It was a beautiful spring day. Birds were singing, wild flowers were sprouting and we were riding towards our doom. More than fifty of us rode out of the school that day not knowing that less than half will come back alive. At first we were excited to be part of this expedition but as the days went by our excitement turned to dread. We were all surprised to see the state to which the caliphate had deteriorated in the past years due to famine and unrest. We had heard rumors but seeing was an entirely different story. Complete villages were abandoned, fields were barren and people were starving in their homes. We saw soldiers which turned into bands of marooning thieves and cutthroats roaming the countryside. But no one dared to challenge us. We were very well armed, our training was the best in the Fatimid empire and the weapons we openly wielded were proof of that.
Master Badr al-Jamali was at the head of our contingent as we rode north along the banks of the Nile river. By all military standards we were not considered a large army division merely a small platoon. The master had divided us into four squads with eight to ten soldiers each and corporal Ali was put in command of our squad.
“Corporal,” master Badr called to Ali, “I need to send you on a mission. Pick one of your troops and meet me in my tent in an hour.”
I don’t know why Ali picked me, maybe he thought I was the best swordsman in his squad. I should have abstained however I was a soldier and I had to follow my commanders orders. We entered the master’s tent and stood in attention waiting.
“So you chose John to go with you on this mission,” Badr said, “that is good,” and I smiled proudly. If I had known what was to come I would not have been grinning like a stupid idiot. How foolish I was then and I how foolish I still am now.
“I have not told anyone about our destination and neither shall you two understand,” Badr commanded.
“Yes sir,” Ali and I both answered.
Master Badr began to explained, “we are going north to Dimyata on the Mediterranean Sea. We have heard rumors about some strange troop movements in the city which we need to investigate. We have also been told that some nearby Arab tribes are making trouble in the region so we are here to help the governor establish order in his city.”
“But what do you want us to do sir?” Ali asked.
“I do not like to go into a place without knowing what is going on first,” Badr said, “you are to go to Dimyata and see what is really happening if anything. Then you are to report to me in three days. Meanwhile we will maintaining a distance of ten miles from the city waiting for you to come back.”
“But sir I am a squad leader. Isn’t this a task suitable for a spy,” Ali tried to convey his objections on the mission believing he was more useful commanding his squad then snooping around in a strange city.
“SOLDIER,” master Badr shouted out and Ali sprang to full attention knowing he made a mistake voicing his opinion like that.
“You will follow my orders with out questions UNDERSTOOD,” Badr snapped at Ali.
“I am sorry sir,” Ali said, “we will.”
“But now that you did I will tell you why I chose you,” Badr explained, “You know that Dimyata is a strategic town. It is located at the entrance to the Nile river. It is also one of the main ports on the cost and the gate to the Sinai desert. Therefore whoever controls that city can cut off Egypt from Palestine and they could stage an all out occupation of Egypt. I am the governor of Acre in Palestine and I would hate to be cut off from the rest of the Fatimid empire if anyone thinks of occupying this city.”
Badr stopped to let the information sink into our heads, “so I need a soldier who is trained in arms and military strategy to understand the situation and report back with troop movements, military strength, wall fortifications, ships in the harbor and the rest. I do not want to send a mere spy to look around and see how the city’s population are fucking one another. DO YOU UNDERSTAND. This is why I am sending you. This is why I have been trying you for.”
“Yes sir,” Ali replied, “with your permission we will leave very early in the morning.” We snapped to attention and left the tent
“Next time remind me not to be with you when you see the master,” I told Ali as we were leaving the master quarters, “you are dangerous to be around you know,” and Ali laughed at my joke only this was the last time he was to do that.
We left at the brake of dawn disguised as two farmers who lost their crops to the draught and were looking for a job in the city. We hoped that this was a good enough excuse to fool the guards to let us into the city gates in addition to a few gold coins to get us through. We were given the most skinniest of horses and were told to leave all our weapons and possessions behind. By the end of the day we reached the gates of Dimyata on the sea. The sun was almost down and we made it before the gates were about to close for the night.
“Where can we find a khan (inn) to rest for the night?” Ali asked the guard at the gate.
“I think you’re out of luck young man,” the guard said, “I believe all the Khans in the city are full of troops. You might try the brothels in the harbor if they’ll let you in. Hahahahahah,” he and the rest of the city guards laughed at us. Brothels don’t usually let in young men like us. Ali was almost eighteen and I was barely fifteen years of age.
As the guard mentioned we could not find anyplace to sleep in town. The city was beaming with soldiers. But who were these men? We wondered and why were they here? However we had to leave our investigations for later. It was getting late and we simply couldn’t sleep on the street.
Finally we tried our luck at the brothels as the guard suggested but finding one wasn’t so easy. Such establishments were considered taboo in Muslim societies however large cities and port towns were always bound to have a few and eventually we managed to find one.
“Get out of here,” the large man behind the bar yelled at us.
“We are looking for a place to sleep for a few days,” Ali asked the man, “we can pay one gold coin each.” I was surprised by Ali’s offering. I remained silent but two gold coins can almost buy this place.
I could see that the large man was thinking about this as I was. Two gold coins was a great deal of money in those days but he was hesitant to let two very young boys in to his place, “you’re too young to be here, so get out,” he shouted again.
As we were about to leave I saw a young girl siting at the other side of the room trying to play the Oud but failing miserably. The sounds coming out of the instruments were squeaking so badly I thought she was about to break the strings. Her voice was even worse. It was clear the girl knew little about music. But I did.
“Ali,” I whispered to my friend, “ask the man if he will let us stay I can play the Oud and entertain his guests.”
Ali knew how good I was so why not give it a try, “sir my brother here is a good Oud player and a singer. If you let us stay he can play for free.”
The large man who was clearly the owner or manger of the establishment thought about what Ali just told him. He felt his customer’s annoyance at the girl pretending to sing and they were definitely not entertained. Some were even about to leave. He had to try something otherwise he was going to loose his business for the night.
“Manna,” he shouted at the girl from across the room and said, “give this kid the Oud and let us see what he can do.”
So I walked towards the poor girl who was almost about to cry. She was clearly scared for letting her boss down. She was even more fearful of what he might do to her afterward. I bowed my head down in respect and said, “my lady,” and she blushed, “can I have the instrument please?” and she handed me the Oud in silence. “The customers in this great establishment clearly do not appreciate how beautiful your voice is, so I’ll try to play a different tune for them if you don’t mind?” I said and she blushed even more.
“Get on with it boy,” the owner blurted out at us, “we don’t have all night.”
I sat down on the chair in the girls’s place and I put the Oud on my lap. I had to adjust the strings which were clearly out of tune. The girl was about to leave when I said, “but my lady, where are you going?”
“But I thought, I thought,” She didn’t know what to think.
“No no I need you here with me,” I told her, “how can I play without a beautiful girl by my side. You’re my inspiration. Besides I want you to sing with me tonight. Will you?” and she turned red all over. She just melted on the floor next to me and put her hand on my other lap. Yep that is the inspiration I needed and I started to play.
Of course I was good. I was excellent and the owner just beamed from joy at the sound of my voice as did his customers. He was probably counting in his head how many coins of silver he was going to get from his customers when the night was over as I sang and played all kind of music.
By the early morning light most of the customers left and I was out of breath. I set aside the musical instrument and walked back to the bar where Ali and owner were talking. Of course Manna never left my side all night. She had her hand wrapped around my waist as I rested mine on her shoulders. If anyone saw us we looked like a perfect couple in love.
“So kid, you’re not bad, not bad at all,” the owner said as Manna and I stood in front of him. “The customers loved you two singing together, a nice show, a very nice show indeed,” he added. “So you are Yehya (John in Arabic). You can call me Jawhar. But I am still surprised how a farmer like yourself can sing so well.”
“Thank you Sir. What can I say. Manna here is an inspiration,” of course I was lying but I had to keep up our disguise other wise our mission would be lost. “I guess when you are a farmer the only entertainment you have is music as you wait for the next crop to grow,” I added more lies hoping they work.
“Yes I bet. Manna show our young singer where he can sleep. He must be very tired,” Jawhar said, “and I will talk to Ali here about the cost of our sleeping arrangements. Shall we?”
“So how did a beautiful girl like you end up in in a dump like this?” I asked Manna as she was escorting me to the upper floor. We were hearing some of the moans and laughter of the customers being entertained in the various rooms of the brothel and my cock was flickering in its sheath. Manna saw the bulge in my trousers and smiled at my nervousness.
“This is the first time in a brothel. Isn’t it?” she asked, “of course it is,” she added before I even attempted to answer.
She opened the door to a room with a large bed, “we only have rooms with beds like those, so you’ll have to share it with your brother,” Manna said.
“This will do just find,” I said and I went into the room. Manna followed me and closed the door behind her. As I was inspecting the room I was surprised when she pushed on my back on to the bed and stood with her hands on her hips.
“What are you doing Manna?” I asked. Of course I knew what she was doing but I was surprised it had to come so early in our brief relationship.
“I wanted to thank you for what you did downstairs,” she said, “if you hadn’t let me sing with you Jawhar would have kicked me out of here and I really need the money right now.”
“But you are a lovely girl Manna why would he throw you out?” I asked.
“Oh he has so many girls he doesn’t know what to do with them. With the famine and everything many girls are forced to sell themselves these days,” she explained, “Jawhar only hired me because he thought I could play and sing as well as entertain his customers in other ways. But clearly I am not that good in the first category.”
“Oh no you’re not that bad my lady,” I lied.
“Don’t lie to me John. I suck and you know it. And stop calling me my lady. I am starting to believe I am,” she said, “now shut up and lie still Sir so that I can relieve you of your predicament.” She pushed my legs wide apart and started to untie the cord to my trousers. My cock immediately sprang to life.
“That didn’t take long now did it?” She grinned as she looked at my hard-on.
“What can I say. Having a beautiful lady next to you all night can be very painful,” I replied and she laughed.
“Well we have to do something to alleviate your pain won’t we my dear Sir,” she said as she grabbed my cock and put it in her mouth. Unfortunately she was even worse in this category then she was in the others. I could have sworn she had taken some of my skin off in her teeth as she began to suck at my cock. Now I was in more pain.
“Hay hay take it easy take it easy,” I yelled out and pushed her away from me.
“Oh I am sorry did I hurt you. Oh God,” she said and tears began to roll on her cheeks, “I guess I am not even good at this thing,” and she began to cry as she retreated away from me.
“No. No. No my dear. It is ok,” I tried to reassure her, “look. I will show you how to do this gently. But please don’t cry,” and I did. I taught her how to put my cock in her mouth and how to suck it with her lips. I also showed her how to lick it up and down all the way to my balls. I had a good teacher and Manna was thankful for my assistance as I shot my load into her open mouth.
“Who are you John?” She asked me as we were resting on the bed after we had a couple of rounds of very enlightening and satisfying acts of passion. After her third orgasm Manna could hardly stand up to leave so she just stayed in bed wrapped up in my arms.
“I am just a farmer looking for a job in the city,” I replied.
“I bet you are,” she said, “a young man who could play the Oud, like that, who could sing all those beautiful poems and know all there is about sex as well as fuck like a wild animal is definitely not a farmer. So who are you John really?”
“Oh I am just a farmer my dear, just a farmer,” I said, “now go to sleep Manna and tomorrow I will teach you a new technique which we haven’t tried yet.”
“A farmer my ass!” She finally said, “I bet you are.”
