Chapter 14: My Humble Cottage

The journey started reasonably well, the Emir thought. Kaitlin was impressed by driving straight to the steps up into the aircraft; she was even more impressed by a private jumbo jet, and he had remembered to order the stewardesses to wear their ground uniforms, rather than serve them naked, as they normally would when the aircraft was in the air. He managed to persuade Kaitlin to share his bed for an hour on the journey, and then to shower with him, but she was clearly becoming more nervous as the day progressed.

The abaya was something of a mystery to her, but she wore it with only a minimum of grumbling. As they drove thought the capital and the triple palace came into sight, glowing in the sunlight red, gold and green from the jewels inlaid in the surface of the stone she was impressed.

"What's that place?" she asked.

"That's the Emir's triple palace. Really there are three separate palaces there, the Ruby Palace on the left for the Crown Prince, the Golden Palace in the middle for the Emir himself, and the Emerald Palace on the right for whoever he wants to give it to," explained the Emir.

When they drew up there and she got out of the car, she stared at him, then she was led away by the Chief Eunuch into the building. The Emir followed moments later and brushed off the many advisors and supplicants who tried to catch his attention. The Emir strode into the anteroom of the harem as Kaitlin was looking at the startlingly frank mosaics on the wall.

"Welcome to my humble cottage," he said, "In Dublin it would have been described as mid-terrace; as I said, only the yellow bit belongs to the Emir. The red bit belongs to the Crown Prince and the green bit to the second in line to the throne.

"Really?" she said, "Is it really yours? The rumours in Dublin were true? You aren't David Ransome, half Kobekistani and rich? You really are the Emir?"

"I am David Ransome, and half Kobekistani, and the Emir. How am I to convince you?" he paused and pondered for a moment, "I know, come through here."

He led her into the harem itself where there were quite a few women wearing only thin dressing gowns, which did not button below the collar and showed everything. Kaitlin blushed for them. Nudity was fine in private with your lover, but not in semi public like this. Then the penny dropped.

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph," she exclaimed, "Are all these yours? Wives and whatever."

"They are whatevers, all of them. I have no wives at the moment."

"At the moment?"

"I hope to change that soon," he said gently.

"And would all these still be here?" she asked, realising that he was, as she would have put it, proposing to her.

"Of course," he replied, knowing what was coming.

"Then I'll be back off to Ireland as soon as maybe, if you please. I'll not live in a heathen den such as this. Sure 'tis one thing to indulge a little before marriage, doesn't everybody do that, but this is truly mortal sin."

"I won't attempt to force you into anything you don't want," he said truthfully, then he lied, "But the earliest you could go back is three day's time. Until then you will have to stay here. Please treat this as a hotel. Anything you want, just ask."

"Why can't I go to an ordinary hotel?"

"A woman simply does not stay in a hotel alone in this country. Everyone would assume she was a harlot and she would be offended, if not actually assaulted, a dozen times by morning. Ah, here's my mother."

Zubeydeh arrived, dressed like all the others, and said, "You must be Kaitlin. My son has told me so much about you. Come with me and I'll show you your room."

Kaitlin stared at this obviously English woman who was dressed in such an obscene fashion, quite unable to take it all in.

Meanwhile the Emir turned away and signalled to Ludmilla, who came over and joined him on one of the benches. As Kaitlin watched he started to fondle Ludmilla's breast as he murmured something in her ear, and then the concubine slipped to her knees and took him in her mouth. Kaitlin turned her back and went with the English mother to find her room. As she was escorted away, she glanced back and saw the back of Ludmilla's head bobbing up and down. Unaccountably she felt both jealous and aroused at the sight.