Captured For The Sultan’s Pleasure

Jamal woke up with his head pounding. He felt like heavy stones were placed on his neck rather than his normal head. He got up and grunted from the pain he felt for doing such a simple task.

Looking around, the surroundings felt strange yet familiar to him. Where was he? And why wasn’t he in his house? He looked around once again and saw that he was in Lady Miriam’s house. What was he doing there? The last thing he remembered was him drinking alcohol in his house. He tried to crack his brain but couldn’t remember anything else.

He felt someone moaning softly in pain beside him and looked at the person. He was surprised to see Lady Miriam looking like she was in so much pain but was trying really hard to hide it and turned to her immediately.

“Are you okay?” Jamal asked Lady Miriam who was still writhing in pain.

“Yes. It’s just my woman’s time of the month.” She answered. Her voice was barely a whisper and laced with pains.

Jamal watched as she continued tossing around in bed. He tried to help her up, but she slapped his hands away. When he tried to check her temperature too, she flung his hand away. Unsure of what else to do, Jamal rushed out of the house to the main door.

Pointing a finger at the first guard he saw, Jamal commanded the man to get a physician. Once he was done giving the order, he rushed back to the house and tried to help Lady Miriam up again. He watched as she refused his help once more, feeling confused. It was obvious she was in so much pain and needed help, so why was she refusing him? Jamal didn’t have time to dwell on the thought for a long time, as the physician rushed in along with general Sodeeq.

“The janissaries are waiting for you at the court for the meeting,” Sodeeq told Jamal.

“As you can see, Lady Miriam isn’t feeling well. I can’t leave her in this condition. So, go and cancel the meeting,” Jamal explained to the general, watching as the physician examined Lady Miriam.

“It is about the Jedi tribe trying to invade our sultanate recently. I’ll stay with Lady Miriam, you go to the meeting Sultan,” Sodeeq said.

Before Jamal could protest or say a word, Sodeeq pushed him lightly to the door. Jamal looked at the man who nodded his head slightly, encouraging him to leave. Without wasting time, Jamal rushed to the house and changed his clothing. He was worried about Lady Miriam, but since Sodeeq was with her, he felt a bit at ease. Although the general hated Lady Miriam, Jamal was sure that the man would take care of her since she belonged to him. And, he needed to have a meeting with his ministers.

Recently, his men had spotted the Jedi tribe moving around the sultanate and Jamal was afraid they were plotting against the invasion of his sultanate. He didn’t understand why they were doing it. Even though the Wadai’ sultanate and the Jedi sultanate were neighbors, they had never had anything to do with each other.

He wasn’t even sure that he could recognize the Sultan of Jedi’s sultanate. But from what Jamal had heard of the man, he was a peace-loving man who valued his land far more than any other thing. Jamal had also heard that the man stayed away from war and the politics of the world, which was what made him a little bit calm about the situation on the ground.

As he walked into the royal court, total silence fell on the room. Jamal was confident that he could pick up the sound of a falling middle. His people feared him, he knew that and took delight in it.

For somebody like him who had taken over the rulership at such a young age, he had quickly learned that if he didn’t make people tremble in his presence, he couldn’t command as an authority. No one had taken him seriously the first year of his reign. But when he ordered the execution of a man who had opposed his decisions, everyone had quickly learned obedience.

As he sat down on his royal seat, the people bowed their heads and greeted him. Jamal let them remain that way for a minute knowing that they wouldn’t dare raise their heads without his permission. He cleared his throat and spoke up.

“You may rise.” He told them.

Everyone expressed their thanks and raised their heads.

“As you all know, we have a threat hanging on our heads. The sultanate might be under siege at any moment from now, so we need a countermeasure,” Jamal told his janissaries.

He watched as everyone kept looking at each other, afraid to speak up. He didn’t need their cowardice, especially at a critical moment like this. They weren’t always afraid when they wanted to shove their daughters in his throat. But when a threat came, none of them could think of something to say. This was why he liked Sodeeq. If the man was here, he would have given out one or two useful ideas. Unlike the greedy bunch of elders here who only wanted to be related to the Sultan through their daughters.

Jamal’s patience wore thin and he shouted at them. “Somebody better speak up right now or I’m freezing your salary for the month.”

He heard everyone gasp while looking at each other. And just like that, the finance janissary came forward and bowed down. Jamal thought that his people were too selfish and frowned. Why had they stepped out only after he had threatened them?

“Sultan. A slave from the Jedi sultanate came with a message for you this morning.” The man spoke.

The information Janissary came forward with a letter held in his hands. He bowed before the Sultan before stretching the letter forward. A letter? Was the other Sultan warning him of his impending attack?

Jamal signaled to his attendee to get the letter from the other man. The attendee obeyed the order, walked to the information minister, and returned with it to Jamal.

Jamal opened it immediately and read its content, frowning at the paper he was reading. He read it again to be sure he wasn’t hallucinating the words he was reading. When he was sure, he threw the piece of paper at the information minister with a loud growl. The janissaries all fell on their knees as he stood up pointing a finger at Quadril, his information minister.

“Read that paper out loud for everyone to hear,” Jamal commanded the man.

The man picked up the paper immediately and began to read.

“This is a letter to ask the Sultan of Wadai’ sultanate to get betrothed to the princess of the Jedi Sultanate In a month or face the consequences.” The man read.

Jamal sat down on his royal seat when the information janissary was done. How dare a man control him? Even to the point of choosing a wife for him and giving him a deadline? Wasn’t he afraid of ceasing to exist, along with that daughter of his? Get married or face the consequences? What would be the consequences of disobeying? He needed to think fast about what to do and the janissaries murmuring in his ears weren’t helping him to focus.

“Shut up all of you.” He shouted at them. Everywhere became as silent as a graveyard at once. “I want you all to give me a way out of this situation at hand, otherwise, don’t bother to get up from that position.” He commanded.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Sultan, we could invade the sultanate and annihilate them all.” That was his tax janissary.

Jamal thought about it and decided it was a bad idea. The Sultan of Jedi must have thought about that and been well prepared before sending the letter to him.

“And have us walk right into a trap? Wrong suggestion.” He told the man.

“What about we capture his messenger and hold him hostage until the Sultan changes the decree?” His Literary janissary spoke next.

Jamal gave that another thought and decided against it also. The Sultan must have sent a man whose death he wouldn’t care about. Besides, if the plan did work, it would only be for a short while. The threat would still be hanging on Jamal’s head, so he needed a plan that would work permanently.

“Wrong idea again.” He told them.

“Why don’t you get married to one of the women from your harem? That would send the message across to Sultan Aabdeen of the Jedi that you are taken.” His information janissary told him.

Jamal thought about it and found the idea appealing to him. But who can he choose as his Sultana? He wasn’t sure he could spend the rest of his life with any of the women from his harem. But one of them would have to suffice for now. As a Muslim, he could marry another woman whenever he wants anyway. And that was when Jamal saw the flop in the plan. It wouldn’t get Sultan Aabdeen off his back since he could still marry his daughter even if he got married three times already.

“Wrong suggestion,” Jamal said again.

When after about five minutes, no other ideas came from his janissaries, Jamal got angry. If he had accepted to get married and he asked them to choose a woman for him from the harem, they would have all been vocally trying to get their daughter’s name across to him. He stood up and walked to their midst before speaking.

“Until you all come up with a plan that could work, none of you are allowed to get up from your kneeling positions. Even if one of you faints, make sure he does it while on his knees or you all lose your lives.” Jamal went out of the courtroom, ignoring their pleas.