Destiny Enslaved (editing)

Part 5

When I reached Bjorn he took ahold of my binding and steered me away from the haremlik and into the selamlik. We passed the bodies of the eunuchs that they had slain to reach us, including the one who had silently condemned my disregard for my own life- yet more death. Here, thankfully, you could hardly hear the screams of those who remained.

the night was filled with the prayers of men in the mosque nearby. Still, the air reeked of blood as those guards left behind lay in pieces on the floors and beds. I waited for him to take me outside or just take me on one of the nearby mats. Perhaps their leaders preferred privacy whilst forcing women- how was I to know? In any case, the pause as he looked around the room was almost unbearable. Tonight I could tell was going to be full of apprehensive pauses when I wouldn't know if I was going to live or die. 

He didn't do either of the things I expected, however.

He turned back to me and brought out a gold chain from a bag that hung at his waist. He used his sword to point at it then drew a circle with it above him as he looked off in different directions. I followed his eye line each time as they took me down different corridors. Then he let the point of his sword tap the loose hanging gold, making the jewelry jingle. He raised his eyebrows as if he was finishing his question. I could only guess what his question was and if I got it wrong I could be cut down like the rest of them... 

I audibly swallowed and looked back down each of the corridors which branched from the selamlik towards the rest of the alcazar. I disregarded the one which went to the haremlik as obviously, it led them to a different treasure. That left two corridors to check. But I imagined he wouldn't be asking me if he could be bothered sending men to search both directions. The longer these barbarians stayed the longer they risked the master having ridden to the nearest city and collecting an army to retaliate.

So I had a 50/50 chance.

The two corridors looked almost identical. Or at least they would to a foreigner. But I knew the master. And I saw that one passage was washed in lively torchlights of the market which glinted off of the marble floor.

And I recalled my cell. How it only received little light because he locked me in practical darkness and solitude. I felt an old ache of long-festering anger inside of me. but I breathed slowly to quell the storm. I had to have my wits to navigate this new situation.

The long and short was that the master liked to keep his precious things tucked away for himself. He liked knowing that no one else's greedy eyes could look at his treasures. He was a greedy bastard himself- he also liked the dramatic lighting. But this meant that the nicely lit corridor which probably had nice views of the gardens was not the one.

I looked Bjorn in the eye before decidedly pointing down the corridor to my left. The large man looked down the dark corridor and then back at me raising just one eyebrow as if asking are you sure? I nodded my head emphatically. I had confidence that I knew the haram-zadah master.

If I had any hope that Bjorn would just take my word on the matter and leave me to go explore by himself, it was squashed when he pulled a leather binding from his belt and tied it between us. I was going along for the ride.

As we walked down the dark corridor it became apparent that I had chosen correctly. Moving further into the palace we found treasures being displayed all over. Intricate weavings and paintings which depicted great battles and paradises lined the windowless walls. The only reason we could see was the weak light of the city which penetrated the darkness through the vents high above. But Bjorn had no interest in paintings or rare gilded books which were on display, no he wanted gold and jewels.