The Harem Master (38 page)

"Yes, thanks to the swift work of Kitt and the royal healer." Ihsan squeezed Kitt's arm when he tried to protest his part for the hundredth time. Still looking at Emre, he said, "Hopefully once we've dealt with the ambassadors and councilors, this place will quiet down and we can finally give you a proper banquet. I am told Euren is waiting impatiently for a chance to test her knife throwing skills against Lady Meltem."

Emre grinned. "Knife throwing, is that what they call it now?"

Altan sniggered. Ihsan chuckled as Kitt leered and Haluk rolled his eyes. Turing to Altan, Ihsan said, "I have to go to work before Euren finishes the assassin's job, and I am sure you have plenty to catch up on, but we can do lunch or dinner together? Emre and the rest of Cobra can join us, Euren may yet get her knife throwing in, and the rest of us can make inappropriate jokes about knives and thrusting." He clapped Altan on the shoulder, then Emre, before gesturing for Haluk and Kitt to follow him, the other two close behind.

The groups parted ways at the end of the hall, Altan venturing off to more public sections of the palace, Ihsan and his harem heading to the private dining room where the meeting with the ambassadors was to take place. When they reached it, only Euren and Cenk were present. Ihsan frowned. That wasn't like Sabah or Demir. He turned to look at Haluk, who nodded before Ihsan spoke and bowed himself back out of the room.

Pushing aside worries that were likely groundless, Ihsan took his seat next to Euren, leaning in to kiss her briefly. She frowned as she drew back. "Are you certain you should be up and about?"

"I've gotten up much sooner after much worse."

"That's nowhere near as reassuring as you think it is," Euren replied. "Do try to avoid further injury."

"We can't all be warrior queens who slay assassins without ever leaving our beds," Ihsan replied with a smile.

Next to Euren, Asli smiled, glancing at Ihsan. "I still maintain we should have gone to fight Lavarre, and you should have stayed in the monastery."

From the far end of the table, Cenk chuckled, eyes still on the papers he was looking over in preparation for the pending meeting. "Legally speaking, that would have been the better recourse, as His Majesty is the blood heir. However, I think perhaps it is all to the good that our queen was kept well away from His Majesty’s affinity for trouble."

Ihsan made a face. "I went to war so Euren wouldn’t decide it was all entirely too easy and she should just take over the whole continent for sport," Ihsan replied, then grunted, clapping a hand protectively over the ear that Euren had flicked. "Deny it, woman."

Euren sniffed. "I do deny it, in fact. Who wants that much work? Havarin? Not an example I am keen to follow."

Ihsan, Cenk, and Kitt all laughed, and they all settled to eating breakfast while they waited for Haluk to return with the others.

Several minutes later, though, the door was thrown open by a frantic looking Haluk. "They're gone."

"What—?" Ihsan stood up so quickly he knocked the table and sent tea splashing everywhere. "What do you mean?"

"According to Ruth, they never returned to the harem hall last night. They must have been grabbed in one of the hallways. I went to Captain Fatih first; he is searching for any clue as to who might have taken them."

"That would take extensive knowledge of the palace," Euren said, echoing Ihsan's thoughts—and to judge by their faces, the thoughts of everyone else in the room. "Not just anyone can smuggle two men—two well-known men—out of the palace without raising alarm."

Kitt slammed a fist on the table, voice cracking out. "They left Ihsan's chamber eight hours ago. They could be anywhere!"

Ihsan moved around the table. "I want all the ambassadors arrested, as well as the rest of their parties. Gather them in the minor courtroom. I've had enough of this." He turned his head, wincing at the pull on his wound. Haluk's hands fell heavy on his shoulders before he was tugged gently off to the side as Cenk and the others stood. Ihsan closed his eyes, bit his lip to hold back a scream.

Eight hours. They could be
anywhere
. Dead. In the city. On the road. On a
ship.

He couldn't breathe. Couldn't see past the terror, the memory of waking up in an unfamiliar place, everyone
gone,
possibly dead. That last battle had turned into a nightmare, and the last thing he'd remembered was Haluk screaming his name right before the bomb went off and left him, literally and figuratively, in tatters. Waking up in agonizing pain in a place where the healers were his enemy, uncertain if he would live or see his lovers ever again… And now Sabah was gone, so too Demir. Lost to some nightmare likely far worse than his own because he'd been so wrapped up in his own selfish worries he hadn't seen to it they were protected.

"Ihsan!" Haluk's voice broke through the wall of panic and fear, but only barely. "Ihsan, breathe. Listen to my breathing, breathe with me."

Bit by slow, agonizing bit, Ihsan's sanity returned. Haluk hugged him tightly, murmuring soft, nonsensical reassures in his ear. Kitt's arms wrapped around him from behind. "Sorry," Ihsan muttered.

"Be quiet," Kitt snapped. "We've told you before not to apologize for that." He and Haluk drew back as Euren reached them.

Ihsan bent to kiss her, covered the hand she rested against his chest with his, and smiled at her pensive, worried look. "I'm fine."

"You're a liar," Euren retorted, but then let the matter drop. "Come on, let's go see what the ambassadors have to say for themselves. Hopefully someone will confess."

Ihsan bit back the retort he wanted to voice: that he would remove their heads if they didn't and worry about making amends later. It smacked too much of his father, and he refused to behave that way, even in empty threats.

"Have some more tea and food while we wait for the guards to do their work," Euren said, and led him back to the table. "I have no doubt my father is tearing this place apart to figure out what happened. We'll get Sabah and Demir back."

Every bite of food was like swallowing a stone, but Ihsan forced it down as the minutes passed by with maddening slowness. By the time a guard arrived to tell them the prisoners had been gathered he was ready to scream. Finishing his tea, but only because of the looks he was being given, Ihsan rose and walked with Euren as they left the room.

Their harems walked beside and behind them, and Ihsan was eternally grateful to the Divine that they were there. The guards surrounded the whole group as they walked through the halls of the palace to one of the smallest of the several court rooms.

When they arrived the room was empty, but a moment later the doors flew open and Captain Fatih strode in. He dropped to one knee and bowed his head. "Majesties, it is to my great shame that I must report unhappy news: two of my guards were bribed into kidnapping Lord Sabah and Lord Demir and smuggling them out of the palace along with the Havarin delegates. I've sent men into the city to learn what they can and ordered more to the roads to see if we cannot find them there."

He broke off as the doors opened again and guards entered hauling two guards stripped of most of their uniform, their faces badly bruised. One had a bleeding lip, the other an eye swollen shut. They flinched when Fatih looked at them.

Ihsan glanced at the captured guards, then Fatih. "These are the men who sold Sabah and Demir into slavery?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. I offer my most humble apologies for the betrayal of the royal guard. I leave their punishment to you, of course."

"You do not owe us apologies," Ihsan said quietly. "You cannot know the minds of every man in your charge. It is they who owe apologies." He looked at the men again. "Explain to me why you were willing to sell Lord Sabah and the Harem Master to a life of sexual slavery. Why do you dishonor yourselves, your king and queen, and you country with such repulsive behavior?"

"We didn't know that's what they would do—" The first man, with the split lip, broke off and looked down, voice choking with tears. "I needed the money. They promised they wouldn't hurt them, just wanted them to make a point and then would return them."

"You're a fool," Fatih snarled. "Your job is to follow orders and protect the crown and the people of the palace at all costs. The moment you were approached you should have come to me, not accepted money like craven dogs."

"Not only that," Euren added coldly. "You have jeopardized plans to right many of the wrongs that have been committed of late. You have not only allowed the worst sort of criminal to escape, you have given them two more victims. You deserve to have your heads removed."

Both men looked ill, and the man with the split lip began to cry. The other one remained stone-faced. Ihsan cut the air with a sharp jerk of his hand. "Execution is too easy a sentence. Captain, put them on a ship, contracted to work for two years, one each for the men they've harmed today. Upon completion of their service, they are not welcome in Tavala or the royal palace for another three years."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Fatih replied.

Ihsan regarded the two men. "Your sentence may be lightened if you can provide useful information as to where to find them," Ihsan said. "Where did you take the Havarins and my men after you smuggled them out of the palace? How did you smuggle them out?"

"We used the pipe rooms beneath the palace," the split lip guard replied. "There are ways in and out if you know who to bribe."

Ihsan wanted to
hit
something. Yet another problem that would be addressed as soon as possible. He glanced at Fatih, who gave a short nod.

"Where did you go after that?"

"We didn't," said the second guard, voice curt but with the barest bit of tremble to it. "We got them outside and to the base of the hill; after that the Havarins paid us and left on their own. But I heard them talking about a ship. Don't know how true it was. They seem the type to make sure they were overheard."

Ihsan dismissed them with a jerk of his head, and the guards who'd brought them in hauled them away again.

Fatih bowed. "I'll send more men to the harbors."

"I'm going," Ihsan said flatly.

Cenk stepped forward, shaking his head back and forth. "You can't. You're the king; you do not leave the palace. Especially now when everything is so tenuous and you're still recovering—"

"I am not going to remain here safe and sound while Sabah and Demir are out there!" Ihsan bellowed, making Cenk and the remaining guards recoil. "Demir came back because he is unfailingly loyal. I will not repay that faith by standing here and doing
nothing
while his life is in jeopardy. Sabah once threw his life away to stand with me. I'll not leave him alone now."

No one replied, save Euren, who stepped in close and dragged him down into a long, heated kiss. Drawing back, she tugged lightly at loose strands of his hair. "Be careful, come home. We cannot afford to lose another king, and I certainly could not bear to lose you."

"I will, beloved," Ihsan replied and kissed her again before withdrawing. He looked to Haluk and Kitt, who silently followed him from the room, quiet all the way through the halls back to his chambers. "Kitt, where should we start looking? We cannot search the whole of the harbor. There are miles of them, and even keeping exclusively to Havarin ships, there are too many to cover."

Kitt shook his head. "I don't—" He broke off as someone pounded on the door.

It flew open before Ihsan could call out, and Ihsan and Emre strode into the room. "Meltem and the others are with Euren. I said we would come help you," Altan said. "What is the plan?"

"There isn't a plan," Ihsan said as he finished stripping and pulled on more suitable clothing, tucking poisoned daggers into his dark blue sash, smaller, thinner ones into his boots, and a special hairpin through the knot into which he had bound his braid. "It's very likely they headed for the harbor, and more likely than I want to think about that they're already well out to sea."

Altan shook his head. "I doubt it. Havarin are first class traders, and their ships are always in port for no less than three months. They can't change that either; that class of trader comes with so many regulations traders go out of their way to stay second class, where regulations are much less stringent. I find it highly unlikely that a Havarin trade ship was ready to set sail on the very day Lord Demir made an unscheduled return. Even with a couple weeks of notice that would be hard to arrange.

"Now, they could have taken him out on a second, third, or fourth class trader vessel, but they'd have to pay out enough money to make the loss of trade revenue worth it—and the fines that could be involved, depending on the ship and the goods. It's not impossible they're already at sea, but it's far more likely they're waiting somewhere until a ship is ready to leave and they can slip out inconspicuously. People notice when ships act strangely. There's too much money involved not to notice."

"If they're still in the city, we can find them," Kitt said as he finished pinning his hair in a flat bun at the back of his head. He twirled a pair of knives like they were toys then slid them into hidden sheaths before picking up his sword belt and buckling it into place. "I'm going to start with the places I visited the last time I had to shake people down."

"Shake down?" Altan asked. Beside him, Emre looked equally confused.

It was Haluk who replied, chuckling soft, "Harass them for information, though I think typically it refers to getting money out of people."

Kitt nodded. "Money. Information. Valuable currency of any sort." He flashed a cold, sharp smile. "Time is wasting."

Haluk buckled on his own sword and handed Ihsan's to him. "Let's go."

Strapping his sword into place, Ihsan then led the group through the halls to the main pavilion, pulling up the dark blue wrap draped around his shoulders to form a hood. Horses were waiting for them, as well as Cenk. "I understand your reasoning, Your Majesty, but I wish you would reconsider. Lord Demir and Lord Sabah would understand that you must remain here where it's safe."

"It's not safe," Ihsan replied. "I've said all I intend to say, Steward, but I thank you for the honesty and devotion. We'll be back as soon as possible, but if nightfall approaches and we're still searching, I'll send word. If you do not hear from me by dinner, send soldiers into the city and lock it down, harbors and all, down until I am located."