One Enchanted Night

Excerpt from: One Enchanted Night

Night had fallen in the ancient city of Suzin, and although the moon was high in the sky, the narrow alleyways that wound through the clustered buildings of the city were shadowed and filled with mystery.

Yasmin’s blood raced as she made her way to the soothsayer’s house. She had her veil across her face and her head lowered, lest she be recognised. No one knew of her intentions—not even her sister—and she wished to keep it that way. She had dismissed the servants and informed her family that she would not be visiting tonight, after all. Instead, she was here, in the very heart of the city.

She hurried along the Street of Many Women, where the taverns heaved with merchants who had pockets full of coins after a good day in the souk. Weaving her way amongst the revellers who were on their way home, she saw the women of the night who sought their customers amongst them. Yasmin looked at the whores with curiosity. A group of three of them were gathered together, gossiping in low voices beside an open doorway. The corridor beyond was fully lit and inviting.

One of them noticed Yasmin looking their way and put her hands on her hips, stepping closer to her as Yasmin passed. The woman’s low-slung skirts bared her midriff, and a jewelled bodice barely covered the outline of her full breasts. The woman grinned at Yasmin, swirling her hips provocatively and gesturing towards the doorway. “You seek company, lady? We have women who can bring you much pleasure. Men too, if that is what you prefer. Anything you desire is possible.”

Yasmin shook her head and hurried on, but glanced back at the woman as she did so. They did not have what she desired. No, a bought lover was not what she was here for at all. Even so, it made her hot and restless as she considered what might be going on inside the whorehouse. The lusty women made her even more aware of her physical needs, needs that had not been fulfilled for some time. It was as if lust filled her every thought and permeated the air around her, everything conspiring to make her even more aroused than she already was. The desire that had built inside her over the previous weeks was now nagging at her most insistently, eager for satiation.

She definitely needed the soothsayer’s guidance.

Mercifully, she reached her destination soon after. She’d been told a wooden sign over the door marked the house, and that it was close to the Inn of the Wealthy Merchant. Music and merriment spilled from the doorway of the Inn, and beyond it she saw the place. The soothsayer’s name was carved onto the sign over the door.

Mistress Munya, Soothsayer and maker of spells.