Once there lived a King who was heartless, who left a trail of broken hearts and he found a gem, a concubine who was adamant to prove that she could entertain him without touching him. And so she began, "Once upon a time..."
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When Dilruba woke up, she was on her stomach with her right knee to her chest. She felt her mouth stick to the pillow covers; she had drooled. She sighed, stirred twice and then sat upright. Rubbing her eyes and cracking her back, she groaned.
A new familiar room greeted her, she panicked for a moment before remembering that she was in the palace. But she tapped the bed, frowning. She did recall sleeping by the window. Then it struck her. She had stirred from her sleep once sometime during dawn. The smell of coffee, wine and sweat enveloped her as she had groaned. She had slightly parted her eyes to see the room moving but was too tired and hence, fell into deep sleep again.
She sighed as she recalled his scent again. He smelled divine, she thought. Most of her clients smelled like cheap alcohol and vomit. She smiled, it was nice. No man had bestowed such affections on her without attaining her body.
I'm overthinking it. She thought. She had learnt it through hard ways that men didn't bestow such affections without greed. She wasn't a common street whore, true, but she felt like she was one here in the palace, to him.
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The maids washed her and then the old lady came in with a maid bringing her dress and she was dressed. Her hair was combed and rubbed with jasmine oil and it was fashioned into a braid. She was offered a platter full of food, steamed long rice with cumin, meat and vegetables, milk and a bowl full of sweet semolina infused in milk with nuts.
The maids and the old lady exited the room and it was already evening. The lamps inside the room were lit, the stars appeared. And so did him.
"I'm early so that I can hear you finish your story and then tomorrow..." He didn't finish it but she knew what he meant. So that tomorrow he can kill her.
He sat on the diwan this time and she sat down on the floor with her knees to her chest. "Go on. I remember you saying that she went back her home realm, what happened after that?"
"Okay. It so happened..."
By and by two years passed and Rabia missed her sister. Her heart was mended and so wearing thick clothes and a shawl, a travelling bag, she decided she would visit her sister.
