The Harem Tales Vol. 01 Ch. 01-02

The Rose Cube

"Well met, my esteemed guests," the Sheikh greeted the group, then smiled at the young man who seemed to be their leader. "I rarely have visitors who are learned in the arcane arts, let alone from the far north."

Zalen nodded, noting dryly that their group were hardly typical visitors anywhere. He himself probably looked like most mages except for the third of his hair that had gone white after his encounter with the Source during the war but he certainly wouldn't pass as a local.

Darnac next to him was big enough to make any guards wary in his presence but after they had noted the pair of huge swords in his back you could practically see their nervousness. His head was shaved except for the part in the back which was cut short and oiled.

The two other men seemed even benign next to Darnac but they were no less unusual.

Rasan, the only local man, was dressed in the outfit of the fighting monks and although he was short for a man, Zalen had seen him in combat and he was fairly certain it would be easier to knock down a stone wall than the simple looking man.

Talyar, the fourth man of the group, was dressed with enough style to be a well-to-do merchant or a minor noble.

The Sheikh had looked at each of the men and then his gaze moved to the last of the visitors.

"And the Veiled Ones are of course always welcome."

Amaryan, the only woman in the group, was wearing nothing but veils and gauzes of different sorts as was common for her kind. She made a tiny curtsy.

"Thank you, your Highness. But for now I'm at his service. We can converse another time."

The Sheikh nodded and turned to look at Zalen again.

"You are truly an intriguing man, Zalen of Saleria. But what do I owe the pleasure of this visit to? What brings you here?"

Apart from the Sheikh, the guards and the visitors there were also a few servants in the room as well as an old man who looked like some kind of advisor. There was also a young woman lounging on some pillows a little to the side who was looking at the visitors with clear interest. Possibly one of the Sheikh's wives? Now there was a concept. After all the trouble he'd had with women he wasn't sure he wanted even one wife, let alone many.

But this was hardly the time to think about that.

"I am here to return something that belongs to you," Zalen announced, turning to Rasan who had lifted a cloth bundle from his pack and gave it to Zalen.

"It came into my hands in the north as we captured a thief. It took me some effort but I finally tracked down the information of its rightful owner and then travelled here to return it."

As he finished his story he unwrapped the cloth, revealing a cube of unknown metal with a strange golden rose motif.

"The Rose Cube! It truly is," the Sheikh gasped, practically leaping from his chair. Slowly, almost reverently he walked closer, accepting the cube from Zalen, looking at it like it might vanish at any moment.

"So it does belong to you then?"

"Yes. It had belonged to my family until it was stolen by thieves almost a hundred years ago. It looks exactly as my father described but I never expected to one day see it with my own eyes."

"I don't think anyone up north even knew what it was. It had changed hands quite a few times already by the time the last thief had won it in a game of dice."

"And you travelled all the way here just to return it?"

"Well, yes."

Zalen didn't want to mention the strange little sensation he had gotten when he first touched the cube. It wasn't clear enough to make much of an explanation but it had left him with a sense of unease that he eventually couldn't just let go and so he had ended up here.

Coryel had quickly decided to travel with him, mostly just eager to follow another old legend of an old treasure and it was hardly a surprise that Darnac would follow his wife.

Later on they had saved Talyar in a tavern brawl and gotten a new travelling companion.

"There was also a strange piece of a map inside the cube. Does this belong to you?"

The Sheikh took the paper from Zalen, looked at it for a moment and then handed it back, shaking his head.

"No, my father never mentioned anything about something like that. And the writing is in no language I can recognize. I do not think it belongs to me."

The Sheikh then walked back, handed the cube to the old man and sat back on the chair.

"While I was still searching for the rightful owner I asked the Veiled Ones for assistance," Zalen continued. "They told me the cube belonged to you and were also able to translate a part of the text. It mentions an old ruined city to the east and the Veiled Ones sent Amaryan here to lead us there. If we can locate it without the missing part, that is."

The local leader of the Veiled Ones had also made him promise an equal service for each day the search would take - and he still had little idea what 'equal service' actually meant. Zalen had a feeling he might have done a bad deal then but he wasn't about to tell the Sheikh that.

"I do not know what we'll find there but if it's again something that belongs to you, we'll return again."

"You truly are a remarkable man. You have returned our family's greatest treasure without asking for anything in return."

Well, he hadn't gotten anything done for a few weeks while the cube had sat on his desk so returning it was a reward in itself, Zalen thought.

"I have little need for riches," he said out loud.

The Sheikh looked at Zalen for a moment, then suddenly straightened.

"Yes, you are what I have been waiting for. Master of Keys, hear this. On this day I am naming Zalen my Om'asara."

The old man nodded. "So it shall be written down."

Upon hearing the Sheikh's proclamation the woman lounging near the wall had given a little jump. Now she was looking at Zalen intently.

"But now we must celebrate! Bring us wine," the Sheikh proclaimed.

A little later the group was heading towards their rooms the Sheikh had happily granted them for the night. Zalen hurried to catch up with Amaryan.

"Amaryan. May I ask you a question?"

"Yes. That you may."

"The Sheikh named me his Om'asara. What does it mean?"

Amaryan smiled, but continued walking without meeting Zalen's eyes.

"It is an ancient term that can be translated as 'trusted'. By tradition it is used to nominate the person that would inherit whatever the person considers his most precious possessions. It's usually used to choose a trusted friend from outside the normal inheritance order when the closest relatives cannot be trusted or no longer exist."

"So basically the Rose Cube returns to me when the Sheikh one day dies?"

"... yes, the cube would certainly be very precious to him."

"Then let's hope he'll live a long life. For now I just want to move on and solve the puzzle of that mysterious map."

The Night of Knives

The Sheikh had insisted that the party would rest until the morning before continuing.

Zalen didn't really want to argue against the friendly old man and as he crawled in his bed he was suddenly glad he hadn't.

"These sure beat the tavern beds," he noted, getting a sleepy "I'll drink to that" from Talyar's direction.

"You'd drink to anything," Zalen replied but a yawn cut off further words and a little later he was asleep.

The next thing Zalen heard was a loud yell that kicked him out of his sleep. As it was quickly followed by more, coming from somewhere in the hallways, he jumped out of his bed, grabbed his staff and quickly ran to put some clothes on. Whatever the crisis, he was not going to run out there naked! With his luck he'd probably turn the wrong way and burst into the harem or something.

A moment later the young sorcerer exited the room, followed by the equally haphazardly dressed Talyar. By now there were shouts coming from various directions.

"Which way should we go?"

"I'm not su- Hell's ashes, this way!"

Zalen broke out into a run, muttering more curses under his breath. This could not be just a coincidence, he just knew this had to have something to do with the Rose Cube. With his luck it had turned into a demonic statue that had gone on a rampage or something like that.

Running towards the inner palace the pair almost ran into a guard. The man was clutching his side, blood oozing from between his fingers.

"Assassins... Defend the Sheikh..." the man gasped, pointing along the hallway.

Zalen ran towards the indicated direction, hoping to get there in time and began casting a protective spell.

A few more corners and they found another guard who was trying to stop a black-clad figure. The assailant dodged the guard's thrust and a heartbeat later the guards neck sprouted a nasty looking throwing dagger. The guard fell and the assassin immediately whipped another dagger at Zalen.

The weapon clattered away harmlessly from Zalen's magic shield and the enemy darted around the corner before Zalen had time to use a spell on him.

Talyar had ran past him and cursed as he reached the doorway on the right.

"The Sheikh!"

Inside the room was an ornate bed. Beside the bed laid the Sheikh in a pool of blood.

"I'm going after the assassin, see if you can save him!"

Talyar nodded and vanished inside the room as Zalen ran around the corner. Now which way had the intruder gone?

After a few turns Zalen was forced to stop as the hallway again split into two and he had no idea which way the assassin had gone.

A moment later he heard a surprised shout from the left passage. Maybe there then.

The source of the voice turned out to be the assassin. The man was now trying to get up again but there was a translucent snake wrapped around his legs, probably cast by Amaryan who was standing nearby.

As Rasan kicked the black-clad intruder's weapon from his hands the man suddenly cursed and fishing something from his pocket and threw it in his mouth.

"Damn it! Poison!"

Zalen's hunch proved correct as the man suddenly spasmed and then fell down lifeless.

"Now how do we find out who sent him? He killed the Sheikh!"

"I think I already know," Amaryan replied, walking over to the assassin.

She grabbed a dagger from the man's belt and cut a long slit in his sleeve near his shoulder.

The opening revealed a tattoo going around his arm consisting of small knives.

"The Dusk Knives. Their leader usually calls himself The Lion."

*

Some time later an old man sought out Zalen. The symbolic key chain in his neck revealed him as the Sheikh's Master of Keys - the leader of the servants.

"I am sorry to inform you that the Sheikh has passed on. There was nothing we could do to save him."

"The world has indeed lost a great man," Zalen replied solemnly.

"Yes. May he find happiness after just as he did before," the Master of Keys intoned in archaic Arynian with a level voice, with only his eyes revealing the deep sorrow within.

"And may his memory live forever," Zalen replied, recalling the words from some old text. "Now, I do not know your ways and do not wish to appear rude, but... We can not stay here for very much longer and..."

Zalen paused, drawing a breath.

"The Sheikh named me his Om'asara. What does it mean in practice?"

The old man blinked a few times and then cleared his throat.

"Ah, yes. Normally it would mean that you would inherit the things the Sheikh had named as most precious to him..."

"The Rose Cube?"

"Well, yes and his harem. But the Rose Cube was stolen, again. It seems there were two assassins."

Zalen groaned, annoyed. After all this trouble the damn cube had been stolen straight away. If he got his hands on the thief...

Then he realized what the older man had said.

"... and since there are no living male relatives you will also inherit the biggest of his estates, this one that is, all his steeds and three-fourths of his treasury. The rest is divided according to custom. If Master Zalen had been born Arynian, you would now be the new Sheikh, but now there will be no heir to his title."

The Master of Keys paused. Then he seemed to gather himself and continued:

"And I will be happy to continue in your service, Master Zalen, if you have need of me. I'm a loyal, efficient servant, can speak four languages and have a keen eye for hiring capable help."

The Master of Keys went silent again, looking at Zalen who was still looking shocked.

"...his harem", Zalen managed to finally utter.

The older man chuckled.

"Yes. His seven wives are now yours. It's a good thing you're young."

Before Zalen had time to ask any more questions three women entered. Zalen didn't need introductions to realize they belonged to the Sheikh's harem. His harem?

"The Sheikh was murdered! It was that bastard, Lion of Arkhulan! He has to be punished for this!"

The seething, teary-eyed blonde looked like she was more than willing to include Zalen on her list. The woman standing next to her silenced her with a calming gesture and then spoke with fluent Common.

"Behave yourself, Lei. He is now our husband."

Then the darkhaired woman turned back towards Zalen.

"But she is right. Will you let us have our revenge?"

Zalen bit back the words 'but you're women'. He would not make that mistake again.

"Yes. But how?"

The women looked at each other and this time it was the third, dark-skinned woman who spoke:

"We have no plans yet. But you are wise not to underestimate us."

Her speech had a clear accent, but it was still probably better than Zalen's Arynian.

"Thank you," the dark-haired woman spoke once more. "We also ask for the traditional seven days to mourn for our lost husband. Will you grant us that?"

"Umm, of course."

A small smile entered the woman's lips, momentarily driving back the sadness.

"Thank you. We haven't been properly introduced but now is not the time. We will see later."

After that the three women just left. His wives. Yesterday he didn't even have a girlfriend and now he had seven wives. And he had no idea what he had just promised. And he now owned this place?

Taking a deep breath he turned back towards the Master of Keys.

"Ok, you're hired. Now, I REALLY need your advice, sarahim."

The man looked surprised but then bowed deeply.

"Honored to be of service", he muttered.

Trusted servant. An ancient term, but still remembered apparently. Well, it had been a good idea reading all those old books on Arynia.