Ionope free porn video

IONOPE A young woman called Ionope, a former princess of Zernos, joins a group of Gypsies in their travels. She has a copy of an ancient magic book that she uses both to protect them and exact retribution. This is a sequel to my earlier story, "She of the Book", where the character Ionope played a lesser part. This story will stand on its own, but it would be best to read the other first. START I have travelled far in my life, one that is now nearing its end. I am writing this small part of my story, my trials, and my successes down for others so that they may better appreciate my life and this strange but powerful legacy that I will give my granddaughter, how it helped preserve our small tribe. Her mother Nelana, my daughter, knows about the legacy too. It caused a great change in her life and she is happy that the power will be passed on through the generations. The legacy is neither money nor material goods, just an ordinary-looking little book, but one possessed of powerful magic and its creation was not even of my own doing. It had been in our family, I suppose for generations, and it has a number of healing spells, but written in it are powerful spells too, that can be used for a kind of healing, one might say, but also for retribution. My sister Casja had used it once to humiliate and take revenge on Amuja, her husband Seljan's half-brother, but unfortunately a man who was a cruel commander, and had become Seljan's enemy, having caused him injuries, and subjected him to insults and demeaning behavior. More personally, he had been responsible for the deaths of my parents and brother and had subsequently enslaved me and sent me to his overlord Timur. But despite that, Amuja was a fairly minor player in the great acts of history. When Casja had loaned me the book I used it to destroy a great, if that is the word, conqueror. This man had made an empire, but done so by the destruction of many kingdoms and realms and the slaughter of whole populations. That was Timur. My intention had to been to use it to change him to a woman and thus destroy his power, but he died owing to the severity of the spell. I have had no regrets. Casja was the wife of Seljan, first Timur's governor of Zernos, then the king when Timur's empire fell into disarray after his death. Casja and Seljan were kind to me when my daughter Nelana and I took refuge with them after I fled from the turmoil and intrigue that followed Timur's death. Unfortunately my life had been twisted, I suppose by trauma and danger, and I became too restless to settle with them. I began to chafe more at a settled way of life and I would wander around Zernos. I am lucky that I had my daughter to focus me. If she were not beside me I could have found it much worse. Unfortunately the book has no spells to cure restless spirits. I had been born and raised in Zernos, in another life, before the turmoil. I needed to move on. I have no complaint with how Casja treated me. She was a loving sister and made herself concerned with my welfare and supported me. She even began to introduce me to men, nobles or responsible citizens of Zernos. Perhaps she hoped that I would find a man I could love and marry and settle down with. I certainly would attract men. The beauty I had gained from the spell in the book made me one of the most attractive among women. My daughter was a pretty child and looked as if she would become a beauty as a woman. That little book was old. I had been told it had been put together by a magician over a hundred years previously in Zernos, and acquired by a distant ancestor but there were also suggestions that its contents, magical spells, really derived from ancient times, even from the mythical Amazon civilization. Supposedly anyone hearing any of the spells would be affected. Most of the spells had healing effects or would mitigate bodily injuries, disease, cuts and burns or such like, or defects, such as cast eyes, club-feet and other maladies. But the most surprising were the four spells at the end of the book, one that would make a man into a woman, one that would make a woman into a man, and two other spells to reverse these effects. That was what Casja had done to Amuja. He had been transformed a beautiful woman, and forced into a female life, and then to punish him, sold as a slave. It was a fitting end that her beauty would adorn a harem. These spells were severe. Older Men and women had died from their effects, so they worked best with young people. I had used one on Timur as I lay with him, as his concubine. I had gotten him drunk then read the spell. I was born a woman so I only felt a slight effects compared to those experienced by men, but it gave me great beauty. I had my infant son with me when I read the spell. He was changed by the spell too and became Nelana, my daughter. Timur was old, and died. I shed no genuine tears at his end. As time passed my desire to leave Zernos became stronger but I knew I needed support too. Being a single woman, and with a young daughter, I was just too vulnerable. I had travelled once from Samarkand to Zernos unmolested, but at that time I still had the prestige of being a widow of the KhanTimur. Nelana was reasonably safe too. Had she still been a male the future would have been more precarious as Timur's male offspring vied for power. Now Timur's memory was fading even at Samarkand and at Zernos in the Caucasus we were far from the influence of his successor. There was also the decision of where to go to. I actually had been born in Zernos, but I had travelled east to Samarkand and further. These lands were still under the control of Timur's successors and even though the empire had contracted, these lands held no appeal for me and I wanted further away. Then I thought of Constantinople, a large cosmopolitan city. Perhaps I could find something there to make me settle. I had heard great stories of its grandeur and history. Thinking as to how I might arrange my departure from Zernos, I began to notice groups of the people called the Gypsies, or sometimes Tzigani, in the Zernos markets, traders, entertainers, metalworkers, carvers and others. Their swarthier appearance made them fairly distinct from the usual residents. After I began speaking with them there was one of their women I got to know especially. Menissa had set herself up as some find of fortune teller and usually attracted a fair number of Zernos residents as customers. I think she was skilled at judging people and telling them enough platitudes so that many actually believed her. Still, there were things she predicted that turned out to have an element of truth so I never used her. I needed to be cautious too. If she had some skills at discerning the future perhaps the past would be much easier for her. There was too much in my own history that was best kept quiet and I preferred that no one should know it. My own story in brief. I had been a princess of Zernos, but when some of Timur's forces captured it my parents and a brother were killed on Amuja's orders. My mother had used a spell on two of my other brothers to change them to women in an attempt to save them when our royal family was slaughtered. As young attractive women our lives were spared but then slavery became the fate of my two sisters and I. One brother became a sister Casja and was given to Seljan who had been a commander in Timur's army. I was sent to Timur where I was a slave then a concubine and finally a kind of wife to him. I had even borne a child by him, a boy, but I hated Timur and I had used the ancient spell on him. After his death I returned to Zernos with my daughter to take refuge with Casja and Seljan. Finally, one day Menissa let slip that her tribe, restless people, were proposing to move on, to head westwards. That was an opportunity for me but I had to couch my request delicately, hinting that I was not satisfied with my situation. That had no effect and I finally had to be more direct. "I have always wanted to go to Constantinople. Would your tribe be going there? Could you take me with you?" She looked at me as if reading my thoughts and I gave a slight shiver. "Speaking to you I have sensed a turbulent past life and secrets in you but I will not pry more into your past life or why you want to leave the comfort you have in Zernos. You are related to the governor here, I hear. Yes, my tribe has decided to travel further west. We will travel fairly close to the shores of the sea as long as the terrain allows us. But it will take time. We will need to stop along the way, to rest and to earn money for travel and supplies. It will not be an easy journey. "It will mean crossing different borders and areas too that are under the control of different Ottoman warlords and chiefs, sometimes only loosely under central control. There is a city state called Trebizond nearest to us, a Byzantine relic, I suppose you could call it. But it is threatened, just about totally surrounded by lands under Ottoman control. Then there are a few more Byzantine remnants, such as the old state of Genoria, and almost certainly more areas under Ottoman control before we cross the Bosporus, that's a stretch of water, like a river, to get to Constantinople. Even that could be threatened. Perhaps we may even have to go further into Europe as circumstances require. It will be a long and arduous journey. So hearing that, are you still determined to go with us?" "Yes, I am. When are you going, and what do I need? I will have my daughter Nelana with me too." "In about a week." She looked at me critically. "But I do not recommend it. You and your daughter are not seasoned travellers and your daughter is young. You will need practical clothes, not like the fancy gown you are wearing." She fingered my silk robe. "It is beautiful stuff, but not suitable for our journey. You will need money or its equivalent to support you as well. Or perhaps you can learn something that will help you earn money in a market like this one." She must have read the expression on my face and perhaps she really wanted to discourage me. I needed to work at persuading her. I gave her a pleading look. She sighed. "Well then, I see you are desperate to leave. Do you have anything you can do? I mean, to sell, to make money?" When I was young, as a princess of Zernos my mother had taught me fine weaving and work with fabrics. Then, as a concubine in Timur's harem, I had learned many methods to stimulate Timur when he was jaded. My life perhaps had depended on them, but I had also learned Eastern fabric techniques. "Yes, I can weave, embroider and sew. You fingered my robe and I think you liked it. This is some of my own work." I pointed to my own clothing. She raised her eyebrows in surprise and fingered my gown again, peering at its material and construction. "Hmm, you made that? It is well done. You are very skilled. You will be able to earn money quite well. Perhaps I could learn from you. "All right, for travel, I have my own wagon that I share with my daughter and her husband. I also have another daughter who is not yet married. You will be given a corner of that wagon to sleep in when the weather is bad or it is cold. Otherwise we often sleep outside under the wagon. Do you think you could endure that? A bit rough, perhaps? " She gave a faint, slightly contemptuous smile. "After all, you must be used to the comfort of the palace?" The travel arrangements sounded like a Spartan type of living but if I wanted to get away I had little choice. "I am prepared to go through some hardships," I answered. "There is one other thing, but it must be totally confidential. I am skilled at doing healing," I said, and I told her about the book, and its powers to heal maladies and wounds but I did not mention any of the spells that changed men into women and women into men. These would have been especially hard to believe and their power might be too tempting. Still, her eyes lit up. "Yes, healing things like these could be very useful. But are you sure they work? Where did they come from?" "I think they were made up by some sorcerer who lived in Zernos almost a century ago. I have heard too they are connected with the ancient Amazons, but," I shook my head and pretended a skeptical smile, "The Amazons were mythical." "And you are sure these spells are not mythical too?" Menissa raised her eyebrows. "I assure you they work. I have used some." "And you know they work? You are very determined. Very well. We will leave here in a week from today, at sunrise. I leave it to you to get prepared. If you are not here, we will not wait for you." So a week later, well before dawn, I wakened my daughter and we dressed quickly. I had warned her to be as quiet as possible as I did not want Casja to try to stop us. I gave a short nod to a guard at the palace door. His job was to guard against anyone trying to enter, not leave. We hurried to the square where we found Menissa. She gave me a wry look. "So you have decided!" Perhaps she was expecting that I would have had second thoughts but she made no objection when I put my daughter up on the wagon. Her wagon was the fourth to go and I walked beside it, wearing my stoutest sandals. I was wearing a hooded cloak made of cheap but strong material in case I was recognized but the guards at the city gates paid us little attention and we were soon past the city walls, and moving along the track by the river, heading to the mountain pass and further west. Menissa was right. I was not used to walking as much as we did and I was very tired and footsore that night. The next day we had to negotiate the narrow mountain pass. It was rocky and difficult and I watched as the wagons lurched and the wheels scraped against the rocks strewing the paths. I had not brought enough clothing and as I had put what I had on my daughter I began to feel the cold on our way up to the pass but soon the trail began to slope down and it became warmer and suddenly, between two mountainous masses, I could see the great inland sea before me. As we carried on our journey Menissa's manner made me uneasy and I asked her if something was wrong. "This is perhaps dangerous country," she remarked. "We are heading first to yet Trebizond, that is a Christian enclave, a remnant of the Byzantine Empire but it's now surrounded by the Ottoman. We are not there yet but at least we are getting further from the main area of Ottoman control." "Will we have problems with the Ottoman?" "That is possible, but we are only poor travellers. I doubt that we have anything that is worth plundering. Besides, some of the inhabitants of both Trebizond and the Ottoman areas find us useful for trading back and forward. Still, we should be careful not to attract any mischief." For another day we made our way through the hilly country, always looking for some tracks to make our way easier. Menissa took me aside at the end of the first week. "Look over there. You see that hill with a flattish top? We're going in the right direction. I recognize some of this area from before. So, another day and we should be in Trebizond. It is Christian and not unlike Zernos. Not that the Christians look on Gypsies like us any more favorably than the Ottoman but they tolerate us." The very next day I had an opportunity to demonstrate a use of my book, a tragedy, and only partly migitated when I was able to use the book. The wagon before us belonged to Pali, a nephew of Menissa. Pali's wife had been walking with her daughter Malia alongside their wagon when it was navigating a patch of mud. The wagon slipped into a hole in the mud, tipped, then overturned on the pair before they could jump aside. All of us immediately rushed to push up the wagon but it was too late for the woman. Her chest was crushed and she died in seconds. Malia's leg was badly broken and she was screaming in pain. I ran to our own wagon and pulled out the book from where I had hidden it and turned to the spell that healed injuries. I had never used it before so I had some helpers hold the child's leg straight while I read the spell. It took only minutes. At first I began to have second thoughts when the child shrieked terribly but her cries soon quieted down and we even saw the bone moving in the leg to its right position. In another few minutes no damage at all was visible and we released the child to her distraught father. Unfortunately I could not do anything for his grief, but he would have the help of the other families in looking after the child and her sister. Menissa stared at the healed leg then at me. Her voice was hushed. "I am glad we have you with us. I would not have believed it. These are powerful spells. The child could have died too." "Yes, they are hard to believe. And many people would want them for their power. I try to use them only for emergencies." I bit my lip." I am sorry I could not help Pali's wife. There are things my spells don't cure." The poor woman was buried later that day after some short Gypsy funeral rites. No fancy tomb for her, only a hole under a tree by a small stream. We all embraced Pali. His two young daughters would miss their mother, but they would be treated as children of the tribe and all women would take some part of their mother's role. We arrived in Trebizond the next day. It was a small city still holding to some remnants of its traditions in the Byzantine Empire but it was entirely surrounded by Ottoman territory. Out of necessity it had taken its independence from Byzantium at the time the Crusaders took Constantinople and destroyed its power, but it was now almost entirely surrounded by the vigorous expanding Ottoman Empire and I wondered how long it could remain independent. We chose an encampment in a wooded area along by the seashore that allowed us shelter and where we could do some fishing. Every day one or more of the Gypsy families would send people to the market to trade for materials. Some of the men were skilled metal workers and would do repairs or make trinkets. The weavers among us too, me included, with our bright unusually patterned fabrics and articles, did well at the trade. The inhabitants were neither friendly nor hostile and perhaps I could have been contented enough there but it was a year or so later that I began to hear comments from the Gypsies about 'moving on'. "Oh, it's just that we are restless folk." Menissa gave a wry look when I asked her. "Maybe we have had to be. It is not so bad here, but many people resent us. At least we can usually travel fairly easily among the states and principalities, but for Trebizond here, the Ottoman could invade it and we don't want to be caught up in any fighting. We can come back if we don't find other places to our liking. "The Ottoman only barely tolerate Trebizond's independent existence, and I've been speaking with some of the inhabitants here. They tell me that the rulers of Trebizond are very careful not to provoke them. Since its independence some daughters of the ruling house had even been given to the sultans for wives." I wondered at the fate of these poor girls, as political prizes and bribes. That was often the fate of women in the affairs of states and nations. Sometimes the women might just be simply seized. I thought back to the destruction of my own family and my own days as a member of Timur's harem. It had left me wary of men. So, after a little more than a year in Trebizond, the gypsies had decided to move on. I was in two minds. I liked the city, but I also now had to accept moving further. There was another reason too. I should have seen it coming, as a single woman, and attractive too, if I can be so vain, although not in the first flush of womanhood. I had attracted the attention of Pali. I began to notice that he became a more frequent visitor to Menissa's wagon. He was a man of few words but he gave off a confident air. Maybe too he was a bit serious and at first Menissa had to prompt him into conversation. I wondered why she bothered then I suddenly saw the reason. She was attempting a matchmaking. Maybe I had finally lost my wariness of men but I had not thought at all of having another man in my life so I was slightly amused, slightly apprehensive of her attempts. When he vcame by our wagon she would more and more find some trivial errand or minor domestic crisis to attend to, and leave us alone together. I liked Pali, but I was unsure about my relationship with men. It had been soured by my time in the harem. Still, I thought of my sister Casja, happy and content with her husband Seljan and her family. Pali was quite a skilled carver and produced a stream of wooden dishes and utensils and by his sales in the markets, he was doing quite well. I don't know if it was genuine, or pretended, but he began asking my advice about styles and as a result I began to help him more and more. At first I was a little on edge when I had to work with him alone, but I soon saw that he was a good and reliable man and relaxed and got to enjoy working with him. My own daughter Nelana often played with Pali's daughters and that also brought us close to each other and we found ourselves spending more time together. By the way others spoke about him he was well regarded in our small gypsy community and also acted as our spokesman for dealings with any Ottoman that we met on our journey. I found my own feelings curious too. At first I was uneasy then it was as if I got used to that then more and more enjoying his nearness. I was more and more comfortable with him it and gradually it seemed as if we had even begun to share thoughts. Then one evening, when the girls had been put to bed and we had got talking. Our conversation tailed off suddenly and we stared at each other, then our bodies were closing to each other and our lips met. I gasped at the sensation. It was years since I had kissed a man, and that was Timur and only because I had to. Not that we had done much kissing before he took me. This time I was pleasantly surprised at the slight scratchiness of a beard against my smooth face. It was a short kiss, and we gasped, both equally surprised, then our lips were together again and our bodies pressing against each other. My arms went around his neck and his around my back and to my surprise I felt my nipples tense and grow hard, and moisture between my legs. I realized Pali was attracted to me and desired me, but even more, I had begun to desire him. I was flattered, even excited, but part of me was dismayed by what it would mean for my future. A relationship with him would mean casting my lot totally with the Gypsy band. I wondered if I should gently discourage him, yet I found myself flattered with his attention. I tossed and turned that night on my pad. In the morning Menissa gently teased me. "A restless night? Something on your mind?" I squeezed my eyes and shrugged. I did not know what to say. Finally, " Yes," I blurted. "It is Pali. I think I could fall in love with him." "And he you. Yes, I know. I have been waiting for it to happen." She gave a little grin. "I encouraged him come to see you, and I was happy to see you spending more time together, but you would be a good match and he is a good man." So it was that Pali asked me to marry him and I agreed. Menissa was delighted and I had warm looks from the rest of the Gypsy band. Our marriage ceremony was not elaborate, just one afternoon, a mutual statement of our willingness to be together and simple statement of our commitment to each other, followed by a modest feast then some dancing and singing. I had made myself a new gown for the occasion. That night, my heart pounding, I lay in a pad in Pali's wagon, with only a light sheet covering me in the warm night. We had sent my daughter and his girls to sleep in Menissa's. Then there was some minor affair that apparently needed his urgent attention and I tried to compose myself, still apprehensive of what I had committed myself to. I hoped I could love him as a wife should but the memory of my time in Timur's harem and how he had forced himself on me still nipped at the corners of my mind. Yet this man Pali had shown he was not only a leader, but gentle and thoughtful. He would protect me and I knew I desired him. I hoped I could be responsive enough to him. We had not made love previously but now we would lie together for the first time. I hoped I would not find his attentions painful and that I would please him. Finally he climbed into the wagon and looked down at me. His strong body was silhouetted against the late evening sky. "Always some business," he grumbled, "even on my wedding night!" He smiled and I saw his teeth glint. When he quickly stripped off his clothes I saw he was ready for me, but he lay down carefully down beside me and, almost tentatively, leaned to me and put his arm over me. He must have sensed my hesitancy and first he only kissed me gently on my cheek, then on my lips and my neck, his beard tickling me. Then he just held me for a minute. "I can feel your heart. Are you nervous?" "Just a bit, but it will be better." He caressed me, his hands under my shift, running up and down from my belly to my breasts. He kissed my cheeks gently and nuzzled at my neck, then stroked my back all the way down to my buttocks and up again to my neck. His hands were warm and slightly rough and slowly I began to relax. When I pushed my lips to meet his, his beard tickled slightly but it felt absolutely right. He kissed my lips softly, and as the strange feelings rose further inside me, I kissed him back gently, then more eagerly. My body was tingling and I pulled my shift over my shoulders and off my body so that I was totally exposed to him. I was fairly sure I had kept my beauty but if I had any doubt that he would find me desirable, the light in his eyes told me he wanted me. What I was unprepared for was how his own naked body and his touch stimulated me. His skin was totally male, showing the ridges of the underlying muscles in the faint light of the moon through the canvas ends of the wagon. My own body was pale and its softer curves and soft hollows melded smoothly into each other. The raised hardened nipples on my breasts cast strange little shadows. I felt my skin prickle and a tingling at my groin. "You are beautiful," he whispered. "So beautiful." He caressed me again then brushed my neck with his lips briefly and cupped my breasts with his hands, his fingers rolling and teasing my nipples. Then he stroked down my body to my groin and the tingling was all over me. When I was in Timur's harem h had taken me with little regard for my feelings. I was only a vessel for his release. Afterwards I had felt used. Worse, on my escape, I was wary of men. Now it was different. I felt myself responding eagerly to this man. I was thrilled with the view of his male body and his readiness, and I ran my hands through the hair on his chest and pulled him to my lips again. I felt my nipples and areolas grow hard and a strange tension build in my belly and at my groin. I was wet between my legs. We embraced tightly again, his arms crushed me to him and I felt his strong hands stroke me up and down. His strong fingers found my nipples, pinching and rolling them sending strange little twinges and strange wanton sensations course through my body, my breasts, my belly and my groin. He changed positions to run his tongue slowly down my belly to the soft hair at my female mount and nibbled at me. I arched my back to push to him and gasped and squirmed in pleasure. "I want you. Take me," I moaned, and he pulled my legs and pushed them further apart. I had lain with a man before, but that was Timur and he had had taken me savagely almost as soon as I came into his possession. I had been terribly frightened and barely ready and I hurt afterwards. This time, with Pali, I realized I was wet, ready for him as a woman should be. I had worried that I would dread this moment, but I was thrilled that my body was responding as it should to him. I reached to his manhood and, slightly raising my legs, allowed him to push easily into me. My female lips parted, and then I was joyously filled with him. I could not believe the pleasure. of him inside me. I could feel nothing else. I wanted to feel nothing else. My mouth was open, uttering making little broken cries and whimpers of pleasure as he moved back and forward inside me. I needed him further in me and I pulled him to me fiercely, my nails digging into his back. Then my head was back, my neck stretched out and I was grimacing and panting and moaning as I felt my climax building. We crested simultaneously with deep indrawn breaths. Afterwards, I lay in his arms. This felt so right and natural and I knew that I would always find pleasure in his arms. After we left Trebizond, the idea was for our small band to journey through the Ottoman territory to the south of another Byzantine relic state called Genoria. Once Again we were in strange unknown territory and, as our wagon procession made its way through the mountains and dark woods, we became apprehensive. Our small band would not be able to resist any brigands if they were so minded to pillage us. So we pushed further west. The journey was slow through the mountainous terrain and any paths through them were narrow and treacherous. A week further on Pali pointed to the north. "If we are where I think that's Genoria over that range of mountains. We would be moderately safe there but there is only a very narrow steep path to get there. We would be best to press on." The third day after that we were surprised by two riders, men, dressed in the style of the Turks and both carrying swords and spears. Fortunately Pali knew some Turkish and was able to talk with them. I did not like their overbearing manner as, still on their horses, they moved among us quite arrogantly, and taking note of the wagons and even demanding that everything be opened for their inspection. I heard Pali mutter under his breath when it was obvious that a lot of their attention became focussed on some of the older girls and young women. Of course, they asked about us and our intentions but they appeared satisfied with our answers and we all heaved a collective sight of relief when they abruptly turned their horses and galloped away. "They were studying us pretty thoroughly, " I said. "Yes, they say they want to know all about us and our plans, where we were going and so on. We had nothing to hide and I don't think we had much to offer them either," Pali said. He bit his lip. "But I don't like their interest in our young women." I grimaced. "What can we do?" "Not very much! We could have resisted these two, but they may only be a scouting party. If more of them come and harass us we can't avoid it. We are too far to get to Trebizond or Genoria or any other Byzantine outpost, unless," he looked at the mountains to the south," we can hide among these valleys. They are fairly wooded. Unfortunately our wagons will leave tracks they could follow." We tried that but we were not successful. We had gone back into a deep valley and actually rested there for two days but on the third we were suddenly surrounded by a mounted troop of the Turks, a dozen or so men. One of them, turbaned and dark bearded, their leader, let us know we were to follow him. There were too many of them for us to resist and all were better armed. We were helpless and there was no way to resist them. At least hey did not plunder us but instead they ordered us to follow them and retrace our last day's travel then they led us through some more valleys. We finally made it into more open countryside where it was easier going but they began to hurry us along and our wagons were jolted uncomfortably by the rough track. Escape would be difficult and our situation became even worse when more armed riders joined the others. It was another day's travel until we finally saw that we were being directed to a small town. Finally we were directed to an open space by a small stream and most of the riders departed into the town, leaving two to guard us. "We could overpower these two and escape," Pali's brother Zorin said. "We'd leave tracks and they would catch up with us again. Then they might just kill us all!" Pali said. "So what now?" Zorin asked and Pali shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe someone will come to check us." He was right. Later the leader of the troop arrived back with his troops and with a gray bearded man who was his senior, by the way all deferred to him. We were all directed to line up. We were being inspected. Again three of our young women attracted particular attention. I was not surprised. I had seen in the past how wild tribesmen might view captured women and the three girls were beauties. We were surprised when the men suddenly all rode off. Pali had seen their interest. "I am afraid for our girls," he muttered. " I don't like they way they are being eyed. I think these man will be back.' "Can we hide the girls?" Menissa asked. One of the girls, Sylma, was her daughter, "Maybe we could do one, but not all, " I answered. "Then who?" I spoke slowly. "We will have to decide which one we try to hide." Pali shook his head. "This could cause trouble among us." I squeezed his arm. "We will have to draw lots." That evening Pali summoned the three girls and their parents and explained the situation. "We are more or less prisoners of these Turks. If we show any resistance they could quite easily take what they wanted and slaughter the rest of us. Our situation is precarious as their leader is some sort of warlord for the region and probably wants our young people for slaves. He probably wants all of us under his control for some reason But the most immediate danger is that the three girls will be taken, perhaps as concubines into someone's harem or just sold in the slave market. I am sorry. These girls would be lost, but the rest of us would have a better chance to survive." The three girls gave small screams, two holding their hands to their mouths while their white-faced mothers clutched them. "Can't we hide them? " asked Menissa. "I am sorry," Pali shook his head. "It would be impossible to hide you all, only one at the most. That way they might possibly think they had been mistaken. The fairest way to choose is to draw lots or straws to see which of you can be hidden. Even that may not work. They may search all the wagons." The three sets of parents all protested, but eventually, tearfully, they allowed themselves to be convinced. Pali cut three straws, one shorter than the others and held them to the girl's fathers. Shutting his eyes in misery the first, Zorin, trembling, pulled a straw from his fist. Then the second and there was one left. "Compare them," Pali said softly. The last girl and her parents almost cried out in relief. Her father held the shortest straw. The others cried out, and shut their eyes in misery. Ali embraced them all and I followed. "All right, we will hide her in the bottom of a wagon. It has a false floor. We have used it for smuggling." But I suddenly had another idea, "Pali, my book has a spell that makes women into men. We can use that to hide the girl! It would look like she was not there and they had been mistaken. They could search all they wanted and not find her." "How long does it take to work?" "Only hours. She will become a young man in an hour or so but she will be unconscious for over a day. The Turks could be here any time so we should use it immediately." When I explained to the girl and her parents they all went white and the girl burst into tears, "I don't want to be a man," she wailed. "I'd like to hide." "I think that is too risky." I said with as much firmness as I could. " They would search us thoroughly so you need to come with me," and I led the parents and the girl to our wagon. I retrieved the little book from its hiding place. "This is very powerful magic with several magic spells. I have used this spell in the past to change a man to a woman. Well, it did not work completely. He was getting old and he died under the spell. Not that I shed any tears over it. I was his slave, concubine, and I hated him." As they all stared at me I felt my face redden. "A past life, and he deserved to die. " I said and I turned to one page and pointed. "This one will make any girl who hears it into man her own age. " I grimaced. "Let's hope they don't want young men." I looked at the father. "You will have to read the spell. It will change all women who hear it into men. Your wife and I will make sure to keep out of earshot." His face was suspicious "It won't affect me?" "No!" "I suppose you can read it?" "Yes, a little. Well enough." But he peered at the words of the spell and I saw his lips moving and his brow furrowed. "I can read better, " said Pali." I will do it if you want. " We left the girl with Pali and the book and after five minutes he called out. "It is done, Ionope, but nothing has happened?" I stepped back into the wagon and looked at the nervous girl. "That is normal. It will probably take a few minutes. Some of the other spells do." The girl looked at us through big brown eyes, the corners of her mouth hanging down and tears at the edges of her eyes. "Patience," I said, and I embraced her. "You are a brave girl." I sat down to wait, remembering that I had never used this particular spell and I would look very foolish if it did not. It took longer then I had thought, but in a few minutes it started with beads of sweat appearing on the girl's brow. "I feel hot!" she complained then it she began gasping and tore off her outer clothing. Her eyes started rolling and she began to whimper then she suddenly pitched over. Her father picked her up gently and laid her on a pad. "You want to see what happens?" We removed the girl's clothes and watched as perspiration beaded on her body then it began, in series of shakes, to change proportions. Magic does not make sense, really, but the ancient spell belonged to a different era, a different logic perhaps, and gradually the girl's body lengthened and changed proportions. Her breasts were the first to change, flattening and with her nipples shrinking. Next was her groin. Her female vertical slit rearranged and a penis slowly grew out of her pubis, followed by a sac with testicles, slowly growing and filling. Her shoulders widened, her waist too, and her hips and buttocks shrank. Her pretty face changed too, her nose becoming bigger, her brow swelling over her eyes and her chin becoming more prominent. The hands and feet grew larger. Even the skin seemed to coarsen. Finally below us was the body of a man, but unconscious. "There needs to be more hair on her body for a man, and there is no sign of a beard but some young men are slow to grow body hair. The hair on her head is too long but that's easily remedied." "How long is this for?" asked her mother. "As long as she wants." I pointed to the man. "As you see she now has the body of a young man. She, he, we should now say, he will be like a normal young man, but of course he will have to get used to his new body. Oh yes, the longer he stays changed he will also start to notice and be attracted to girls, I imagine. He could also become a father." Her parents shook their heads in wonder. We were just in time. The very next day a group of armed riders surrounded our wagons and all of us were ordered out and made to stand in a line again. The leader walked his horse up and down the line, looking at all of us. He carried a whip that he swung menacingly by his side. " I am Kasim, I am the Bey, the ruler here, the local commander of our empire. I represent its power. You have entered lands under my control." He gave a self satisfied look. "I suppose coming here means you want to use what is in these lands. There is a tax for that." "What is the tax?" Pali asked. Kasim mentioned a large amount of gold and my heart sank. There was no way we could come up with even a fraction of that. Kasim smirked. "I see that you cannot so you will all have to serve me at my headquarters." "He means to make all of us his slaves." Pali muttered under his breath. The man waved his arm. "But I am prepared to be generous! You have with you some pretty girls. I saw three. I am prepared to take these instead." I heard one of the unchanged girls whimper and her hand went to her mouth. Her name was Sylma. The other one, Karya, was just white and trembling. "Please, we will serve you but do not take our young women," asked Pali. Kasim glared at Pali. "You will not question me again! Yesterday, I saw three who should be suitable. He looked up and down the line, peering at some, and pointed to Sylma and Karya. "You, and... you and ...." He looked around. "There was another! Where is she?" "Everyone is here. These are no more," said Pali, shaking his head. "That is all, except for one young man who has taken ill. He is in that wagon." There was sharp order and several riders dismounted and climbed into our wagon. I heard them rummaging about and I winced at the noise. They were not too careful either but all climbed back out, shaking their heads. Kasim looked down at Pali, angrily "Where is the other girl?" "There was none. Perhaps you were mistaken." Kasim's face twisted and he swung a whip across Pali's face. "I am never mistaken," he snarled. As Pali gasped and staggered, Kasim looked back up and down the line. I was worried when he stopped at another girl, but she was just starting her development and, after looking her up and down, he moved off, glaring at us. "Very well, but you had better not be lying!" The two girls he had chosen were seized, their wrists tied, swung up on the horses and they were carried off in tears, leaving the girls' parents distraught. The whip had cut Pali's face and blood streamed down his neck. I knew it would leave a scar unless I attended to it. "Come into the wagon here," I advised. "Now sit down. I will try to treat it." It took me only a few minutes to get the book and turn to the spell that healed injuries. Pali watched me warily as I read out the spell. I was gratified when after a few seconds the blood flow stopped, and the skin closed leaving hardly a mark. I stroked his face and kissed him. "There, my husband, " I said. "Now your handsome face is unmarked." "Maybe I should have left the scar, to make me look more threatening," he said He embraced me tightly. "A wonderful book that. But we have two grieving families here. A pity the book cannot remedy their pain and restore the girls to them." That got me thinking. That night we had a council with Pali, me, and four senior members of our small tribe. Some of them were in favour of sneaking away from the town. "They will probably put more impositions on us," one said. I thought of my own daughter. She would be maturing into womanhood in just a few years but I shook my head. "Yes, that is very possible. We have to get away sometime. Unfortunately, they are guarding us too carefully for us to leave just now. If we made attempts to leave we could anger them, and they might kill us out of spite or restrict us even more. I think we should just pretend to be cowed and work with them, but make preparations and seize our chance when we can. I have some ideas, but I will have to plan more." "Ideas!" spat Zorin. " We need more than ideas. We need action!" "Action when necessary, but we have lost two young women. I won't forget them. We must plan to get them back. But let them think we are afraid of them." So, we began to take part in the trade of the small town and go to the markets. We had to do it for our own survival anyway, but I hoped it would give the Bey or his cohorts the impression we had meekly accepted our status. Our enforced residency was made worse when our draft animals for the wagons were taken from us. We possibly might be able to sneak away, but we would only have as much as we could carry. This town had a different air from Zernos or even Trebizond. It was not just that it was Ottoman and Muslim. There was a general oppressive air about the whole area, the population looked cowed and eventually I linked it to the overbearing presence of the Bey and his hirelings. Even the buildings looked dark and gloomy. In the markets, as in Zernos and Trebizond, our skills in metalworking, carving and weaving began to be appreciated by the residents. I could have used my own particular set of healing skills as there were enough injuries and disease that I could have cured, but that could be dangerous so I kept the spells for my own tribe. I had no love for the Ottoman anyway. We were surviving, even making a reasonable living but by the looks the inhabitants gave us and some of their comments, we were never fully accepted and I wondered if we were on borrowed time. It would only take some trouble to surface and we could be made the scapegoats. For the two girls who had been taken it was as if they had just suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth and I had to spend time comforting the parents. I knew what would have happened to them. If they had been taken into Kasim's harem they would be in seclusion from then on, or perhaps to be sold on if they were not found satisfactory. The parents' sense of loss made me want revenge. We Gypsies were a tight knit clan and the distress of one family was the distress of all. I was adopting Gypsy thoughts and ways more and more. I also looked at my own daughter Nelana. She had still not developed as a woman, but that would be only a few years away. She was a pretty girl, as a result of the spell taken when she was very young and she would become a beautiful woman. All males who had been given the spell became beautiful women. I thought of the beauty of my sister Casja, who had once been my brother Merodus. So there was the risk that my daughter too might attract the Bey's attention and be taken from me. I could not abide that thought. I supposed I had five years. On day at the market one of the Turkish women suddenly stopped at my stall and fingered some of my articles. I could see she was impressed with my weaving and sewing and I was even more glad when she bought some. I had noted her own rich robes. Their material and sewing were of nice quality so I could see that she was well off. She must have talked about me with some other women and soon I was able to sell more to them, and day by day over the next weeks I got a modest clientele. But better, I soon found one of my clients was the senior wife of Kasim, a woman named Vahide. She too was impressed by my work and over the next months bought more and more of my weaving and sewing. I saw the inkling of a chance to better our situation and allowed myself, with appropriate feigned submission, fawning and compliments, to gradually get her trust and it was not long before she suggested that I come to her house. As she was the Bey's wife I thought it better not to refuse the invitation. She wanted to show how she had used some of my weaving in her quarters and to give her advice on more. The house was Kasim's headquarters and was large enough to have living quarters big enough for Vahide and the Bey's two other wives, and some rooms he used for his administration and planning but it also hadenough room to house his growing harem. Vahide and the other two wives had their own rooms, while the harem was in a separate wing of the house. Vahide herself did not think it strange to be under the same roof as the other wives and even the harem occupants but then, that was expected in their society. As first wife she had probably even helped choose some of the girls. In my own slavery I had experienced a similar arrangement for Timur's wives and harem. I found it a strange situation. As the senior wife she could use her power to advise on any harem girl's suitability, but there could be jealously too, in case the master became too enamoured with some harem slave. I wondered if I could take advantage of that. Constantly in my mind was the loss of the two girls and that we were effectively prisoners. I planned restitution and retribution. I watched and took note of the whole household, even the two harem guards, both large men but with plump, softish looking bodies who I recognized as eunuchs. I remembered the type from my time in Timur's harem. One was a Nubian called Salah, but for the other called Huseyin, I could not decide his origin from his skin colour or his features but I later found he was Egyptian. They were eunuchs, but, still the strength of either would have been much more than my own. It was often the situation that these men, frustrated by their own drastically altered anatomy, took sadistic pleasure in disciplining any girl for some supposed deficiency. I often saw the Bey and two other men, who looked as if they were advisors, in discussion. They soon moved into a room and shut the door behind them while two armed men, guards, took position outside. Vahide pointed that out to me. "That is my husband's weekly council meting. He is an important man and concerns himself with affairs of the state," she said smugly. "He does not like to be disturbed when he is considering these important matters. Last week a servant was whipped when he made a noise outside." Fairly close to the Bey's house was a guard house, that served as living quarters for his armed men, and what looked like an armoury and stables. We would pass by the men often on the way to and from the market, but any looks they gave us were cursory as there was little of us Gypsy women to be seen. Like the Bey's wives and most of the women, I often wore a voluminous black garment that covered all but my face when I was out. I hated its restriction and was glad to get back to our Gypsy camp at night and put on more colourful and less restricting clothes. It was during that time that I saw a curious argument at the Bey's house. I was too far away to hear what was being said but the Bey was giving a furious tirade to some young man. I first thought it must have been some servant or other flunkey, as the young man's build and clothing did not look like those of the armed soldiers that the Bey used to exercise his power, nor of any servant. They had not seen me but I watched the young man slink while his father strode off. Later I watched as he sat down in a secluded alcove, his head in his hands and occasionally shaking with crying. If there was some domestic dispute, it was none of my business, or was it? I had initially hoped to try to contact the two girls who had been taken from us, but my hints that I was curious to see inside the harem quarters were turned down. "This house holds quarters for the Bey's harem?" I had asked. "How does that work? I am married, but I am the sole wife of my husband. There are many girls there? I know that two of our own Gypsy girls were taken. I wonder if any were in the Bey's harem." Vahide's lips curled in slight distaste at my query and she snorted in mild contempt. "Two girls? Perhaps they are there but I am not sure. I remember selecting one but I do not concern myself too much with the slaves and concubines in my husband's harem. I am his wife and the senior one," she said proudly. So, getting into the harem to see the girls was off limits to me, but I could bide my time. I watched and studied all the other characters in the house and as much as I could of the harem quarters, and especially the two eunuchs that helped run the establishment. I soon learned too that these men, as I suspected, were used to discipline the girls if necessary. For some reason one of the eunuchs, the swarthy man called Huseyin, had taken a dislike to me. He was polite enough to me when Vahide was around, but he almost went out of his way to be awkward, and even muttered "Dirty Gypsy," under his breath. I was not a Gypsy by birth, but I did not bother pointing that out. Several times he surreptitiously pushed or knocked into me, always when Vahide was not there. I knew my complaints would be dismissed on so I just was patient and made sure to keep out of his way as much as I could. Then, finally it happened that I was allowed access to the area that held the harem girls, other than his wives. She had commanded me to provide some woven material for curtains and when I insisted that I wanted to see where they were to be placed she reluctantly escorted me into the actual harem. Separately from the wives' quarters, the harem girls were kept in a largish room, with a wide door that opened to a secluded courtyard at one end and with a number of alcoves set into the wall at the other end. Along another side was a wall but with several openings like small windows. I had heard of these. From behind it, looking through the small openings, Kasim would be able to study the harem girls to see which he would bed that night. Each alcove held a narrow couch or bed. I was told these were where the girls would rest at night if they had not been called to their master's bed. More ominous, in the courtyard, was a wooden post set with manacles. Vahide smirked when she saw me looking at it. "It is a whipping post. Sometimes these sluts are not satisfactory and Huseyin has to discipline them. That is usually once per week. It keeps the girls in order." So I learned too that he was given the task of whipping any who were to be punished. I later learned he was known for his viciousness and the girls feared him. All six of the harem girls were kept there, and most dressed quite well in rich colourful clothing, although made of light thin material, and as they moved around I saw exposed flesh, breasts or pubes. Some were playing games, one practising on a kind of lute and another on a flute and two others were helping each other wash and style their hair. One was totally naked and was being washed by another young slave girl while she toyed with her hair. My stomach gave unpleasant twists when I remembered my own days in Timur's harem. It had been days of apprehension that I would be called to his bed, but otherwise boredom and minor intrigue as the girls vied for dominance. I looked at them carefully but only recognized only one of them, Sylma. I had hoped to see both of our own girls. Now I would have to tell her sorrowing parents that the other girl Karya must have been sold on and that they would probably never see them again. Still, perhaps I could rescue Sylma. Sylma had recognized me but she just stared at me at first rigid in shock then her face turned red and she turned her head, jumped up, ran to an alcove and drew the curtain behind her with great swish. I bit my lip at the girl's embarrassment but I did not want to let it be known I knew her. Vahide had not noticed anything strange. I wanted more time to study the place but my first task took me only a week to do the weaving and then there was no further reason for me to be in the harem. I wondered how I could arrange to see the girls again and after fretting about various ideas for two weeks I was delighted when Vahide again approached me in the market to do weaving for some more furnishings and some was even to be in the harem. This time I persuaded her that I needed another visit to compare colours and finally a week later she led me back into the harem. This time Sylma was in the middle of a bath and I was able to get between her and her alcove to stop her escaping from me. Her mouth opened in shock when she saw me but I made no sign of recognition and I waited until I saw Vahide scolding another girl. I sidled up to Sylma and held her shoulder gently but firmly to reassure her. She squeezed her eyes shut and started to cry but I gave her a sympathetic look. "Sylma, there is no shame in your situation. It was forced on you but I am going to try to rescue you. You need to be patient," I whispered to her, and her eyes lit up. But then her hand went to her mouth and she began to cry and whimper. Huseyin was striding towards us and he pushed me aside, seized the naked girl by one arm and pulled her out of the bath. She started crying. "No, No, please!" " My master says you have not been pleasing. You will be punished and learn your place." He pushed me aside. " Out of the way, Gypsy woman!" he ordered and he dragged the terrified girl out into the courtyard, leaving a wet trail of her bathwater behind her. The other girls had gone silent and looked at each other in horror. I cringed when I heard the cries of the girl, whimpers, then and a series of sharp sounds and the girl screaming after each. "She is getting a whipping," smirked Vahide. After five strokes the poor girl was screaming constantly but still the blows went on and I counted a dozen in all. In a minute or two Huseyin pulled her back into the room and threw her roughly to the floor, leaving her weeping with her shoulders shaking. The girl's naked back was striped with blows from a whip or rod or whatever he had used and her wrists were red where she had writhed in the iron manacles. I only just managed to hide my shock at the viciousness and brutality but Vahide just smirked again. "Obviously she was not pleasing last night! That spell at the whipping post will teach her! Huseyin does his duties well, he keeps these....slaves in order. She will learn to be more obedient." I gathered she was jealous of the girl and relished her misery. I vowed I would make Huseyin pay for his brutality and I had my chance three days later when I was came back to check on some colours and styles for some other new curtains. It looked like Vahide approved of my work. I brought all my supplies with me, but I had hidden my book in some spare cloth. If I had felt any misgivings about my plans they disappeared when I saw Huseyin berating yet another girl, one I had found was called Falama, supposedly for some other whim of the emir or perhaps some trivial matter of his own sadistic imagination. He was working up to the actual punishment, taking a wicked pleasure in the girl's increasing terror. I was in luck. Vahide had left me alone in the harem saying she had things to attend to, and the eunuch had already dragged the girl to the whipping post for punishment stripped and manacled her. He had his whip ready and was toying with it, allowing its strands to play against her naked back to increase her terror. I pulled out the book from my supplies and opened it to the right page. When he began the punishment I could hardly concentrate with the piercing screams of the girl's distress but there was nothing that I could do directly for her. I could only make sure Huseyin would never do it again. I thought of the other girl he had whipped, Sylma, and even back to my own time in Timur's harem. I too had felt a eunuch's lash when I was not responsive enough to Timur. But I had taken my revenge, and more. My work was about done anyway so, pretending I was singing a little song, I moved closer to the courtyard and sang out the words of the spell. It only took a minute and I quickly hid the book away in my robes. "Why are you singing? What was that?" another girl asked. " It has strange words." "Oh, only an old Gypsy song. It is a lament. I am sorry for that poor girl." I said. "That eunuch is a monster," she muttered, then gave a bitter smile. "But perhaps he is frustrated by all of us. We were all chosen for our beauty. He often sees us naked, or sometimes elaborately made up and in clothing for us to excite the Bey, but he can do nothing. At least that way we are safe from him " Her face became more bitter. "But he can take his frustrations out on us. Sometimes we deliberately tease him but that is risky." I looked out the window, " Oh, I should watch my time! The sun is getting low and I had better get home soon." As I passed Sylma, "I am still going to rescue you," I whispered. "I have not forgotten you. Things wil fall into place soon. Have patience." The whipping had stopped and Huseyin dragged Falama back into the room and let her fall to the floor. She was shaking with crying and her naked back, buttocks and thighs were covered with red stripes. Her face was streaked with tears. He glowered at me. "I do that to all displeasing women, " he snarled and fingered the strands of his whip and looked at me but I was finished and I was out the door before the spell started to show its effects. I knew I had several minutes if its effect was like the previous times I had used it. When I reached our encampment Pali noticed my face immediately. "What are you looking so pleased about?" I told him what I had done and he laughed "A good punishment!" but he was suddenly serious. "Just be careful." "Oh, it was some retribution for his cruelty, and maybe an idea has come to mind. I will tell you when I find if what I did was successful." That next week I was not able to get to the Bey's house and I was on edge, wondering how the spell had worked. I was in the dilemma that I wanted to see how my spell had worked, but I certainly did not want any of its results to be connected to me. Finally, after a week, I had a call to go back and, my stomach churning, I presented myself at the Bey's palace but Vahide had me look at another room instead. I could hardly hide my impatience and I was on edge until she finally led me to the harem section of the house. I immediately noticed Huseyin was missing. Instead, there only the large Nubian there "You only have one eunuch for the harem now? I don't see Huseyin here today?" I asked innocently. Vahide shook her head. "Something strange has happened some days ago. Huseyin said he was feeling ill and had gone to his quarters after he whipped the girl, that one over there." She pointed to Falama. "Finally, some hours later, someone noticed he had not appeared again and when his quarters were checked he was missing. Instead there was a girl there, and dressed in his clothes. I say dressed, but they were all much too big for her. She was completely unconscious and she could not be wakened. "Finally, though, she woke about five days ago. She was incoherent at first, going in and out of consciousness and talking nonsense, but as she began to recover she began screaming. She was running her hands up and down her body and shrieking all the time. She kept insisting she was Huseyin. Of course, that is impossible, unless Huseyin had had a spell cast on him. That's impossible, of course but we have no idea how he managed to smuggle a girl into his quarters. If he had been found with a girl he would have been flogged, maybe even executed. We wonder why he had a girl too. It's not as if he could use her." She gave a smirk. "He had definitely been castrated." "Some superstitious people may believe in magic spells, but I am not one of them," she said airily. I shook my head. "It seems very strange. Spells?" I scoffed. "Yes, that would be ridiculous, and men cannot just disappear. Perhaps he has run away, but where to and why leave the girl in his place? Where is this girl now?" "She is chained in a cell downstairs." "What will happen to her?" "If she keeps insisting she really is bewitched, she will probably lose her head, but Kasim thinks she is quite pretty." Vahide gave a contemptuous sniff. "Maybe she will be sold away, or maybe Kasim will just add her to his harem." I actually wanted to see the effect of the spell on Huseyin but I decided it would be best to pretend I was not too interested. But I was pleased with another result. The other girl, Falama, who had been whipped by the eunuch, had obviously heard the spell too and had changed. She had already been quite pretty but she was now a real beauty. She had noticed her changed appearance too and as I worked nearby I smled when I saw her preening and posing in front of mirrors. It gave me even more satisfaction when I saw Vahide scowling at her too. The spell had worked the same t with the other harem girls too. All had become real beauties. Vahide would not like it as they could be more now in demand at night by Kasim. I wondered if I could play on her jealousy. I was pleased with another thing that happened in my life. I discovered I was pregnant. Pali was delighted too and I hoped it would be a son for him.Still I would have to be careful too. Pregnancy makes a body more vulnerable and awkward. In the meantime, while I worked at the Bey's house, I started humming or singing little airs to get them used to me making sounds. When the appropriate times arose I would add some special words. My work must have pleased Vahide and I became a fairly regular visitor at the house. I was glad for that as it allowed me to spy out the whole complex, but it had a mixed effect. I was finishing up one day when she approached me. "Your work is very good. I am pleased." I bowed to her. "I am glad my modest attempts at weaving please you." "However, I think it would be a good idea to have you here much more. I want you to leave the Gypsies and live here. When you are a servant here it will be easier to discuss things with you. And just think, it will save you from walking back and forward. I will even give you a room where you may work and sleep. That is more generous than I am with other servants." I was horrified. "But I have a husband and daughter," I blurted out. "I cannot leave them!" She looked down her nose at me. "My needs are more important but... I will be generous. You may visit them one night each week." By her face any further protests were not a good idea and I bowed again. "As you wish, my lady." It meant I would be separated from my husband and daughter but as a servant I would become even less noticeable and that could help my plans. Finally, two weeks later, I saw a new girl in the room that the harem girls occuppied. She was pretty, with a brown skin and a voluptuous figure. "The emir has another new slave girl?" I asked Vahide. She sniffed. "That is the girl who was found in Huseyin's 's room. The emir has decided to keep her." "Has the eunuch ever been found?" "No, and the matter is still a mystery. The only explanation that we can see is that she was a girl who Huseyin had taken to his room." She shook her head. "But I don't know where he got her or even what he thought he could do with her." She smirked again. "He was definitely a eunuch. All his male parts had been removed when he was a boy but we checked anyway. He has disappeared. There are no reports of him. But why the girl got there and chose to put on his clothes is a mystery." Then she scowled. " Anyway, my husband thinks this girl is quite pretty, for some strange reason." She gave a disapproving sniff. "She is not as attractive as me but as soon as he saw her he had her stripped. The slut must have pleased him for some reason and he has ordered that she be put in his harem." She sniffed again. " At least the stupid woman has given up pretending she is Huseyin. Perhaps the thought of losing her head or getting hanged as a witch has brought her to her senses. In fact he will use her tonight. She is being prepared for him. She had better satisfy him!" Vahide bit her lip and glared at the girl. So Vahide was jealous. The new girl must have been warned what was ahead for her. A servant girl was dressing her in rich but revealing silks, and making her up with cosmetics, scents, bangles and jewels, but she was tensed, hunched over and staring into space. She would know what the coming night held for her. "She does not seem very happy." Wahide shrugged and actually looked at the girl in contempt. "What of it! Anyway, she is only a slave. She will have to accept her fate. Her feelings do not matter. I am a wife," she said haughtily. "She will serve my husband well or she will be sold away, or executed." I wondered how this new girl would find the Bey's attentions that night. She would know that she had to satisfy him fully and eagerly, or at least pretend to, or she might feel on her back the same whip that Huseyin had used so freely. Part of me hoped she would be subjected to the same punishment. I wondered too if she could get pregnant. I had no idea how the spell rearranged the male anatomy. Huseyin had been a a eunuch, so I wondered if the new slave would actually have ovaries. Still, that was none of my concern. I did not feel particularly sorry for the new slave and I did not see her for another week but by that time she had become a little improved. She was still listless compared to the others but the haggard, devastated expression was mostly gone. Maybe she knew her survival depended on her pleasing the Bey or, as I suspected, she was already beginning to adjust and accept her new body. Perhaps she would eventually get to like it. That had often happened with the spell. For her own sake the quicker she accepted her new body the better. I thought of my sister Casja. She had been changed from a man, to protect her, then unexpectedly stuck in her new body, and captured. She was stuck in the female body but she had told me that it did not take long for her to accept then welcome it. Around the whole Bey's complex I often saw the young man I had seen earlier being berated by the Bey and little by little I got the impression that he was studying me too. I first wondered if he was some spy that Vahide or the Bey had set to check on me. I must have been boring to watch and maybe it was the man's punishment by the Bey for whatever infraction it was that had caused the scene. I made sure I did not give him any cause for complaint. Whenever he was there, I worked diligently and efficiently. Then gradually, I got the impression that in fact he actually wanted to talk to me and was trying to work up enough courage. I was unsure what he could want and I decided to let him make the first move. Finally, he must have decided and one day actually came into my room and closed the door behind him. I looked at him alarmed. I did not want to be alone with a man. But he held up his hand to reassure me. "I want to talk with you. You are the woman called Ionope?" he asked. "I am called Yusuf." His manner was very hesitant. "Yes, I am Ionope. What do you want, Yusuf? " "You are one of the Gypsies?" When I nodded my head he went on. "You do not look like the other Gypsies. Your complexion and features are different." I did not want him to learn anything of my own history and certainly nothing of my time as a slave in Timur's harem. I only said, "I am not a Gypsy by birth. I lived in Zernos, over in the Caucasus. Then I became a widow. My sister lives there but I wanted to see the world so I joined the Gypsies. One of them Pali, became a widower and eventually I married him." " My father's forces captured you and brought you here. You were travelling. Where were you going?" "Your father? The Bey is your father?" I exclaimed, shocked and immediately wary. I would have to be extra careful what I said. "Yes, but I wish it were not so. He has ambitions for me, but I want no part of them." This did not make sense. "Ambitions? He is a powerful, influential man. Why would you not want to follow him?" "It would involve a lot of fighting, struggle with others, maybe intrigue, a lot of responsibilities. The sultan is the overlord but there are competing factions among his regional chiefs and my father finds it a continual struggle to combat the intrigue and keep his position. The intrigue is worst at the sultan's court. I do not have the taste for that and perhaps not the skills either." He bit his lip. I knew enough about intrigue and deception from my earlier days and I could sympathize with him. Yet, on further talking I got to know Yusuf better and I began to see that there was also something very wrong with his relationship with his father. I remembered the violent dispute between them. "Being a dutiful son can be difficult," I said tactfully. "Oh, to answer your first question, we were travelling, intending to go to Constantinople." "That may be a bad idea. My father tells me the sultan wants to capture it. That means there will be fighting and looting." There was some noise outside and he looked round guiltily. "I have to go but I must speak with you again," he said. He shook his head and left me, puzzled as to what his motives were. A week or so later after I had spent my one night back with my husband I was heading through the market place back to the Bey's house when I realized there were more people than usual heading there. "What is going on?" I asked a portly merchant. "Oh, I hear someone has transgressed our laws. He is going to be executed in the market square." Bloodletting was not to my taste, but the press of the crowd hemmed me in so I could hardly move. Unfortunately I found myself close an open space where soldiers were holding back the crowd. It was the execution site. I was no stranger to executions and death. Timur had been a capricious ruler and even his close acquaintances trod carefully around him and watched what they said. From the side of the square nearest the Bey's quarters I saw two soldiers pull a young man into the square. He was struggling, but ineffectually, as his arms were bound behind him. Behind the trio walked another man, bare chested, carrying a large sword, with the Bey following him along with several of his senior advisors and staff. Behind them was another man, who I recognized as the Bey's son Yusuf. This time I was shocked at his appearance. Even at the distance I could see he was pale and his face haggard. By his manner he looked as if he was an unwilling participant. The young man was roughly forced to his knees. He was screaming out and asking for mercy but the Bey came before him, waved his arms to the crowd who went dutifully silent, and announced. "This man has defiled our laws and participated in unclean acts. He will suffer the punishment prescribed by law." The executioner placed himself just behind the victim and swung his sword as if to test it. As the condemned man began crying, the executioner looked at him in contempt. He victim raised his tear stained face and turned it as if he was looking round the square. Then it was as if his eyes fixed on one direction. He was looking at the Bey's son. Yusuf's eyes were looking at his feet. As the Bey nodded the executioner swung back the heavy sword and then swiftly brought it forward to the exposed neck. I winced but at least it was a clean stroke. The head tumbled off with a spurt of blood and the body fell to the ground to a great cheer from the onlookers. I felt sick myself, but I looked across at Yusuf. His hands were clenched in each other and he was noticeably distraught. In fact it looked like he too had been crying. Then I saw him compose himself and stare steadily at his father. It was not a look of love or respect, but of absolute hate. The crowd was beginning to disperse and I watched him as he composed himself then slowly made his way back to his house. Fortunately the body was immediately removed, clean sand spread over the blood and the market trading began. That day there was a good crowd, drawn by the execution, I suppose. My next six days at the Bey's house were to start and I followed Yusuf to the house, just watching him from a distance. Later, I was in my room working when he there was a brief knock at the door and Yusuf entered, unbidden. I bowed to him. I was only a servant, or slave. His father was the Bey. "Can I help you, sir?" " Uh, I saw you at the execution." "Yes, I was coming through the square but I could not move any further. Bloodletting is not to my taste. Unfortunately I saw what happened all too clearly. I saw you too." I decided to be bold. "You were there and you looked upset." As his lip quivered I took his arm and squeezed it. "You knew him?" He wiped his eyes and took a deep breath. "That man was my friend!" He broke down. "No, he was more, I..I loved him. And yes, we were lovers, " he blurted out. "But we had to be circumspect. Love of that type between two men is forbidden and unfortunately my father had begun to suspect. He scolded me severely many times and forbade me to see Omer. He's the one who was.... murdered. But I disobeyed my father. My love for Omer was too strong. We tried to be more careful and meet in a quiet part of the town but just three days ago someone must have seen and informed on us and we were caught again. My father spared me as I am his son and he says he has plans will make me into a man. But my friend was not spared and they killed him." He gave a fresh burst of tears. "I hate my father!" I was sorry for the young man and there was something about his manner that made me want to trust him. Besides, by his actions it looked like he wanted something from me. I wondered how I could use this surprising revelation. "You are Gypsies, known for your wandering ways. But you live here." " I told you. We were on our way to Constantinople, but your father stopped our travel and ordered us to live here," I said. "Don't you like it here?" I had to be very careful what I said. "We have not been given any choice and I have been ordered to work here all but one day a week. The others try make a living here as best they can trading in the market place. My husband is a wood carver and some others of the men are skilled metalworkers and since we got settled here they have established a forge. We try to be good citizens and avoid trouble." "I was in that party that captured you, and took two of your young women. One is now in my father's harem. Are you not angry with him?" "We must obey your father," I said carefully. "Why has he made you all stay here?" "Maybe he likes exercising power. We Gypsies have some useful skills like weaving, and as I said, some men do blacksmith work or other metal working. "Maybe he wanted to take his pick of our young women. Two have been taken already." His angry words were an opening. "We mourn the loss of two young women from us. I have seen the girl called Sylma in the harem but the other girl is not there. Do you know where she is?" It could have been dangerous to ask, but the man seemed open. "No, I don't know. I think she was sent in a group of slaves to the market." That made me furious, but I made sure I did not show it. The Bey had casually sold one of our young women away like she was an object of trade! Finding her would now be impossible. She could be anywhere in the Ottoman lands by now. "I hoped she found a kind master," I said cautiously. He looked at me. "If you could leave here, would you?" He spoke quietly, as if not to be overheard. "This house or this city?" I felt more confident giving him an honest reply. "Yes, both! Our plan was to head West but we are not free to leave. I wonder, do you think you could persuade your father to let us go? It is not as if we have much to offer this small city. I do weaving, but there are many other weavers." His face went pale. "Persuade my father? No, he is still angry with me and I don't think I could persuade him, but if I could, do you think I could go with you? I want away from here." "You would run off with us, cast your lot with us, Gypsies? Do you really think you would be better off with us?" I was deliberately making it sound more difficult. I thought back to how Menissa had tried to discourage me from joining them. I ad to gauge his determination. "Anything to escape. I cannot continue to live here." "Why not?" "I hate him. I want to get away." "Maybe you could leave but I think, unless your father changes his mind, we have to remain here." Shaking his head, he left me, but I was already thinking how I could put the young man's admissions to use. The situation of my own tribe had not changed but seeing the fate of Huseyin and the power of the book an inkling of a plan began to grow in my mind. My first priority was to rescue Sylma, but I wanted to use the book to remove the Bey's power and destroy or at least destabilize his little fiefdom. I had previously used the spell on Huseyin at a full moon. Perhaps at the next full moon I would use the spell again and they might associate the strange events with the full moon. I decided I would focus on another part of the Bey's power. Most of the guards who were not married lived in a kind of barracks about a stone's throw from the palace. These were warm evenings and the door to the building was usually wide open for ventilation and anytime I passed by I could see the soldiers inside eating, resting, playing games or attending to their equipment. The next evening of the full moon was the one night I could spend back with my own people and on my way to the Gypsy encampment I again brought my book with me, hidden in my robe. I previously bought some stuff at the market and as I passed the barracks' door I pretended to stumble and spill some fruit onto the ground. I gave a small curse and shook my head as if embarrassed at my clumsiness and began to gather them up methodically. A soldier lounging at the door gave a small laugh but did not offer to help me. "Stupid Gypsy," he muttered, but apart from that no one bothered me at all. Sometimes when I had run my stall at the market I had often hummed or sung little Gypsy songs and some shoppers had even thrown coins to me. In these cases I would bow my head obsequiously and thank them. I carried this on in the Bey's house and no one had objected much either. This time, as I collected the spilled fruit, I sang the same tune, but I set it with the words of the same spell that I had recited to Huseyin. The door was open and all the men could hear me. I saw some curious glances but no one stopped me and when I was finished I secured my goods in my pack and made my way back to the Gypsy encampment. Of course, Pali had noticed my tension and I told him what I had done. "I have set the cat among the pigeons," I said. "Let us see where the pigeons land." "You are taking a risk," he warned. "That's the second time." "I don't think anyone noticed me, apart from one soldier, and soon he will have other matters on his mind. I have more plans too. There is more to follow." I had missed my family and friends the week I was away. It was so pleasant to be away from my semi-imprisonment and be back with my husband to kiss and hug him, to touch and hold him and my daughter, and even just to be able to talk freely to our Gypsy friends and catch up with news. I hoped it would not be long before I was back with them for good. That night we sent our daughters to Menissa so that Pali and I could catch up with our lovemaking and I could relax a little from my scheming and plans. And the oppressive atmosphere of the Bey's quarters. "You have something on your mind again." Pali grinned, when we had finished. "It took longer than usual to get you to respond to me." I kissed him. "I'm sorry, Pali. Yes, something on my mind, but you made me forget it." I stroked his face. "Now, I'm ready again. Are you?" Returning to the Bey's house the next morning I was apprehensive as I approached the guardroom but my feeling changed to elation when I saw it was eerily quiet and empty. Two new guards were standing outside, shifting uncomfortably and looking round uneasily. "You, Gypsy woman, get away from here!" one commanded as I pretended to hesitate at the door to adjust my pack. "What, masters?" I whined. " I am just a poor woman on my way back to the Bey's house to work. Where are the soldiers?" He gestured for me to move away. "You are forbidden to stop here. There is evil magic here." "Magic? In what way?" "There is a curse here." "A curse!" I gave a dramatic shiver and looked inside, "Where are all the men?" "They are accursed. They have all become women. Now, I ordered you to leave! Get away with you!" "Women? I don't see them." I said over my shoulder as I moved away. "They have been taken to the Bey's quarters and put in cells." So the spell had worked well and I hid my elation. This would be another shock to the Bey and I hoped it might make him start to panic when he saw some of his forces changed into women. Still, if the idea of magic had come to their minds and I certainly did not want any connection to me to be noticed. I would have to be more careful. At least I had removed a good number of his armed men as a threat or who could force us to stay prisoners. I got a certain satisfaction that the event was the talk of the Bey's house for days and there was even more consternation when the former men woke up and discovered their new female bodies while still insisting they were men. I could hear the screaming from the dungeons even in my room but I just worked quietly. I began to hear rumours that the Bey and his staff suspected the former men were telling the truth, but they were bewildered how it had occurred. I began to hear 'magic' talked about in hushed tones. So now they suspected magic. I would have to be careful in case they investigated its source. I wondered if any of the new women would find themselves in a harem like Huseyin had. Still, a week later it was as if the Bey and his advisors had adjusted to loss of the soldiers. There was still some talk about magic, but the organization of the Bey's fiefdom appeared to be recovering. He was even recruiting more guards. I needed yet another way to shock it, something even more severe. It was then I had another visit from the young man, the Bey's son. "My situation has become worse. My father now wants to send me to the Sultan's headquarters, I am supposed to join the army there in two weeks. I do not want to go. I would be a prisoner in a life I would hate. Please, can't you leave here and take me with you?" "You want the Gypsies to disobey your father's orders? You could leave by yourself." "Possibly, but I would be alone, an easy prey for robbers or worse." "Come closer. I have an idea," I whispered," but I will discuss it with you later." "What is it?" he asked, his eyes lighting up. "Not yet. I still have to arrange some things, but have patience." An idea was developing in my mind and when I was able to get back to the Gypsy camp again I discussed my plans with Pali and others. I was pleased to see that they now had draft animals for our wagons. "Yes, we bought them, one at a time. Nobody suspects us or had come to check," said Pali. "The Bey now had less guards and I haven't seen anyone coming round to check on us." We made love several times that night then all too soon it was morning and I had to leave. I hugged our daughters and kissed Pali. I held his hands. "Pali, I have my plans just about completed and matters may be coming to a head. Get everyone as ready to leave as they can and attracting as little attention as you can. It may happen very suddenly. I hope I am successful. If I am not I will probably die." "Won't you tell me about your plans?" "No, better you do not know. If anything goes wrong the blame will fall on me only. .Just remember that I love you." He drew in his breath and held me but I broke away, wiped a tear from my eye and set off. As soon as I had returned to the Bey's house I looked for my opportunity. They were not quite back to normal and there was still an edgy, nervous air among everyone in the place. Wahide was even more irritable and brusque with me than usual as well. Luckily there were still less armed men, and my supervision had become quite lax. I noticed some new servants too. I was interested to see that the former Huseyin was now sitting with other girls. Most were talking and occasionally giggling while they played some trivial game while this girl sat quietly. Some had fairly normal inside clothing but others, including the new girl, were dressed in the flimsy harem robes that did not conceal much. I hoped the new girl liked the semi-transparency of her dress. Actually she had lost the stricken look and it made her look much more attractive. It looked like she was taking well to her new status. As a male she had been castrated. I wondered if she was now fertile. At least she could now have sexual experiences, although female ones. Maybe I had done her a favour. Sylma was looking at me hopefully, gave me a little sign and took me aside to her alcove. "Have you thought of anything yet so I can escape?" "Keep your voice down! Soon, I hope. Be ready!" I whispered to her." but it may be rather sudden. Be ready at a moment's notice. I have not made all of my plans yet." "Please let it be soon," she pleaded. "I want back with my own people." "I will do what I can. The new girl looks a little less shocked than she was." I pointed to the former Huseyin. "Yes, she was distraught when she was brought here and spent a lot of time crying to herself, and protesting that she was the eunuch but she is much better now. She has spent several nights with the Bey and, you know, I actually think she likes her situation. It is a strange business. " She peered at me. "Do you know anything about it? I mean magic? I remember you once used a little book to heal a girl's broken leg." "Magic? Enough to change a man to a woman? That would be powerful stuff to do that." She gave a sly smile and her eyes twinkled. "Oh, I seem to remember you once healed a girl's broken leg, and you changed a girl into a young man. Perhaps there is a spell that changes men to woean?" I smiled at her. "Maybe there is! "I whispered. I kept watch outside the door to the harem room and I suddenly saw my opportunity when the Bey's two advisors arrived for their usual weekly planning and he led them into the conference room. As usual, two guards were posted outside. I had my plans more or less made up, but I had seen Yusuf enter his room just a short time previously and, thinking about his pleas, I decided to change my plans a little and went to his room. This was my opportunity to help him. When I knocked he opened the door. "Ionope! What is it?" "Yusuf, I want to help you and I have plans underway. Do you still want me to help you?" "Yes, of course!" "Then you can help me, almost immediately. But you must do as I say, exactly. First, you need to stay in your room. Count to one thousand, slowly, the space of your heartbeats, then come to me. I will be waiting just outside the harem." "What is happening?" "I hope to save you, but it will take too long to explain. Just do as I tell you, exactly." He was not used to being ordered by a woman, and one who was a servant, and he stared at me for some seconds but finally agreed. My timing was critical and I hoped he would follow my instructions. This opportunity was too great to resist. I pretended I was going to my room and, as I passed them, I stopped to talk to the two guards. They looked at me with bored expressions that only changed when I began to sing out the spell but just loudly enough that they were the only ones who would hear it. They looked at me as if I were half-witted and I gave them a slack grin then moved away before they could make a fuss. The spell would not take long but I did not want to be there when its effects began so I moved back into the harem and pretended to work on some curtains. When I calculated I had waited long enough I began to sing out the spell again, so that this time the remaining eunuch would hear it. He looked at me suspiciously. "What are you singing about, more Gypsy rubbish?" "I am sorry, it is just an old Gypsy ditty. I like singing." "We don't need that stuff here. Keep your mouth shut!" I waited another minute or two, my tension growing, then when I looked out several minutes later the two guards were incapacitated. One was lying on his side on the floor, another was slumped against a wall and, as I watched, he gradually sank down until he was sprawled by it. Both men were staring vacantly into space, totally unconscious. They had both just begun the rippling phase of the spell. Fortunately no one had noticed them. I gave a horrified cry and pointed outside. "There are men out there lying ill, the ones that were to guard the Bey and his councillors! They need help!" "What?" He looked round in indecision as his job was to supervise the harem but when I pointed again he rushed out to the men. I watched in amusement as he tried more and more frantically to rouse them, while also trying to keep quiet not to disturb the Bey and his advisors. But the spell could not be counteracted by means like that. I knew that from experience. He looked round in indecision. His duty was to guard the harem but I hoped this was enough of an emergency to remove him. "They are ill. Maybe it is some type of plague. You need to get some help!" I suggested. I wondered if he would take the bait and finally, "Stay here, Gypsy woman!" he commanded. " I will go and get help." I watched as he ran off. He had heard the spell and he too would feel its influence in a few minutes. I wondered what his reaction would be when began the shivering part of the spell. No doubt whoever he tried to get help from would be alarmed when he started to shiver and fell unconscious at their feet. Eventually he would become a woman too. I wondered if he would take to his new female body as well as Huseyin had. As I had arranged earlier, Yusuf arrived came to me, looking puzzled. "What is going on?" I passed him the book. "Here, I have marked a page in this book. I want you to go into your father's council room there and read it out. It is an old language and will not make sense, but it will give you your freedom. Your father may be angry but do not let him or anyone there stop you. You must read it fully.Then when you have read it get back to me as fast as you can." "What does the book do?" "I don't have time to tell you. But you will like its effects." The Bey would be puzzled and probably furious at his planning session getting interrupted, but at least Yusuf, being his son, would not be immediately ejected. I hoped he would have enough time to read the spell and I clenched my teeth when I heard the words faintly through the half- closed wooden door but also the increasing angry protests by the Bey. Then I saw Yusuf being pushed out with shouts and he came running back to me. I took the book back from him and put it in my clothes. "Were you able to read it all?" I asked. He was rubbing his face. "Yes, but only just. My father was furious with my interruption. He shouted at me and finally pushed me out. He even struck me. I hate that man. I am glad I will be able to leave with you." "He will soon have more to worry about than us leaving. Now, I want you to run to the Gypsy encampment, as fast as you can, " I cried. " The Gypsies? Why?" "You wanted to go away with us. This is your chance. I think we will be able to leave now." I ran back into the unguarded harem and looked around for Sylma. She was waiting, agitated, and looked at me expectantly. "What is going on? I hear a lot of shouting." "You want to get free?" Her eyes lit up. "Yes!" she cried. "Then now is your chance. But better cover yourself with this!" I pulled some black cloth from my bundle and wrapped it around her like a robe. The other girls just looked on in astonishment. I saw some slightly trembling. Maybe they were just frightened or perhaps they had not heard my spell when I used it on Huseyin and were feeling some effects of the spell. If they did they would become more beautiful, but would only have mild discomfort. "Now, just wait!" I ordered. The time is not quite right yet, but it should be a few minutes." It did not take long. Maybe the eunuch had summoned more help or perhaps someone had seen him when he started to feel the effects of the spell, but I heard increasing panicky shouts and cries. As I hoped, the building was soon in chaos, with servants running about. Finally someone must have decided to check on the Bey and his advisors too in the council room and I heard even more screams of panic. In the total chaos the harem doors were left unguarded and while other girls looked on in bewilderment Sylma and I swiftly walked out of it. Then I had an immense shock but a pleasant one. I recognized one of the servants running past and I grabbed her arm. She looked at me then Sylma and her mouth opened in astonishment. "Quick, Do you want to escape?" I asked. "Yes" she cried out. It was Karya, the other girl who had been taken from us. "Then come with us. Immediately! Leave everything." She did not need a second order and ran out with us. The two guards at the gate were gone too and no one hindered us or even paid us much attention either as we walked down the street towards the Gypsy encampment. We moved quickly, but not so fast as to attract attention. Karya told me she had been made a servant at another house of the Bey. then after the trouble started she had been sent to the main house. Ahead of us I saw Yusuf and as we got closer to him he began staggering, then he hunched over, began to falter and leaned against a wall. As we caught up to him he made an attempt to speak to us, his eyes rolling, but he collapsed and in moments lapsed into unconsciousness in my arms. "That is the Bey's son!" cried Karya. "What is the matter with him? Better avoid him in case he is ill." "Karya," I said. "It is the result of another of my spells, and this man has helped us. It would be safer for him anyway and I think we should take him with us. You and Sylma run to the encampment and send Pali and another man back here, with a cart if they have one. Immediately!" I watched over Yusuf as he went through the shivering part of the spell. By the time Pali and another man arrived his body was starting to ripple with the change. I hugged Pali in relief. "I am glad you are here." "You are safe," he cried."What is happening?" " I have caused a bit of chaos with the Bey. I 'll tell you the details later but there are still things to do. First, quick, get this man on the cart and let's hurry back." "Who is he?" "He is the Bey's son, but he has helped me." Pali looked sceptical but we laid Yusuf on the cart and hurried back to our encampment. The rest of the Gypsies looked warily at the four of us as we arrived. I noticed that Sylma's mother Menissa was still holding her daughter, overjoyed to have her back and I had the pleasure of seeing the jubilation on the other parents that their own daughter Karya was back too. Pali held me as I broke down in tears with the release of tension, but we were not done yet and there was no time to lose. I waved my arms to gather the Gypsies together. "This is urgent," I cried out. "This is our chance to escape. I have caused total disorder at the Bey's house so now is our chance to escape. We would be better to do it now before they recover their shock. Pack up and get everything ready! We should leave tonight. Everyone should be back here at the camp. If anyone is still in the town fetch them back immediately!" There were some complaints and many questions but I waved my arms for attention again. "I will tell you later what I did, but we cannot delay. We have too much to get ready." I had not stayed behind to check on the spell's effects but the Bey and his advisors would be wonderfully changed, if they did not die. Older men sometimes died from the severity of the spell. Some boys were sent to fetch for men of our small tribe who were still working in the town and by dusk all were back. We waited another hour then hitched up the draft animals and at nightfall we decamped in the light of a half moon and by the time dawn broke we were well away. We would leave a trail, but I did not think any would follow. I hoped their society was now broken. Of course, Sylma had become a real beauty now. I was glad that her parents accepted her back with no reservations. She might be scarred by memories in the harem but I thought she would recover and get back into her life that had been so badly interrupted. I had gone through something similar and I could help her. Her beauty would attract men's attention. That would happen to the other girls in the harem too. I wondered what their fate would be. Perhaps they would have liked to escape the harem but they probably would have nowhere to run to. By the time we left Yusuf had gone through the major changes of the spell and was deeply unconscious. I had watched as his body went through the shivering followed by the rippling as his body changed proportions and his anatomy began to change. His penis and scrotum shrank and then his groin reformed into the less obtrusive folds of a woman's labia while pretty breasts swelled on her chest. Her waist narrowed a slim woman's one and her hips and buttocks swelled. Her feet became smaller and her hands slimmer. At the end of two hours the transformation was complete and I had a young woman below me. She still had the hair patterns of a man, but I knew it would soon fall out. Yusuf had been unhappy as a man; I hoped the new woman would like her body much better when she woke up. That would be about a day and a half, if she was like others. As I expected, when she woke up and discovered her change it was a shock to her. At first she screamed and felt desperately at her body, her new breasts, and frantically searched between her legs. The change would be a shock, but I hoped any protests would be short. 'What has happened to me?" she whimpered. I stroked her head and held her, noting that the remnants of her beard were falling out. "I have given you a spell that has made you into a woman. I think that when I spoke to you earlier you wanted to live a woman's life. Didn't you?" She bit her lip," ye...ss." "Well, now I have given you the opportunity to fully experience it. You see, I had an old magic book that has been in my family for generations. That was the one you read to your father but it affected you too. It affects all who hear it. Your father and his councillors are possibly now women too. "Now, I know that this is a sudden shock, but is it what you wanted? You told me earlier that you wished you had been born a girl. This has given you the body of a young woman and a very beautiful one too. The beauty will stay with you too for most of your life. No one will now recognize you as the man you were and you are now gone from your parents and your town from all who knew you. You can make a new life. You are with we Gypsies, and we have left the town behind. We will give you protection but if you want to make your own way we will not stop you." "You mean I can stay this way, as a woman?" A sudden hope was growing in her eyes. " Yes, you are now a woman in all ways, but if you decide you do not want a woman's body, that too can be changed. I am willing to allow that but I advise you to wait for a week or so. It may be what you want, I hope so, but you will have to learn about your new body. It is a bit different from what you had. You will still have to get used to being a woman and how to act with other women and men. Your emotions will change too. In months, maybe weeks you will start to think and feel as a woman does. You will be attracted to men. Men will be attracted to you. "I warn you, you are fully a woman now. You will bleed monthly like women do. You could get pregnant. You have a lot to learn but I will guide you, so will the other women here too." She began crying. "Thank you. I do not think I will ever want to change back." There was another use for the book too. We had scarcely been on our way for two days when I was approached by the young man, the one who had been the girl I had changed to protect her from being abducted. "Ionope, do you think we have escaped now, completely?" he asked. "Yes, I don't think we will be bothered now. We have left them with more than enough trouble." He seemed tongue-tied for some reason, as if he was embarrassed and I just gave him a level stare. "What? " I asked. He was a good looking young man, with the dark complexion of the Gypsies. "You want to talk to me? So how are you finding your new body?" "That is what I wanted to talk about. I want to get my female body back." "You are not happy as a man?" He drew in his breath. "It is a strange life I lead. There are some advantages in being a man. I like having a man's greater strength and height but, you know, the rest of the men, they really don't accept me. Maybe it is me, maybe it's them, but I don't seem to be able to talk easily with other men. Not the same as they do among themselves." He bit his lip. "They fall silent when I join them. " I want to talk and confide about things, people, and my own feelings but men are less concerned with these than women are. And unfortunately I feel myself changing, and I don't like it. When I was a woman, I was myself attracted to men, and I liked their attention. And they attracted me. Now when I talk to men, I get the impression I am making them uncomfortable. "And then if I try to get the company of women they seem uncomfortable with me as well." "But do you find yourself attracted to women?" He blushed. "Yes, more and more I look at their breasts and hips and they way they move and I do not like that I am doing that. Still, I was once completely used to talking with women. I was one, after all. Now I feel more alone." He stroked his face. "I am getting hairy too and I don't like that." I looked at the down on his face, like that on a boy changing to manhood." Yes, the longer you wait the more you will become like a man." He shook his head. "When I see a woman with children or one who is pregnant I remember I wanted that when I was a girl. I looked forward to having a special man to hold me and have a family of my own. Yes, there..there was a young man... we liked being with each other. We had talked of getting married. Then when I changed it was as if I had become a monster. I still want to talk to him and be with him and have him as a friend but he avoids me. Please, as soon as you can change me back?" "What do your parents think?" "My father is glad to have a son, but I think I would be a poor son. I have talked with him and he agrees. My mother, I can see sadness in her eyes when she looks at me and she wants her daughter back." "I have heard of this. You changed a few months back, at least your body did. But it appears as if the mind can take much longer, almost half a year in some cases. If you did want to remain as a man, I would advise you to wait some more months. I think then you will gradually, but completely get the mind and attitudes and feelings of a man, even carry yourself like a man. Others will see that and your difficulties should disappear." "No, I have made up my mind. You changed me to save me but it was an emergency. Now that is over I want my female body again. I am sure." "Very well. Let us do that as soon as possible. The change back will be as severe as the first spell and you will be unconscious two days. However, this is not a good time. Wait for a day or so and you can change back, I promise." Our little caravan decided to carry on another day, then found a sheltered spot in a small valley and we set up a small encampment. That night I went to the wagon and checked if things were in order. The young man was there, with his parents. "All right, here is the book, and the spell. I want you read this. If you can't I will do it for you." He shook his head. "I'm sorry. I don't think I can read well enough." "Very well, it will not take long," but I gestured to his parents. "You should leave. Get at least as far as the next wagon, just for a short time while I read the spell. Then it will be safe for you to come in." They looked at me, worried, but got up and climbed out of the wagon. "Now lie back," I told the young man. "You are sure?" "Yes," he said hoarsely. It only took a minute to sound out the words of the spell and I called the parents as the effects started. He began to perspire and gasp. I offered him a sip of water but he just spluttered and fell unconscious. We watched the body over two hours as the spell did its work. A series of small ripples ran up and down his body, his features softening with each, and his limbs becoming smoother. Then the body was changing proportions too, losing some height, the shoulders narrowing, his penis and scrotum shrinking as if drawing into his groin then that splitting and rearranging into the folds of a woman. His original spell 's effects were reversing. Her hips were widening, and her waist narrowing, and two breasts gradually swelled on her chest and filled out. I noted that this reverse spell sounded like the other spell that made men into women but there were some differences, and the words meant nothing to me. The language was too old. It was like nothing I had ever heard. It was over in two hours and I heaved a sigh of relief. The spell had worked well and we had the girl with us again. She was as pretty as I remembered, other than some fine downy hair on her upper lip and chin and I was sure that would soon fall out. I wiped her brow and embraced her parents. "It is over. You have your daughter back! She will be all right but it will be two days though, before she wakes." Actually the father had a small expression of regret, but her crying mother embraced the unconscious girl. We carried on our journey and it was another ten days when we passed through some low hills and suddenly before us, in the haze, was a narrow strait of water, and we could just see over it, in the far distance, the domes and towers of a large city. "There, over that strait of water," said Pali. " There is Europe, and Constantinople, but now we have the problem of how to get there. We are still in Ottoman territory, and they are hostile to the Byzantines. It's not as if there are boats that can carry us across there." "Is there any chance of bribing some boatman to take us?" "Perhaps, but I think we would have too much difficulty. I will ask around. There is a small fishing port down there." Several hours later Pali came back and I did not like the look of concern on his face. "Problems!" he muttered. "The security is too tight so it does not look as if we can get anyone to take us across the water." He shook his head." Also, I have been thinking. The Ottoman could lay siege to the city any time, maybe starve them out and then loot and plunder it. If we were in the city we could be caught up in the general fighting and slaughter. I am sorry, Ionope, I think going to Constantinople is now a bad idea. Worse, they tell me that the city, even on the Europe side of the Bosporus, is surrounded by Ottoman territory. They are all very suspicious of strangers and they don't look as if they want Gypsies like us around. We could be accused of being spies, taking information to the Byzantines." He sighed. "We would be best to avoid it." I was devastated. I had heard stories of Constantinople, and the city and its reputation had been in my mind for a long time. It was a goal I had in mind ever since I left Zernos. Now my hopes of seeing and living in it were not to be realized. I should have known too that by marrying Pali I had thrown my lot in with the gypsies. Their way of life was now to be mine. Pali must have seen my face. He took me and embraced me. "I am sorry. I know it was your dream but..." I dried my eyes. "Pali, you are my husband and I love you and will go with you. Yes, it is a disappointment but our safety is more important. I accept your decision." That night there was a council of the six families. One of the more fractious men accused Pali and the others of what had turned out to be a foolish choice, our moving away from Zernos, but most accepted that he could not have known. It was finally agreed that we still wanted to get to Europe and we started discussion about how to get to there, and to which part. Our choices were to go further south and try to cross into Greece, or go north into the territory of the Bulgar tribes. Some even wanted to remain in Ottoman territory but I vehemently opposed that. "You have seen the problems we had earlier. These could happen again. Our young women stolen from us, maybe our young men conscripted! "I risked my life last time and I was lucky too. I do not want to do so again!" Finally, all agreed to try to get passage to the Western shores of the Black Sea, to the area north of the Ottoman territory. These too were threatened by the Ottoman but at least they were not yet under their control. From there we might have to go further north or west. So, several days of travel later, we again reached the shores of the Black Sea. Some peasants and other villagers had looked at us suspiciously but they did not bother us at all. Pali and his brother went to investigate a small port and even found a fisherman who was willing to take us to the western shores, for enough money, of course. Unfortunately we had six wagons and his boat had only room for two. Reluctantly, we took apart all of the wagons and packed them on the boat with our few possessions. We sold the draft animals at a moderate loss and over a week, the sailor transported us and our freight over the sea in two lots. Fortunately, our small tribe had a smooth passage on both journeys. The boat was cramped but it was only for a short voyage. My own, Menissa's and two other families were in the second lot. Once on the shore the boat was unloaded, wagons were reassembled and we set up near a small settlement. We had no problem with the villagers but we soon found that Bulgar region with its competing factions had its own dangers and we reluctantly resumed our journey and over the next months travelled as inconspicuously as we could further west to among the Magyar tribes. We also had Yolanda with us, the name Yusuf had chosen. I was happy for her too when she eventually cast her lot with us and married one of our young men. From the unhappy fearful young man she had become a vivacious young woman. Her change had worked out well for her. Like all who changed she had much adjustment but she was quite fast to recover from the shock and accept her new body. She spent most of her time with my group and I like to think we became friends. She tried to hide it from me, modesty, I suppose, but I often saw her testing her own soft skin and pressing her breasts and nipples and often running her hands over her waist and hips. I saw her surprise then delight when she first wore some women's clothing I had sewn for her. Then one day we had been working together. I was teaching her weaving and she was a keen student andlearning well. "Ionope, How many times have you used your book?" she asked. "Oh, for healing spells, maybe quite a number of times. I have not kept count." "Actually, I meant for the one that makes men into women." "Maybe less than a dozen times. I have to be careful and one time I used it on a group of men. There is legend in my family that it once affected a small army." "I am glad you used it on me. I love my woman's body. I love the way my husband caresses me and kisses me and makes love to me. When I was a man, you remember, I had a friend. He was executed. I liked being with him but that life was destroyed. You have given me a different life. There is much more pleasure. I thank you very much. I know you hated your captivity, but you saved me." She embraced me. I had forgotten one result of the spell. I had hoped that my pregnancy would give a son for Pali. But maybe it was a result of the spells I used, I delivered another daughter. But we had plenty of opportunity to try again! and we now have three sons to match our three daughters. Epilogue So, this was the account of the most difficult part of my journey. I have found contentment among the Gypsies. I wonder what the future will bring. The book I pass on can have marvellous effects and will very likely play a big part in our future, but I hope that it will be used carefully and judiciously and never be allowed to fall into the hands of the ambitious or power seeking. END