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By the time Georgie returned to the royal suite, Iksander was out of bed. A male servant was just leaving. Apparently, he’d been helping the sultan dress. Iksander’s outfit was colorful but formal, gussied up with a yellow shoulder sash and a sparkling hip scimitar. His curly toed slippers glinted with—for him—modest-sized rubies.
“There you are,” he said, his smile easing some of her tension. “I’m due shortly for a meeting with a visiting ambassador. I hoped I’d see you before I left.”
He kissed her cheeks, his hands chafing her arms affectionately. “Connor went off exploring. I’m not sure where. He left a note, if you’re interested.”
“Sorry I didn’t think to do that.”
Iksander laughed. “Don’t pretend you meant to. You were being sneaky. I suspect I’ve kept the pair of you on too short a leash. You’re used to being ‘free range.’”
She loved seeing him in an easy, bright mood like this. His grin was wonderful, his happiness crinkling his djinn green eyes. Whatever his mood, she didn’t want to imagine her life without him—no more than she wanted to imagine it without Connor.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, touching her cheek gently. “You look serious.”
“Don’t be alarmed but I, um, met your mother this morning.”
“My mother!” His brows shot up in surprise.
Georgie rubbed her right temple. Should she explain about Yasmin’s cat disguise? She didn’t want to get her in trouble, which blabbing seemed like it might do. “I went for a walk in the palace gardens. When I swerved to avoid some guards, I ended up at the harem. Your mother was planning to summon me today, so she didn’t mind me showing up unannounced.”
“Hopefully, she wouldn’t let you think she minded even if she did. Any friend of mine should be treated with respect.”
“She was . . . perfectly nice,” Georgie said, reluctant to get into the compulsion thing when he was pressed for time. At some point, yes, even if it was awkward. Then again, maybe the sultana magically nudging her inferiors was no big deal to her.
Iksander’s noble brow had begun to furrow. “What did my mother do?”
“Offered me a room?” Georgie said unsurely.
“In the harem?”
“Yes. I turned it down. I’d rather stay with you while we’re here. As long as that won’t cause trouble. To be honest, the harem seems a little stifling to someone of my background.”
Iksander leaned back against a table and crossed his arms. “Of course it does. I’d never suggest you move in there. Good Lord, I can’t even imagine!”
His vehemence surprised her. “Didn’t Najat have rooms there?”
“Yes.” He gathered her hand in his. They didn’t often speak of his former wife. “She kept them even after she became my kadin. She valued her women’s retreat, she said.”
“Your mother thought I might benefit from the pampering. Beauty treatments and all that.”
She had no warning for the heated blush that sprang into her cheeks. Seeing it, Iksander rubbed her knuckles. “You don’t need beauty treatments. You’re gorgeous as you are.”
“Not like the harem women,” she confessed with some chagrin for her insecurity. “They’re cosseted and perfect.”
Iksander pulled her into a gentle hug. “You’re perfect, Georgie.”
“You liked it when I dressed up in their clothes.”
“You were you dressing up. You’re not in competition with those djinniya. My heart is already yours and Connor’s.” He pushed back to look at her. “I hope you’ll stay here forever. That’s how committed I am to you.”
She blushed in a different, more pleasant way. “I admit I enjoy hearing you say that.”
He laughed softly. “Well, that’s progress. When you say it back to me, we’ll be ready to exchange rings.”
Her mouth fell open. Did he mean that as a joke? But maybe exchanging rings didn’t signify marriage to genies. Her hand rose to press her heart. She wasn’t sure, but possibly she hoped he’d meant exactly what she thought. Could she stay here with him? The more she came to care about him, the less impossible relinquishing her world seemed. She knew Connor didn’t hate the idea. Maybe . . . just maybe they could enjoy this relationship long-term.
Seeming unaware of her confusion, he pressed quick lips to hers. “I should go, sweetheart. I’ll catch up with you later. Go anywhere you like but, please, for my sanity, take a guard if you can stand to. This world is new to you. You should have protection.”
~
DESPITE RUNNING LONG, Iksander’s meeting was successful. He’d consented—provisionally, at least—to a new trade agreement. More importantly, he’d let the ambassador know the Glorious City was on firm ground again. Any rival rulers who came sniffing around for weakness wouldn’t be rewarded.
“That went well,” Arcadius observed from the chair opposite Iksander’s desk.
The city’s senior guardian was probably a tougher audience than the recently departed diplomat. Arcadius and his opposite Cade had been doubled magically. For various reasons, they couldn’t recombine afterwards. Cade’s time in the human world, where he’d met their shared fiancée, Elyse, seemed to have softened his stern nature. Arcadius was more set in his ways, though under Elyse’s influence he too was losing some hard edges. Now he leaned back in his seat with his fingertips pressed together. For him, the pose was unusually casual.
“We have dinner with the vizier tonight,” he observed. “Murat plans on discussing business, but we could make the meal more social if you’d like to bring Connor and Georgie.”
Coming from Arcadius, this suggestion was a surprise. Iksander wasn’t sure what it meant. “I wouldn’t mind bringing them,” he said.
“How long are they staying?” Arcadius asked.
“I’d be happy if it were forever.”
Arcadius’s expression remained intent. “The relationship is that serious?”
“For me, it is.”
Arcadius considered this then seemed to shake himself. “You might make their—and your—position easier if you formalize ties between you. Help our people understand how they’re to be regarded. Concoct an official title or something.”
“Kadin and kadin-o?” Iksander proposed humorously.
“I was thinking kadin and consort.” Arcadius shrugged in response to Iksander’s widening eyes. “If humans can be modern about relationships, why can’t we?”
“That’s the question, isn’t it?” That and the fact that humans were hardly perfect at liberality. “I’ll think on it. Thank you for the advice.”
“It won’t be easy,” the guardian cautioned with more familiar dourness. “You’ve hurdles to surmount. For what it’s worth, though, you have my and Cade’s support. I’ve learned humans can be trustworthy. My gut tells me Connor is as well.”
Iksander hadn’t anticipated this level of confidence. He appreciated it, not the least on a personal level. A knock on the office door forestalled him from saying so. He expected his private secretary, but Joseph came in instead.
The magician bowed with a hastiness that said his business was important. “Your Majesty. Commander. Forgive me for intruding. I thought it best to bring a development to your intention.”
“Both our attention?” Arcadius asked.
“Palace security might be affected.”
“Go ahead,” Iksander said.
“I don’t wish to alarm you,” Joseph continued, addressing him. “Your friend is unharmed, but it seems Connor was the target of some as-yet-enigmatic plot.”
“A plot!” The sultan managed not to pop completely out of his chair. He cleared his throat and subsided, aware that his heart was thudding too quickly. Joseph said Connor wasn’t hurt. “He was attacked?”
“Not physically.” Joseph recounted his encounter with the fake fortuneteller.
“Kerem is my mother’s creature.”
“I recalled that as well,” Joseph said delicately.
“Do you think she’s discovered Connor is an angel?” Arcadius asked. “If she has, her wanting to know his motivations would be understandable.”
Iksander weighed this then shook his head. “She’d confront me directly if that were the case. Ask if I’d lost my mind, probably. This looks like a strategy she prefers pursuing behind my back.”
“Connor pointed out that when people know what you want, they can use it as leverage.”
Struck by this, Arcadius shifted forward in his chair. “If your mother thinks Connor is a djinni, she could be hoping to buy him off. Take him out of the romantic picture. To her, one controversial partner might seem sufficient for the populace to handle.”
That sounded like his mother, especially if she thought she could control the remaining one.
“She met Georgie this morning,” he said. “Offered her a room in the harem. Georgie declined but . . .” He thought back to Georgie’s manner when she told him. “I think something passed between them, something that unsettled her.”
“We should, perhaps, find out what,” Joseph said. “Or you should, if it’s personal.”
In spite of everything, Iksander smiled. Joseph’s consideration could always be counted on.
“You remind me I’m lucky in my friends,” he observed.
“Your Majesty,” Joseph said and bowed.
For the first time ever the sultan wondered if a friend ought to call him that. Wasn’t Joseph his equal in most ways?
A second later, a new thought struck him.
“Shit,” he blurted. “I told Georgie she could go anywhere she wanted. I asked her to take an escort, but I didn’t order it. Frankly, I thought she’d balk.”
“Your mother wouldn’t actually harm her,” Arcadius said. Iksander wished the guardian sounded one hundred percent convinced. He knew the sultana could justify a great deal in the name of protecting family.
“I’ll track her down,” the commander said, extricating his communication scroll from the weapons belt at his waist. “I’ve already instructed my men to keep an eye on her.”
Whatever Georgie might have preferred regarding her personal freedom, Iksander took no offense. He merely wished they’d been keeping an eye on Connor too.
~
THEY FOUND HIS LOVERS in a gazebo in the Garden of Twenty Flowers, on the southern side of the palace grounds. Conveniently, the couple was in the company of one of the senior guards. This mustachioed veteran was explaining the finer points of the scroll network, thus making it easy to pinpoint their location.
Though he’d known ahead of time they’d be there and that they were all right, on seeing them Iksander’s heart slowed dramatically. Georgie and Connor looked beautiful—harmonious and tender toward each other. Connor’s hand rested lightly on Georgie’s shoulder as they bent their heads together over a single scroll. Georgie leaned into Connor, her body language that of longstanding trust.
I’m part of that, Iksander told himself with awe. They’ve bound me into their connection.
Sergeant Lee must not have alerted his students that Iksander was on the way. They didn’t look up from their lesson as he and Arcadius approached.
“So if I sketch this symbol on the parchment,” Georgie said, “my text will go straight to the sultan?”
“Precisely,” Lee agreed. “And if you add this symbol after, his scroll will flash to let him know the message is urgent. You can also set it so a picture of your face appears.”
“That is handy,” Connor said approvingly.
Less entranced than Iksander over simply gazing at the pair, Arcadius cleared his throat. Sergeant Lee snapped to attention for both of them. “Your Majesty,” he said with a respectful inclination of his upper body. “Sir.”
“Give us the room,” his commander said.
Though there was no room, per se, Lee bowed and backed from the gazebo.
“What’s wrong?” Georgie asked Iksander. “Your expression is thunderous.”
She startled him. Did he want to seem that severe? Then again, considering the circumstances, perhaps he did. He placed one hand on the jeweled hilt of his scimitar. “I need to know what my mother said or did to you this morning. Exactly. Don’t hold back. Just tell the truth.”
Georgie’s pretty face struggled but she gave in. “She tried to spell me,” she admitted. “To make me want to accept the room.”
“Damn it.”
“I think your mother meant well—or anyway she might have. She believes I ought to stay in the harem. Like a sultan’s women traditionally do.”
“You don’t know her as well as I. I sincerely doubt her fondness for tradition is all that’s behind her behavior.”
“Yasmin said the same thing.”
“The harem girl? What does she have to do with it?”
Interestingly, Georgie seemed more reluctant to answer this. “I don’t want to get her in trouble.”
“Georgie,” Iksander said, fighting for patience. “I can’t make smart decisions unless I have all the facts.”
Connor rubbed her shoulder. “Tell him. Iksander is a fair man. He wouldn’t punish anyone unjustly.”
Georgie sighed but seemed to accept this. “Yasmin has been sneaking out of the harem in cat form.”
“What?”
Arcadius interrupted before Iksander could completely lose his cool. “I knew that, actually. Yasmin used the ability to help us solve the case of the abducted teenage djinn.”
Iksander stared at him. “Anything else you neglected to tell me?”
“Er, her estranged ifrit brother was the mastermind behind the trafficking ring?”
“Good Lord.” Iksander recalled hearing the tale but not this particular connection. “That was a salient detail to omit!”
Iksander’s amazement brought a rare look of embarrassment into the guardian’s face. If he’d been less self-controlled, he probably would have squirmed. Iksander realized then that—for some reason—Arcadius had purposefully left the girl’s involvement out of his accounting.
He wasn’t the only one, Iksander thought a moment later. Joseph would have known. And Elyse. And Arcadius’s double Cade. None of them had seen fit to mention Yasmin’s name.
A half suspicious person would call that a conspiracy!
“She seems a decent girl,” Arcadius said with a touch of defensiveness. “Brave under fire. Joseph trusts her. I think she was simply bored from being shut up with all those women. I’ll have a full report on your desk tomorrow.”
“You do that,” Iksander said, deciding they could argue this out later.
“I do apologize,” Arcadius added, belatedly recognizing he ought to. “Your Majesty.”
In that moment, Iksander didn’t mind hearing his title.
Georgie startled him by reaching for his hand. “What are you going to do?”
He returned her clasp, aware that the simple warmth of the gesture was calming him. He smiled into her concerned eyes. “I’ll do what every son with an overbearing mother occasionally has to. Butt heads until she retreats a few meters.”
“Should we do anything?” Connor asked. Unlike Georgie, he wasn’t worried but just asking. Iksander appreciated that as well.
“I’d say pray for me,” he joked, “but, given who you are, that might be stacking the deck unfairly in my favor.”
“We’ll stay out of trouble,” Georgie promised.
“Right,” Connor agreed. “At least until you get this settled.”
Laughing, Iksander bussed each of them on the mouth. The public display seemed to startle his commander.
Too bad, Iksander thought. He wouldn’t hide what the pair meant to him.
~
THOUGH IKSANDER’S MOTHER kept quarters in the harem, she wasn’t restricted to it the same as a concubine. So long as she observed the bounds of upper class female modesty, the world was hers to move in. Even then, those bounds were somewhat self-imposed. Bit-by-bit, generation-by-generation, Iksander’s city was changing. Their recent ordeal at the hands of the Empress Luna had changed it more. Having come out the other side, his citizens cherished all freedoms.
To move and breathe was a gift, no matter your status or gender.
By all accounts, the experience had changed the sultana too. In Iksander’s absence, she’d taken on more outward-turned responsibilities. She’d organized—some might say bullied—her wealthy friends into helping the city’s poor when they most needed it. Because of her, they now had a network of shelters and soup kitchens. Iksander wanted to do more in that direction, to prosper his people beyond handouts. He didn’t delude himself it would be easy. His trip to Georgie’s world and subsequently to Luna’s city had opened his eyes on numerous fronts.
The prospect of change had the power to frighten more than the privileged.
Naturally, it frightened them just fine.
He composed himself before entering the harem, smoothing his tunic and tugging straight his sash. Keep your temper, he told himself. Be firm but patient. You owe your mother for more than your existence.
That advice competed with his instinct to seize this window to shake things up. This period in time was unusual. If he ignored the opportunities it presented, they might not come again.
The sultana’s personal guard showed him into her audience chamber.
Only she was present, thankfully. Facing his neglected concubines was one challenge too many for him right then.
She rose from a delicate desk where she’d been writing and reading scrolls. He knew it was her habit to keep up with diplomatic developments. One change from previous custom was her less obscuring garb. Patterned silver silk veiled her hair alone, the shade echoed in her layered gown. Though many leagues from immodest, the dress displayed her figure. Had he known she was still trim and fit? He wasn’t convinced of it.
“Mother,” he said, taking her hands and kissing her cheeks in turn.
Shorter than her offspring, she made up for the disadvantage with strength of will. Neck stiff, head barely tilting back, she studied him with glittering amber eyes. “Iksander. You have the look you get when you want to upbraid someone.”
Her tone was dry, implying any urge to scold her must be juvenile . . . not to mention punching above his weight.
He let out his breath slowly. “You must have heard your plot to suborn my lover has gone awry. Your man Kerem is in the infirmary.”
“Who?” she asked airily.
“Don’t play with me. Everyone knows Magician Kerem is your ally.”
She pursed her lips and shrugged. “He was simply gathering intelligence. Or attempting to. Now you know your new friend isn’t a pushover. You should be grateful.”
“Trust me, grateful would be my last reaction. You were hoping to bribe someone I care about to abandon me.”
“Don’t be dramatic. I merely hoped to shuffle him to one side. Out of the public view. Until you tire of him.”
Though this would have been bad enough, he wasn’t persuaded it was true. He was careful to speak firmly. “I am committed to Connor. And Georgie. They will stay with me as long as they wish—lifelong, if God allows.” He recalled Arcadius’s advice. “In truth, if they agree, I intend to name them kadin and consort.”
This widened his mother’s eyes. He experienced a small spike of pleasure at knocking her off balance. She took a moment to recover. “You can’t be serious. Our people would never accept such an arrangement for their ruler.”
“They’ve accepted it in the guardians and their fiancée. Arcadius and Cade were in charge while I was gone. Unusual ‘arrangement’ notwithstanding, no one questioned their authority.”
“That was an emergency! Half our citizens were statues. We have a chance to get back to normal now.”
“Maybe it’s time for a new normal.”
She scoffed. “Don’t be naïve.”
“I don’t think I am. This city encompasses more beliefs—and needs—than our elite circle know anything about. If the House of Nummius wants to survive into the future, we’d better address them.”
“Son, I understand you’ve been through a lot since you lost Najat . . .”
“This isn’t about her.”
“Isn’t it?” The sultana patted his chest pacifyingly. “Everyone sees how much the human female resembles her. Who could forget how you fell apart when Luna murdered her? If loving this foreigner is what you need to heal, that’s what I want for you.”
“I love Georgie because she’s her, just as I love Connor because he’s him.” He could see from his mother’s face that this wasn’t sinking in. He covered the hands she’d placed on his chest, holding them, and her, where she was. “Mother, why did you try to charm Georgie to stay here?”
“I didn’t!”
“Mother,” he repeated. “Human or not, Georgie is familiar with our magic. She knows when someone is spelling her.”
“You couldn’t consider the possibility she might lie?”
“Not about this. Not when you’re the other option for deceiver.”
His mother yanked her hands away. “Fine. I tried to enchant her. I was hoping to manage the situation. To minimize potential damage since you obviously have your heart set on her. I do want you to be happy, just not to destroy yourself for a romantic whim.”
He didn’t repeat that Georgie was no whim. “How would housing her in the harem minimize the damage?” The sultana opened her mouth too quickly and he stopped her. “Don’t lie again. My patience for that is exhausted.”
She stared at him, thinking hard, then set her shoulders defiantly. “My intent was to ensure you didn’t sire a child on her. Her being human, I wasn’t sure if djinn magic could prevent it, but at least her presence within these walls would draw you here more often. The other concubines would have a chance to remind you of their appeal.”
“Don’t look so surprised I thought of that,” she went on irritatedly. “I showed remarkable restraint with you and Najat. You and she went at it like rabbits. Clearly, she wasn’t going to conceive. Now that she’s gone, it’s more than time you start behaving like a proper sultan. Heirs don’t sire themselves.”
“Mother—”
“This is my job,” she snapped. “My most sacred duty. To ensure the furtherance of your line. Do you think I want our dynasty to end?”
“One day Georgie might—”
“Your precious Georgie’s child would be half human. Human blood, ruling us! We didn’t throw off Solomon’s yoke to voluntarily enslave ourselves to her kind. I’ll be damned if I’ll apologize for trying to avert that calamity.”
The depth of her anger shocked him, though maybe it shouldn’t have. As gently as he was able, he took her rigid shoulders between his hands. “Georgie is a person, Mother, the same as you or I. What’s more, she and Connor are heroes to this city. Time and again, they risked their lives to help us and me. Half of us would still be stone if it weren’t for her.”
“Better that,” his mother said bitterly. “Better that.”
He released her. He could push her no more today, only pray for softening tomorrow. He knew how brave and compassionate Connor and Georgie were. Someday, with luck, the sultana would know it too.
He wouldn’t give up hope. His mother didn’t see how much she’d changed already.
Before he could take his leave, a door concealed in the chamber’s paneling clicked open.
“Sultana,” said a woman’s voice. “The book you asked about arrived. I have it . . . oh.” The concubine—Safiye, he thought her name was—stopped and curtseyed on seeing him. “Your Majesty, forgive me. I didn’t realize your mother had company.”
Though the book she’d mentioned was in her hand, believing she’d interrupted by accident was a stretch. Her clothes and coiffure were too perfect, as George would have said. On top of this, Iksander wasn’t so thick he didn’t know Safiye was his mother’s number one candidate to carry his progeny.
His mother sighed. “This isn’t a good time, Safiye.”
“Of course. Perhaps I could speak to His Majesty when he’s finished here. If it isn’t too much trouble.” Her voice was as smooth as velvet, her dark lashes lowered modestly. As she held the book to her breast, her manicured fingers formed a lovely shape on its red leather.
Georgie’s insecurity about measuring up to harem standards returned to him. Safiye was indeed feminine—cultured, polished, and mostly likely intelligent. He discovered he could admire those qualities without desiring her as an intimate companion. Many men would, possibly most in his position. Real heart meant more to him, real spirit and honesty. Truthfully, it was a waste that Safiye belonged to him, that any of the harem did. The energy they must spend scheming for a goal they had no hope of achieving! Iksander knew his feelings would have been the same even without his current romantic ties. He disliked none of these djinniya, but neither did they stir his affections. They were diplomatic pawns: symbols of How Things Were Done. Didn’t they deserve more than that? Not simply for Georgie’s sake but for theirs, he wished he could do away with the whole system.
His pulse quickened as that idea surfaced. If the sultan couldn’t do away with the system, pray tell who could?
His mother must have sensed the dangerous turning of his thoughts.
“Iksander,” she warned. “Don’t do something rash because you’re annoyed with me.”
His lips pulled upward at the corners. He wanted to laugh but restrained himself.
“Safiye,” he said, drawing the beautiful djinniya’s gaze to him. “Please call the other women into the main living space. I’d like to speak to all of you concerning your future.”
Whatever her thoughts about this, Safiye bowed and retreated obediently.
“Iksander,” his mother repeated more sharply.
“It’s time I did this,” he said. “Probably long past it.”
~
IT WAS JUST AS WELL he didn’t give himself time to think. Breaking the news wasn’t pleasant. Far from thanking him, the concubines were aghast.
Well, aghast and incredulous.
“You can’t disband the harem,” one exclaimed. “I’m certain it’s illegal.”
“If it isn’t, it should be,” huffed another. “You made promises to us. With the kadin gone, we thought you’d finally act like a sultan should. Give us a chance to win your heart.”
“Or lower parts,” someone muttered sardonically.
“My family will disown me,” a plump blonde moaned. “They were so proud their gift of me was accepted.”
“What will happen to us? You can’t just toss us into the street!”
The chorus of protests rose alarmingly. Seated toward the back of the large circular room, Yasmin’s voice cut through the clamor.
“I’m sure the sultan doesn’t mean to hurt us,” she said. “He must have a plan for equitable settlement.”
Her eyebrows were up in question, her eyes rounded with surprise. Other than that, she didn’t seem upset. On the other hand, perhaps she was too composed. He reminded himself she’d been sneaking out of here as a cat for who knew how long. She was capable of hiding her true thoughts. Nonetheless, he welcomed her injection of calm reason.
“Yasmin is right. I know I have obligations. I’d never just cut you loose. I’ll send the royal lawyers to you tomorrow. Any issues about saving face with your families or financial security or anything that troubles you, you can raise with them. As long as your requests are reasonable, I’ll agree. I realize the change might seem frightening, but this isn’t a bad development. You’ll have new futures, lives you choose for yourselves. It’s my hope you’ll enjoy your freedom, that you’ll be happier than you’d have been staying here.”
“Some of us thought you’d be our happiness,” Safiye said resentfully, the first she’d spoken since hearing his announcement.
Iksander met her gaze dead on. “That was a dream,” he said. “One that was never destined to become reality.”