3. A rebellious concubine

A slave who did what Safie has just done should be promptly packed off to the dungeon to await delivery of her punishment in front of the whole harem. The traditional punishment for disobedience is for her ankles to be bound to low bar and the soles of her feet caned by one of the agas. It's a very painful punishment which leaves few visible marks. But Mustafa is so confused by Safie's outburst that he doesn't know what to do. He's simply not been trained in how to manage a rebellious concubine. His inexperience gives Safie a chance.

"What makes you think that you've the right to order me around like that?" fumes Mustafa as he stands face to face with Safie.

He's close enough to strike her, and Safie stands ready to react if he does. She doesn't bow her head as a contrite slave girl should do. In her opinion, that would only invite him to hit her and make matters worse.

"Sultan Suleiman has gifted Aybige and I to you for the express purpose of educating and training you in the art of love," replies Safie. "We cannot do that if you keep beating and humiliating us."

Safie's statement isn't quite true. Mustafa has never touched Safie, and Sultan Suleiman knows nothing about Safie replacing Sadika. But her words cause Mustafa to pause for a moment.

"I have every right to punish both of you for appearing before me dressed like you are," replies Mustafa. "You know the rules of the Imperial Harem. They are very clear regarding the standard of dress required when a concubine is summoned to the Royal Wing."

"I agree that Aybige and I aren't dressed in accordance with the rules. But if that mattered to you, then you should have given us more time to prepare. You saw us in the garden just now," says Safie, noticing the view from the window and making an inspired guess. "You knew that we couldn't change and present ourselves here properly attired in the time you allowed us. You have set us up to fail."

"I will not have a slave tell me what I may or may not do," snorts Mustafa, deciding that he had better try to exert some authority over this situation.

"If you must punish someone, then punish me," replies Safie. "I was the one who persuaded Aybige to take a walk in the garden. Blame me if you will, but I did it for the best of motives. Aybige is a beautiful girl who has been trained to the highest standard in the arts of love and seduction. You have mauled her as though she's a backstreet whore. If you treat Aybige gently, then she will please you beyond your wildest imagination."

"I don't feel like being gentle," says Mustafa. "I'm a warrior, and a warrior doesn't need to ask for permission from a slave before he takes her as his prize."

"Think of Aybige as your lover rather than your slave. If you want to be rough during sex, then I will be a more suitable partner. As you can see, I'm not a delicate flower like Aybige and the other harem girls."

"Hmmm. I shall consider what you have said. But you must be punished for your outburst."

"If you insist, my prince," replies Safie, trying and failing to sound submissive.

Mustafa is suddenly unsure about what punishment would be appropriate. He could strike her as he had done with Aybige, but he doubts that would cause Safie to mend her ways. It might even appear as though she has gained a moral victory. Besides, now he studies her closely, he realises that she might block his blow and leave them both at an impasse. A physical tussle with the girl would be embarrassing and beneath his dignity. Mustafa is confident he would win such a fight, but it would be unbecoming for a prince to wrestle with a slave girl. If she was a male slave, and this room was the soldiers' training ground, then there would be no problem. Mustafa frequently wrestles with the Janissary slaves when he is training.

Mustafa realises that he rather likes the girl's spirit, even if it is highly irregular for a harem slave. Then he remembers his mother's warning that he must claim Safie's virginity before his father decides to reclaim the girl. Palace politics are still a mystery to Mustafa, but he acknowledges that his mother is right to be cautious. Safie is the third girl taken from his father's harem, whereas the sultan has only approved the removal of two. Fortunately it is the Valide who must deal with his father over the matter.

"You are a virgin, I presume," says Mustafa.

"I am, my prince," replies Safie, resisting the temptation to add that she wouldn't have been sent here if that wasn't the case.

"You'll not be leaving this room as one," replies Mustafa, trying to sound menacing, but only succeeding in making Safie smile.

"Is that my punishment?" asks Safie. "You intend to deflower me for my crimes?"

"No. Your punishment comes later. But you will understand who is your master before you receive your punishment."

Safie doesn't know whether to laugh or be serious. Mustafa's attempts to appear as the mighty overlord ruling her life are not very convincing. He's too young and lanky to be physically intimidating. What's more, he's too accustomed to resorting to violence when he wants to get his way. For that reason, Safie decides against ridiculing him in case he resorts to violence once again. He needs training and that is precisely what Safie intends to do.

"I don't dispute that you are my lord and master, my prince," says Safie. "I am merely trying to be a loyal slave. If it is your wish to deflower me here and now, then you will find me willing to play my part. Shall I lie on the bed so that you may mount me more easily? Or do you prefer to chase me around the room first?"

Mustafa is taken aback. Although his sexual experiences with Aybige and Sadika are relatively few in number, he has nevertheless always taken the lead. Indeed, he expects some resistance from the girl he is about to possess. Resistance that will drive his lust to a more powerful level. For the first time he is with a girl who isn't cowering before him.

"I'm a warrior," announces Mustafa. "If you try to resist me, then I will take you by force."

Safie thinks about what Mustafa has said. She has already offered to lie on the bed ready for his attentions. So why did he say what he did? Then Safie remembers that she played this sort of game with her cousins. Her eldest cousin also liked to be the dominant player in their games. The trick was to resist just enough to satisfy her cousin's need to control her, but no too much so that he became too rough in response. Would Mustafa react in the same way? Safie knows there is only one way to find out.

"They say that any trained Janissary can wrestle a wild boar to the ground," says Safie. "So subduing one helpless slave girl shouldn't be a problem for you. I bet you could overpower me with one arm tied behind your back."

"Somehow I don't think you are so helpless," replies Mustafa. "We shall wrestle as you suggest. But we shall both have one arm tied behind our backs."

To Safie this is simply a new variation of the game she used to play with her cousin. The winner got to choose the next step. At home the choice of prize was very limited since her other cousins were watching. Here there is nobody watching, so the winner can claim any prize ... in theory, at least. In reality Mustafa and Safie aren't equals. Safie can't claim any prize without Mustafa's consent, while he can claim anything he likes regardless of the outcome. Only his soldier's sense of honour will protect Safie should she win.

Mustafa quickly finds two short pieces of rope to bind Safie's right wrist to her back at waist height. He manages to do the same to himself with Safie's help. The two protagonists stand facing each other waiting for an opportunity to make the first move. Safie is at a disadvantage, since her dress restricts her freedom of movement. With hindsight, she should have removed her dress first. But it is too late to rectify that error.

Wrestling one handed is much harder than Safie imagined, and it seems as though Mustafa has had some practise. Even so, it takes him nearly ten minutes before he has Safie pinned beneath him. Even then she doesn't concede defeat. To her surprise, he doesn't demand her surrender. Safie's bodice has been torn in the tussle, and her firm and well proportioned breasts are on full display. It's enough temptation for Mustafa to abandon their game and move onto the next stage of his new pleasure slave's conquest.

He unfastens the rope around his waist, and frees his bound hand. He doesn't offer the same courtesy to Safie. Mustafa decides that until she concedes defeat, her hand will remain bound. Safie seems to understand this unspoken rule, but she still refuses to surrender. Besides, she's getting that warm pleasant feeling she last experienced with her cousins before her enslavement. The way Mustafa his staring at her breasts is having a noticeable effect on Safie. If only Mustafa was more attuned to Safie's mood he could have had her begging for his intimate attentions in a matter of minutes. But the opportunity is wasted and Safie's arousal passes it peak unfulfilled. Perhaps she should have offered instruction to the young prince, but this doesn't seem to be the right occasion for such a lesson. The prince had said that he will claim Safie's virginity today, and Safie wants it to be an occasion which she will remember with happy thoughts.

The prince pulls Safie onto the bed. He is forceful without being unduly rough. Safie wishes she had removed her dress earlier. The folds of silk are getting in the way and there are enough tears in the material to require hours of repair work. Not that Mustafa cares about that. In fact he deliberately rips part of her dress which is in the way of whatever he had in mind. In reality, Mustafa isn't working to any plan at all. The wrestling and his tacit victory have aroused him and he's trying to come up with a satisfying way to claim his reward. It hasn't occurred to him to ask Safie to comply with his wishes. He's so used to having to force his desires on his concubines, that the prospect of Safie might willingly cooperate doesn't occur to him.

Safie is also too inexperienced to know the best move to make in this situation. This is where formal training as a concubine would really come into play. Safie can only make something up since the prince is obviously in a state of bewilderment.

"Remove my dress," says Safie, unable to do it herself in her current position. "Tear it from my body if you desire."

Mustafa doesn't need asking twice. Had this been the Mustafa of yesterday, Safie's dress would have been ripped to shreds. But the small amount of respect that Safie has earned from Mustafa means he is more gentle in the removal of her dress. The dress is still ruined, however, but it might still be capable of being repaired. During the process of stripping her naked, Safie realises Mustafa has freed her bound hand. Instinctively, Safie reaches inside the prince's trousers and grasps the solid rod waiting impatiently for her attention. This is the reward her eldest cousin always demanded when he and Safie played their games. The prince's reaction is very different though.

Safie's cousin knew that he wasn't allowed to penetrate Safie's glistening nether lips, so allowed Safie's hands to do their devilish work. Mustafa has every intention of sampling the hidden delights of his ripe pleasure slave. Finally he realises the state of Safie's arousal, and he moves quickly to place his rod where it belongs. It's not a very long coupling, but for both of them it is a pleasurable experience.

After a brief rest, Safie tries to interest the prince in a resumption of their intimate games. But the prince has spent all his energies in one go. Safie makes a mental note to teach Mustafa the art of endurance.

"Get dressed," orders Mustafa. Having satisfied his lust, he is now in a much more serious mood.

"In what, my prince?" replies Safie, holding her torn dress up for his inspection.

"That dress will have to do," replies the prince. "Put it on and report to the aga in the corridor outside this room. Tell him you are to spend tonight in the dungeon. I will consider what further punishment you deserve in the morning. Now go."

Safie is slightly disappointed, but not surprised, at the order she has been given. She has taken some awful risks and now she must pay the price. She doesn't protest or beg for mercy. Safie knows that doing so would only make matters worse.