Amara, who seemed to be much closer to her emotions than Jeff, ran off crying. She was stopped by a muscular, black-skinned woman who was clearly some sort of guard, wearing a leather cuirass and carrying a short sword. "What's wrong, little one?" she asked.
Amara felt comforted in the big woman's arms, and Jeff/Amara remembered that the two had been lovers for several months. Lesbian affairs in the harem were tolerated by the sultan and his eunuchs, as the alternative would be a near-continuous state of sexual frustration that would make the harem very difficult to administer. "Oh, Kyla" sniffle, sniffle "She said she would take my eye out!"
"There, there" said Kyla, stroking Amara's long hair in the manner that one might sooth a frightened pet "She won't do that. I won't let her."