As promised, this series is going to be a retelling of the epic set of tales that came to be known as Arabian Nights, just the way they should have been told.
All characters are eighteen plus, all readers must be too.
I strongly recommend you to read the first two chapters before starting with this one.
Enjoy
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Sheherazade was glad that her plan was working. She rested all morning and woke up only late afternoon. Dinarzade spelt next to her. The sisters were calm, and even in the face of the danger looming over their heads, they were at peace. They had a plan, and it seemed to be working, bit by bit.
Shaharyar, the Sultan, could decide to end her life any day of his choosing.
Dinarzade clung to her elder sister, unwilling to leave her side with the looming threat. She slept next to Sheherazade.
In the afternoon, when they woke up, Sheherazade and Dinarzade were greeted by her seven maids. Sheherazade was celebrated as if a godsend. She was bathed in milk and water. She was fed the best of fruits and food from the lands. Dinarzade was given a similar royal treatment as Sheherazade.
Later in the evening, the sisters met the Vizier.
"O, father," Sheherazade hugged Vizier and was glad to see him.
Dinarzade followed and hugged the pair.
"O, my benevolent Allah. I thank you a million times for bestowing your mercy on my daughter." Vizier prayed for her daughter.
He kissed Sheherazade's forehead with love and tenderness. Then he kissed Dinarzade's forehead with the same love. He thanked Dinarzade, "I love you even more for sticking with your sister in these difficult times. May God bless you long life."
They sat and chatted for a couple of hours before it was time for Sheherazade to get ready for the Sultan.
After an hour-long massage in scented oils, Sheherazade was cleaned in a mixture of milk, hung curd, honey and water. Sheherazade wore a beautiful mesh veil. Her neck was adorned with pure pearls strung in a thread. Her breasts remained half-covered behind her jewels. A string of gold chain held on her waist a small silk loincloth that covered her pussy mound and little else. Her thighs were shone with sparkling gold dust. Her anklets announced her moves. She was dressed to allure and entice.
Dinarzade was dressed in little more than Sheherazade. She took it all in with delight. She was pampered just like Sheherazade, and she loved it.
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When the anxious Sultan came to meet his wife, Sheherazade, he was pleased to find her waiting in his chambers. As expected, she looked beautiful. Sheherazade looked radiant in her ensemble, and her smile when she saw the Sultan was more than welcoming.
The Sultan could not imagine how Sheherazade, a woman of such young age, knowing that she could soon face death, seem so fearless. The fact that she was welcoming Sultan instead of being scared of him was even more mystifying to him. Sheherazade was enigmatic in her attitude.
Upon seeing the Sultan, Sheherazade got up and bowed a little and welcomed him, "o great Sultan. My greetings."
Sultan smiled towards her and took off his cummerbund and his overshirt.
As the Sultan sat on the bed, on one hip, resting his elbow on the pillow, Sheherazade walked to the tray kept for him. She poured his wine for him and got a bowl of fruits along with it.
Sultan looked at Sheherazade's back, admiring her unblemished skin and glow. Her back was bare from her shoulders to her ankles, encumbered only with intermittent threads of her jewelry and her loincloth. Her figure drew Sultan's excitement.
To a man who had barely slept over the last couple of nights and had attended his royal duties all day, he seemed refreshed. Sultan had trained himself to work with limited sleep because of his long campaigns. Sheherazade came next to him and sat a level lower than him on a stool. She took off his wristband and his anklets. Then she started massaging him slowly on his calves.
Sultan picked up a piece of fruit and sipped some wine.
Sheherazade waited for Sultan to say something first, as was customary.
Sultan asked, "Sheherazade, are you being treated well?"
Sheherazade replied smiling, "O, great Sultan, most graciously. Everyone is kind and respectful to me and treats me like they would a Sultana."
Sheherazade made a blunder referring to herself as Sultana. The Sultan remembered his beloved Morsal, the original Sultana, and immediately, his expression changed to disdain and anger.
Sheherazade instantly realized as the Sultan tensed up. She tried hard to compensate.
It took the Sultan long to calm down.
To change the direction of the conversation, Sheherazade offered on her own, "O great Sultan, If you want, I can continue the story that got left half untold."
Sultan was surprised at the confidence of Sheherazade and nodded. She did not seem to care that the end of the story also meant the end of her life at daybreak.
When Alibaba, Afsa, and Liba regrouped later that night, she told them everything and what she had done.
Afsa and Alibaba both protested and told her, "Liba, you should not have done that. Putting your own life in danger was not a smart thing to do. No amount of money, gold, or wealth is precious to us than your life."
Liba tried to explain, but it was all in the past now. She had exhibited extreme courage and presence of mind at that moment.
All three of them resolved that they would face danger together. Alibaba said, "Under no circumstances, any one of us would be left alone now. No matter what. We stay together at all times."
Alibaba was trying to be brave, he had never been in such a situation before. Violence was not a natural trait of his.
On the one hand, they stayed indoors, not venturing out. On the other hand, they ensured there were always many people coming and going to their home, so as to deter the thugs from making a move. Slowly they added some arms to fight back, added a couple of servants who were strong and well built.
The bandits, on their part, were perturbed at the development. When the leader came to know of the cross sign incident made of coal, he understood instantly what was going on. He knew that their plan to strike has got revealed. So he changed the strategy to figure out the intruder's house and to take revenge.
The leader appointed four of his trusted men from the forty thugs and deployed them to spy and investigate. Their task was solely to find out the home of Jamaal and his family.
It did not take long for them to find this out. A week later, the house had been identified, and a plan was getting chalked out. Their cross strategy having got discovered it was clear that they had been made out. The leader of the bandits assumed the members of Jamaal's family must have prepared for an attack by now. So he ruled out a straightforward armed attack, unsure of the possible fightback.
Having identified the house, the leader took it upon himself to lead the plan. He disguised himself as a trader and reached out to Alibaba. He shaved himself clean and presented himself well dressed. At first look, Alibaba could not recognize that this was the gang's leader.
"Alibaba, I hear you are trading in wood. I live in Ankara. I trade in commodities like oil, wood, spices. Do you have ready stock? I would like to purchase, if you do," The gang leader asked.
Alibaba, on impulse, was excited to hear that he was receiving a big query from a trader. These don't come often. All his sales were usually local.
He welcomed the trader in his shop, and an hour and a half later, they struck a deal. An advance of hundred gold coins was handed over to Alibaba as a token for the purchase.
Alibaba, a humble man, offered, "It seems you have been traveling. Please consider my offer to have dinner with me at my home before you leave."
The gang's leader readily accepted. As planned reaching late in the afternoon helped this natural response.
Around dinner, he rolled out the next part of the plan.
"Alibaba, can you suggest a guest house or an Inn around here, so I can stay the night? It's late today, and I do not see it safe to travel through the night with my cargo in the carts." He asked Alibaba.
"Why bother with the formality. You have been a good customer and if you want to stay for just the night my home is available for you. We have enough room." Alibaba offered.
Once again, the gang leader did not need too much convincing to accept this.
Later that night, before retiring, he said, "my carts are full with a few barrels of oil. If you allow them to be unloaded in your barn or your compound, I would be able to sleep at peace. There is always a risk of oil getting stolen. I shall be very grateful for this small favor." Alibaba found no reason to object.
Sheherazade started working her hands on Sultan. He had got drawn into the story and was looking forward to hearing the rest, in anticipation of something interesting. Sheherazade refilled his glass and walked back to her place, snaking her hand into his thighs and reaching for his balls. She played with him with soft hands.
Before going to the guest bedroom, the gang's leader got his barrels of oil unloaded inside Alibaba's courtyard. He paid the cart drivers off for helping unload and send them away. He would not need them for the next part.
He pleaded with Alibaba, "Alibaba, I am tired from a full day's journey and want to rest for an early morning start, tomorrow. Do you mind if I go rest early?"
Alibaba immediately replied, "Most certainly, you must rest. You are welcome to retire now if you want to, and do as you please."
There was no oil in the barrels. The thugs had hidden themselves in all the barrels. As was their plan, at an appropriate time, the gang leader would signal them later in the night, at which time the thugs would come out of the barrels and kill the family, take revenge and recover their lost gold and jewels.
Sheherazade felt Sultan tense up. The thrill was catching up to him.
Before going to sleep, as had been a ritual with the family now, they all checked the doors, windows, alerted the servants. All three of them did their part. While going about doing this, Liba crossed the barrels in the courtyard. As she looked at the barrels, her sixth sense felt something was amiss. But she could not put a finger at what.
