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What we want and what we need are not the same thing, until we align our heart and soul.
-Master Fjeld
***
Keralan woke in the early morning. Cool blue light came in through the windows near the ceiling. She smiled when she remembered that Bilrah was there with her. She checked her control panel for the time.
5:23.
It was still so early, but she felt happier than she had in a very long time. She rolled from one side to the other, so that she faced Bilrah's sleeping body. His blanket lay at his waist, exposing his torso. In the shadows she studied his form and decided she wanted to touch him.
She reached out her hand, timidly. Her fingers grazed the warm soft skin of his chest. He made a sound and opened his eyes. He quickly realized what she was doing and watched her. He felt hard and soft at the same time, under her hand. Her curiosity slaked; she pulled her hand back.
"Mmmm," he moaned, "why did you stop?"
Keralan smiled shyly but offered no explanation. Bilrah reached out to take her hand and place it back onto him, though onto his stomach.
"I want you to feel what you do to me," he told her in a low voice.
Keralan's eyes widened when he pulled her hand over the blanket and placed it onto his swollen member. Even through the sheet she could feel his warmth, his flesh responding with movement under her hand. Then, to her surprise, he pulled her hand away.
"It's extremely hard for me to hold back, but I don't want to go too fast with you. Besides, I have to get up and go. I have a lot to do today."
"Oh," Keralan muttered, trying to hide her disappointment.
"But I'll be thinking of you all day," he told her. "And I'll expect you at our gathering tonight."
Keralan recalled that there would be another party.
"Will it be like last time?"
He shook his head.
"No, it will be different. I won't expect you to entertain anyone. Tonight, you should just enjoy yourself."
Keralan smiled.
"Okay, I'll do that."
"Good," he said smiling back.
He got up from the bed and walked to the door, going through it without another word.
It was only a few more minutes before Keralan left as well. Back at the harem building, she found Tian in the garden, who showed her the flowers from which she extracted her fragrances. After that, she took her to her room and had her sniff at dozens of tiny glass vials, until she proclaimed that she would create a custom scent for her. Keralan was delighted.
That day she was pulled in all directions by the girls and their diversions. She could see how much they enjoyed their personal time and Keralan did as well, because the time raced by. Before she knew it, Oma was barking orders for the evening and the girls began to get ready.
***
The gathering was outside late that night, in a beautiful courtyard garden that was just large enough to hold all the guests. There were at least a hundred, if not more, dressed in modest work attire. Keralan noted that most were men. She recognized some from the last party. The girls had explained to her that they were the top Heads from within Shebai and without. Once again, Keralan was instructed not to mention the harem, but to mingle and flirt with the guests. She wanted to explain that Bilrah didn't expect her to entertain, but she never had the opportunity.
Keralan knew she didn’t have to, but she found herself chatting with guests. She found that it almost effortless for her to go from one man or woman to another, introducing herself. When a guest asked about her role, she told them she worked at Giova as a Coordinator, as she'd been instructed by Oma. She wasn't sure what it meant, but no one asked for further explanation.
Keralan found that she enjoyed learning about the roles of the guests more than she anticipated, each having some interesting story to go along with how he or she came to become the Head of a corporation. Also, having been tutored by Henry, she was able to offer her unique perspective and ask pertinent questions. The guests seemed to appreciate it, which pleased her.
After some time, however, Keralan was beginning to tire. She could only give her full attention for so long. She spied several secluded seating areas around the perimeter of the courtyard, under the overhang of the building. She started for the nearest one.
Someone behind her and asked if she cared for a drink. She turned around and found herself face to face with Ket. He held out a drink in a slim crystal cup. He was wearing a loose black buttoned shirt with tight fitting charcoal gray pants. In the brighter lights of the courtyard, she could see him more clearly than the times before. He was more handsome than she remembered.
Keralan knew it would be rude to reject the drink. She took the glass. She thanked him and took a sip, forgetting the concubine's rule of abstaining from alcohol. It was some variety of white wine.
Ket was watching her like he was waiting for something. Abruptly, he took her arm and said, "walk with me."
He led her back into the crowd. Keralan remembered the first time he had done so, at the first party. He seemed different. Preoccupied. An uncomfortable silence fell between them. Even in the midst of a party that was slowly ramping up around them with music and laughter, Keralan felt the awkwardness of the lack of conversation. Because Ket wasn't saying anything, Keralan decided to.
"Why don't you tell me about yourself," she spoke loudly over the noise, "I don't know anything about you."
Ket was silent at first. His strange mood slowly faded as he began to speak.
"I'm a Province Head. I run HBWA, Haran Biological Weapons and Artillery. It is behind only Giova in economic corporate rank. I make the most advanced weapons in the world."
Keralan recognized right away how dangerous the man beside her was.
"But," he continued, "I also make very specialized technological gadgets. That's what I'm more interested in these days. You wouldn't believe the things we have accomplished," he paused and smiled. "You might not find such things as interesting as I do, though, so I won't bore you. The place I live, however, is very special." He peered at her thoughtfully. "Perhaps someday you can come and visit. What do you think?"
Keralan thought that it was a very odd thing to ask her. He knew she belonged to Bilrah. She avoided answering and asked, "do you live in a castle?"
He chuckled.
"Not by a long shot. And my home is nothing like Giova, either. What I meant is that the geographic area I live in is special. I'm about nine-hundred kilometers to the north and west, on a beautiful mountainside where wine is produced. This very wine, in fact," he lifted his glass. "I think you would like it there."
Keralan felt uncomfortable having him discuss a visit as if it were an option. She wondered what Bilrah would say if he overheard him speaking to her that way.
"Well, it sounds lovely," she said to be polite, "but I'm sure I couldn't."
Ket didn't seem deterred.
"Oh well you never know, Keralan. Don't be so sure."
Keralan didn't know what he was alluding to. It was impossible for her to resist feeling flattered by his attention, but he wasn't Bilrah. She wondered why he had not yet arrived. She had been keeping her eye out for him the entire time. He was nowhere in sight.
"Are you looking for a friend?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her.
"Ha! Funny," Keralan said, disappointed that he noticed her looking for Bilrah. She tried her best to laugh it off.
Ket slowed them to a stop and looked at her a moment, cocking his head to the side.
"Keralan," he said slowly, "I'm going to tell you something even though I may get in trouble for it."
She frowned at him and waited.
"Bilrah isn't who you think he is," he told her in a low voice.
She stared back at him, expecting him to say more.
"How so?" she finally asked.
Ket seemed unsure of what to say next.
"Well, let's just say," he said carefully, "he is very good at manipulation."
Keralan nodded. She knew this. Bilrah himself had admitted it to her.
"Well obviously. So?" she answered, shrugging her shoulders.
It was Ket's turn to frown.
"Doesn't it concern you that he may be using you?"
Keralan wasn't sure how to respond. She understood her situation well, but it wasn't as if Ket's words stood for anything. It was obvious to her that he was no saint, himself. Besides, she wasn't sure how Bilrah might be using her. He'd done nothing, up to that point, to cause her any real concern.
"Every man has his price," he said. "Even Bilrah. I could have you for myself if I wanted."
Keralan narrowed her eyes at him, not caring that it would be plain to see how much she suddenly despised the man.
"I am not for sale," she told him in a low voice.
Ket laughed.
"Oh, you are so wrong. In this world, my dear," he said moving a little closer to her, "people are mere tools for those with power. You are extremely naïve to think otherwise."
She didn't like the way he was speaking to her but decided to answer with simple silence. After a few tense moments, Ket finally gave her a slight nod.
"Fine," he muttered, "but one day you will beg me to take you from here."
With that, he turned around and disappeared into the crowd. She was left standing there, perplexed, angry, and annoyingly a little concerned as well. The man made her feel uncomfortable each time he was near.
Keralan quickly located a vacant seating area and made for it. She sat in the place that was the least visible to the other guests and let out a long sigh of relief. She hoped that Bilrah would find her there. She was a little annoyed that he hadn't come with her to the party. If he had, she could have avoided Ket's attentions altogether.
Abruptly, Bilrah appeared before her. He'd found her. She could not help but smile big at him. He walked to her and pulled her up from where she sat.
"I'm sorry I'm late," he apologized. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," she said, trying to get Ket's piercing eyes out of her mind.
He pulled her into a warm embrace. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath at the comfort of it.
Bilrah rubbed her back and said, "good. Now let's walk around a bit."
Keralan was glad that Bilrah kept her by his side. He went around chatting with the men until he stopped to announce the start of a game. At that point, Bilrah led the guests inside to the fencing arena that she had seen once before. A large white marble rectangle on the floor marked out the fighting zone. The black granite walls held various deadly looking swords, spears, sticks, and axes.
"Isn't this dangerous?" Keralan asked him.
He shook his head.
"Have no fear. We will not use the real weapons. This is a holographic game. You will see."
At that, Bilrah left her to watch from the side lines. The men and women who chose to participate prepared themselves by removing jackets, if they wore them, along with their shoes. Keralan also watched them strap small black bands to each wrist and ankle. A screen on one empty white wall came to life with a list of names on the left side. On the right side of the screen, the images of two players appeared along with 3D rotating weapons beneath them.
It didn't take long for Keralan to figure out that the game system was choosing weapons randomly for each player. As they fought each other, with the exceedingly realistic holographic weapons that projected from their wristbands, the system recorded every hit. Numbers appeared beside the player's name with the amount of damage inflicted, until a tone sounded, ending the match.
Keralan could see how much the guests enjoyed their game. They yelled, screamed, and hollered from the sidelines as they watched one another battle. The matches lasted sometimes ten minutes or more. Servants stood at the ready to offer refreshments and towels. Keralan was surprised to see how enthralled the harem girls were with the whole affair, as well. They hardly even noticed her, standing back from the action, quietly.
Watching people engaged in combat, even if it was with fake weapons, wasn't something that Keralan was interested in. The only time she made sure to get a good view was when Bilrah was fighting. She was impressed, not when he won, but at seeing how quick he was. Even with her untrained eye, she could tell he'd been practicing. It wasn't clear to her if the other guests allowed him to win the matches or not, though he didn't seem to care when he was declared the winner at the very end. He simply shrugged his shoulders and shook hands with his opponent.
He sought her out in the crowd as soon as he could.
"Keralan, the guests will be moving to the entertainment room now," he told her.
She nodded and expected them to begin to follow the men and women as they began to file towards a double door across the room. She caught a glimpse of Ket as he turned to look at her. The way he stared hard at her reminded her of the first time she'd met him. She remembered what Mira had said to her. He's not the kind of man who takes no for an answer. She decided then and there not to worry about what he'd said to her about Bilrah.
"Does he make you uncomfortable?" Bilrah asked from her side.
Keralan turned to look at him quizzically.
"You mean Ket?" she asked.
Bilrah turned and gave her a nod. She shrugged.
"Yeah, well he's a creep."
Bilrah responded with a full belly laugh.
"Ha! You are right about that. He is, hands down, the creepiest man I know. I keep a very close watch on him."
Keralan was glad at making him laugh, though it worried her what Ket was capable of. She thought of asking Bilrah about Ket's assertion that he could buy her from him, but as the very last guests were exiting the room, Bilrah said, "come," holding out his hand to hers. "I want to take you somewhere."