85. Sleep (Patreon)

To say that she was uncomfortable with Rani’s decision, was an understatement. Right now, outside of the encampment site, only she and a soldier remained outside. It was this man’s turn to keep guard, no one wanted to be outside on a desert night even if they could rest beside a campfire. If it wasn’t because Aloe believed the tent was more dangerous.

There wasn’t an option to sleep with the guards. At first, it could seem like it, but dissatisfying the sultanzade when she had already taken her decision could be equally as dangerous. Trembling like a captured bunny, Aloe made her way to the emir’s tent, which was unsurprisingly more spacious than her house at the oasis.

Rani rested on a sizeable bed; Aloe was incapable of understanding how the soldiers got it in there when they only brought six camels with them in total. The emir had a book in her hands, candlelight was ever-present in the tent, so many lights on that a commoner couldn’t afford to even light. The princess peacefully read with her lilac nightrobe on, already having forgone her garb a while ago.

There was something about the sight that bewitched Aloe. The emir’s normal clothes didn’t cover much, and she had already seen the woman in the nude once, yet there was a charm to seeing Rani in her nightgown that no amount of nakedness could achieve.

“Would you close the door behind you? A lot of cold air is entering.” Rani said without removing her eyes from her book.

“Oh, sorry.” Aloe’s cheeks turned red, embarrassed at her distraction, and did as commanded.

She didn’t know what to do with her equipment and clothing, so first she left her bag on the inside. Taking advantage of Rani’s lack of focus, Aloe took out her own nightgown and silently started undressing, not even letting her clothes hit the ground. Yet no matter how stealthy she tried to be, it didn’t nullify the fact that they were in the same room and in direct line of sight.

“I have seen you naked already,” Aloe came to a sudden halt as soon as Rani started talking, “I do not understand why you are being this shy about changing clothes.”

“I...” Her shame was palpable.

Rani sighed and the rustle of blankets followed. “I will turn if that pleases you. Take your time.”

Aloe couldn’t understand why Rani was so helpful towards her, she could keep staring directly at her and Aloe would be unable to stop her, but the scribe didn’t refuse the princess’ offer. However, she kept looking at the lying woman as she changed. She doubted Rani would lie, and even less take peaks when she could do so much more, but logic didn’t reign on these lands.

In a matter of minutes, Aloe had removed her desert garb and changed into more comfortable clothing: a set of silken white undergarments and a nightgown. They were, of course, not of her property.

The scribe took a step forward, leaving the entrance, and her feet met with a smooth red carpet. Does she really need a carpet for her tent on a three-day travel? She was wise to keep her questions on her mind. She stopped walking once she stood next to the bed; her hands locked together in nervousness.

“Uhm, Rani?” Aloe rustled her hands together.

“Yes?” The sultanzade turned her back to face her, closing her book with the satisfying thud of paper.

“Where am I supposed to sleep?” Whilst massive, the tent had no furniture to speak of besides the bed and some chairs plus a table, which Aloe assumed the soldiers had assembled right on the spot. It was plain obvious that there wasn’t any other resting place.

“What a silly question.” Rani smiled at her, her lips inviting with their purple dressing. “In this bed.”

As the princess grabbed the blankets by the top and slightly raised them, Aloe almost collapsed on the ground. Her body stopped breathing, making her manually do it, though instead of the nose, air cycled through her mouth.

Aloe wanted to run away.

“Come on, it is getting cold.” Rani patted the bed with her other hand.

There was no option. She knew this travel was not going to be a safe one, no desert travel was safe. But she didn’t fear the lurkers of the night, but those who were supposed to protect her. Biting her underlip, Aloe made her way into the blankets.

She has lied. Aloe thought once her body was covered by the blankets. It’s warm here. The scribe’s trail of thought was broken as the blankets rustled once more. This time Rani found herself only a palm away from her. Her nightgown was more translucid than it seemed from afar, the brighter shade of the woman’s nipples showing.

“I-is something w-wrong?” Aloe resisted defaulting into fetal position.

“No, not at all.” The curvaceous woman’s smile unsettled her to no end. Instead of hiding her body, the blankets only highlighted even more the sultanzade’s curves. “I just find you amusing.”

If Aloe were in a better state of mind, she could have easily disregarded the emir’s words and even come on top as they were offensive, giving her the upper hand in an argument by exploiting the ad hominem fallacy. But alas, she didn’t possess that brain power currently.

“I... uhm...” The best thing she could was hide underneath the blankets.

“Hmm~” Through the cloth, Aloe could hear Rani’s smug melody. “Are you not daring? Going down in such a manner?”

Aloe instantly resurfaced her face in painful red upon hearing those words.

“I- no... I did not... I- uhm... that was not my intention...” She had had classes on speech and debate, diplomacy a part of her education, yet Aloe was unable to recall all those lessons as the princess made her twirl on her hand.

Rani put a hand before her mouth, but no matter how much she tried to cover it, her smile was obvious.

“Good night.” And with that, Rani closed her eyes, as if none of the previous interactions had happened.

Aloe blinked multiple times but otherwise stayed totally still, waiting for the trap to spring free. But there was none. She waited and waited, but nothing happened. Even as Rani cutely snored, her belly rising up and down at a constant rhythm, she could not believe it.

Aloe did not sleep that night.

{*}

“I did tell you to sleep.” Rani laughed as she whipped her reigns, making the camel start moving.

You did, in fact, not say that. Even in her sleep-deprived state, Aloe had enough lingering wisdom to not say that to the emir’s face. Yes, indeed, the scribe hadn’t had a single minute of sleep in the whole night, too terrified for... things to happen to do so. Even the soldiers who had to wake up and do turns had more sleep than her.

“Excuse me, Rani.” Aloe made her camel prance forward, her sluggishness wasn’t transferred to the animal, after all. Though her blinks had awkward lengths to them. “I did not want to perturb your sleep in any shape or form.”

“Sure, let us go with that.” The princess chuckled. “Though it is surprising you are that shy considering how eager and adventurous you were last night.” She raised her voice enough for the soldiers to hear her, accentuating her words carefully.

Aloe hid in her garb, the obvious lies of the words proving too much for her. She could feel the gazes of the soldiers on her back without needing to look.

Once again, they set off into the desert in silence. Sometimes small talk would pop up, but it was mostly between the soldiers, Aloe was too tired to talk, and the soldiers wouldn’t bother the emir unless there was an emergency.

Before she noticed, night came back to haunt them. With tired blinks, Aloe made her way down her mount, only after the camel knelt for her. Even if she fell from the camel’s top height, nothing would happen to her thanks to ‘toughness’ but maybe it was a bit too suspicious if nothing happened on such occasion. Aloe didn’t know if her movements were dictated by logic, paranoia, or exhaustion.

Spending a day without sleeping was not something unbeknownst to her, but staying up to do some work was a lot different when you had ridden for two full days in the desert.

She couldn’t even be bothered to blush as Rani ogled her as she changed into her nightgown. Shame was dead, tiredness was ruler.

“Hmm~” Rani mused once Aloe entered the bed. “Exhaustion suits you well, it makes you cuter.”

“Thanks for the compliments, Rani.” Aloe deadpanned, her eyelids heavier than the heavenly dome above. “Now, if you excuse me, I will take you on your previous offer and sleep.”

Without worrying about the possibility of offending the most powerful woman in the emirate, Aloe closed her eyes. The rustling of clothing caressed her ears.

“You are aware that you are unprotected, right?” Rani whispered; her melodious voice a lullaby for the scribe. “I could do anything to you right now.” The sultanzade’s prancing fingers felt louder than her voice as they roamed the blanket.

Logic dictated that if the emir hadn’t done anything before, she wouldn’t now. The scribe hoped she recognized the bluff correctly, though her mind didn’t give her a lot of leeway.

“Do not wake me if you do so...” Aloe tiredly whispered before she lost consciousness, fatigue finally overtaking her.