by Anne Herries
asked. They spent many hours together, I believe. He was closer
to Suleiman than anyone—except the Caliph.’
‘It is sad to lose such a friend,’ Eleanor replied and, despite
herself, felt that she would have liked to offer comfort to the man
who had lost his best friend, though she knew he would not have
wanted such words from her. ‘But a man like Suleiman must
have many others?’
‘He has many friends amongst the Janissaries,’ Karin replied.
‘But so far he has not replaced Kasim. I do not think he can
bear to do so…though he has summoned an astrologer on two
occasions.’
‘Ah, yes,’ Eleanor replied. ‘I saw the instruments such men
use for reading the stars in his hal. They looked interesting.’
Karin nodded, and her expression was thoughtful. ‘It is very
Karin nodded, and her expression was thoughtful. ‘It is very
rare for a woman to be appointed to the position of adviser,’ she
said. ‘But it has been known. You might please our master in
many ways if you do your work wel, Eleanor. You should not
despair that he has sent for Fatima and not you this evening.’
Eleanor stared at her. She was conscious of a very odd
feeling; it was like a pain in her chest and she did not understand
it, though she knew what had aroused it. Yet she could not be
jealous because Suleiman had sent for his favourite! After al, she
did not want him to send for her in that way… Even so, there
was a feeling of disappointment that he should have summoned
Fatima to his bed.
‘It is good that he has sent for her,’ Eleanor said when she
could form the words. ‘She was afraid that I might take her
place and it made her spiteful—now she wil be happy again.’
‘And you—you are not disappointed that you did not please
him?’
‘No…’ Eleanor knew that she was not teling the whole truth.
‘I told him that I would never consent to be his concubine
wilingly.’
‘You told the lord Suleiman that?’ Karin stared in
astonishment. She could scarcely believe that Eleanor had been
so bold or so foolish. ‘And he sent no word that you were to be
punished? Instead, he grants your wish to have pen and paper…
I do not understand this, Eleanor.’
‘Perhaps it as you say,’ Eleanor replied. ‘I am useful in other
ways.’
She did not tel Karin that Suleiman had promised to favour
She did not tel Karin that Suleiman had promised to favour
her above al others if she pleased him—or that she had defied
him when he kissed her.
‘In that case I must leave you to begin your work,’ Karin
said, clearly stil mystified. ‘You may send for fresh lamps if you
need them, but do not work too long into the night—or you wil
overtire yourself and lose your looks.’ Her gaze narrowed
thoughtfuly. ‘You are very lovely, Eleanor. I cannot believe that
you do not stir Suleiman Bakhar. I do not know what is in his
mind concerning you—but I think he may yet surprise us al…’
Suleiman watched as Fatima performed one of her dances for
him. She was extremely graceful, and there was no other woman
of his harem who was more skiled in the arts of pleasing a man
—both with her dancing and in bed.
He had enjoyed her performance many times, and been
roused to make love to her after the dance, but tonight it left him
unmoved. He could stil appreciate her skil, yet there was no
burning in his loins, or any desire to lie with her.
‘Come,’ he invited as the music ended and she sank to a
position of supplication before him, arms stretched out as if in
entreaty. ‘Sit on that cushion next to me and talk to me.’
Fatima obeyed, though she was puzzled by this odd request.
Always before he had raised her up and taken her into his
private room and made love to her. She had looked forward to it
eagerly through al the ritual of the bath and preparation. It was
her reason for living, for she was a passionate woman and
her reason for living, for she was a passionate woman and
relished the act of physical love. He had never asked her to talk
to him before, and she did not know what to say.
‘What would my lord have of me?’ she asked. ‘Would you
have me sing to you?’
‘No. I wish for conversation,’ Suleiman replied and frowned.
‘Tel me what you do with your days, Fatima.’
‘I wait for you to send for me, my lord. I bathe and perfume
myself—and sometimes I dance so that I retain my skil for your
pleasure.’
‘But what do you like to do yourself?’
‘I live to please you, my lord.’
Suleiman stared at her. Was her life so empty? And what of
the other women in his harem—those he had not sent for in
months? Some that he had never asked for in al the time they
had been here—what did they do with their time?
‘Have you no friends? Do you not laugh and talk—walk with
them in the gardens or bathe together in the pools? Do they not
gossip with you or tel stories?’
‘I could not say what the others do,’ Fatima replied with a
look of disdain. ‘I seldom bother with them—they are jealous of
me because you send only for me.’
Suleiman saw the look of spiteful delight in her eyes and was
disgusted. She was an empty vain woman—and he had created
her. She was this way because he had taken his pleasures
carelessly without thought for what he did, not loving her but
using her to slake the physical urgings of his body.
using her to slake the physical urgings of his body.
He knew that he did not desire her, that he would probably
never want her again. His first thought was that she should return
to the harem at once, but he checked it before the words were
spoken. If he sent her back so soon, the other women would
know that she had not lain in his bed—and they would despise
her for losing his favour. She did not deserve that, for she was as
lovely and graceful as she had always been—the change was in
him
‘So…you wait al day for me…’ He stood up and Fatima’s
heart raced. Surely now he would take her to his bed and she
would make him forget this strange mood that troubled him. ‘I
do not want you to pleasure me this night, Fatima—but I shal
not send you back to the harem. You may stay here in this room
until the morning and return at your usual hour.’
‘But, my lord…’ Stil on her knees, Fatima caught at the hem
of his tunic as he would have passed her. ‘What have I done to
displease you?’
‘You have not displeased me,’ he replied coldly. ‘Your dance
was excelent—but I do not desire you in my bed. You wil sleep
here and leave in the morning as soon as it is light.’
‘Forgive me…’ Fatima threw herself to the floor at his feet,
abasing herself before him. ‘Whatever I have done I wil make
amends, my lord.’
‘You displease me by this display of temper
,’ Suleiman said,
guilt making his voice sharper than need be. ‘If you persist, I
shal send for the eunuch to take you back now.’
He walked on past her, leaving Fatima stretched out on the
He walked on past her, leaving Fatima stretched out on the
tiled floor, her body shaking with the tears she could not hold
back despite his threat to send her back at once. She longed to
folow him, to plead with him again, but she dared not for he
would surely send her back to the harem in disgrace. And then
the other women would laugh at her. She had flaunted herself
over them and some of them would not lose their chance to
make her suffer now that she had lost their master’s favour.
Suleiman felt both guilt and pity for her as he looked down on
her misery. He had not truly understood how empty were the
lives of the women in his harem until…until one of them had
asked him how she was to pass her life. He had sent her work to
do since it seemed that this was what she required, but it would
be useless to offer such a boon to Fatima, for she would neither
appreciate nor be able to do such intricate work. He doubted
that she could write, let alone read Latin…it was a rare thing in a
woman. Even his own mother had not been able to read Latin,
but Eleanor could.
He wondered what Eleanor was doing at that moment. He
wished that he might send for her—but to do so would be to
offer a grievous insult to the woman he had left sobbing on the
floor of his outer chamber. He would not choose to be that cruel,
even though it was only now that he had begun to realise his
actions could be cruel…that he hurt those he did not send for by
omission. It was a heavy burden, and one that must be given
careful consideration.
Tomorrow must suffice for his own pleasure. He would sit
and read some of his manuscripts, though of late he had noticed
and read some of his manuscripts, though of late he had noticed
that it was something of a strain to decipher his own lettering.
The scripts he had sent to Eleanor for transcribing were some he
had written long ago and concerned matters of astrology that he
wished to consult again, so that perhaps he might be able to
interpret his own charts and not have to trust the words of the
astrologer.
He took the scripts to a stool by a table where a lamp was
burning and began to read the fair hand inscribed for him by his
old teacher, sighing as he did so. He missed Kasim so much…
and there was no one else he could talk to in the same way, for
his father was not interested in ancient teachings and mysteries.
The Caliph was a man much concerned with the daily
administration of justice in the Sultan’s capitol, and had no time
for the kind of work that gave Suleiman so much pleasure.
The mysteries of the stars, of medicine and ancient
knowledge, some handed down from empires now lost to
mankind, held a special fascination for Suleiman Bakhar. He had
many books, which came from the printing works of Germany,
France and Venice, which were easy enough for him to read—
but it was the ancient manuscripts that he found difficult to
decipher these days. He was forced to hold them at a distance
and that was uncomfortable, and sometimes made his eyes ache
if he worked too long into the night.
For the moment he must content himself with the books that
showed pictures of medical practice and were self-explanatory,
depicting lumps and sores on various parts of the body. He had
been visiting at the bedside of one of the Janissaries earlier; the
unfortunate man had developed a lump on his side. And, after
consulting with the physicians, Suleiman was trying to ascertain
whether it would be best to cut the lump from the man’s body or
treat it with powders to try and burn it off.
The sobbing from the outer chamber had ceased at last.
Suleiman forgot the woman as he read his medical books, his
mind now fuly concentrated on a cure for his friend.
Eleanor had spent many happy hours poring over the scripts
sent to her and had begun her transcription into both English and
Latin, copying a page of each at a time. She had slept afterwards
and woke feeling so much happier than she had in an age. At
least now she had some purpose to her life—and she could
almost imagine herself back at home with her father.
The memory of Sir Wiliam’s death lay heavy on her heart.
She knew that she would never cease to grieve for him, and for
her brother—who was as lost to her as her father. Yet perhaps if
she asked Suleiman, he might be able to give her news of
Richard… It would require some payment, of course.
Eleanor knew that she had already been granted a
considerable favour. Why had Suleiman done so much for her?
She had thought him angry when he sent her back to the
harem…and yet he had granted her request for some
occupation. She was very grateful to him, and she was being
very careful in her copying so that he would be pleased with
what she had done.
‘Come into the garden,’ Anastasia said from the threshold of
her sitting room. ‘It is a lovely day, Eleanor. Karin bid me tel
you, you have worked enough for now. You must take a walk in
the air.’
‘I am glad to do so,’ Eleanor said and rose with a smile. ‘I do
not wish to study al the time. It is good to have friends and I like to talk with you and the others.’
‘Fatima is in a bad temper this morning,’ Anastasia said. ‘It is
unusual for her to be so cross after spending the night with our
master.’
‘It does not matter about her,’ Eleanor said linking arms with
the other woman. ‘Tel me about the dancing lessons, Anastasia.
I think I should like to learn. I can play a harp and the virginals—
but I do not know how to play the instrument you were using the
other night.’
‘It is a dombra, and comes from the province of
Kazakhstan.’ Anastasia smiled at her. ‘It is very like a lute in
some ways, but the music it makes is different. I could show you
how to play it if you wish?’
‘Yes, I think that would be pleasant,’ Eleanor replied. ‘I am
so glad that we are to be friends. I felt so alone the night I came
to the harem—and no one spoke to me.’
‘That was because Fatima forbade it,’ Anastasia replied.
‘The three of us decided the next day that we would disobey her
—especialy now that Abu is no longer in charge of the harem.
He used to punish us for her if we did something that displeased
He used to punish us for her if we did something that displeased
her… He was cruel and it was his pleasure to whip us for some
imagined slight of her.’
‘Why did you not tel Karin?’
‘Because she is not of the harem,’ Anastasia replied. ‘If we
had told her, something might have happened while she was not
here…women have disappeared without trace from the palace. I
think Ab
u sold them to slave merchants.’
‘But did no one notice they had gone?’
‘Who would care?’ Anastasia frowned. ‘The Caliph hardly
ever sends for a woman these days, and it would only be Karin
or one of his other wives who have given him children—none of
the concubines are ever requested. Unless the Caliph sent for
someone who had disappeared he would never know—and then
he would probably be told she had sickened and died of some
mysterious ailment. No one could prove otherwise, for those
who knew would not be asked.’
‘That is terrible,’ Eleanor said. ‘Do you think Suleiman knows
of this?’
‘No—for who would dare to tel him? Abu was in charge of
the harem and the only woman Suleiman sends for is Fatima—
and I believe she knew what was going on. She helped Abu and
he saw that she was obeyed in the harem… It was a strange
partnership, but of mutual benefit.’
‘Yes, I see,’ Eleanor said. ‘It is a happy thing for us that Abu
has been sent to the stores.’
‘Yes…’ Anastasia nodded. ‘And yet I think…’ She shook
her head. ‘No, I cannot be sure and it is safer not to notice. I
her head. ‘No, I cannot be sure and it is safer not to notice. I
shal say no more and nor should you.’
Eleanor looked at her curiously but did not press her to
continue. Karin had told her it was dangerous to speak too
openly in the harem, and although some of the women had
shown themselves wiling to be friendly with Eleanor, others
remained aloof.
As they entered the main hal, Eleanor saw Fatima seated on
one of the divans. Several of the women were hovering about
her, offering dishes of sweetmeats and fruits. It was clear that she was displeased about something and her eyes snapped with
temper as she looked at Eleanor. However, before she could
speak Karin came up to Eleanor.
‘Suleiman has sent for you,’ she said. ‘You are to bring your
journal. He wishes to see what you have done so far.’
‘Yes, of course. I shal fetch the journal at once.’
Eleanor left Anastasia with a smile of regret and a promise
that they would talk later. She colected the journal from her
apartments, then hurried after Karin.
Just before they reached the first of Suleiman’s hals, Karin
stopped and turned to her with a worried expression.
‘I have heard strange whispers,’ she said. ‘One of the women
