Jealous
Jamal thought that he might have made a mistake in his judgment. He had paced about his room all morning, watching as the table was being replaced. His thought had traveled to the way he would make love to Roksolana on the new furniture, slowly and gently this time. The result of the thought had been instant arousal he couldn’t control. When he was tired of his predicament, he had gone out of the house to pick up Lady Miriam in the hope that her presence could help his situation. He had even had the thought of taking her to his house to at least eradicate the presence of Roksolana in his house. He had purposely given her the cold shoulder too, hoping that his body would understand that he was fighting against her and the feelings she aroused in him. But the sad and disappointed look on her face when she saw him with Lady Miriam hunted him. He had to get back to her and make her see reasoning. They couldn’t go on having arguments forever. They had to come to a stage of compromises. Jamal stopped in his tracks and turned to the side to face Lady Miriam.
“Lady Miriam, you have to go back to the house.” He told her. At the disappointed look on her face, he spoke again. “Have the maids set up lunch for us. I’ll join you there shortly.” He finished and saw Lady Miriam beamed.
Jamal watched as Lady Miriam turned around and walked back to her quarter. Why couldn’t he be content with a woman who wanted to have everything to do with him? Why was his libido choosing a reluctant woman instead? When he was sure that Lady Miriam was out of sight, he took another route to the harem since he didn’t want to accidentally collide with the woman on his way.
Jamal was shocked when he rounded a corner and saw Roksolana sitting with a man. She was laughing at something the man said. Jamal boiled hard with anger when he realized that it was the same man he saw Roksolana with the other day. Jamal didn’t want to admit it, but he was jealous of the man. He should have been the one making her laugh there and not the man. He should be the one to make her happy. Jamal put a foot forward to approach the man but stopped when a guard spoke behind him.Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.
“Second in command? What is he doing here?” The guard said.
“Do you know him?” Jamal asked the guard.
“Yes, Sultan.” The guard answered, bowing his head.
Good, Jamal thought. He would let the man be for now. But as soon as he was done with his meal with Lady Miriam, he would make sure the man with Roksolana suffered for even daring to leave his position. Then, he would double the punishment for the man who dared to even look at Roksolana. He would make sure all the bones in the man’s body were broken into a million pieces that could never mend together again. Jamal would love to see how the man would move around to visit a woman who belonged to another man with his crippleness. Before either of them would notice his presence, the Sultan walked away from them with his entourages.
When he got to Lady Miriam’s quarter, the delicious smell of food greeted his nose as he opened the door. Lady Miriam walked to him, held his hand, and walked him to the dining table. Jamal sat down lost in thought. He wondered what Roksolana and the man were doing right now. Was the man still making Roksolana laugh? He heard Lady Miriam call his name and jostled out of the web of his mind thinking. He picked up the spoon and began to eat. Lady Miriam made small talk with him and he tried his best to respond to her. After they were done with the meal, Jamal stood up to leave but Lady Miriam blocked his path.
Jamal looked at Lady Miriam, feeling helpless. He knew what she wanted but he also knew that he couldn’t give it to her. And it was all because of Roksolana who was probably still laughing at the silly talk of the man she was with. Well, if she didn’t think anything was wrong with cheating on him, he would do the same thing she was doing. Jamal brought Lady Miriam close to himself and kissed her on the lips. Lady Miriam returned the kiss eagerly, holding the hem of his top.
Jamal cupped one of her breasts and squeezed it gently, deepening the kiss. His thought swayed to the fact that Roksolana would have moaned into his mouth if she was the one he was squeezing her breast. He took his mind away from her and focused on the woman in his arms at the moment, but his attention was already divided.
Lady Miriam took a step back from the Sultan. When her lover had laid out the plan to her, she had been scared at first considering the risk involved. But the Sultan had given her a way out when he had said they were having dinner together. She had poisoned the food they ate together just moments ago. But for the poison to be active, she had to make sure the Sultan drank alcohol. And of course, make sure that she doesn’t drink one for the rest of the day. The good thing about the poison was that it circulates into the system slowly, so there was no way it could be traced back to her when the Sultan is deceased. She poured some strong alcoholic wine into a cup and handed it over to the Sultan.
Jamal turned the cup of wine in his hand around staring at it. Something in his gut made him feel like there was something wrong with the wine Lady Miriam just handed out to him, especially since she doesn’t have a cup herself and he knew just how much she loved expensive things. Perhaps she had added a sleeping drug to it so that she can have her way with him when he was asleep. He wouldn’t put it past her to do such, especially if she was really desperate. Jamal stopped turning the cup in his hand and handed it back to her.
“Drink it, my lady.” He told her without showing any emotion.
Lady Miriam took the cup reluctantly from the Sultan. If she drank the wine, she would activate the poison in her body. But it could be possible the Sultan was suspecting her, so she had to drink the wine. If she refused, the man might force her to drink the entire bottle. Besides, she was ready to do anything to make the Sultan believe her and drink. It was a good thing she had poured just half of the cup at first and she was sure her lover had the cure with him. He must have anticipated that this type of situation could happen to her. With a smile on her face, she gulped down the content of the cup.
Jamal relaxed as he saw Lady Miriam drink the wine without leaving a single drop. He couldn’t believe that he had suspected her in the first place. The woman might be vicious but she had never tried to harm him before. He was paranoid about her because of what Roksolana had kept saying about her. He couldn’t believe that a part of him had trusted Roksolana enough to believe her lies about Lady Miriam. And there he was, thinking about her again.
Lady Miriam poured another cup of wine and handed it to Jamal. He collected it from her but found out that he wasn’t interested in drinking with Lady Miriam or even having sex with her. He just wanted to be with Roksolana and not anyone else. Jamal walked to the table and dropped the cup on it, bid Lady Miriam goodbye, and left her standing in astonishment.
It had been such a long time since Roksolana had so much to laugh about with anyone. And thanks to the man in front of her, she nearly laughed her ribs out today. By the time Hassan stood up to leave, Roksolana felt much better than she had earlier in the day. She expressed her thanks to Hassan and the man told her bluntly that his sister had told him that Roksolana was having a hard time in the harem. That was why he had come over to cheer her up even though it was against the law. Hassan also told her that she could always summon him whenever she was done and he would do his best to cheer her up. Roksolana realized that she had just made another friend in the sultanate and smiled at him. She waved goodbye to Hassan as he went on his way before disappearing into the harem.
Jamal stared in disbelief at Roksolana and the man who was with her. Jealousy took hold of him as he saw the two of them smiling at each other, oblivious to their environment. He became angry when he saw the contentment on Roksolana’s face as she walked into the harem. The man with her walked away and Jamal’s thoughts began to fill up with the different ways he could punish the man to make him regret. But first, he had to seize the man, he thought as he went after the second in command general with an evil smile.