5. Bathing

Later that afternoon, Safie is still trying to finish repairing her dress when an aga tells her that the prince requires her presence in his room in an hour. This time the prince has allowed Safie adequate time to prepare. There's even time for a visit to the baths, which Safie visits without hesitation.

Since the trim on her other silk dress is still damp, Safie resigns herself to wearing her white and grey harem uniform. The prince will undoubtedly find fault in her choice, but it's the only one open to Safie. Aybige offers to lend her one of her dresses, but they both know they are too small for Safie's larger build. At least Safie can wear the jewels which Mahidevran has given her to brighten the plain looking outfit. Aybige helps Safie with her final preparations and she tries to calm Safie's nerves. She wishes her good luck when the aga calls to escort Safie to the prince's room.

Safie's heart sinks when she sees the prince's mood. He looks like a spoilt child in a sulk. Unlike Safie, he hasn't bothered to wash and change. Prior to her enslavement, Safie was accustomed to being around unwashed males. Her cousins never bathed more than once a month ... and only in summer. But Safie hasn't endured the experience within the last four years. Cleanliness is deemed essential inside the harem, or disease will spread rapidly. Previous sultans have lost large parts of their harems to rampant deadly diseases. Sultan Suleiman's first sons died from the plague, leaving Mustafa as the oldest surviving male child.

As far as Safie can tell, the prince has arrived straight from the Janissary training field after hours of battle training. His sweaty body and strong masculine smell are not entirely unattractive to Safie's senses, but his sour mood leaves a lot to be desired. He removes his top and Safie can't stop her heart from giving a slight flutter. The prince has many faults, but his finely sculptured body isn't one of them. He is certainly fit and healthy. It's a shame his attitude spoils the effect.

"Why the plain outfit?" asks the prince when he finally looks at Safie. He's spoiling for a fight with Safie and he's hoping she will rebel against his taunting. After losing so many bouts on the training field, he desperately wants to dominate his pleasure slave. But she is too intelligent and feisty to make it an easy task for him. Something Mustafa would appreciate if he would come to his senses. Safie has the good sense to remain passive. Her biggest problem is that she's not unaffected by the sight of the prince's glistening naked chest.

"You ruined my dress yesterday," replies Safie to the prince's question. "I've spent all day repairing it, but it's still not ready. My only other dress is still wet."

"Then you must get yourself some more clothes. You receive a stipend, don't you?"

"I receive a stipend of eight aspers a day, my prince. A dress from the trader costs at least sixty aspers. If you are going to tear my dresses every time we are together, then I'll soon be reduced to wearing rags."

"I see," replies the prince thoughtfully. "I haven't seen that necklace and broach before. Are you squandering your stipend on jewels while you should be spending it on new dresses?"

"No, my prince. Your mother visited our room today and gave Aybige and I some jewels as a gift," replies Safie, glad that the origin of her gift is now clear.

"My mother interferes too much in my life. Don't accept anything from her in future without my approval. Above all, don't obey any of her orders affecting our relationship. You and Aybige are my slaves, and only I can give you orders. Remove your jewels and place them over there."

Safe complies with his instruction, although she's far from happy at being deprived of her newly acquired treasure.

"Good. You can take them when you leave; providing I'm not obliged to have you spend another night in the dungeon. Now, I want you to bathe me. I've had a long afternoon training with the Janissaries and I'm in need of a cooling bath."

Mustafa points to a screen in one corner of his room. Safie looks behind the screen and she sees that the agas have brought in a tub and filled it with cold water for Mustafa to bathe. Unlike the women's communal baths in the harem, the male members of the royal dynasty bathe in the privacy of their room. Safie is uncertain what she is required to do. She's received no training in the expected procedure, although it's likely Mustafa hasn't been educated on that subject either. Safie will just have rely on her instincts.

Safie cannot afford to wet her last set of wearable clothes. She'll need to remove them, but she's in two minds whether to remove her clothes first, or wait until the prince is in the bath. She moves forward to remove the prince's trousers, silently hoping that her mounting arousal isn't too obvious. She doesn't doubt that this encounter will ultimately involve sex, but Safie wants to be the one in control.

At first Mustafa allows Safie to undress him without any interference. He's too tired and angry to feel aroused, although Safie's hands on his skin are having an effect. He suddenly feels uncomfortable at the prospect of being naked while his slave is fully clothed. Mustafa stops Safie before she removes his loin cloth, and instead has her undress before him. Only when she is completely nude does he allow her to complete her task of undressing him.

The sight of Safie standing naked before him has the expected consequences on his libido. His anger diffuses into lust and desire, while his tiredness evaporates like mist. Finally he steps into the bath and allows Safie to start scrubbing his body. It's a new experience for both Mustafa and Safie, and neither achieves the outcome they expected. In Mustafa's case, he wanted to prove his dominance over his pleasure slave, while Safie was determined to carry out her duties without displaying any emotion. In reality, their close proximity and Safie's wandering hands soon had both of them in a state of unintentional arousal. Far from becoming the dominant player of this game, Mustafa finds himself almost begging Safie for her wondrous attentions. And Safie finds herself only too willing to oblige.

Their inevitable coupling occurs sooner than the prince had intended. He is so far gone in his desire that he forgets his original plan for this meeting. Instead of putting Safie in her place, he allows her a degree of freedom to innovate in their games. Unlike Aybige, Safie doesn't hold back on the more physical aspects of lovemaking. She is much stronger than Aybige, and she can therefore play rougher games.

The bath water gets sloshed everywhere as the two impassioned young people explore each other's body with growing intensity. If Safie has remembered Mahidevran's warning about preventing a pregnancy, then she makes no attempt to comply. For a while, Safie is able to forget that the prince is her master, and she is merely his pleasure slave.

Eventually exhaustion overcomes the prince. The after effects of training with the Janissaries, and his frolics with Safie, force Mustafa to call for a rest. When he looks at Safie, the prince suspects that she's still willing and able to continue with their games. But the prince desperately needs a rest.

The water scattered all over the corner of the room gives the prince the opportunity to achieve his original goal of exerting his dominion over Safie.

"Mop up all of this water, slave," orders the prince in an imperious tone. "And be quick about it."

For a moment Safie thinks the prince is simply playing a game, but she quickly realises that he is being serious. Her aroused emotions return to normality with a thump. Safie becomes acutely aware of her lowly status in the prince's eyes despite their passionate games only moments before. It's something she shouldn't have allowed herself to forget, but their passionate interlude had overridden her common sense.

Safie feels like rebelling, but she doesn't want to risk spending another night in the dungeon. Not simply because of the discomfort of the cell, but the prince threatened to confiscate her jewels if she didn't comply with his wishes. So Safie meekly picks up a spare towel, and proceeds to mop up the pools of water on the floor. It's slow work, but Safie is used to long boring jobs from her time working in the laundry.

Only this is the first time she has worked while completely naked. After a few minutes she notices that her nakedness is having an interesting effect on the prince. He doesn't seem able to tear his eyes away from Safie as she works. Safie decides that she will use the prince's interest to get her revenge. Until now, she had been openly displaying her body as she moved from one pool of water to the next. The prince is clearly enjoying the view of her naked body. So Safie alters the position of her body as she works so that the prince is denied more than a fleeting glimpse of those parts of her body which attract his close attention. Safie secretly smiles when Mustafa leans over too far to get a better look, and he falls onto the floor in a very un-princely heap. He quickly stands up as sits back on his chair.

Safie pretends not to notice and continues with her task. Only when she has finished does she stand up and place herself directly in front of the prince.

"I have finished, my prince," says Safie. "Do you require anything else?"

"Not for now. You may get dressed and return to your room."

Safie dresses herself and reaches for the jewels which Mahidevran gave her.

"Did I say you could take those?" snaps the prince.

"Yes, my prince," replies Safie. "When you had me remove them you said I could take them when I departed ... providing you weren't sending me to spend the night in the dungeon."

Mustafa can't remember his exact words. He was angry when he saw Safie wearing something his mother had given her. All he can remember of that conversation was his annoyance that his mother is again interfering with his management of his two slaves. He doesn't begrudge either Aybige or Safie a few gifts, but they need to be his gifts. He alone will decide if and when his two slaves have satisfied him enough to earn a reward.

"I don't recall promising you that," replies the prince, refusing to admit that Safie may be correct.

"You did, my prince," replies Safie stubbornly.

"And what do you believe you have done to earn such a reward?" demands the prince. "Did you not spend last night in a dungeon cell?"

"I did, my prince. I do not question the sultana's decision or motives. She gave Aybige and I the gifts this morning after she had visited your rooms. She gave us the impression that we had pleased you and had earned a small reward. If she is mistaken then allow me to inform the sultana of her error next time I see her."

"That won't be necessary," replies the prince, deciding that he needs to tackle his mother's interference directly and not blame Safie. "You may keep you jewels. Now go."

Safie does as she is told and quickly returns to her room. Aybige is waiting with a worried look on her face.

"What's wrong?" asks Safie.

"The Valide was here a short while ago. She was looking for you. I think she has spoken to the sultan about your transfer to Prince Mustafa's harem and the sultan isn't pleased. The Valide is with Mahidevran at the moment and will return here afterwards. You are to wait in this room until she arrives."

"What do you think is going to happen?" asks Safie.

"I've no idea. Whatever it is, the Valide doesn't look happy about the matter,

"Perhaps she shouldn't have disposed of Sadika so quickly," muses Safie, convinced that Mustafa wasn't directly responsible for Sadika's departure.