The Love Slave by Bertrice Small

Author:Bertrice Small [Small, Bertrice]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-0-307-79487-1
Publisher: Fawcett Books
Published: 2011-05-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Carrying a full load of freight in their holds, I’timad and Iniga sailed from Cordoba. They stopped at several ports along the Breton and Norman coast, selling part of their cargo, then traveled across the sea that separated the coast of Europe from that of England, where their luxury goods were welcomed by the inhabitants of that island on the edge of the known world. Finally, they charted a course around Land’s End for Eire, sailing up the Liffey one rainy midsummer’s morning.

Donal Righ greeted them eagerly, coming aboard I’timad himself. “A thousand welcomes, Karim al Malina!” he said jovially. “Do not keep me in suspense, I beg you, my young friend. My old heart will not stand it, I assure you. The caliph? He was pleased?”

“You have no heart, Donal Righ,” Karim said, “else you would not have sent that exquisite flower of youth into the frosty embrace of the caliph. To answer your question, Abd-al Rahman was very pleased by your gifts, but of course, most delighted by Zaynab. Within a single night she had gained his favor, he most volubly assured me. I have been told to tell you that he is now in your debt. Are you pleased? You should be, Donal Righ. I trained Zaynab to be a perfect device of desire. She will probably kill Abd-al Rahman with her unleashed passions.”

“If this is so, Karim al Malina, then I owe you an even greater debt than I anticipated,” Donal Righ said, delighted.

Although he would not admit to it, he understood the young man’s bitterness, however. Karim al Malina had obviously fallen in love with Zaynab. How could he not have? If I were a younger man, Donal Righ thought wistfully, I should have fallen in love with her. Perhaps I did a little. She was a lovely girl. “What will you do now, my friend?” he asked the younger man.

“Alaeddin and I will take what cargo you can give us and return home to Alcazaba Malina. I am to be married shortly. I will not go to sea again except occasionally.” Karim then went on to explain that he had purchased elephants for Donal Righ rather than the racing camels the merchant had wanted, and told how the enormous beasts had brought the great columns of green agate into the Hall of the Caliphate. “It was a very impressive procession, Donal Righ. It was my eldest brother, Ayyub, who thought to use the pachyderms.”

“Excellent! Excellent!” the Irishman enthused. “You have done me proud, Karim. I shall never be able to properly repay you.” Then he said, “You are to marry? Who is the bride?”

“Her name is Hatiba. Other than that, I know nothing of her. You know our ways, Donal Righ. I’ll never see the girl’s face until after the wedding, when she enters my house and my bedchamber. My mother says she is fair enough. I can only hope my mother is right. My father is ecstatic that I have agreed to wed and provide him with more grandchildren.

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