<strong><em>"Twenty,"</em></strong>came the whispered reply from the newly named Layla.  She seemed distrustful and timid, and that annoyed Aisha no end.  She should be incredibly flattered to have been chosen to join her Prince's harem. It was an incredible honour bestowed on so few.  If anyone had the right to be upset, it was Aisha herself.  She was being forced to share the attentions of the man she loved, and she didn't like it. Not one little bit.  Oh, she understood the need for a harem, but that didn't change her distaste for it, or her resentment of the intruder.<br/><br/>Biting back a less than friendly remark at the look on Layla's face as she reluctantly sipped the water offered her, Aisha was more than pleased at the arrival of Tarkus.  She didn't feel comfortable in the presence of this woman, despite the fact that she was, in every way, superior to her.  There was something unsettling about the look in her eye and the air of aloofness that surrounded her.  As if nothing, or noone, could touch her in any way that wasn't physical.<em>That will have to change,</em>Aisha thought to herself.<em>She needs to remember that she is here to serve, not the other way around.</em>Perhaps she would tell Layla that later, when they were alone.  But for now, she rose and took the hand of her Prince, not looking forward to their bath quite as much as she had been before the arrival of the...Aisha tried to keep the contemptuous look from showing on her face...new concubine.