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had remained mute as long as she could. “I will become no man’s slave!”
    “Silence, lady, or you’ll get your wish. Take her away and present her to Abdul with my good wishes,” Ishmail told the guards.
    “Wait!” Jamal demanded. “I have a better solution. Give the Berber wench to me. I have need of another slave.”
    Ishmail frowned as he mulled over Jamal’s request. “Why do you wish to burden yourself with such a troublesome slave? Let Abdul tame her. Abdul is a better master than Youssef’s daughter deserves.”
    “Youssef will demand proof that his daughter is not being mistreated before he agrees to stop his raids. Can you be certain Abdul won’t kill Zara after she cuts him to pieces with her sharp tongue?” He shook his head. “Nay, I think not. Youssef has spies everywhere. He will know what is taking place.”
    “The princess has a magnificent body,” Ishmail allowed. “Perhaps you can find some use for her. I can’t be bothered with reluctant maidens, but you are young and vigorous and might enjoy the fight. Still… I will give her to you only if you promise to make her pay for defiling me with her spittle.”
    “Slay me and be done with it!” Zara spat.
    Jamal sincerely wished he could gag Zara. Her mouth would be her undoing if she didn’t shut up. “I will endeavor to teach Princess Zara humility, my lord, and administer discipline when necessary. As my slave, she will obey or surfer the consequences. For her affront to your person, she will toil in the stables for an indefinite period. She will rake dung alongside the stable slaves, sleep on straw and share their crude meals.”
    The sultan smiled. “That’s a start, Jamal. Your haughty princess will soon learn who is master and who is slave. Once she is taught submission, she may prove useful in your bed, but I don’t envy you that task.”
    “Then she is mine?” Jamal asked, concealing his pleasure. The sultan was a cruel and perverse man; one never knew where one stood with him.
    “You were promised a reward for your service, Jamal. Consider the woman your prize. If you’d rather have gold, speak now and I will give the woman to Abdul.”
    Jamal had a niggling feeling that one day he might wish he’d taken gold instead of Zara, but some internal demon demanded that he not abandon the courageous princess. He knew he was biting off more than he could chew, that Zara was a troublesome female, but he looked forward with relish to the confrontation. Zara was a beauty worth taming and he was just the man to tame her.
    “I would have the woman, my lord,” Jamal said, sending Zara a look that warned her to silence.
    “She’s yours,” Ishmail decreed. “Take her frommy sight, she offends me. If keeping her alive will prevent her father from plaguing me, then I am happy you are the one who must deal with her.”
    Caught between the restraining grip of Ishmail’s guards, Zara sent Jamal a scathing look that spoke volumes about her feelings. Stable slave, indeed. Well, she’d prefer to muck camel dung than to let Jamal use her body. Besides, once her father learned of her fate, he’d not let her languish long in Jamal’s stables. Youssef was resourceful; he’d find a way to free her from her onerous role as slave, and soon she’d be riding at his side, where she belonged.
    Jamal snatched Zara’s robe and shirt from the floor and wrapped them around her. “We’re leaving immediately for Paradise,” he said, hustling her from the hall.
    “Paradise, ha!” Zara sneered. “Hades, you mean.”
    Before she could say anything further, Jamal scooped her into his arms and carried her away from the glowering sultan.

Chapter Three
     
    Jamal carried Zara from the Hall of the Sulanate and into a nearby alcove, where they were hidden from the curious stares of guards, supplicants, merchants and servants milling about in the outer ward. Zara struggled to hold her robes about her as Jamal set her on her feet.
    “Turn around