"Stephen Goldin - Storyteller" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goldin Stephen)

тАЬIs there anything else my master wishes?тАЭ Aeshma asked smoothly.

With the hashish from the rahat lakhoum bubbling his thoughts, Hakem Rafi put his hands behind his
head for a pillow and stared up at the high domed ceiling, lost in shadows overhead, considering the
matter. тАЬYes,тАЭ he said at last. тАЬI'd like a woman to spend the night with me."

тАЬAny particular woman?"

тАЬA beautiful woman. The most beautiful woman in the world."

тАЬI hear andтАФ"

тАЬNo, wait,тАЭ Hakem Rafi said, sitting up suddenly as an idea occured to him. A wicked smile broadened
on his face as he turned the idea over in his mind. The incorruptible new wali of police in Yazed had been
responsible for Hakem Rafi's abrupt departure from that city, and for his subsequent suffering in Ravan.
A little revenge was called for here, and Hakem Rafi's devious imagination conjured up a subtle form of
retribution.

тАЬGo to the home of the wali of police in Yazed. Bring me his most beautiful wife or concubine and make
sure no one knows she's gone. Make her be passionately in love with me and bring her here before me.
Tonight I shall beget a son by her. In the morning, return her with no memory of what has happened here
and let the wali think the boy is his and raise him as his own. In this way will I cuckold the fool who drove
me from my home and avenge myself upon his line. But before you go, fashion me a golden bed studded
with gems, piled high with the softest silk pillows and filled with swan's down, that I might welcome my
guest properly. Oh yes, and leave me some good silk ropes."

тАЬI hear and I obey.тАЭ The bed appeared in one corner of the room exactly as Hakem Rafi had described
it, and Aeshma vanished, leaving the thief chuckling to himself.

The daeva returned shortly with the most attractive of the wali's wives, and she was a beauty indeed.
Her long black hair flowed like silk down her back to the waist, and her dark brown skin was soft and
pure. Thick eyebrows topped her almond-shaped eyes that burned with passion as she spied Hakem
Rafi. She walked boldly up to him, her slender hips swaying sensuously with each stride. She knelt before
him and unfastened her milfa, then kissed the palms of his hands and touched them to her body. Her lips
were trembling with her naked desire as she fell to her knees caressing him.

тАЬDoes my master require anything else?тАЭ Aeshma asked discreetly.

Hakem Rafi could hardly take his eyes from the woman kneeling before him. No woman had ever
looked at him with desire that way. тАЬUh, no, this will suffice. Go clean the palace as you promised. Leave
me in privacy until the morning."

тАЬI hear and I obey,тАЭ Aeshma said, and disappeared to another part of the palace. So besotted with
hashish and desire was Hakem Rafi that he didn't even hear the daeva laughing.
****


The light of morning shone into the palace of Rashwenath through cleverly disguised skylights in the
ceiling. Hakem Rafi woke slowly as his mind cleared of the hashish and lovemaking of the previous night.
Beside him, the wali's wife still lay naked and asleep, her body spent from the energy of their union.