Chapter 5: A father’s wishes

I return to Wadi Halaf with the three slaves, and leave them in Mia’s care. I don’t have time for a full assessment of Sharina’s and Zahra’s abilities. I must rely on what Amina has told me, and the combined efforts of Mia, Amina, Dania and Phoebe to prepare them for the orgy that will surely follow tonight’s dancing. All six slaves are attractive and in their early twenties. They should go down well with their sex starved audience.

I leave Mia in charge of the entertainment; a task she has done numerous times in the past. I have two guards assigned to stand watch over the entertainment to ensure the slaves are protected from inappropriate attention, and that they aren’t removed from the room without Mia’s knowledge.

Once I’m satisfied there is nothing more I need to do towards the entertainment, I look in on my father. He’s asleep, although that may be the result of one of the potions Jacinta provides in increasing quantities.

“Go get some sleep,” I say to Jacinta. “I’ll keep watch over our father for a while.”

“Okay. Thanks. Your mother said she’d sit with father once she has finished in the kitchen.”

We both know that it may be a few hours before my mother arrives. Five trading caravans requiring attention at the same time is stretching Wadi Halaf’s resources to the limit.

It doesn’t surprise me that it is my mother rather than Lady Gülnihal who is going to keep vigil. My mother has always been my father’s favourite concubine, while his marriage to Gülnihal has been nothing more than a political alliance. At least the wait for my mother’s arrival will give me time to study the scroll Aren gave me. While I have mentally accepted the role my father wants me to undertake, I want to check on the detail before I formally commit to managing Wadi Halaf.

The scroll my father has prepared is comprehensive. It gives me the authority I need to manage the caravanserai within some acceptable limitations. I can’t sell the property, nor may I sell or grant freedom to any of its existing slaves. I must allow Lady Gülnihal to live at Wadi Halaf, but she in turn mustn’t interfere with my management of the caravanserai. The agreement ends when Efrem turns sixteen, at which time he is presumed to have acquired the necessary knowledge to run Wadi Halaf. It isn’t specified as to who will give Efram the necessary training.

“You need to wear more clothes,” croaks my father from his bed.

I have been so engrossed in the scroll that I haven’t noticed my father wake. As for my clothes, then he is probably right, but I’m far more comfortable being minimally dressed as I am. I’ve worn nothing more than a loin cloth for most of my life; sometimes not even that. Clothes are merely a status symbol to impress others, and at the moment there is nobody I feel like impressing.