Brothels in Algiers, for the most part, had been confined to the
waterfront and served sailors of all nations. The wealthy residents
of the city had private harems, and needed no such services. But the
flesh peddlers of the city had overlooked one important market.
Algiers, being the chief city on the north African coast, entertained
many wealthy visitors. These had no women available to them.
Khalid el Bey was the fust to meet that need, and he became famous
doing so.

The women in his House of Felicity were the most beautiful, the
most skilled, and the most entertaining in all of Algiers. There were
no two alike, for Khalid el Bey especially prided himself on offering
variety. Though others had tried to imitate him, they had all failed
miserably, leaving him with the undisputed title of “the Whore-
master.” Not only did he own the House of Felicity, he now also
possessed full or part interest in almost every house of prostitution
in the city.

He was admired and respected by the other businessmen for,
though very shrewd, he was scrupulously honest. Still, few men
really knew the man, and his origins were a mystery. Though many
thought him a Moor, he was actually Spanish. He had been born
Diego Indio Goya del Fuentes near the city of Granada, the second
son of an old and noble family. He was well educated for his time,
and might have gone on to marry and lead the circumspect life of
a sixteenth-century Spanish nobleman. Then fate, in the guise of a
beautiful Moorish girl named Noor, had intervened in the young
man’s life. They had been desperately in love, but Noor had been
as firm in her faith, Islam, as any devout Christian was in his.

Diego Goya del Fuentes had long been betrothed. Now his sisters
took malicious delight in teasing his fiancee about Noor. The fiancee,
a prim, religious girl, felt it her moral duty to inform the Inquisition
of the existence of the Moorish maiden. On the day that Noor was
burned at the stake as a heretic, Diego stood helpless on the edge
of the city square, his hooded face wet with tears, watching as the
gentlest, kindest person he had ever known was burned to death.
She was tortured cruelly, yet as the flames licked her graceful body,
her sweet voice lifted in a song of praise to her god, Allah. That
day, Diego Goya del Fuentes disappeared from Spain forever.

He wandered for several years through Europe and the Middle

East, finally settling in the city of Algiers. He changed his name to
Khalid, the title “el Bey” being his by virtue of a journey to the holy
cities of Mecca and Medina. He converted to Islam in honor of
Noor’s memory, though he felt no strong religious leaning.

His feelings for women were ambiguous. On one hand, he re-
membered his lost love and her gentle sweet ways. On the other,
he recalled his sisters’ malice, and the cruelty and ignorance of his
fiancee. Perhaps this explained why, though he enslaved women
into the profession of prostitution, he was a kind and good master.

Skye had touched him as no woman had since Noor. Her help-
lessness appealed to him, and this was why he now carefully in-
structed Yasmin about her care. But Yasmin argued, “Why do you
fuss so over this one girl, my lord? She is like a thousand others.”
The Circassian voice was spiteful, and Khalid el Bey hid a smile.
Yasmin had been in love with him for years but he felt no more for
her than he had for the others. No woman had claimed his heart
since Noor.

“Skye is like a child now,” he explained patiently. “Although she
recalls some things, her loss of memory has wiped out all carnal
knowledge. She knows nothing and has no prejudices. If we handle
her carefully, we may mold her as we desire.” He cleverly empha-
sized the we, and Yasmin leaned forward eagerly.

“This would really please you, my lord?”

“Yes, Yasmin, it would. Skye is not simply a pretty face or body.
I sense a good mind behind those lovely blue eyes, and that is what
her specialty shall be. Like the courtesans of ancient Athens Skye
shall entertain the gentlemen with a skilled body and with her in-
telligence as well. She will not be used for those of our clientele
whose tastes run to the bizarre, but rather for elegant men, men of
culture-such as the Ottoman commandant of the Casbah. Or perhaps the sea captains who come to us from the Italian states, France,
or England. Together, Yasmin, you and I will make Skye an intriguing, exciting, much-sought-after woman.”

“I will do my part, my lord Khalid. I will teach her all I know.
Even certain things I have kept from the others. Skye shall be unique,
and she shall be perfection.”

He smiled his wonderful smile at her. “You have always exceeded
my faith in you, since the very beginning, Yasmin. Thank you.” He
twice clapped his hands sharply, then sent the answering slave for
coffee. Turning back to the woman, he asked, “The women now in
the House of Felicity are satisfactory?”

“Except two. The English girl, Sweet Rose, has fallen in love
with one of her gentlemen, and consequently is balking at her job.

With your permission I can correct that, for the gentleman involved
wants to buy her and add her to his harem.”

“Sell, but accept only the highest price for her. After all, we’re
losing a good investment. What of the other girl?”

‘The gypsy Rhia is not adjusting, my lord. I think I must rec-
ommend severe punishment in her case.”

“Why?”

“I sent her along with two other girls to a party of half a dozen
young Turkish officers. They had requested they be allowed to play
the rape game. We assigned them to the Suite of Clouds. It was
arranged that, as the girls sat at their leisure, the Turks would break
in and ravish them. It is a harmless game, and the officers involved
are regular customers of ours, all highly recommended. While the
other two girls fell in with the spirit of the game, shrieking and
protesting prettily before yielding, Rhia screamed in earnest and
fought wildly, severely scratching two of our guests about the face.
Naturally they subdued her, and I am pleased to say that all six of
them enjoyed her despite her protests. But the other girls, of course,
felt slighted. They were angry that she should draw all the attention
to herself in such a fashion. The officers complained, too, that
afterward she wept as one demented. I finally had to remove her
from their presence, and send in another girl.”

“Has she ever before partaken of this sort of fantasy, Yasmin?”

“No. She was, of course, half wild when she came to us. But
she’s been treated well and has done very well with the gentlemen
individually. I believed her ready for this sort of thing.”

“What is her specialty?”

“Oral gratification, my lord, and I understand she is quite good
at it.”

Khalid el Bey thought a moment. “She was probably raped some-
time in her life. The fantasy in which you placed her brought back
the memory and hence her terror. Do not put her in such a situation
again. Let her do what she is good at.”

“You are too soft, my lord. Rhia offended our guests. When they
ask, what shall I tell them has been done?”

“Do not wait for them to ask. Send a message to the two who
were scratched that the matter has been taken care of, and offer them
each an evening of pleasure at our expense.”

“It shall be as my lord has said,” answered Yasmin.

Khalid el Bey rose from the cushions and helped the Circassian
to rise. “You must return now, I know,” he said quietly, gently
dismissing her. “You will come tomorrow and begin your instruction
of Skye.”

“As my lord commands,” she said, bowing out of the room.

He almost sighed his relief. She was beautiful and loyal, but of
late she had become clinging and presumptuous of their long as-
sociation. He wasn’t quite sure what he would do about her. To free
her would only give her ideas above her situation, for she was a
slave, born of slave parents. He smiled, thinking back to those many
years ago when he had gone to a Circassian breeding farm with an
Egyptian friend. His friend was a slave merchant in Alexandria, a
connoisseur of beautiful young men and women, who preferred
buying directly from the breeder so he might have the best selection.

The owners of the farm had paraded before their valued customer
and his guest a variety of exquisite virgins and youths. Yasmin had
been among them, and Khalid’s friend remarked on her, saying that
they had shown her to him in his two previous visits.

“Alas,” sighed their host, “she is lovelier than an April morning,
but I cannot seem to sell her. I have just about decided to breed her
with our best stud.”

“What are her bloodlines?” asked Khalid’s friend.

“Pythias out of Iris,” came the reply.

“Whew!” exclaimed the Alexandrian admiringly.

Khalid el Bey had no idea what they were talking about, but there
was something touching about the little slave girl. “What is her
age?” he asked.

“Fifteen,” came the reply.

“A bit old. Is she a virgin?”

“Sir!” The farm owner was indignant.

Khalid el Bey laughed. “I will take her, my friend. I simply wish
to know what it is I am buying.”

An outrageous price was named which Khalid el Bey scoffed at,
reminding the slave breeder of the girl’s age and the possibility of
her being barren if he bred her rather than sold her. They haggled
back and forth until finally a price was agreed upon that suited
Khalid el Bey but, according to the merchant, impoverished him.
The money was exchanged, and Khalid el Bey found himself the
owner of a beautiful Circassian slave girl with long blond hair and
Nile green eyes.

When they returned to Alexandria he set about introducing her
to the joys of physical love. She had been taught its many arts but
had never used them. She knew the human body and its sensitive
areas well. Her skillful fingers could bring an impotent man to a
firm and long-lasting erection. She could sing while accompanying
herself on the lute. She danced well. And after several weeks in
Khalid el Bey’s bed, she found that she performed very well there
too.

Then one night Khalid el Bey had several guests in for the eve-
ning, and when the meal was done she danced for the company.
Afterward he sent her to her room, telling her that perhaps one or
two of his guests might visit her and if they did she was to please
them for that would please him. In fact four of Khalid el Bey’s
guests came to her spacious quarters that night, and with each she
was soft and charming and skilled. They left singing her praises,
and Khalid el Bey rewarded his slave girl with a strand of coral
beads. The next night and the night after and almost every other
night after that, Yasmin pleasured her master’s friends. Then another
girl, Alyia, joined their household. Where Yasmin was fair, Alyia
had skin like a dusky rose, thick and waving hair the color of a
raven’s wing, enormous brown eyes, and a pouting red mouth. To
Yasmin’s fury, Alyia shared their master’s bed for several weeks.
But then she too joined the Circassian in entertaining Khalid el Bey’s
friends.

Several months later, Khalid el Bey left his two women in the
hands of his friend, the slave merchant. He made a quick trip, and
returned several weeks later with two more girls. He moved them
all to the city of Algiers.

They were installed in a small, beautifully appointed house, and
every night Khalid el Bey’s women entertained a variety of guests
ranging from wealthy visitors to Turkish officers of the Imperial
Ottoman Army who were stationed in Algiers. Within a year Khalid
el Bey owned twenty beautiful women and a larger house. At the
end of two years he owned fifty beautiful women who lived in two
houses, and he had begun the construction of his present villa. When
the third year drew to a close the villa was finished, and Khalid el
Bey was the undisputed Whoremaster of Algiers. Two things were
constant. Yasmin remained the head of Khalid el Bey’s women,
gradually becoming less of a courtesan and more of an administrator
and manager. And, there was not a girl who entered Khalid el Bey’s
service who was not first tried by him. It gave each of them a close
touch with their master, for during the time they served him per-
sonally he loved and cherished them. He had never used force to
bend a women to his will. Consequently his women all adored him.

With Skye he saw his greatest challenge. With the proper training
she could become the finest whore he’d ever owned. Unlike the
others, who all cherished the secret dream of being bought and
married by one of their customers, Skye would have no such hopes
as she had no knowledge of marriage. And if, as he hoped, she
proved totally uninhibited, she could be taught some more exotic
forms of lovemaking that would command a very high price.

The more he thought of her the more curious he became. Many times he had observed her secretly in the bath and in her bedchamber.
Her figure was as lovely as her coloring, but it was her skin that
intrigued him. It was flawless. Utterly flawless. Smooth, beautiful
skin the color of rich cream, or was it old ivory silk? He longed to
touch it with his sensitive fingers, his lips. Would it be soft? Yes,
undoubtedly it would be soft. Would it be soft and warm beneath
his mouth, or would it be cool and smooth? He shivered in antici-
pation. Although he enjoyed his women, it had been a long time
since he had actually looked forward to one, and it would be several
weeks until he could even consider sampling Skye’s charms. He
sighed, and went to his bedchamber. Perhaps the little houri who
was to be his partner tonight could ease some of his longings.