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Journal Entry 11

1It was not long after Erik's show of his aptitude for death when I noticed that the Shah had begun to look at Erik suspiciously.

According to the Shah, the Sultana had taken too much interest in Erik, a man of such a heinous nature and of no royal upbringing or for that matter, not even Persian. Shame would not be brought upon the household, even if Erik had become a favored member of the court. Their clandestine meetings and secretive glances at one another greatly worried the Shah.

I was questioned as to their true relationship and spoke truthfully of what I saw. The Sultana had no sexual interest whatsoever in Erik. She had paid him heed when he willingly committed murder on persons she considered her nemeses. What I told the Shah did not have the effect of calming his curiosities regarding the Sultana and Erik.

Shortly thereafter, Erik's abbreviated stay within Persia was cut short by slanderous postulating and rumors started by none other than the Sultana.

The little Sultana, having grown bored yet again had taken up the opium pipe in order to pass the time. In doing so, she began her midnight excursions into the homes of her former bed companions, her licentiousness nature once again rearing its head.

Opium, having the effect of deluding one's senses, allowed the Sultana to once again conceive a child, but she would not know of this until almost a full month following.

Two months after the seed was planted within her womb, the Sultana had yet to visit her physician to abort the child. Religious services coinciding with the Persian New Year required her attendance at different rituals and obligatory royal appearances. I had not noticed a change in her physical character at the time of her pregnancy. My attention had been focused on the process of interrogating a man for the near-assassination of the Shah when the news of her pregnancy came to light. It was during this time that the Sultana began to feel the effects of her condition.

These clear signals of being with child did not escape her mother. She, in turn, reported her suspicions to her husband.

Upon being savagely questioned by the Shah and under the threat of death, the Sultana confessed her sins. But one should not think for one moment that she professed the truth.

In an attempt to escape what would be certain death for having relations with men before marriage, the Sultana began her most insidious tale.

According to her yarn of lies and deceit, the Sultana made every effort to spare the life of the man that had come under the Shah's favor. Erik, having shared a common interest with her, had taken an interest in her physical body. Erik flirtatiously interacted with her, making many crude comments which offended her immensely. Often at night she found Erik staring at her nude figure as she rested in her chambers. She had been able to distinguish his body by the flicker of yellow that emanated from his eyes in the darkness. Not wanting to provoke his ill temper, the Sultana never chastised Erik for his stolen glances of her form.

After many rebuffs, Erik became agitated and began to stalk her like a feral animal. It was during one night when he suddenly appeared in her room unannounced. Try hard as she might, Erik pinned her to her bed, keeping one of his death hands at her mouth to prevent her from screaming. The other arm was used to hold down her flailing hands. He ravished her and ravished her until she was nearly unconscious and unable to move. He left as silently as he had come in, not taking so much as a backward glance at her.

The Sultana felt disgusted to have been touched in such a manner by a man who was not her husband.

I was present for the debauchery that spilled unrestrained from the Sultana. And I believed not one word of it.

Erik, though repulsed by humanity, would never take advantage of a woman, but not because he was not interested in the opposite sex. I had previously seen him watch women as they bustled about him, making sure that every one of his needs were met. The look in his eyes told me he was curious about them but knew better than to take action in satisfying this curiosity.

The taking of a woman against her will would have shattered the self-constraint Erik had carefully constructed. This type of behavior was below him. Furthermore Erik had told me in so few words that he had seen what men did in the name of love for a woman.

He vowed to never come under their spell.