The Harem Tales Vol. 01 Ch. 03-04

Decisions and Ceremonies

The next morning Zalen had barely gotten up from his bed when two servant girls entered and began to help him get dressed! He was still too drowsy to put up much resistance and either the girls didn't understand Common or they just chose to ignore his protests. And attempts to cover himself just made them smile and giggle.

Soon enough he was ready and dressed. Not in his normal robe, however, but in something that looked far too expensive to be useful. It was white and filled with intricate golden decorations, but at least it felt relatively cool in this heat and its symbols still made him look more like a mage than some lazy noble.

Outside his room the Master of Keys was waiting.

"Good morning, Master Zalen."

"Morning," Zalen replied, yawning.

"I beg your forgiveness, but although I am now in your service, I still have some duties for my former master, such as his funeral."

"Ah, yes. I understand. You have my leave. Is there a problem with his funeral?"

Zalen had noted the worried expression on the old man's face.

"Nothing to worry you, Master Zalen. It's just... The Sheikh always hated the traditional funeral, hated all the rituals and all the crying. But he never once said what he would want instead."

"He should have been to a Kyrian funeral. They are meant to honor the dead, to celebrate everything good the one who passed away had done in his life."

"Yes, he would have liked that. And... Has my master already... decided?"

Zalen sighed.

"I will let everyone know tomorrow at noon."

The Master of Keys then bowed and left, apparently deep in thought.

Zalen set out to find his companions. He had now a little over a day to decide what to do. They would have to move on sooner or later and he had no desire to return here even afterwards. This country was just too warm and dry for him. And servants? He was no noble and neither did he want to become one. But would it be considered an insult if he just sold this place?

And the women. So far he had only seen four of the seven wives but no woman would be happy to just be handed over to a new man, tradition or no tradition. He vaguely remembered that a divorce here would just require saying the words three times but would the seven wives want to be cast aside like that? Hardly.

Oh well, he was the one who had made the decision to return the mysterious cube to its rightful owner and he would face the consequences like a man. No good deed ever went unpunished, indeed.

He found his companions together in one of their rooms. The Veiled One was again asking Darnac questions about the Myrnae Empire, her bodyguard sitting nearby and Talyar laid on the bed, his fancy hat pulled to his eyes. It was amusing how the four were nothing alike.

Darnac was a huge man, tall and strong as a bear although he was only in his early thirties, but had already been the leader of the Emperor's Guard. He certainly knew how to behave when needed, but in private he cursed and joked almost worse than most soldiers.

Rasan, now the Veiled One's bodyguard, looked almost frail when standing next to the man from Myrnae. He was no longer quite as hostile as he had been in the beginning, but he still only talked to answer a direct question - unless the matter concerned Amaryan's safety.

Talyar on the other hand looked nothing like a fighter, despite his sword. He dressed like a noble, or more precisely like a character from one of those ridiculous romantic adventure stories that were the latest craze among the nobles. There was no way of knowing if the man was a noble though - he never told the same story twice when asked about his past. And most of his 'accomplishments' were probably just as invented. But he was friendly and easy to be with and even if his stories were clearly nowhere near the truth they were still great entertainment.

And Amaryan - well, the Veiled One had turned being mysterious into art. Zalen still didn't know anything more about her or the Veiled Ones than he had when she first joined their group. He was almost sure she had magical skills and he had tested that her veils were magical but that was pretty much it. And just her beauty made her at least as dangerous as the others.

Darnac noticed Zalen's approach.

"What now?"

"You didn't bother mentioning that the 'valuables' I'd inherit would include the Sheikh's harem," Zalen said addressing Amaryan.

The room went silent. Darnac whistled. Rasan's eyes had went wide and even Talyar had raised his hat to look at Zalen.

"It's every man's right to name what he considers most valuable", Amaryan remarked with a slight smile.

"You inherited his harem," Talyar said, with a rare look of surprise. Usually nothing seemed to faze him and he often just countered with an even wilder story.

"Yes. I'm now the new husband to his seven wives and I don't even know their names", Zalen confirmed.

"Well, my friend, you certainly seem to have interesting luck with women", Darnac said chuckling. "The last woman you were with is now a sword, the previous woman tried to kill you, and half of Saleria knows the Ballad of Zalen by now."

Zalen tried to just ignore Darnac's comment. Darnac knew the truth, but trying to explain to the others would take too long and probably be just as embarassing. So he continued:

"And since he had no living male relatives I also inherited this palace, his horses and most of his treasury. And that damned cube, except that the second assassin had stolen it."

"Wow! His treasury? Oh, that reminds me of the time..." Talyar began, but was cut short by the Veiled One.

"Oh, shush. Does this change your plans?"

Zalen went silent for a while.

"I'm not going to just settle here, but neither can I just run from my duties here. I will tell my new plans tomorrow, but it will probably take a week before I can resume travel. Can you wait that long?"

"I will wait," Amaryan said. "The Sisterhood promised its help and I will not leave you until I'm no longer needed and you have paid your debt for us. The longer it takes, the bigger the debt will be."

"You need to ask? Oh no, I just can't live with all the delicious food, pretty servants and luxurious surroundings", Talyar added with mock horror.

Rasan said nothing, but he'd hardly leave Amaryan unprotected.

Darnac was the only one looking unhappy about the situation but after a while he nodded as well.

"I want to get to As'arain before Coryel grows bored and gets herself into trouble, but I understand duty. I'll wait a week."

"Thanks."

After that the day had pretty much flewn by.

To Zalen's surprise the wives had apparently liked the idea of a Kyrian funeral and during the day the servants had dragged every little detail he knew about the ceremony, the foods, the decorations and so on. Although Zalen had not been raised as a Kyrian - he had only found out his true race much later - he had still seen more than his share of funerals during and after the war.

Another surprise had been that the funeral would take place the very same day, at sunset like the Kyrian custom required. Zalen had asked why and received no answer whatsoever. The Master of Keys had even seemed a little worried for some reason. Well, perhaps Zalen would find out the reason eventually.

*

The sun was already touching the horizon as the last man entered the half-circle. He was old and held a cane, although mostly for appearances. He, like the rest of the guests were clearly a little surprised at the unusual setting but none of them had said anything. Apparently the Sheikh had gained a reputation with his little quirks. It probably wasn't normal either that there were only five guests, but that was probably due to the short notice.

The dead Sheikh had been positioned on top of the pile of wood.

As the Sheikh's Om'asara and the one most familiar with this ceremony Zalen had been asked to lead. He took a step forward with a lit torch.

"We are here tonight to honor the life of a great man. As is tradition where I come from, a funeral ceremony is not meant for sadness. It is for telling stories of his great deeds, for praising the role he had in our lives. We will drink and make toasts for him so that even the gods will have to listen and admit what a great man he was!"

As he shouted the last words he threw the torch towards the pile, and the flames begun slowly spreading.

Zalen stepped back. The Master of Keys was the next to raise his voice, beginning to tell the story of how the Sheikh had caught him trying to steal food and ended up hiring him.

The other guests, even if slightly bewildered by the unfamiliar ceremony had also caught on and were also taking turns telling amusing stories involving the Sheikh.

The Sheikh's wives who were all wearing white robes that covered most of their faces - probably in order to combine the local funeral tradition with this Kyrian one - also joined in.

Zalen was the only one without any stories to share so he just stood there, listening.

Finally the stories and songs had run down and there was again silence.

Zalen stepped forward once more, raising his cup towards the embers in the middle.

"To a great man. To a great life and to an even greater afterlife!"

There was chorus of agreements.

Quite a bit later all the guests had finally left and Zalen was back in his bed, deep in thought.

All those stories about the Sheikh had finally convinced him of one thing. He wouldn't be able to keep this place. He'd just feel like a permanent outsider all the time. But he had at least decided how to solve the problem.

He'd talk to the Master of Keys tomorrow as the old man would have to handle the details anyway.

Sumi

A few days later Zalen was sitting on his bed, trying to remember if there was still something that needed to be done before going to bed, a knock came from the door.

"Come in."

The door opened and a woman slipped in. But to Zalen's surprise it was not one of her companions but one the Sheik's wives. They had kept their faces hidden during the funeral but he had actually seen her face before that. She had peeked through a doorway back when he had been talking to the Sheikh the first time.

"My name is Sumi. I needed to talk to you."

The woman's eyes indicated that she wasn't one of the locals though. They reminded Zalen of the eastern traders that he had seen travelling with the caravans but her pretty face would have probably turned heads pretty much anywhere. Not to mention her body. Instead of the traditional harem pants she was wearing a skirt with a wavy hem but the equally thin material did little to hide the fact that although Sumi was short, she had more than enough curves.

"Like them?"

Sumi's words jerked Zalen out of his reverie, and he turned his eyes back at Sumi's face.

"Umm yes, sorry. What did you want to talk about? Please, have a seat."

Sitting on the vacant chair Sumi looked at Zalen, then looked down, her fingers fiddling with the fabric of the chair seat.

"Umm. Well. I have a problem."

The woman let out a long sigh before continuing.

"You see. Well. As you know, the Sheikh wasn't a young man anymore and he had seven wives. So each of us only got to spend one night per month with him, sometimes two."

Sumi bit her lip, raising her eyes to briefly meet Zalen's but with her head still tilted down.

"But that was never enough for me. I love sex. I need sex. The other women may have been able to fill the gap with the pleasure from each other but for me that's not enough. I need a man inside me."

Sumi gave a trembling little sigh before continuing.

"But my beloved husband - my late husband - understood that. After my first mistake we talked and he gave me permission to fullfill my needs with others as well. So I did. Servants, guards, visitors, traders..."

"...But what about - "

"- protection? That's why he also gave me this," Sumi explained, lifting her left hand to show the strangely glittery bracelet around her wrist. "It protects me from diseases and pregnancy. And the Sheikh always sent word if a visitor was off limits. Priests, political enemies, men with bad reputation. It worked well."

Sumi suddenly stifled a sob. "But now he's gone. And now we belong to you. And I don't know what I'll do. I really don't want to cheat on you but... I don't even know if I should be here telling you this but if the Sheikh trusted you with us, you can't be that bad..."

Zalen was suddenly at loss for words. He was at loss for thoughts as well until the sight of tears rolling down Sumi's eyes kicked his brain into action again.

"Sumi, it's all right.

Umm, I'm not from around here and I know little about your culture so I apologize in advance if something I say sounds silly.

But there are two things I wish to say. One, I really didn't expect any of this. I'm still trying to get used to the idea that I have a wife, not to mention seven of them. So if you feel you would be happier somewhere else, I can say the words and you will be free to travel where you want. And I'll make sure you will have enough to get you started on a new life there.

And the same offer stands for the others as well."

Sumi's eyes were wide open and she stared ahead with a frozen expression.

"Two. If you still wish to stay - although I have a hard time figuring out why - I don't mind giving you the same permission as the Sheikh did. It would just be foolish for me to be jealous in a situation like this! And I guess I'm not that much of a jealous type in the first place either."

The petite woman raised her eyes, tilting her head sideways to look at Zalen with a slightly incredulous expression.

"...what about your companions?"

"Umm, sure I guess. Although jumping on Darnac probably isn't a good idea unless you ask his wife first. The other two... "

Zalen ended his sentence with a shrug.

For a long while Sumi did nothing but stare at him. Then she suddenly squealed with delight, leaping out of her chair and cannoning straight into Zalen, knocking him down.

"Yes yes yes yes yes! I can't believe you actually said that! Did the Sheikh somehow know when he picked you? He must have! I was so afraid, so uncertain whether to tell you all of this. But I felt I would have to trust my late beloved, trust his judgement. And I'm so happy I was right!"

Sumi gave another squeal and hugged Zalen's face, giving his jaw the nice sensation of being squeezed by her breasts.

The woman suddenly backed away a little, looking thoughtful.

"You don't really feel bound by our traditions, do you?"

"Well, no. I don't really even know half your traditions, and many of the others I don't really understand as a foreigner."

Sumi nodded. "You see, normally when a new man inherits a harem, the wives get seven days of mourning before the new husband can call them to his bed."

Zalen suddenly felt nimble fingers slipping inside the waist of his britches. "It's only been four days but there's no way I can wait for the full seven."

Sumi's fingers wrapped around his rapidly hardening cock. "You're now my husband and I want you already..."

The petite woman's lips met Zalen's as she eagerly leaned forward to kiss him.

It had certainly been a long time since the last time Zalen had had a woman in his lap, and certainly never one with such hungry lips. As their mouths continued their dance Sumi's fingers squeezed the base of his now fully hard staff, then again slightly higher, slowly making their way towards the tip.

"Just how..."

Sumi suddenly backed away, hopping to Zalen's side as her head tilted down towards Zalen's lap. Tugging on his britches he pulled them down, allowing his hard rod to bounce free.

"Stars' bounty," Sumi gasped, staring at it. "You're way bigger than my late husband. You might even be bigger than that one merchant's guard few months ago. It's... beautiful!"

"Just like you."

Sumi raised her gaze and then tilted her head a little. "Oo... really?"

"Yes. Your eyes are mesmerizing."

The petite woman smiled, arching her back and pulling the thin fabric of her top taut against her breasts, turning the fabric practically transparent. "What about these?"

"They're alluring," Zalen admitted, raising his left fingers to softly caress one.

His touch brought a little purr from Sumi and she suddenly raised her legs, sliding both of them across Zalen's lap, brushing against his erect member. "And these?"

"So soft." He ran his other hand softly along her thigh.

With a glint in her eyes she responded by raising her left leg on Zalen's other side, causing the skirt hem to slide up and revealing her lower, cleanly shaved lips. "And... this?"

"Delicious. I could spend half the night just licking it."

Sumi shivered at his words. "...please do?"

Zalen grinned, sitting up to kiss Sumi. Her lips seemed just as eager as before, especially as he began caressing her sides with his hands. He finally broke the kiss by pushing Sumi back and began kissing his way down her neck, then along her breasts. Slowly nibbling at each one he then resumed moving down as Sumi quickly gathered a pillow behind her neck, allowing her to watch Zalen's caresses.

Not wanting to leave his words just an empty promise Zalen wrapped his arms around the exotic beauty's thighs as he leaned in to give her left inner thigh a kiss, followed by another on her right one. Leaving a trail of kisses he soon closed in on the soft folds of the treasure waiting in the middle.

"You smell so arousing..."

His words were followed by a long lick snaking along her lips.

As Zalen put his oral skills to work on pleasuring her Sumi closed her eyes, shivering just slightly.

"I just love how your tongue is making me feel, ooooo... " she moaned, sliding her fingers through Zalen's hair.

"I love getting to do this," he replied amidst licks. "It's one of my favourite things to do in bed."

"By the stars, I can't believe I'm this blessed. Aaahhh... It's so rare to even find a man willing to do this, not to mention someone who is actually gooood... at it... aaahhh..."

Not that it was fully a matter of skill though. Part of it might have been due to the situation but Zalen had quickly noted just how sensitive Sumi's skin was and how even his idle caresses seemed to have a huge effect on the exotic beauty. And even though he had started slow, his oral efforts had already brought the woman close to her peak.

He was just about to slide two fingers inside her as she suddenly pushed him back. As he rose back to seated position she murmured:

"Sorry, but I don't want to wait anymore."

Before he had time to reply she kissed him, climbing back to sit on his lap. "I want you inside me now..." she added, using one hand to angle his erect staff correctly.

A heartbeat later she slid down, causing both of them to moan out loud as he finally entered her.

With their lips still locked in a long, passionate kiss Sumi began moving her body, grinding her hips against him. Finally she pulled back her mouth as a shiver ran through her body.

"You feel so... gooood... I could spend half the night just riding you!"

"Please do..." Zalen replied, trying to hide the fact that he was still half-dazed by the whole situation. It had been months since the last time he'd even kissed a woman and now here he was, mounted by this exotic beauty. His wife. One of his wives.

Another fierce kiss from Sumi quickly cleared any extraneous thoughts from his head as she suddenly gave a little growl and started riding him in earnest. Not wanting to just stay passive Zalen wrapped his arms around her, grabbing her sexy little butt cheeks, one with each hand. Having found her pace she used her petite body to pound it against him and he aided her movements with his hands, forcing his cock into her wet slit again and again.