Anne Herries - Bought for the Harem

She threw him a look of dislike and he knew that the thin thread of trust that had begun to form between them had snapped. It was obvious that she had continued to hope he would relent and take them home. She was angry with him. He thought perhaps she hated him.

Kasim set his expression in grim lines. He did not like the way this English woman affected his sense of honour, reaching a part of him he had thought long dead. He was no longer an English gentleman and could never return to the life he had once known even if he wished. His life was here, but more than once he had been tempted to give way to her and do as she asked, but that would be weakness. He had given his word to the man who had been almost a second father to him and he would not break it for a woman he hardly knew—even if she was a rather special woman with the power to keep him awake at night.

Harriet bit her bottom lip. She had known that escape would be difficult even if it were feasible, but he was giving them no chances, making threats to deter them from trying. Yet even had they managed it, Harriet knew there was nowhere to go. They would be searched for and found, and then they might be punished—and looking about her at the men that passed by on the docks, she realised that she felt safer with their captor than if she were alone. Perhaps if there had been no Marguerite and it was his harem she was headed for she might not have minded so very much.

No, she would not allow herself to have such thoughts. He was a barbarian, a man without morals or honour. She would be foolish if she let herself like him, though he had been concerned for Marguerite when she was ill.

‘It would be foolish to lose my investment, would it not?’

Bitterness welled up inside her. He was only concerned that the woman he had paid so much money for should not die.

Yet something told her that wasn’t true. He had been concerned and he had offered to ask if Harriet could be ransomed. It would be stupid to make an enemy of him, because he might be the only one that could help them … if he would. Harriet could not help thinking that he might still have some of his old values left. Perhaps deep inside him there was a little voice that told him it was wrong to enslave others.

Harriet threw a speaking glance at him before climbing into her litter, but he was not looking her way.

Because it was impossible for them both to go in the same litter, she and Marguerite had been forced to part. Harriet was anxious lest it was a cunning way to separate them and she risked looking out of the curtains about her litter several times to make sure that her cousin was still with them.

It was mid-day when they stopped for refreshments. The sun was high and its heat felt fierce to Harriet as she and Marguerite took shelter under an olive tree. They were offered fruit, bread, cheese and water; all but the water was refused by Marguerite who still looked unwell, but Harriet ate hungrily, enjoying her meal.

They had paused at a stream where several palm trees were growing. After she had satisfied her hunger, Harriet got up and wandered to look at the trees curiously. She knew what they were for—she had seen drawings—but they were the first she had seen growing and she was interested in all that was new and different.

‘The fruit is not ripe,’ Kasim said as he came to join her. ‘I would not advise picking the dates. They would not taste like those you were offered.’

‘They were very good,’ she replied, ‘as was all the fruit and the cheese—though different from the cheese I am accustomed to at home.’

‘We eat cheese made from the milk of a sheep. It is different, as many of our foods are here, but you will become accustomed to them.’

‘Yes, I suppose we shall.’ Harriet frowned at him. ‘My cousin still feels unwell. Would it not be possible to rest somewhere for a few days before we go to the palace?’

‘You seek to delay the inevitable,’ Kasim told her, his mouth set hard. ‘Word has been sent to the palace of our arrival. It is too late to draw back now. However, my offer to you still stands.’ ‘You know my answer.’

‘And you know mine. You do not understand, Lady Harriet. I have given my word and I cannot break it even if I regretted …’

Harriet’s heart jerked as he hesitated, because something told her that he was having second thoughts. Perhaps she could persuade him to see things her way even yet.

‘I know you are not without honour, sir.’ She touched his arm, a look of appeal in her eyes. ‘I was wrong to abuse you, but I was distressed by what had happened to us. I believe you when you say we might have fared much worse, but can you not understand what the loss of freedom would mean to my cousin? There is someone she cares for.’

‘She was not married?’ Kasim asked. ‘Perhaps if there was some form of betrothal …’ His words were lost as they heard the sound of shouting. Harriet saw that his men were gesturing to the horizon and, as she looked in the direction they pointed out, she saw a group of horsemen riding towards them fast. ‘Put your casacche on at once—and tell your cousin to do the same. I am not sure who our visitors are.’

Harriet rushed to tell her cousin and they both hastily donned the heavy outer garments they had taken off as they ate because of the excessive heat. Kasim told them to go back inside their litters and they obeyed him. The noise of horses’ hooves and the cloud of dust had grown bigger as the group of riders drew nearer.

‘It will be all right,’ Harriet said, catching her cousin’s hand moments before they parted. ‘Kasim will protect us.’

She knew her cousin was terrified that they were to be attacked. Kasim and his men had all drawn their swords, as if they too feared an attack. As she sat in the litter with the curtains drawn, Harriet tried to control her own fear. Kasim would not let anyone take them. He would protect his investment—yet she believed that, moments before he saw the riders, he had been thinking of giving in to her pleas.

Suddenly, she heard a burst of cheering and risked a glance through the curtains. She saw at once that the mood had changed and Kasim’s men were greeting the newcomers with smiles and laughter.

One of the men seemed to be a leader for the others genuflected to him. He was younger than Kasim and handsome in a wild, fierce way. He looked towards the litters, as if he wished to discover who was inside, but Kasim placed a hand on his arm and said something to him. For a moment his expression was mutinous, but then he nodded and for a few minutes the two men talked eagerly together, obviously great friends.

Then Kasim came towards the litter where Harriet sat. She withdrew inside, holding it open just a little so that she could see him.

‘Who is it?’

‘Prince Hassan came with some of the Janissaries to escort us to the palace. There have been hill tribesmen seen in the area and he knew I had only a few men with me. It is a great honour to have the prince as our escort, Lady Harriet. He was concerned for our safety, but his father would not be pleased if he knew—he does not like the prince to risk his own life.’

‘You seemed pleased to see him?’

‘The prince is like a brother to me,’ Kasim told her. ‘He is young and handsome and soon now he will take a bride.’

‘Oh …’ Harriet was at a loss to know what to say. She had hoped that she could persuade Kasim to let them rest for a day or so before they reached the palace, but now that the prince had come to escort them himself it was impossible. ‘Thank you for explaining.’

‘You should not concern yourself overly for your cousin, Lady Harriet. The future may bring more happiness for you both than you imagine.’