Author: Meresankh
Summary: A girl in Thebes, doing what she must to survive, finding more she ever hoped for, and more than she ever dreaded for.
Notes: This story is adult. If graphic details of people having sex isn't your cup of tea, stay clear.
I'm all for historical accuracy, but I did not check every detail. The name Zahra was found on the internet along with it's meaning, I haven't checked the spelling, the meaning, or even the origin. This story was quickly conceived and ever more quickly written, so all mistakes are all mine.
That night, she wore her washed dress and tidied herself up the best she could. Along the day, she had regretted she had not asked for more money from his regular guest.
She was hungry.
Her stomach grumbled in an angry protest, and she could not see when she could see food again. Her first goal was the eight deben she desperately needed, for she did not want to end up in Kamenwati's bed again.
"I hope I'm not too early."
The rich baritone made her jump out of her skin, and she looked over to the door where her long-awaited man in black waited. It was early, the sun had barely set.
"Of course not, my lord," she said with the familiar bow of the head.
"Good. I needed to see you," he said quietly as he stepped up to her, "I have a fire in my body only you can see to. So I have come for the night, and you shall be all mine tonight."
"All night, my master?"
He seemed surprised by her question. "Yes, all night, all mine. Unless you have a more... pressing engagement?"
"Of course not, my lord."
"Good. So you shall serve me, and you shall have your four deben."
Suddenly fear shot through her body like a sniper's arrow. "My master, I cannot serve you for 4 deben," she said quietly, "I need eight," she continued, hoping to any gods were listening that he would be sympathetic to her.
He was not.
"Woman, the price was agreed last night was four deben for the entire night. I do not believe anything could have happened between then and now to make it worth for double as much," he said angrily. His reaction was similar to what hers had been when Kamenwati had done the same for her.
And again it was Zahra was in no position to bargain.
"I am sorry, my master. I do not wish to anger you, my lord."
"Good."
He eyed her downward cast face. There was more to this than met the eye, something that had happened between today and last night. Perhaps he could find some pity on her after all.
"Get on the bed, on all fours, and face the wall. Bare yourself to me."
"As you wish, master."
Zahra was disappointed that she would once again be called to Kamenwati's bed, and that the man behind her cared nothing for her ill fate. Maybe her rationality had been right all along. She did as she was told, kneeling on the bed and lifting the hem of the dress so he could see all of her.
"Do not think me cruel, my flower," the man said sympathetically, "I have only a little while to spend with you, I must get back to the city," he said, grabbing her by the hips as he positioned himself to enter her, "But I do not want to share you with anyone else tonight."
Zahra gave out a little sigh of relief. He may not want to share her, but she would have to go against his wishes tonight.
He once again thrust himself inside her, and a small moan escaped from her lips. His shaft stroking that delicious spot deep within her, Zahra moaned aloud with every move. Soon he reached for the little pleasure center between her legs, and Zahra was sent over the edge again as wave after wave the ecstasy rolled over her.
He drove into her hard, finally arching over her back with a groan as he released himself into her. This time it had been more mechanical than the previous times. Maybe he had grown tired of her. Still, how many men took the effort of making sure she came first?
As quickly as he had entered her, he withdrew from her and rearranged his loincloth. He must have been serious about being in a hurry, because he hadn't even taken his clothes off.
"Thank you, my flower," he said and kissed her on the forehead again, like he had done the night before. "I must take my absence, but I shall hold you to your word. Will you promise you will be no one else's tonight?"
Lie, lie, lie!
She took a little too long to respond, and it did not go unnoticed. Still, "I would not want to break your trust, my master."
She couldn't lie to him, she noticed.
"Good," he said, knowing what the answer had meant to them both. "I shall leave you with the four deben, and I shall return tomorrow to see if you've kept your promise."
Would he be able to tell? she wondered as she bowed her head down. She heard the money being set down on the small table, and with a soft rustle of the door covering, he was gone once again.
Yet, she was thankful for the little money she had got. She reached for the money to put into her money pouch, and it wasn't until she looked down on them on the palm of her hand that she realized he had left her four silver deben.
She had to blink several times before she believed her eyes hadn't been lying.
But there they were, four shiny silver deben. She could have worked for two weeks, left her rent unpaid, and she would not have seen even one silver deben.
She closed her hand into a tight fist and brought it to her heart. Nothing could happen now that would make her break his promise to the man. No other man should touch her tonight, or tomorrow night, or as long as she could help it. None other than him.
That sneaky little demon, she thought, he had planned this from the very beginning, playing with your ill misfortune like a cat plays with a mouse!
But was he playing with her heart or her mind?
Or both?
In any case, her starving stomach made it's presence known again. The loud grumble shook her out of her dreams and she got up, went downstairs and out of the door.
Tonight, she would feast on roasted bird, hyena meat, barley beer and honey cakes. She made sure she got plenty of copper debens in exchange, for had she paid her landlord with silver, her room price would most surely rise the next day. She wasn't about to let herself be fooled again.
She had underestimated his greed.
"Ten deben?!" she exclaimed when she heard the new price.
"You seem to be doing well for yourself," he said, picking at the eight deben she had placed on the counter. "If you can't afford it now, the night's still early. You can make more," he said with a wink.
Truth is, she could afford the whole week with the money her mystery man had left her with. This was more about the principle.
"This is not the only tavern in Thebes," she said, "I can find myself a room somewhere else with the six deben we originally agreed on."
"Go and try your luck, then. Every tavern is filled to the brim. The festival is the day after tomorrow."
He had a point there. Even this tavern had become unusually busy in the last few days. Some even slept out on the streets.
"Maybe you should ask your lover to take you in," Kamenwati sneered.
Determined to get away from the obnoxious ass, Zahra slammed the remaining two deben on the counter and made her way back to her room. As she sat down to eat her luxurious feast, she couldn't help but wonder what she intended to do here. If the man's generosity continued, she would have enough saved by the end of the month to buy herself a new life, a house, clothes, anything she wanted.
She also was painfully aware of how big the 'if' was, and how easily it could be taken away.
She ate in silence all she could and saved the rest for the next day, undressed and went to bed. Plagued by the uncertainty of her future, she tossed and turned before she finally fell asleep. By then, Ra was already stretching his rays across the city of Thebes.
When she awoke, it was already late in the afternoon. She stretched and watched the sky from her window before sitting up and destroying what was left of her feast. For the first time in what seemed like forever she felt content.
The man had given her a blessing, and she would have to find a way to repay it, however any idea she had seemed far away from appropriate. How could she possibly give him something worth a small fortune?
To spend the time for his arrival, Zahra decided it was time he was presented with something new.
When she returned a few hours later, she had acquired a new dress. Pristine white linen with a turquoise sash, embroidered details in the hem and beads sown into the shoulder straps. With a new kohl stick to line her eyes now, she felt almost noble. She had thought about buying a wig as well, but that would have been pure pretence. She had not forgotten who she was.
When he finally arrived as he promised, he was greeted with a washed girl with perfumed skin, dressed in the white dress and eyes lined in the traditional Egyptian fashion.
There was a moment he thought he had arrived in the wrong room, but the thought was quickly put aside when she bowed her head in the familiar fashion.
"Good evening, my master. How can I serve you today?"
He smiled warmly and stepped in, taking in the vision before him and taking a lock of her hair in his fingers, tucking it gently. "You look beautiful, my flower."
"I wanted to apologise, master," she said while bowing her head again.
His eyebrow went up in surprise. "Apologise?"
"I am afraid there was an understanding about the price last night. The four deben my lord graciously left me were more than enough. I should not have argued, and it was above my place to do so."
"And what is your place, woman?" the man asked, enjoying this to the fullest, the submission she put on for his entertainment. A part she gladly played.
"I am but a mere servant to you, my master," she said, keeping her head courtly bowed, "and I shall never step out of my place again. As a show of loyalty..." she said, stepping up to him and placing her palms on his robed chest, like she had done on the very day they had met, she looked straight into the black pools of his eyes, once again lit with passion. "Today I give you my body, as a gift, for your disposal. Do with me as you wish."
His eyebrow shot up again. "You give yourself to me freely tonight?"
She answered him with a slow nod and a warm smile. "Yes, my master."
He was visibly pleased with this turn of event, and reached over to put a hand on her cheek, running it down her neck, sliding aside the beaded strap of her new dress.
"I never told you how beautiful you look tonight, my flower. Those four deben have been put to good use," he said quietly as he admired her new beauty. "I was worried yesterday that you would not keep your promise. Seeing you go only to come back with a food basket greatly relieved my worries."
She glanced up at him in surprise. He had watched her?
He saw the question in her eyes. "Yes, I stayed behind and kept an eye on you. I am glad to see greed has not taken root in you. But tell me..." he said softly, moving a strand of stray hair from her face, "Would you have stayed faithful to your master if I had left you with the price you thought you were getting?"
She had certainly been weighing her honesty a lot these past days.
"No, I would not," she said honestly, then continued, "And it would not have been because I sought to betray you, for I would not, but because it would have become a necessity."
He sat down on the edge of the bed. "What happened?"
She came to sit down on the floor by his feet. "The four deben I first asked were what I needed that day; I had already some saved. When you came to me again, I had no one but you, and my rent had gone up. Had you left me with what I think you intended, I would have had to either sell myself or be thrown out on the street."
"So the eight deben is what the tavern keeper is asking from you now," he concluded. Zahra simply nodded.
With a gentle hand, he raised her chin, making her to look into his eyes. "Do not worry about your rent, for it will be taken care of."
Zahra could feel the tears swelling up in her eyes. "For how long, my lord?"
He let the question sink in, then suddenly stood up and turned his back on her. "For a servant to my needs, you ask too much questions."
"I am sorry, my lord. I overstepped my place."
He turned around and looked at the girl sitting on the floor. His expression softened and he took a hold of her hand, pulling her up to face him again. "It was a just question."
She just shook her head.
"No, my lord, I promised you my obedience and I do not intend to--"
He silenced her with a passionate kiss. When he pulled back and she could breathe again, she continued, "...I do not intend to show you disrespect, my lord. Still, I must ask you one more question."
"More questions?" he was amused now, and laid down on the bed, bending his arm behind his head and watching her with interest. "They say questions are like insects. You can trap them, swat them and kill them, but there will always be more."
She thought about it for a minute. He had a good point. If she'd ask one question now, who knows how many more would be discovered hiding behind it?
"I have considered it and I still would like to ask you my question, my lord," she said and climbed on the bed to straddle his waist. "Why do you come to me?"
"That is no small question, my flower," he said absently, watching as she gently sucked his index finger into her mouth.
"Answer it regardless."
"You've grown bold, my flower," he said with a warm laugh. The newly found intimacy let her get away with it. "Very well, I shall give you your answer. But take me within you first."
She slowly rose up, only enough to guide his erect shaft within her folds. When he thrust upwards, a small moan escaped their lips.
"I have come here before, to different women," he said while excruciatingly slowly moving in and out of her. "And I have never been seen to with the warmth and care you give me. You treat me as a lover, not just a customer. My heart is cold and lonely, and only you have been able to make it beat again."
"You deserve my care and respect, my lord, for you have given me the same."
"Hush, my flower. No more words between us anymore, no more questions. Let me enjoy my gift," he said with a warm smile.
He reached his hands up to cup her breasts as she rocked above him, moving as slowly as to feel every inch of him inside her, touching her everywhere. After a few moments, his hands gripped her waist and he began slamming into her harder, grunting between gritted teeth and pushing his head back into the pillow.
When she came, her head fell back and she screamed like a hawk. His own priestess of Horus himself. The thought alone made him release himself into her, his seed shooting up inside her.
They lay on the bed for a long time, not saying anything, just enjoying each other. She listened to his heart beating, and for a cold and lonely heart, it's beat was remarkably strong.
"Won't you tell me who you are, my lord?"
His eyes opened suddenly and he looked at the mess of black hair, rising and falling as he breathed. "That is the only question I cannot answer. Ask me to give you the funerary treasures of the Pharaoh himself, but do not ask me that."
Her head suddenly rose and she looked into his eyes. "Do not worry, my lord, my master. I shall not intrude upon your privacy. I sorry to have disturbed you with such a foolish question."
"It is not foolish, my precious flower," he said quietly and reached up to stroke her cheek with his thumb. "But it will bring us both harm, and I shall not risk it upon us."
She laid her head down on his chest again. "I shall not ask again."
He held her there some time more, until it was time for him to head back into the city. He laid her gently down on the bed and bid his farewell with a passionate kiss and a promise to return again the next day.