India nodded. "Aye, but not all the time. Sometimes he can be cruel, my lady, although I think he does not mean it."

"You are wise to see that," Azura said. "I do not know what happened to him in his homeland that caused him to leave it, but it hardened his heart, I fear. It will take a very special woman to melt the ice that encases his soul. Perhaps you are that woman. You cannot spend the rest of your days as his body slave. There is so much more you can have, if you will but ask, my child."

"I do not know if I am ready yet, my lady," India admitted.

"Surely you do not think you can be returned to your own land, India? Trust me, my child, it will not happen. Your life is here now."

She thought about Azura's words as she lay tossing upon her pallet that night, attempting to block the cries of the dey's companion from her consciousness. Why did these women all howl so each night when he made love to them, and why did he call out as well? It was a mystery, and not one she was likely to solve unless she would yield herself to Caynan Reis. Could she? Was Azura correct? Would she never return to England again? And what if the harem mistress was right? Did she want to live like this forever?

She knew his body well enough, India thought, and the sight of it no longer troubled her, or frightened her. She knew her own body equally as well now. The trouble was, she wasn't quite certain what they were supposed to do with their bodies once they were past the caressing and the kissing she had seen between the dey and his women. She remembered once asking her mother about what transpired between a man and a woman. Jasmine had grown thoughtful, and then she had told her eldest daughter that all would be revealed before she married, but it wasn't really seemly that India have such knowledge before then. It might encourage her to experiment, and girls should not experiment with passion before marriage. It was not wise, or safe. And besides, here Jasmine had laughed, it was better that a man believed he was fully in charge of lovemaking, at least at first. But if his bride knew everything, then it would spoil it for him.

India wondered if Azura would enlighten her, and believed she would. She would ask her tomorrow. Azura, she knew, would be very pleased that India was finally showing an interest in the carnal side of her nature.

"Ahhhhh, my lord, it is too sweet!" came the cry from the dey's bedchamber.

"Oh, be silent, you silly creature!" India muttered to herself. Ivow, she thought silently, that I shall never carry on like those silly women do each night. I think they do it just to please him, and for no other reason. Nothing could be that wonderful. Or could it? And would she be daring enough to soon find out? What if he decided he was no longer interested in her? India wondered nervously. No. Of late she had caught him sending glances her way when he thought she wasn't looking, and when she caught him at it, he had smiled knowingly. Did he suspect her interest? God's boots! How embarrassing!

She finally fell asleep, awakening just at dawn as she had accustomed herself to do. Rising, she stored her pallet and neck roll in the cupboard. Then, opening the dey's bedchamber door, she crept silently into the room, going to the bed and poking at the naked girl curled up next to Caynan Reis. "Samara," she whispered to the long-legged brunette. "Samara, it is time to get up. Go back to the harem."

"Ummmm," Samara murmured sleepily, turning onto her back and opening her eyes. "If I remain, perhaps he will want me again."

India pulled the girl by her arm. "Get up!" she snapped. "You know Baba Hassan's rule, and if you do not go back to the harem this minute, I shall go and fetch him! You will be punished."

Samara scrambled to her feet. She was every bit as tall as India. "You are just jealous because the dey does not find you desirable," she said meanly. "You are the lowest of the low. A body slave."

India pushed the naked girl from the room, shoving her kaftan into her hands. "You are mistaken, you overblown Damascus rose. It is I who do not find the dey desirable. I think it will be a long time until you enter his bed again, Samara." She smiled sweetly. "You see, I have my master's complete trust now, and it is I who choose his nightly companion. I do not think I will choose you for a long time."

Samara's lush mouth fell open in shock. "You lie!" she said disbelievingly. "You lie!"

India laughed. "Go back to the harem and await your master's next invitation. You will be old and fat before it comes." She thrust Samara out into the corridor and pulled the doors shut on her. "Nasty cow," she muttered to herself. "I'd sleep with him myself before I'd let you go back into his bed again!"

"Would you, India?" The dey stood in his bedchamber door.

"Would I what, my lord?" she asked innocently.

He laughed. "You have a wicked tongue, India, and you bully my women shamelessly. Are you jealous of them?"

"My lord, I may now find myself your slave, but I am a duke's daughter. Your women are of a lower class, and if I did not keep them in line, they would be impossible to tolerate." She pointedly ignored his question. "Come, now, my lord dey, it is time for your bath."

"Yes, my lady," he teased, following her into the baths.

She scrubbed him with great vigor until he finally protested. "Do not be such a bairn," she told him. "Go and soak in the bathing pool."

He stood in the warm, perfumed water up to his neck, watching her as she performed her own ablutions. He had not approached her since that first morning when she had been learning her duties. Now he considered he might attempt her again, and see her reaction. He watched her through half-closed eyes as she rinsed herself with several basins of water, finally putting the silver ewer upon its shelf. Then she stepped down into the pool, positioning herself opposite him as she always did.

"You have no visitors today, my lord," she said.

"I must go over the engineer's plans for the aqueduct repairs," he told her. I wonder if I should not simply have a new aqueduct built for the town rather than repair the old one, which dates to Roman times."

"Why not repair the old one just enough to continue its use while you are having a new aqueduct built, my lord?" India suggested. "That way El Sinut is guaranteed a continuous supply of fresh water. If the original aqueduct is as old as you say, it could give out at any time. Losing it would be a disaster for the city."

"Some would say it has stood this long. Why go to the expense of building a new one?" he told her.

"In the matter of people's welfare, my lord, no government should be penny wise and pound foolish," India replied. "Is not your treasury full? If it is the government's gold, why hoard it? For what other purpose have you collected taxes and tribute if not to make your people's lives comfortable and safe. From what you have told me these past few months, and from what I have overheard, the valide does not want any kind of strife to unsettle her young son's reign. She would have his life peaceful until he comes of age to rule by himself. If El Sinut lost its water supply, the people would turn against the government, and what could Istanbul do to help being so far away? Their solution would be to send troops to put down the revolt. Then they would leave, and the problem would still remain. It is better that you attend to the matter of the aqueduct, my lord dey, and avoid any civil discord," India concluded.

"Your advice is sound," he replied, thinking as he spoke that her intellect was far above that of any woman he had ever known. She had obviously been thinking about the problem for some time now, and she had reasoned well the arguments for and against her conclusions.

She gave him a genuine smile. "Come, my lord dey," she said as she moved up the steps from the pool. "You cannot remain here all day." She held out a large towel for him. "The masseuse awaits you." She wrapped him in a towel, and began to dry him.

Caynan Reis chuckled to himself. He had wanted to attempt a seduction this morning, but she had so fascinated him with her speech regarding the aqueduct, that he had completely forgotten. She must come to you, the voice in his head told him.

He had his massage. She dressed him and brought him his morning meal. Then he closeted himself in his library, giving her his permission to do as she chose until it was time for his main meal. The day was overwarm for winter. As he went over the plans brought to him by the city's chief engineer, he could see the wisdom in her words. He sent for the author of the plans and brought up the possibility of building a new aqueduct to replace the old.

"It would be the better strategy, my lord," the engineer told him. "We could indeed do minor repairs on the old system that would hold for several years. A new aqueduct would take us three years to build. You see, we cannot be certain of the damage and wear to the interior of the aqueduct, but a new one would assure us of a supply of fresh water for the next several centuries, my lord."

"The cost?" The dey demanded.

"Not a great deal more than to do serious repairs on the old aqueduct, my lord, which might need more repairs in the future."

"Then we will build a new aqueduct," the dey decided, handing the plans back to the chief engineer. "Start immediately."

Returning to his apartments, the dey found his midday meal already set out for him. His head ached, and the air was unusually heavy for July. Still, his appetite was not affected. When he had finished, he arose, saying to her, "I think it will rain."

"Shall I prepare you for your nap, my lord?" she asked softly.

He nodded. Allah! His desire for her was suddenly eating at him. She removed his garments and sponged him with rose water. He said nothing, but his dark-blue eyes searched her face for some sign that she was weakening toward him. India carefully kept her eyes averted from his. If she looked at him, she would be lost, she feared. She didn't understand the emotions now swirling about inside her.

"Are you well, my lord?" she asked him, seeing his agitation.

"My head aches, India," he told her.

"Sit down, my lord, and let me rub it for you," she suggested.

"Nay," he said, thinking if she touched him again he would explode. "I will rest and it will ease itself," he told her. "Go, and have your lesson with Azura."

"No," India said. "Azura says I have advanced far more than any of her other students in so short a time. I will remain here, my lord, so that if you need me, I may serve you."

"Come and lie with me," he said softly.

She shook her head in the negative.

"Just lie by my side, India. I promise you that nothing will transpire between us. Your presence would comfort me," Caynan Reis said.

"I have not eaten," India said softly, "and I must then return the trays to the kitchen or poor old Abu will be most distressed, my lord."

"When you have finished," he said, "then come to me.".

"Are you commanding me, my lord?" India asked him.

"Nay," he replied, and closed his eyes.

India slipped from the bedchamber and ate her meal. Then she carried the trays back to Abu. Returning to the dey's apartments, she warred with herself for several long minutes, and then, entering his bedchamber, she lay down by his side. He did not move, and she was not certain if he was asleep or awake. It had begun to rain, and the sound of the droplets hitting the gravel path and the flora out in the garden was very soothing. Her eyelids grew heavy, and she was soon sleeping.

Caynan Reis took a deep breath, and put an arm about the slumbering girl. She gave a small sigh and curled herself against him. He could scarcely contain himself. She had come to him of her own accord. He let his eyes scan her face. She was dazzlingly beautiful, and she was almost his. He longed to kiss those full, lush lips of hers. To taste the innocent sweetness of her. He balled his hands into fists to prevent himself from touching her further and frightening her away. He knew that other men would consider his attitude toward India ridiculous. If a woman belonged to a man, and he desired her body, she gave it… or he took it. Yet, from the beginning, he had not been able to force her. Suddenly he realized that he wanted India to want him for himself, and not because he was the dey of El Sinut.