She smiled. “How do you know I play?”
“Because you are your father’s daughter and flawless in the art of logic. The game of chess is an exercise in logic. However, if you don’t play then I shall teach you, beauty.”
“Set up the board, Alexander, and prepare to be beaten. Iris, fetch some chilled wine and some cakes for us.”
The chessboard was a work of art. Its inlaid squares were of ebony and mother-of-pearl, its pieces carved from black onyx and pure white coral. They played two games that evening. He won the first easily, for she played cautiously. Then she took the second from him, playing with an almost reckless abandon.
He laughed as she checked his queen. “You were only gauging my measure in the first game,” he accused.
“I was. I could hardly beat you if I did not study your method of playing.”
“I have never been beaten by a woman.”
“If you continue to play with me, my lord Alexander, you will have to take that chance. I play to win, and I will not contrive to lose simply because I am a woman.”
“Spoken like a true Greek!” he approved teasingly.
Now it was her turn to laugh. “I am not sure whether you approve or disapprove, Alexander.”
“I am Greek born, beauty, and therefore am used to women of great intellect. But I have lived here in Asia long enough to understand the Eastern treatment of women. It has its good points also. But it’s been a long time since I’ve really talked to a woman.”
“It has been a long time since I’ve really talked to a man,” she rejoined.
For a moment he was startled. Then he chuckled heartily. “I forgot that you live in a harem, beauty, with only eunuchs and other women for company. Are you not often bored?”
“Sometimes, but not these last few years. My son is bright, and I have spent my time in teaching him. Then, too, I work to return Christian captives to Byzantium. When we return to Bursa, however, Halil will leave me for his own court at Nicea. I have had my son longer than most sultan’s wives are allowed their sons.”
“What will you do when he is gone, beauty?”
She shook her head. “I do not know. I begged my lord Orkhan to allow me to go with Halil to Nicea-but he will not.”
“He is right,” replied Alexander. “The boy needs to be on his own, else he will never be free of your protective skirts. Remember that in ancient Sparta boys were taken from their mothers at age seven.”
She made a face at him and he chuckled. “Besides, beauty, if I were your husband, I should not want you leaving me.”
“Nonsense. Orkhan has a harem of women, many of whom are far lovelier than I am. He does not need me.”
“Then why return to him? Stay with me, and be my love. I will make it so sweet for you, beauty, that you will never want to leave me.”
She laughed shakily. “I thought you were a man of business, my lord Alexander. If I seriously considered your flattering offer, you would lose a great deal of money. Therefore, I know you cannot possibly be serious.”
He regarded her with his jewel-like eyes and then said quietly, “May I come and play with you again, beauty?” She nodded. “Then I will leave the board and pieces,” he said. And he departed.
She sat, heart pounding, hands tightly clutching each other within the cradle of her lap. He had meant it! He had really meant it! She was the sultan’s wife, and yet he boldly paid her court. What would happen if she accepted him? Would Orkhan really care, surrounded as he was by all those lush young beauties? She shook her head. This was madness! Of course Orkhan would care! Were she the humblest slavegirl he would care, for she was his property. What was the matter with her, to even consider such a thing? She was Theadora Cantacuzene, a princess of Byzantium. She was a wife! A mother! Not some silly girl!
He did not come the next night, but on the following evening they played two games-Theadora winning the first and Alexander winning the second.
“This time,” he teased, “I have studied your method of play.”
“We appear to be well-matched,” she answered him. Then, realizing that he might misunderstand her words, she blushed and hastily added, “in chess.”
“Indeed,” he replied calmly. “If you should find the need for company, please feel free to visit the women of my house. They are all very curious about the sultan’s wife.”
“Perhaps some day,” she answered absently. But as the weeks dragged on she began to feel the need for company. She would go to the harem only once, she decided, for undoubtedly the women of Alexander’s harem would prove as silly and as vicious as those in her husband’s harem.
To her surprise she was greeted cordially by all of the pirate’s women, including his three favorites-all of whom had children by him. They were pretty women with docile dispositions, whose only apparent goals in life were to make their lord and master happy. She found herself wondering if they satisfied the raging passion she had seen lurking behind the well-mannered man. Quickly she brushed the thought away, flushing guiltily.
Alexander’s harem was a place of peaceful pleasures. Everything was a delight to the touch. The air was sweetly scented with exotic flowers. Soft music was played by the skilled fingers of pretty young girls. The food was delicious, and it was served beautifully. What Adora did not know was that the harem’s menu was comprised mainly of foods thought to be aphrodisiacs-and therefore conducive to the subtle arousal of the females.
Theadora did not usually seek the company of other women. But Alexander’s concubines were most kind to her, quite unlike the women of Orkhan’s house. They were overwhelmingly curious about her life in Bursa and in Constantinople as well. It was hard to resist their flattering pleas for stories about her life.
They were also curious about the sexual practices of Ottoman women. Perhaps they hoped to learn something new, something to please their lord. With a dignified skill she had not had occasion to use before, she enlightened them in several areas. They were delighted. Often Theadora found herself breaking into giggles. For the first time in her life, she had friends of her own age. And though they were not her intellectual equals, she enjoyed them. She was having almost as much fun in captivity as her little son was having. Her particular favorite was Cerika, an adorable Circassian girl with a delightful sense of humor and the sweetest nature Theadora had ever encountered in a woman.
Soon she found herself spending her time with them, not only in the harem, but in the baths and at meals as well. It was as if she had joined Alexander’s harem…but for one aspect. As Alexander was a virile man there was not a night that he did not call for one of his women. In the morning there would be much good-natured teasing of the fortunate one, and recently there had been questions regarding whether their new skills were pleasing the master. Caught in this sensual, silken atmosphere, Theadora began to grow edgy. It was easy to deny her own sensuality when she could live a sensible, orderly life, but her life in Alexander’s house was neither.
The weeks went by. The pirate captain knew that his beautiful captive was weakening, but the progress to her capitulation was far slower than he had hoped. She was a very stubborn woman, and though she had relaxed a great deal, she had yet to forget who she was.
The price for her ransom had been agreed upon, and word came from the sultan that he was preparing to send the gold. Now Alexander debated with his conscience-a thing he rarely did. As usual, however, his own desires won out. For, charming as he was, Alexander was a hedonist. He wanted the beautiful Theadora, and he fully intended to have her.
Given more time, she might have allowed her own desires to rule her head-but there was no more time. The sultan’s emissary was less than two weeks away. Alexander knew he must act now or lose his chance. If he did not taste of her charms, and if she returned to Bursa, he would make himself sick with longing. Alexander was a man used to getting his way.