The Pregnancy is Confirmed

I know that the child that I carry can only be the late Sultan's. Back in my own world, whilst I was certainly no virgin I always made sure that my sexual partners used a condom. I wonder if Munaf's magic - the first that I have personally encountered since arriving in this world, though the other girls have told me enough to convince me that magic exists here - extends to telling him who is the father of my embryo or if he has just assumed that it must be the Sultan. Perhaps he thinks that only a virgin would have been chosen as a concubine? Maybe Arif, when he bought me, fell down in his duties in not checking? The Sultan didn't react when we made love, however, so either he didn't care that I wasn't a virgin or he just didn't notice.

I don't say any of this to Munaf, of course. It wouldn't do for him to know that I wasn't a virgin when I came to the palace, if it could lead him to think that the baby might not be the Sultan's.

"When you say 'the Sultan's heir'," I say, "does that mean that the child that I'm carrying is a boy? I assume that a girl couldn't be his heir given your culture here?"

"That's right. I must pass the news on to Captain Usman at once. This will greatly strengthen the anti-Arif faction's hand in the council of ministers. I imagine that matters will rapidly come to a head now, and either Arif's claim to the Sultanate will be denied in favour of your unborn child or he will be accepted as Sultan by a majority of the council. Of course if Arif should win, then you will be in danger. He needn't know that the child is yours - Captain Usman need only say that one of the concubines is pregnant, without being specific. But should Arif become Sultan, then he will be able to enter the harem whenever he chooses, so you would no longer be safe here. And of course should he find you here then the Captain's life would also be forfeit, for not having you executed as he was ordered. Perhaps my life, too, for not having revealed that you took sanctuary here. I shall have to talk to the Captain, to see if we can form a contingency plan for the three of us to flee before that can happen."

Within a day or two, word comes back from the Captain. He has passed on the news to those ministers who are in the anti-Arif camp. He is confident that they have a majority, and so the matter will be raised at the council meeting scheduled for the following day. Arif and those ministers who support him will be told that his claim to the Sultanate is invalid because one of the concubines is carrying the late Sultan's child.

The result of the meeting of the council of ministers is that:

1. The unborn child's claim is accepted. It now seems safe for Captain Usman to reveal that I am the until now unidentified mother-to-be, and to reveal his suspicion that Arif was the true assassin, or at least responsible for the killing.
2. Sadly, Arif's claim is accepted by the majority. He will be crowned Sultan within the week. It looks as though the contingency plan for Usman, Munaf and myself to flee will be needed.
3. The council's verdict is that they will only accept that one of the concubines is pregnant if she presents herself outside the harem to be examined by a (male) magic user whom they trust. That would mean that my identity would be revealed, of course.

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