“Come, Amir. I won’t ask more questions if you do not wish to answer.”

“I will answer you. I am just surprised that in all my years on this island not one of my girls has ever asked me such a thing.”

“Never? Not even Laila?”

“No. We grew up together and have come to a point of being able to read each other without words.”

“Laila has an effect on all of us here. I did not tell you, but without her I never would have felt welcome. She is a good sister.”

Silence fell between them again. Amir sat at her side, his finger dipped into the pond to attract the koi to the surface. Their golden backs broke the surface, then retreated to the bleak dark bottom.

“Jinan, the only way for you to come out of this state is to stand upon the auction block.”

She gave a heavy sigh and closed her eyes as the axe fell upon her dreams, opening her mind to reality.

“It hasn’t been a year. You always give us time between auctions.”

“This is the only way for you to stop thinking of your Rothburn.”

“It’s not the way, Amir. You need to let me go, whether you believe it or not.”

“I have told you this is not something I’m willing to do.”

She bowed her head, threaded her fingers together, and asked the only question left to her, “When?”

“Tomorrow.”

Her head snapped up. “Amir. It’s too soon—”

“No, it’s not.” He took her face in his hands and his black eyes stared deeply into hers. “You will do this. I am not giving you a choice, Elena.”

A great sob of distress, of objection, escaped her. “I am not she.”

“Then stop this sadness, this dismal moping, Jinan.” His voice was harsh. Harsher than she’d ever heard it. He’d always been such an easy man to talk to. Until now.

“I’m sorry,” she said pathetically.

“Are you?” His hands tightened to a vise on either side of her face; his mouth lowered to hers, coaxing a reaction to prove her undying servitude. “Are you?”

She couldn’t do it, tried without success to pull away, gave a short whimper of objection before his lips met hers. She clenched her mouth tight, and her eyes welled up and flowed in a stream of shame down her face. She closed her eyes, nostrils flaring, and tried to hold back her sobs of heart-wrenching pain.

He shoved her away from him with a growl of frustration. She fell to the side, off the ledge of the fountain, and her knees landed hard in the packed sand. She pulled herself together as quickly as she could, wiped the tears from her face, and bowed to the ground in apology to her master.

She could hear the soft shush of his slippers as he paced.

“You’ll stand before the patrons tomorrow. You’ve no choice in the matter,” he shouted, startling her. He never shouted.

She crawled to him again. “Please don’t do this to me. I beg of you, Amir.”

She clasped onto his ankle and laid her gratitude at his feet in sobbing, salty kisses. He kicked her away as gently as he could, but dislodged her with enough force that her palms landed sharply on a bed of rocks. She would not beg any further for he’d not be so kind a second time.

Keeping her head and body bowed to the ground, she waited for his anger to lessen.

For long moments he said nothing. Then the swish of his feet receded as Amir left her bowing alone in the gardens around her. She didn’t know why she was so sad or why she couldn’t find it in her to rise. Instead she sobbed into the earth that held her in this world of hell and eternal sadness. Would standing on the auction block wash her heart of love? It had to for her to endure this life again.

The auction was to be a cure for this madness.

She sobbed harder, her body shaking uncontrollably, her fingers digging between the stones that made the walkway here. She felt no pain and desperately wanted to.

Arms came around her. More than one pair. They held her without words, caressing her back, warming her chilled skin where the silk did not cover her. They comforted without questions.

Her sisters.

The women she’d neglected this past month.

How foolish of her to deny the love of her sisters. Had she forgotten so easily that they’d sustained her since she’d first arrived here? Had she forgotten that they’d always made the day more pleasant, more bearable? They gave her reason to go on, to never falter in her life as Jinan.

When her distressed sobs ceased, she was led to her room. She paid no heed; she cared not about the material things surrounding her. Someone stripped off her outer skirts and placed a light blanket over her. She stared at nothing in particular—unable to close her eyes, unable to sleep even though her body was so worn out.

One sister climbed in behind her and wrapped a comforting arm about her middle and brushed her fingers through Jinan’s hair.

Still she did not close her eyes. “I can’t—”

“Shh. I know, sister. Sleep. We will work it out tomorrow.”

“It’ll be too late, Laila.”

“No, it will not. Sleep or you’ll be in no state to defend yourself, little sister.”

Jinan was too tired even to cry. Simply put, she was too worn down. Tears silently slipped down the side of her face, running down her cheeks onto the pillow.

“Why can’t I do this, Laila? Why?”

“Don’t worry on it now. I’ll talk to Amir in the morning. Just sleep.”

“I can’t find myself again. Do you understand that?”

“I know what you must feel. You loved him, didn’t you? Is that why he took you away?”

“Yes. He loves me.”

“You cannot always trust a man’s words.”

“He did not need to speak for me to know the truth and depth of his emotions.”

Laila gave a soft chuckle. “It is always the quiet ones we must be careful of.”

“I knew him, Laila. From before . ”

“Ah, you see, this makes sense to me now.”

“I don’t think it does. I never aspired to marry him. He was so far above my station and rank. Now more so—”

“Let go, Jinan. It does you no good to hold on to this past. You cannot have a future with him. You should understand this more than most, hmmm? This is your life, little sister. This is our life.”

She curled into a ball to ease the pains building in her stomach from all the crying. Laila wrapped herself around her back, attempting to comfort her.

“I know. I’m trying to forget . ” She sobbed again. “I’m trying so hard to forget.”

But how did one forget her first love? Her only love? Forget the person who captured your heart and made you want so much more?

“My eyes are red and swollen.”

“Maram has gone to get cold water. It will help. You must trust me in this.”

“Look at me, Laila. I look the mess I feel inside.”

“Trust yourself. You will get through this night.”

Jinan stared at her sister in the looking glass. It did no good to argue. Amir had come down after morning prayer to make sure she knew her duty. She was not foolish enough to think she could have any life aside from this. There was no choice other than the one Amir had given her. It was his will that she be sold on the auction block.

She’d given him a succinct nod, and gone on to the bathing house for the remainder of the morning. Maram had threaded the hairs that had shown themselves in the last few weeks of neglecting her body. She felt a new woman, almost.

Almost.

Part of her was missing. A big part. She felt like an empty, pitiful, soulless husk.

Hopefully, in time, she would forget Rothburn. As unlikely as it seemed now, she could only hope time and distance would have mercy on her battered heart. Laila pulled up some curls and pinned them around the bauble that held the veil.

Forever hidden behind the veil she would remain.

What she needed to tell herself was that Rothburn had made this life worse for her. If not for him, she’d have no qualms about her place in the palace, or of her duties as a harem girl.

“Who is scheduled for the auction tonight?” Normal talk would help her focus on the task at hand.

“Amir said some members of the Russian embassy, Villieux and his lot, Asbury, I imagine. He said something about it being a small affair tonight with all the high bidders. All here for your charms, I believe. Don’t look at me like that. I am telling you the truth so you will be better prepared. I think Amir is angry with himself for having let you slip away. He was livid when you escaped from the palace.”

“I had no choice in the matter.”

“I never said you did. But he still adores you, Jinan. Do you not see that?”

“If he adored me, he’d do as I begged him last night.”

Laila raised one brow in question. “Do you really think he would let Rothburn keep his talons in you for the rest of your days here? He wants you to forget. This is the only way he knows to ensure you forget your time with that man. A man you obviously care for deeply, more so than your own master.”

Put that way, it started to make more sense. Amir was angry she didn’t hold him in as high a regard. How could he expect such a thing when he never gave her more than the security of this home? Laila pulled the laces closed at the back of her vest. The red and gold brocade cinched under her breasts, lifting them, putting them out on display for her observers. She sighed in disgust at the sight, and her resignation did not go unnoticed by Laila.

“It won’t be so bad. There are no cruel masters here tonight.”

“I feel ill with the thought of fucking with any of them.”

Laila clucked her tongue at the use of so strong and foul a word. “Think of your Rothburn if you must, or even Amir. You know it’s worked well for me when I’ve gotten a lord I do not find any attraction in.”

“I doubt that will help me tonight.” She lifted the diamond-and-ruby-studded hairpins for Laila to take. “Will you put these through the veil loops, please?”