Riddle of the Copper Coin

Karrakanash had new robes made for Adiba, in purple-blue silk that shimmered like a peacock's tail, and musicians played non-stop for three days before the wedding. Makaarim's handmaidens bathed and perfumed her, before clothing her in robes that shone like the moon.

Since Adiba had no family present, she requested that the Believers of the city attend her, and this they were glad to do. They would have given her rich gifts, but Adiba steadfastly refused: "I will take only one copper coin, and count myself rich beyond all measure."

They were wed according to the customs of the jinn, with singing and dancing, and it was fortunate that Adiba was quick on her feet or she might have been trampled flat by the most boisterous of her in-laws. Karrakanash spoke the words of the ritual, and the oldest of the Believers there offered up prayers to Allah and read from the Qu'ran.

Then at last Adiba and Makaarim retired to the marital chamber, as the festivities went on outside, and they embraced one another, and they spoke for hours, for it was the very first time that they had been able to converse outside riddles. Adiba explained how she had come to the City, and Makaarim wept for joy, for she had missed her mother greatly.

"So you did not come to pay suit to me?"

"Not until you put the thought into my head."

"Well, you must thank Mishderesba for that, the rascal, for he put it into mine!"

They laughed together, and then Adiba and Makaarim embraced.

* * * * *

Rafi turned, and we kissed. I stroked her back, and my fingers slipped up to caress the back of her neck, and she shuddered.

* * * * *

"I am yours now," said Makaarim, "and there is nothing of me that is withheld from you."

* * * * *

I kissed Rafi again, and she reached up and tugged her hair-pin loose. As her hair came free I moved, settling my weight on her back so she was caught under me, my hands in her hair and my lips on the back of her neck. She shuddered again, and reached back to stroke my face and hair, my hips.

* * * * *

They undressed one another, delighting anew in what they had already seen from afar, and as they held one another Makaarim's tail twined tightly around Adiba's ankle.

* * * * *

I nuzzled at Rafi's neck, lifted her hair to expose the sensitive skin behind her ears to my touch, and she gasped, almost melting into the bed. Then she paused, listening, and made to rise.

"Just one moment." She walked over to my wardrobe, and stooped. There was a plaintive mew. "Not tonight, beautiful. You'll have to make your own plans." She carried Bilqis over to my bedroom door and put her outside, closing the door behind her. Before Rafi could turn back to me I was behind her, trapping her against the wall, hands on her hips.

"I want you," I hissed.

"Yes..."

She twisted in my arms to face me, and I slipped my hands under her pyjama top, raking her sides with my fingers. Then we tumbled back onto the bed, and I stripped her button by button as she caressed my cheek with her palm. First her top, and then her pyjama pants along with her panties.

It wasn't the first time I'd seen her undressed; we'd been swimming together a few years ago, and had shared a change room. But now, for the first time, it was for my sake.

"You too," she whispered, slipping her fingers inside my bathrobe, and I shrugged out of it. She circled my belly with her fingertips, lingering at my navel, then slid her hands up to palm my breasts.

We stayed there for a while, Rafi on her back, me straddling her hips. I stroked her throat, circled her breasts, brushing against her nipples, and she reciprocated. Her touch felt so good; I'm a tactile creature, and it had been entirely too long. Eventually I stooped to kiss her lips, and nibble along her jawline, and so on downward by steps until I'd caught her nipple in my mouth, tongue flickering, teasing her skin with hot and cold breath.

"Mmm..." She settled back, sighing happily in her throat. I drew her nipple in and suckled, exploring the bumps of its tip with my tongue, as I ran my fingernails down her thigh.

Rafi ran her fingers through my hair, tugging softly, pressing me against her, tugging again. "Oh," she murmured, "my pretty pretty Penny, my pretty copper penny, yes." I had her other breast in my hand now, not squeezing, just holding her; I could feel her heartbeat, slow but firm.

Then she giggled. "Chickens," she said. "I should have bought a chicken."

I lifted my head from her breast. "A what now?"

"In the 1001 Nights. Princess Budur, disguised as a man, marries Princess Hayyat. On their wedding night... well, just what they do with one another depends on which version you read. But everybody's expecting the bloodied-sheets maidenhead business. So they smuggle in a rooster and cut its throat to get the blood."

"We could send Bilqis out for a pigeon."

"I think we'll manage without. But I'm sorry, I'm being selfish here, you've been doing all the work."

"It's not work." I kissed her nipple. "I'm happy to be in charge."

* * * * *

"Roll over," Makaarim said, and Adiba lay on her belly, and her lover ran her fingers over her back as light as a breath of wind, tracing flowing patterns.

"What are you writing?" asked Adiba.

"A poem," said Makaarim, "a love poem."

"What do the words say?"

"There are no words." She kissed Adiba, in the middle of her back, and again at the base of her spine. "It's a shame you have no tail," she said, "but you are very beautiful all the same." And with her own tail she tickled the back of Adiba's knees.

* * * * *

"Stop it ha ha stop!" Rafi kicked and wriggled. I was merciful, and put away my improvised tail (the cord from my bathrobe, if you were wondering).

"Very, very beautiful," I whispered. I drew a fingernail up along the line of her spine to her neck, felt her soften as it circled, and then I leaned forward and began to massage her back, putting my weight into it.

"Oh, so nice."

I worked on her for perhaps fifteen minutes, starting at the shoulders, drifting slowly down. When I came to her arse I did not stop but continued, stroking, kneading. Gradually my fingers moved inwards, and my touch lightened until my fingertips were trailing down her cleft. She was wriggling again, but this time she wasn't telling me to stop. Lower, lower, until I encountered curly hairs.

"May I?" I asked softly.

Rafi shifted, and her legs parted just a little, and my fingers slipped down to touch her warmth, working a little way into her, then sliding further down until I touched her nub. She flinched, then settled back against my hand. Fondling, caressing, rubbing, feeling her heat at my fingertips, and with a slight pressure my fingers slid into her.

"Oh..."

Into her, and twisting, and back to her clit, bringing her wetness. This time she didn't shy away when I touched her, nor when my fingertips started to stroke and circle, coaxing her, teasing with too-light touch and then stroking again.

"Oh, yes, please..."

* * * * *

Using only her fingertips Makaarim worked Adiba to a state of excitement, until she began to beg for release, and for a little while after, until she was satisfied that Adiba had begged enough.

"Roll over," commanded the Princess once more, and Adiba complied. Then Makaarim lay between Adiba's knees, and worked wonders with her lips and tongue and fingers all together, until Adiba could not withstand the torment. She cried out "Ya Allah!" and shook as if with violent fever; then at last she lay still, holding her lover to her, sobbing with joy.

* * * * *

I stroked Rafi's hair as she came down, and when her breathing had slowed she turned to me. "Thank you. That was lovely, Penny."

"You're very welcome, gorgeous."

"So, tell me... what did Adiba do for Makaarim, once she had caught her breath?"

"She wrote another poem."

"Oh?"

"With the tip of her tongue." And I reached into my bedside drawer for another dental dam.

* * * * *

After the wedding Adiba and Makaarim returned to Salt-Sorrow, and their happiness was unexpectedly multiplied, when Adiba walked into the palace to see none other than her beloved father alive and well. And more than that; Fadil al-Katib and Sharifah, each mourning the loss of a daughter, had found consolation in one another, and a few months later they also were wed.

As for what happened next—well, these stories go on forever, but sometimes one must know when to stop telling them. Perhaps Adiba lived as "Adib" for the rest of her days, her secret known only to Makaarim, Fadil, and Sharifah; perhaps she reverted to Adiba, and lived openly with her lover, and let others say what they might. Perhaps Prince Kedar showed up, bent on revenge, and perhaps the jinn chose once more to meddle in the affairs of Salt-Sorrow. Perhaps Fadil and Sharifah conceived a child (in secret? Did Adiba and Makaarim raise it as their own?)

But so much of life is struggle, and Adiba and Makaarim have earned a little respite, so for tonight I shall leave them there. I will leave the last word to Adiba, from their wedding night...

* * * * *

Watch the coin spin, shining brightly
Heads and tails blending together
Think of love, and stories nightly
Wonderful as peacock's feathers

Darling, do my tales delight you?
Dream of cities far away.
Let my tongue's talent excite you
Then we'll sleep until the day.

The message of my heart is sent—
And now, my love, we're spent.

THE END

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Thanks as always to my partner for proofreading, feedback, and support, and to Zoe Miller, Naoko Smith, and Ziedrich for beta-reading.