if she could.

The three women were excited to hear that the Emir wanted to interview them separately from the others and much time and effort went into looking their best for this meeting. As far as they were concerned the most likely reason for the Emir to look them over was to decide which of them would share his bed that night. So, newly bathed, shaved, perfumed and oiled, they were led into the interview room together and made obeisance to the Emir. Then they rose and each positioned herself to give the Emir what she considered the most attractive view of her charms.

They were all completely surprised when he lost no time in telling them that they were to leave his harem forthwith, and what the reason was. The Emir was in turn surprised that they all assumed that he would send them for auction.

The first one he spoke to individually was Menar, who had been born in the old Emir's harem. She had not known, until the DNA tests had uncovered the fact, that she was not the old Emir's daughter. Quite nonchalantly she agreed that it must have been a visit from the Prince when her mother became pregnant.

The Chief Eunuch admitted to David that in the old Chief Eunuch's days they never kept records of who bedded whom and when. He had started this practice unofficially some ten years earlier, reasoning only that all knowledge was useful. Orders were given that this record was to be kept assiduously in future, together with records of menstruation so that the Chief Eunuch and hence the Emir could know which children belonged to which fathers, at least in most cases.