by Anne Herries
how long the other woman had been watching them.
‘I have heard that you dance more gracefuly than anyone,’
she said. ‘Please dance for us, Fatima. I should enjoy it.’
‘I need no music,’ Fatima said. ‘The music is in my head.’
She stood poised for a moment, her eyes closed, head down.
Then her head came up, eyes open, a smile on her lips. Eleanor
was fascinated by the graceful, sensuous swaying of the other
was fascinated by the graceful, sensuous swaying of the other
woman’s body. She had seen the other women dancing, but
none of them had Fatima’s magic or mystery. It was little wonder
that Suleiman had found so much to please him in his beautiful
favourite.
Eleanor clapped her hands when the dance ended with
Fatima lying on the floor, her arms outstretched. ‘That was
beautiful,’ she said sincerely. ‘I have never seen anyone put so
much into their dancing, Fatima. I could never dance half as wel
as you though I practised for years.’
Fatima looked up and her dark eyes were dark with spite.
‘That is why you wil never keep the favour of the lord
Suleiman,’ she said. ‘He may find you amusing for a while—but
then he wil send for me again when he tires of you.’
Eleanor did not answer her. In her heart she feared that
Fatima was right. Suleiman had seemed pleased with her, but
how could she hope to hold him when he could summon any
woman he chose? Fatima was beautiful, but so was Rosamunde,
and the others were also extremely lovely in their own way. Why
should Suleiman prefer Eleanor to his other women?
There was no reason she could see why he should want her
more than half a dozen others, and since Fatima was his favourite
it was natural that he would continue to send for her. Eleanor felt
the sting of jealousy, though she tried hard to suppress it. She
had no right to feel jealous! Had she not declared that she had
no wish to be his concubine—and indeed she did not wish for it.
But she did wish that she might be his love.
But she did wish that she might be his love.
There was so much difference between the two things, but
she knew that she was asking for the impossible. In Suleiman’s
world there was no such thing as love, and though he demanded
complete faithfulness from his women, he did not give as much in
return. Eleanor would be a fool if she alowed herself to care.
She looked up as Karin approached her. ‘Your lord has sent
for you, Eleanor,’ she said. ‘You are to go to him at once.’
Eleanor was about to obey, and then something snapped in
her head. She was not his slave, even though he had paid gold
coin for her, and she would not be sent for.
‘Thank my lord for his attention, Karin, but pray tel him I
cannot answer his summons for the moment—because I am not
wel.’
Karin stared at her. ‘Are you refusing an order from your
master?’
‘Was it an order or a request?’
‘He asked that you would go to him at once.’
‘Then it was a request,’ Eleanor said. ‘Pray give him my
regrets and tel him I am lying on my bed with a headache.’
‘But you were dancing a few moments ago…’
‘And that is why I now have a terrible headache. Excuse me,
please, I must lie down. I am sure that my lord wil understand if
you explain why I cannot answer his request.’
She got up from her cushion and walked into her own
apartments, leaving the other women to stare after her in awe.
How dare she refuse to go to Suleiman? He would be furious
with her and was sure to order that she be beaten this time.
with her and was sure to order that she be beaten this time.
‘Forgive me, my lord,’ Karin said, hardly daring to speak the
words. ‘Eleanor is lying down with the headache. She begged
your pardon for not obeying your summons, and asked that she
be excused for the moment.’
Suleiman stared at her. She was clearly il at ease at bringing
such a message, and he saw the reason for her nervousness very
plainly. Eleanor was not il, she was merely being stubborn.
‘I trust she is not very il?’ he asked. ‘Should I send my
physician to her do you think?’
‘I—I do not think that necessary,’ Karin said. ‘I believe it is
merely a headache and wil pass.’
‘But I would leave nothing to chance,’ Suleiman replied, a
little smile flickering across his mouth. ‘Yes, I believe I shal send the physician to her—I would not have my lady languish for want
of attention. Go to her now and tel her the physician wil see her
immediately—for she may need to be bled or perhaps a blister
may be more helpful in this case…’
‘Yes, my lord. I shal go at once.’
Suleiman nodded and turned away to glance at a trinket he
had recently purchased; it was a table clock with pierced sides
and fashioned of silver gilt. He had it mind to present it as a gift to his intended bride, but for the moment it would remain a
secret since it seemed that Eleanor was sulking.
Suleiman had little doubt of what had brought on her sudden
headache. She was angry because he had broken his promise to
headache. She was angry because he had broken his promise to
her, and as he had not spoken of what had occurred during the
hunting trip to Karin, Eleanor would know nothing of it.
Her refusal to come to him would have made him angry had
he not understood her better than she guessed. It amused him to
play her little games, and he wondered what she would do when
she received his message.
As it happened, he did not have long to wait. He was
standing at the trestle table examining some manuscripts with the
help of a long-handled glass when she came in softly. She made
no sound nor did she speak but he knew she was there, for her
perfume betrayed her. No other woman smeled quite as she did,
for she used few of the heavy oils that were so popular in the
harem and her scent was her own.
‘I am glad your headache is better,’ he said as he turned. ‘It
would have been a pity to apply the leeches. I think them most
unpleasant, but I understand their use to be quite efficacious in
the treatment of heated blood.’
‘I had no need of leeches or blisters, my lord.’
‘No, Eleanor, I did not think you did—your headache was a
fit of temper, because I was forced to break my word to you.’
Her cheeks were hot as she looked at him, for he made her
seem like a temperamental child. ‘I would not have minded if you
had told me yourself, my lord—but it seemed so careless to send
word like that.’
‘As if I did not know or care that you would be
disappointed?’ Suleiman nodded. ‘Yes, I understand that, my
lady—and I ask you to forgive me. I would have acted
lady—and I ask you to forgive me. I would have acted
differently if I could. It was not my intention to slight you, believe me.’
Eleanor stared at him, torn between wanting to believ
e and
trust him and the fear that if she gave her heart to him he would
abuse her love.
‘I know that I am merely a woman and that women are
inferior in your eyes…’
‘Why do you think that of me, Eleanor? Have I given you
cause to believe I consider you inferior? Have I not shown that I
respect and admire your inteligence and your bravery—for there
are few who would dare to defy the laws as you have, my lady.’
‘No…’ Eleanor was forced to be truthful as she gazed into
his eyes. What she saw there gave her a jolt of surprise. There
was such a haunted, unhappy look that it made her want to reach
out and comfort him. ‘No, you have not, my lord. It is my own
fear that makes me say such things to you—because I am afraid
of giving too much of myself.’
‘Yes, I have realised this,’ he said. ‘Have you been hurt, my
lady?’
‘No…not in the way you mean,’ she said. ‘But I had a cousin
I loved who was married against her wil. She wept in my arms
the night before her wedding, and I have never forgot it. But it
was not only Mary’s unhappy marriage, my lord. I see women in
your harem who sigh and languish for one glance from you—and
I would not be like them.’
‘If I took a wife I might grant freedom to the concubines,’
Suleiman said, surprising her. ‘I have come to see that what you
say concerning them is true. It is unkind to force so many women
to live useless, empty lives when I shal never send for them.’
‘You would set them free?’ Eleanor’s spine tingled. ‘But it is
your custom…would it not seem strange to others if…?’
‘Perhaps.’ Suleiman shrugged. ‘I care little for the opinion of
others, Eleanor. Would you think it a good thing if they were to
be returned to their homes?’
‘Some of the women have no home, my lord. If you send
them away, they wil only have to sel themselves back into
slavery.’
‘Perhaps marriages could be arranged for some of the
women. I shal speak to Karin, to discover her thoughts
concerning this—but some must remain, of course, as friends
and ladies-in-waiting to my wife.’
‘Yes, my lord. She would otherwise spend many hours
alone.’
‘Who should remain, Eleanor? Pray advise me in this matter
—who amongst the women are most fitted to be my wife’s
attendants?’
Eleanor’s heart was beating very fast, so fast that she found it
difficult to answer immediately. ‘Surely it should be for your wife
to choose, my lord?’ She dared not look at him lest she betray
herself. He must not guess how much her heart had softened
towards him.
‘What—would you play games with me even yet, Eleanor?’
He sounded stern, and yet she thought she detected a note of
He sounded stern, and yet she thought she detected a note of
disappointment.
Her gaze lifted to his uncertainly. ‘My lord spoke of—of such
an honour, but I was not sure…I thought that perhaps I had
made you angry? That you might have changed your mind as you
did about the hunting trip.’ Her head went up, chalenging him.
‘You have made me angry many times,’ he agreed, his
expression giving nothing away. ‘However, I have decided that
you are most fitted to become my wife. The mother of my sons
must have both spirit and inteligence. I have overlooked your
faults—and they are many—but I shal expect an improvement in
your manners, my lady.’
‘Indeed, sir?’ Eleanor’s head went up, her eyes sparking with
indignation. ‘In my country it is not the custom for a gentleman to
summon the lady he is courting.’
‘Courting?’ Suleiman’s mouth curved in gentle mockery.
‘You expect the son of Caliph Bakhar to court you? What
would you have me do, Eleanor? Must I go down on my knees
and beg you to be my wife?’
‘No—no, of course not. But it is the custom to ask rather
than instruct in such matters, my lord. You might at least ask me
if I would like to marry you.’
‘If I asked, you might refuse.’ His gaze narrowed as if he
tried to read her mind.
‘I should certainly refuse,’ Eleanor replied, knowing that she
lied. Her heart was thumping wildly and she could scarcely
breathe.
‘Then it is as wel for both of us that I give you no choice,’
‘Then it is as wel for both of us that I give you no choice,’
Suleiman replied stil inscrutable. ‘Now, my lady, go into the
bedchamber and change into the clothes you wil find lying on the
divan.’
Eleanor stared at him in alarm. ‘Why? What are you—I
mean, what kind of clothes?’
‘Do you wish me to assist you to disrobe?’
Suleiman’s eyes gleamed and she gave a little yelp and
backed away, her face flushed as she saw his amusement. What
was he up to now? Some mischief if she had judged that look
correctly!
When she saw the robes lying on the silken covers of the
divan, Eleanor was even more puzzled. She had expected to see
thin, gauzy garments that would show every line of her body
through the flimsy material. Instead, she found the costume a
youth or smal man might wear for riding or working, plain and
drab in colour. She glanced over her shoulder, stil expecting
some hidden meaning and half imagining that Suleiman would
pounce on her when she was naked, but he did not come and
she donned the trousers, tunic and caftan that a simple country
youth might wear. She was trying to work out how to arrange
the headdress, which was a plain white turban with a scarf that
wrapped about the neck, when Suleiman entered.
He looked at her with approving eyes. ‘You make a
handsome boy, Eleanor. Let me help you with your headdress—
we must make sure that your hair cannot escape and betray
you.’
‘Why are you dressing me as a youth, my lord?’
‘Why are you dressing me as a youth, my lord?’
‘You wished to ride with me, did you not? I thought we
would take Scheherazade for a little hunting trip. Come, my lady.
My most trusted men await us. We shal leave through my
private gardens. No one wil notice us go or see us return. This
shal remain our secret.’
Eleanor saw his indulgent smile and her heart turned over.
‘Oh, this is a wonderful surprise, my lord. Much better than the
other hunting trip you promised me.’
‘I am glad that you are pleased,’ he said. ‘Believe me when I
tel you that it was as much a disappointment to me that you
could not accompany us as it was to you.’
Eleanor wanted to ask him why he had changed his mind, for
there was obviously some reason and it had not been a mere
whim as she had imagined. However, there was no time; he was
urging her on, his mood one of excitement as they slipped away
into the gardens and out through a gate Suleiman unlocked to a
smal courtyard where
three guards waited with horses.
Suleiman himself helped Eleanor to mount the pretty white
mare provided for her use. Dressed as a youth, she was forced
to ride astride, but fortunately her father’s indulgence to her as a child meant that she was no stranger to this mode of travel, and
Suleiman smiled as he saw how confidently she took her reins.
‘Now we shal go,’ he said, and mounted his own horse. A
servant held up Scheherazade’s cage, and the bird took its place
on Suleiman’s wrist. ‘I believe we shal have good sport this
afternoon, Eleanor, for my darling is restive. She has not been
afternoon, Eleanor, for my darling is restive. She has not been
out of the gardens for some days and longs to try her wings.’
‘As I do, my lord.’
Eleanor’s eyes were bright with excitement as she looked at
him. She had wrapped the two ends of the scarf about her face
so that little but her eyes showed above it, but her feelings were
plain for Suleiman to see and he smiled at her pleasure.
She had demanded that he court her in the manner of her own
people. He could not go so far, but he could give her much that
she desired and this hunting trip was only the beginning.
Eleanor watched as the hawk circled and then swooped, its
wings closed as it dived upon its prey. Long, cruel talons
extended as it clutched its quarry in flight, binding it and
swooping lower as it bore the prey to the ground.
‘Is she not a fine hunter?’ Suleiman asked Eleanor as he
recaled the falcon to his hand, holding the jesses securely with
his fingers and replacing the leather rufter over Scheherazade’s
head. ‘We have had fine sport with her this afternoon, have we
not, my lady?’
‘Yes, indeed, my lord,’ Eleanor agreed, for the peregrine had
successfuly taken several birds. However, for Eleanor the
pleasure had come as much from riding in the open air with the
breeze in her face as from the sport—though it was a fine sight to
watch the falcon. ‘It is a lovely afternoon, and wonderful to be
riding here with you, my lord. I feel so alive and free…’
Riding in the hils above the ancient Byzantine city, which had
Riding in the hils above the ancient Byzantine city, which had
for so long been a Christian stronghold, the view of the
Bosphorus Straits was magnificent, and the sense of almost being
able to fly made Eleanor feel as if the past weeks had never
