Dunes of Gor Chapter Twenty One

Chapter Twenty One: The Landsraad

“Javad Mohsen, commander of men,” said Reyhan as she knelt primly in tower beside a low table to the side. “Please, will you share tea with me?” She gestured to a pot and two small glasses, and a small bowl of sugar with a silver spoon. 

“Lady,” said Javad as he removed his scimitar from his belt and placed it, still in its scabbard, on another low table. He then sat down opposite, crossing his legs in the manner of men. “Tea is always a welcome offering.”

“I will serve you tea,” said Reyhan. She was modestly dressed with full hijab and veils and she reached for the pot, pouring a small measure of tea into the two tiny glasses. She then spooned generous measures of sugar into each glass, for the tea in the Tahari is sweetened to give energy. Reyhan had dispensed with the services of a slave girl and was serving tea herself. In doing so she was honouring the man, for free women of status would not personally pour tea to any but an honoured guest. Javad noticed this of course. 

“I hope the tea finds favour with you,” she said as she placed the first of the small glasses before him. Reyhan waited until her guest had raised the glass and placed it to his lips before she too lifted her own.

“It is good tea,” said Javad. “Very good tea. You buy the finest, it seems.”

“We serve the finest,” said Reyhan, softly. They sat in a pleasant room of the Keep overlooking the gardens below. Gardens in the desert were a rarity, but this one was cultivated carefully with irrigation fed by water from the well springs situated deep within the bedrock. In the desert men will only build their Kasbahs where there are natural sources of water. To do otherwise would be insane. 

“I wish to thank you for the work you put in to secure and prepare this keep before we arrived. It is appreciated.”

“I am at your service, Lady,” said Javad. He wondered why he was actually here. And why now. Daan Shahzad had taken one hundred lances into the desert to inspect and review the various Kasbahs, villages and wells within the area that he was now responsible for. It was a sensible thing for a new governor to do, and he wanted to catalogue his holdings sooner rather than later. A wise man always sought to see for himself the lay of the land ahead of any possible trouble. This had left the Keep itself in the stewardship of his captains, and of course the Lady herself. Reyhan had waited until Daan had left the Keep before she had extended an invitation to tea to the captain of the Sardaukar.

“I feel safer knowing that, Sir,” said Reyhan. The serving of tea was not without significance in the desert. It was the pre-eminent way of extending courtesy to guests and promising them safety and hospitality. One did not share tea with one’s enemies, of if one did, they would no longer be enemies for the time they enjoyed your hospitality. Tea was often drunk three cups at a time, and so as soon as Javad finished his first small glass, Reyhan refilled it, adding more sugar. The sugar was brown and sticky, like treacle sugar. Only when the third glass was shared between them both, did Reyhan speak further.

“Are you free companioned?” she enquired.

“No, Lady, that honour has not been mine. The military life makes it difficult. I would not wish to leave a free companion alone for long periods of time. It would not be fair on her. Also, if I am being honest, my tastes lie elsewhere.”

“Slaves?” suggested Reyhan.

“Slaves. They are less demanding, if you will excuse my words.”

“A good free companion is not demanding,” said Reyhan. “She supports her man and complements his strength.”

“I am sure that is the case,” said Javad politely. “I am sure you complement your companion in many ways.”

“Do you have children?”

“No. One day, perhaps. That will require a companion of course. Then I may take a woman for a year or so. If she provides me with children, I may renew the companionship for the sake of the children.”

“Children are a blessing from the Priest Kings.”

“I agree. They give our lives meaning and purpose. One day I hope to have my own. But there are no guarantees with the life I lead. Lady, if you don’t mind me cutting through this polite talk, why did you invite me here?” 

“I have a request.”

“Oh?” Javad put down his glass and sat up straight. “Does this request come from you or your honoured companion?”

“I think…” Reyhan’s eyes crinkled slightly in a smile above her veils, “you know the answer to that already.”

“Perhaps. It is unusual for the Lady of the Keep to make a request directly. Shouldn’t your request be conveyed through your companion?”

“Daan is not presently here,” she said.

“Then perhaps we should await his return?” The question was a test.

“It is an urgent matter. It cannot wait.”

“I see.” So, thought Javad, she doesn’t want her companion to know about this, whatever this may be. 

“I need an escort. Twenty Sardaukar.”

“Twenty Sardaukar…” Javad commanded fifty such men here at Al-Quada-a-Dhum. They were, by order of the Emir, at the service of House Shahzad, though unknown to the Shahzads, Javad also possessed secondary orders of a far more secret kind. “And where are you planning on going, Lady, that you feel the need for twenty of my lances?”

“Into the desert.”

There was silence in the room for a while. Javad Mohsen said nothing. He knew that by saying nothing, the Lady would have to speak some more. Finally she did.

“It is important.” 

Javad still said nothing. 

“I wouldn’t ask otherwise.” 

Still nothing. 

“I would wish to leave as soon as possible.”

“Pour me tea,” said Javad with a smile. “We should drink more tea.” He motioned towards the small glasses. Reyhan did as he asked and served more tea in the fashion of the desert women. As Javad nursed his fourth cup of hot, sweet tea, he asked, “Why do you not take your own lances?”

“I have my reasons.”

“Does the Khuda know anything of this? Anything at all?”

“No.” Reyhan’s voice remained calm, though her hands shook just slightly as she poured herself a fourth glass of hot tea. “But what I do, I do for him.”

“I see. And where in the desert do you plan to go?”

“It is a small Kasbah at the well of Al Janish. I will take tea with my sister there.”

“Why does she not come here? Your tea service here is exemplary.”

“I am sure you have heard of the situation that currently exists between House Shahzad and House Sasani.”

“Word has reached me of a dispute. Hashim Sasani has spoken to the great Houses of the Landsraad, claiming that your free companion has abducted his eldest daughter. I assume this accusation is baseless, for such a thing is taboo amongst the Landsraad.” Javad sipped his tea as he watched the Lady’s eyes closely. Men learned quickly to read the emotions and expressions of a woman through her eyes.

“The accusation is not baseless,” said Reyhan softly. “We have Aleah Sasani.”

“Are you insane?!” Javad hadn’t expected this might actually be the case. “You have abducted a daughter of a High House of the Landsraad? Is this some form of suicide? You admit this openly?”

“Only to you, and I do so out of dire necessity, because I know you will not help me unless I tell you the truth.”

“I see no reason to help you at all, Lady. House Shahzad will be confronted by an alliance of Houses, furious that you have done this. Why have you done this?”

“Because…” Reyhan gathered her strength. “Because, our eldest daughter has also been abducted.”

“Serafina?” Javad looked surprise. “She is resident in this Keep! If someone has abducted her under my watch… I don’t know what to say…” 

“No, she was abducted before we came here. The woman who appears to be Serafina is Aleah. We are concealing her presence here in plain sight. She wears garments belonging to my daughter and resides with Jaleesa. The girls were always very close. We have not made public Serafina’s disappearance, for Daan already suspects that it is House Sasani that took her as the first play towards striking at us, because we were awarded governorship of this province. Daan abducted Aleah in response.”

“Then you should make a counter accusation to the Landsraad, because they will destroy you otherwise, Lady. You cannot stand against them all. Why have you not accused House Sasani of starting this?”

“Because… Javad… I do not personally believe that Sasani has done this. Daan moved with rage in his heart. I think he now understands he moved too quickly and perhaps rashly, before any facts could be known. I have reached out to my sister. Do you understand how politics works in the Landsraad?”

“Not really. You scheme like sleen. It is difficult to follow.”

“The face of power resides of course with our men. They are the heads of the Landsraad, but behind the scenes it is the women who maintain a network of channels to speak to one another. Even at times like this. The women of the Landsraad operate spies and communicate between one another through secret channels when our men either cannot, or refuse to, due to stubborn pride. I have to resolve matters before they explode into war. You are right, Javad, we may have done something very rash and provocative.”

“We?” asked Javad.

“I do not distance myself from the actions and decisions of my free companion.”

“You advised otherwise though?”

“I did. But when my companion makes his decision, I stand with him, despite my reservations. He speaks for us both.”

“Admirable, I suppose. You are a good free companion, Reyhan. But still, why do you need my lancers? You have your own.”

“I have asked my sister to parlay on neutral territory. A cousin of ours controls the kasbah of Al Janish, near here, with eighty-five lances, and so it is neutral territory, as he is cousin to both of us. But I have abducted Laleh’s daughter. The normal rules of parlay will not apply. I know my sister. She is planning to break parlay and abduct me. It is the way politics works in the Landsraad. She has accepted parlay because it is an opportunity to lure me outside of the halls of the Keep of Al-Quada-a-Dhum, where she cannot touch either me or Jaleesa. She will intend treachery. This is understandable. I have abducted her daughter. Any mother would want revenge for that. Any mother. But if I arrive with an escort of Sardaukar, she cannot move against me. No House of the Landsraad would dare to attack the Emir’s personal guard. I would be untouchable while I ride with you. Furthermore, until I have an arrangement in place to present to my beloved, it is best that his men do not hear or see what I am doing. They would report back to him, and he would demand answers. I will tell my beloved everything, but the time and place must be right. This is the way we do things - us women of the Landsraad.”

“And do you plan treachery of your own against your sister?”

“No.” Reyhan’s eyes remained steady.

“And would you tell me if you did?”

“No.” Again, her expression seemed impassive.

Javad smiled at that token of honesty. “Women! The world would perhaps be a better place if you were all collared and kept in chains at our feet.”

“Perhaps,” said Reyhan. “But in the meantime we scheme like cunning sleen on behalf of our men.” 

“Just what do you hope to achieve?”

“To convince my sister that a mistake was made. To offer terms of reparation, and to beg her on my knees for mercy. She will enjoy seeing me squirm. She will counter offer the level of reparations to humiliate me, but I will accept her terms to save my House. She will then leave to persuade her companion, and I will have to persuade Daan. It is the only way disaster can be averted.”

“And Daan knows nothing of this?”

“No. I have yet to speak of this to him. This is what women do. We work to save lives from pointless conflict. Help me, Javad Mohsen. I will pay you.”

“Pay me?” Javad regarded the Lady.

Reyhan slipped a jewelled ring from one of her hands and placed it on the rugs before them. “This is valuable. It would purchase several tarns. I have more jewellery if it is not enough.”

Javad picked up the ring and examined it slowly, turning the gold and the gemstones to the light that shone through the windows of the keep. “I am not a sell sword, Lady.” He placed the ring back down on the rug. “You mistake me for a mercenary?”

“Please.” Reyhan opened the palms of her hands before him. “Help me save lives. Help me restore peace in the Landsraad. This is what women do.”

Javad Mohsen rose from the floor without saying anything. He turned and picked up his sword scabbard from the nearby table and buckled it back to his waist.

“Please,” begged Reyhan once again. “I will pay any price. Help me broker peace. For the sake of my daughters, if not for me or Daan.”

“Have a plain kurdah prepared, on a good, strong, kaiila. I will have your escort ready in four hours.” 

“Thank you.” The relief was palpable in the tone of Reyhan’s voice. 

“How do you plan on evading your own guards? Daan has men watching you and Jaleesa every hour of the day. They will not permit you to simply climb into a kurdah and leave with my lances. They will insist on travelling with you, or will even prevent you from leaving without the Khuda’s direct orders.” 

“I have a personal slave who bathes and dresses me each day. Her name is Sarissa. She will come to my rooms today at the appropriate hour. She will then leave again in the black haik worn by slaves when they are sent on errands into town.”

“Ah.” Javad nodded as he understood. “I suspect she will not actually be wearing that haik?”

“No.” There was a slight blush under Reyhan’s veils that was imperceptible to the Sardaukar commander. “I shall wear the slave haik. I will have a pass permitting me to leave the keep. It will be signed by Sarissa’s Mistress.”

“I see. You will then be able to move freely about this place, while your guards believe the Lady Reyhan still resides in her private rooms?”

“It is as you say.” 

“And this haik garbed slave girl will meet my lances?”

“She will.”

“I have a suggestion then,” said Javad as he paused by the door. “It may be best that my men do not fully understand this deception. If you truly wish this rendezvous to be secret, then I shall not tell them who you are. You can travel in the kurdah as a slave, as far as they are aware. When we reach the Kasbah I will conduct you to the meeting place and arrange for you to speak in private with your sister. Then I will return you to the kurdah and take you back here to the Keep.”

“You suggest I pose as a slave during the journey?” Reyhan’s eyes flashed angrily above her veil.

“You already will be as you pass through the keep, walking in your slave haik. I merely suggest we extend the deception, and then only I will know your secret plan. Also, it will be easier to guard a slave girl in a kurdah. You would then only have to travel in a slave kurdah, rather than the richly decorated, elaborate kurdah of a Lady of high status.”

“A slave kurdah?”

“It would be less of a target. I have twenty lances with me, but even so, I would rather not use them in needless skirmishes with desert raiders. A slave kurdah is hardly a prize worth risking your men over. Whereas the rich kurdah of a Lady might be.”

“No.” Reyhan shook her head. “I will travel as a free woman.”

“Then I suggest you find another Sardaukar commander to convey you. Because those are my conditions. Take them or leave them, Lady.”

“Wait! Please!”

“I am a busy man, Lady. I enjoyed taking tea with you. But I have many things to attend to still. I will have twenty lances on standby in four ahn’s time. If a slave in a black haik presents herself in the courtyard, she will be taken out into the desert of the Kasbah. If she doesn’t appear, then I will tell my men to stand down after, say, fifteen ehn. One last thing. The girl will be naked under the haik.”

“No,” said Reyhan.

“She will of course be collared.”

“Impossible.”

“And she will be sensuously belled.”

“Unacceptable!”

‘’Do not neglect that detail. Maybe I will see a slave in a black haik later this day. Or maybe not. Thank you again for the tea, Lady.”