The Harem- The Burning Beauty

Chapter Twenty Five-What Was Once Mine...

    A gentle breeze carried through the alcove; brushing Camellia’s hair into a gentle wisp. She was staring out over the balcony at the moon that was golden and full in the sky. It was beautiful over the flow of flowers and little statues below in Julius’ garden. As she watched the moon appear to get fuller, her mind began the process all over again. There was something awfully suspicious about all that had transpired so far; by all she meant nothing. Basically, there was only one more night left in the Midnight Ball and nothing had occurred at first glance, out of the way, but Camellia had been watching.

    First suspect: Abigail. The woman had shown up on the second night, did not sociably interact with Julius, Marcus, Simone and most certainly not Camellia. She had distracted herself every night with the company of other guests, but every night she found herself before Uri. The one person that Camellia was hoping that she never met but they were getting closer. Camellia had watched them chat aimlessly about what she hoped was nothing but oddly enough though she felt otherwise, they acted as if they had never met each other prior to the ball. It could be so, but Camellia was a master at body language and she could tell from just the way Abigail was suddenly comfortable and quick to touch someone like Uri that they had met before. And considering Uri was not the sort of person that allowed himself to be touched by anyone, it made her level of suspicion rise further. She could just be paranoid; she thought as she folded her arms under her breasts and leaned against a pillar. Then again, she could be as she normally was: right.

Then there was Uri. He alone was a mystery and a very repetitious one at that. Every night, when the time had come to socialize with the guests, he would find her and asked her to his chambers. She would always answer the same way; telling him that she would lay with her master and only he could grant her the permission to leave his chambers for another. Thinking that he would confront Julius and ask him for the permission she had mentioned, she would wait to hear Julius mention it at the end of the night, but find that Uri’s requests had been solely for her. If he truly wanted her in his chambers, could he not just push the issue with Julius? What was keeping him from simply demanding it as an honorary guest? Technically, Uri had the power to do just that but no, he never acted on it. Perhaps she was over thinking things, but Camellia would rather be pessimistic and proven wrong that optimistic and proven wrong. That was why she had made necessary arrangements with Hana. If all went wrong and she was left defenseless, Hana and Simone would be the key to it all.

“Are you in hiding again?”

Camellia jolted back to the place she stood on the balcony and turned to see the voice that had interrupted her. It was Julius of course; seeking her out to begin yet another night. She turned completely; dressed from head to toe in golden lace and silk. There was shimmering detailed embroidery on her halter which tied at the back of her neck and at her back. Though the top ended just beneath her breast, the golden sash wrapped about her waist in a crisscrossing action and tied in a knot that resembled a rose at her back. Tonight she wore silk harem pants that were opaque and fit wonderfully to her physique. There were two gold bands around her upper arms that gleamed in the glow of the moon. Tonight, her hair had been swept up atop her hair with a lovely long bang falling into her lashes. A thin gold line of chain fell from where her hair gathered and from it dropped a tiny diamond that nestled in the soft lush fall of her bangs. Camellia was a dream in the glow of the moonlight and it made Julius breath catch just seeing her there. He had to get closer.

“You snuck up on me.” She said as she watched him draw closer to her. Camellia tilted her head back to keep eye contact with him and sighed when his hands slid around her waist. She slid her palms over the silky fabric of his shirt and smiled at how soft it felt against her skin and how warm it was with his body in it.

“Are you well my love?” He whispered; his breath against the top of her ear. Camellia nodded her answer so that she could feel his lips caress the sensitive lobe.