Speak privately with Jini

“I wish to speak with you, Jini,” says Stewart. If anyone can tell him about the inner workings of this harem and answer his questions, it would be his father’s head concubine.

“Of course, Sire,” she responds.

Stewart glances around the room again at the collection of concubines and immediately feels awkward talking about them in their presence. He knows he can order them out of the room, but there’s something about them that makes him feel differently than he would if they were merely his advisors or a room full of commoners. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that he’s already begun to picture what he would like to be doing with each one of the sexy lasses.

“Perhaps somewhere more private,” he says. He has started to realize — although still hasn’t gotten used to the fact — that even when he says something in the form of a suggestion, it carries the **** of a regal command. Jini immediately bows her head in acknowledgment and extends her arm toward one of the doors along the wall.

“After you, My Liege,” she says. Stewart detects a subtle accent to her words that he is unable to place. It suggests that this is not her native language, and it makes him wonder about her origins and how she wound up as a member of the king’s harem.

Stewart walks to the door, trying not to gawk as he walks past the naked woman who has remained kneeling. He opens the door and enters, with Jini following behind. As she closes the door, he looks around and sees that it is a small but comfortable open apartment. It is clearly designed for one person, although the bed is large enough to accommodate at least four adults. The only other furniture is a small dining table and a couple of wooden chairs accompanying it.

Stewart returns his attention to Jini, who remains by the door. Again, he gets the sense that she is conflicted about what to do. Her reaction is different from the other women, who seem awed by their first sight of the new king. With Jini, she gives the simultaneous impressions of familiarity and formality. She looks at him with what appears to be longing — but not the type of longing he is used to seeing in attractive women. She has a certain natural dignity about her. Stewart could easily see her being completely at ease as the lady of a large estate, accustomed to having servants and demanding the respect of the entire household. He is not surprised that she became the head concubine, but he wonders how she ended up becoming what is essentially a glorified prostitute in the first place.

She remains standing, and he remembers that she will continue to do so until she is directed to do otherwise. Pulling a chair from beside the table, he sits down and motions toward the other chair, indicating that Jini should do the same.

“I must tell you, Jini, that the existence of this place — you — the harem — It has all come as a surprise to me.”

“That does not surprise me, Sire,” she says. “Even before I was elevated to head concubine, it was common knowledge throughout the harem that the king kept our existence a secret. Only after I became his head concubine did I learn just how zealously he guarded our existence.”

“But why? Was he fearful of my mother’s reaction? Surely it wasn’t all because of his concern that Duncan and I would —“ He leaves this last part unfinished, feeling a fresh wave of awkwardness. Inwardly, he cringes and thinks, “Good one, Stewart. You might as well go ahead and say it: ‘Jini, did you know that if my brother and I knew about this place, we’d spend every waking moment down here, and that he and I would have already done countless threesomes with you as you knelt between us getting tag-teamed?’”

Jini’s eyes shift back and forth uncomfortably before she answers. The mention of the Queen seems to have evoked an undefined emotional reaction. “Sire, I do not truly know how much your mother knows about the harem. They say a wife always knows, but your father did not confide such information with me. When we were together, his mind was frequently on other weightier matters.”

“I have no doubt of that,” Stewart says to himself as he again silently congratulates his father on his taste in women. Although Jini is probably more than a decade his elder, she has a special sensual beauty and erotic appeal that triggers a growing lustful fascination in his loins. He wonders how old she actually is; her eyes suggest that she has knowledge and experience well beyond her apparent age of mid-30s. When he speaks, he says, “I’m frankly astonished Father had time to speak at all when he was here, given what I have seen thus far.”

Jini’s eyes widen at his suggestion. “On the contrary, Sire, your father found the harem to be a place of refuge from the demands of his office. He came here not just for physical pleasure.” Her voice is earnest, and as she speaks, her accent intensifies, again making Stewart wonder. “Many is the time I saw your father come here, looking tired, worn, and aged beyond his years. When he left, it was as if he was a younger man, having been able to unburden himself to us.”

“Or, more likely, unload a few times,” Stewart, responds, without thinking.

“He knew that whatever he said here would remain in confidence — a confidence that has never been betrayed, as far as I know.” Her eyes grow misty as they drift to the large bed. “I think of the many times he laid next to me, sharing with me his hopes, dreams, fears, and deepest thoughts about the kingdom, the crown, and his family. Our hopes and dreams for you —“

She abruptly stops, sensing that perhaps she has said too much.

Stewart imagines his father and Jini lying naked together. Mainly he thinks about Jini, imagining what that body looks like without the delicate, elegant clothing that covers her —

Abruptly his thoughts change as Jini’s words sink in. “_Our _hopes and dreams? What do you mean by that? What exactly were you to my father?” Stewart asks earnestly. He is not sure how he feels about his father sharing intimate father/son thoughts with a woman who seems to Stewart to be a stranger.

Jini looks at the kind with uncertainty. Her eyes betray the fact that she knows more than what she is saying. “I don’t know if this is the proper time, Your Majesty,” she says. “As you have said, there is still much for you to take in about all that has happened and all that you have come into.”

Her words are certainly true, but everywhere he turns since he has become king, he seems to encounter more and more questions and uncertainty. Here is someone who seems to be able to provide some answers.