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Maggie had been told to just wear thehammamtowel that had been left out for her, but being Maggie she also put on her bikini and still felt way too exposed.
‘Shouldn’t I cover up a bit more?’ Maggie checked when Kumu came to collect her.
‘Why?’ Kumu frowned and then let out a giggle. ‘You shall not be walking through the palace! Here...’ She opened a door that Maggie had assumed led to a wardrobe, but instead there were steps. ‘You are in the west wing so you have your own access,’ Kumu explained, with another giggle at the thought of her walking half-naked through the palace. ‘Thehammamis for women.’
‘I see,’ Maggie said, though she didn’t, for Ilyas had told her he was a frequent visitor there and Kumu had said that all the guests loved it.
She guessed the men’s and women’s areas were kept separate and no doubt the royals had an area of their own, as they did in the palace.
They exited the stairs and Maggie was led through a maze of candlelit corridors, lined with intricate tiles that she could just make out were the darkest blue.
It felt like night.
Maggie entered an area where several women awaited. They were all dressed in cream-coloured robes and Kumu explained that the maidens were here to take care of her.
‘Just me?’
‘Just you.’ Kumu smiled. ‘Enjoy.’
It was oddly freeing that there were no others.
And though the maidens laughed as she clung onto her bikini, they were not unkind about it and finally Maggie stripped off and lay down.
She felt horribly awkward at first, yet the women chatted with each other as they scrubbed her with salt. Sometimes they practised a little English and asked if she was okay.
Gradually Maggie was.
Thehammamworked its magic and she lay there with her eyes closed and thought about the tales told around the campfire and could scarcely believe she was actually here, in a part of Zayrinia few knew existed.
Her hair and scalp were massaged with oil and she found out thathalawawas sort of like being waxed, except they were exceptionally skilled at it, compared to Maggie’s occasional poor efforts.
She was exfoliated and tidied to within an inch of her life, and even her eyebrows were threaded.
After her skin had been scrubbed from head to toe she was led to a small area and told to rinse off beneath a stream of water.
It was neither cool nor warm and Maggie stood there for ages, relishing the luxurious experience. But as she made her way back she became a little lost. All the tunnels looked the same and then she entered one that was not familiar, for the tiles were no longer blue. Instead they were a dark crimson and the patterns were more delicate.
She had thought she was in heaven before but this was truly paradise.
The candles were fragrant and the air was richly scented. As she looked at the tiles she saw that, unlike where she had come from, these weren’t patterned; they were, in fact, murals.
And they were stunning. Then, as she narrowed her eyes to see them better, Maggie felt her newly scrubbed skin flush, for they depicted scenes that she had never even imagined—dozens of beautiful, naked, long-haired women and just one man!
Maggie tore her eyes away from the images and saw that there were little fonts built into walls. When she dipped her fingers in, Maggie found they were filled with oil.
She inhaled the sensual fragrance on her fingers and found that she was drawn to look at the images again. Suddenly, from behind her, she heard a burst of laughter. Looking down the candlelit tunnel, she saw a glow of soft light and guessed that the end of this passage housed the harem.
She looked up and, sure enough, she could see a thick velvet rope, like the one in the desert, and she could see the now familiar stream of bells that lined the passageway.
Maggie turned and fled, back to the gorgeous blue tiles where she ran into one of the maidens, who looked troubled when she saw where Maggie had come from.
‘La, la!’the maiden called, telling her, no, she must not go there. ‘Not for you,’ she scolded, wagging her finger.
‘I got lost,’ Maggie said, and, blushing, she apologised as she was led to a seat.
There she had her nails painted the most gorgeous shade of coral. The maidens were really laughing and chatting and Maggie knew it was about her little detour.
She even joined in.
