Merit, or Layla, as she was called now, knew that even if she did want to pull close to the Prince's side that he already had a woman. Why would she put forth effort to be the leftovers? There was no way in hell.  Besides… She could tell that the woman wanted to keep her man to herself. She knew how that felt and didn't really want to intrude upon it.  If her late husband had insisted upon sharing she would have pitched a fit but would have ended up caving just to make him happy.  But she would have been miserable and she wouldn't have felt so loved.<br/><br/>She didn't want to think much more about him, it hurt too much but she did him a disservice by pushing him from her mind! She just could<em>not</em>afford to weep and show weakness, the tears that stained her arms at night when she used them as a pillow spoke of her grief. Oh… A new fear popped up in her mind hoping that this prince wouldn't find it favorable for the women to sleep in his bed. It was unheard of, wasn't it? Sometimes a woman who had earned favor, perhaps, well she had nothing to worry about, did she?<br/><br/>Part of her ached at the thought of loving and being loved again, knowing how he touched Aisha on the other side of her made her unhappy, and she felt bad for that but knew that it wasn't the fault of either of them. To her a harem was pointless, no man needed fifty children to carry a name. Men were greedy and they destroyed the women around them, seeing them as sport and caring nothing for their wellbeing.<br/><br/>His eyes made her uncomfortable and she swallowed. "Do you not like what you see, Master?" she asked softly, her form trembling slightly. She hoped that he'd say nothing. She wasn't good at this. They'd always been instructed to say the most annoying things to the sultan who had gifted her to him. They made some of the women so horribly self-conscious of their bodies.<br/><br/>Wondering how long things would last before he would show his cruelty, Layla looked at where the woman was stroking his cock, wanting to laugh. A mean spirited part of her wanted to show that what she knew of sex would put the simple consort to shame. But that wasn't who Layla was and it sure wasn't who she wanted to be. The woman had done nothing to her. Yet.<br/><br/>Ugh! Really? Seriously? They were going to do<em>that</em>while she sat there? It wasn't like it was the first time that it had happened but for of the love of all things sacred, damn give it a warm up period. The woman was just marking her territory. Meeeeooooow.<br/><br/>She slid over when she found the opportunity, away from the groping couple.  She'd seen the glares that Aisha had given her and when the dear prince's head was turned, she made a face back; crossing her eyes she stuck her tongue out and up toward her nose, though a bit to the right.  She held the expression until she saw Tarkus moving and then sobered quickly.<br/><br/>The man was a fool. Fiery today? And he saw<em>no</em>reason why? How did he manage to breathe and walk at the same time or did he truly know nothing about women?<br/><br/><br/>[Edit: Punctuation on the last sentence.]<br/><br/>