by Anne Herries
hurrying back to see what al the commotion was about. She
looked at Eleanor and her eyes were dark with fear.
‘I was told to offer you the fruit,’ she said, her voice a harsh
whisper. ‘Fatima made me bring it to you.’
‘Would you repeat that to the lord Suleiman if you were
asked?’
Marisa looked into Eleanor’s eyes for a moment, and then
nodded. ‘Forgive me, my lady. I did not know that the fruit
was…’ She could not bring herself to say the word. ‘I ate one of
the grapes myself as we talked…’ Her face was ashen. ‘I might
have died instead of that poor creature.’
‘You should send to the lord Suleiman,’ Elizabetta said.
‘Fatima is evil, Eleanor, and she ought to be punished.’
‘Yes, yes, she should be punished,’ several voices were
suddenly raised against the woman many of the others had
feared and secretly hated. ‘We should tel Karin.’
‘Karin is il,’ Eleanor said. ‘And my lord cannot be disturbed
‘Karin is il,’ Eleanor said. ‘And my lord cannot be disturbed
at this time. I shal deal with this myself.’
‘Be careful,’ Elizabetta warned. ‘If you chalenge her, she wil
turn on you like a wounded beast.’
‘Yes, I know she may be dangerous,’ Eleanor replied. ‘But I
cannot let this terrible thing she has done go unchalenged.
Fatima must be brought to understand that her rule has ended.’
She got up and walked purposefuly from the room, leaving
the other women staring after her in dismay. Eleanor did not
realise how cruel and ruthless Fatima could be. She had never been dragged from sleep by Abu and whipped until she begged
for mercy.
‘We should do something to help her,’ Elizabetta said.
‘But what can we do?’ the others asked and looked at each
other helplessly. None of them had ever dared to stand up to the
favourite, and they were afraid of her. ‘If only Karin were here
to guide us.’
‘That is why she was poisoned first,’ Elizabetta said. ‘Fatima
is hoping that none of us wil be brave enough to stand up to her
—but we cannot let her kil Eleanor. She is our salvation.’
‘Yes, yes, we must help her,’ Marisa agreed, remembering
the promise Eleanor had made her. ‘We must al help her.
Fatima cannot subdue us al if we are of one mind.’
Eleanor was unaware of the debate she had left behind her.
She was not afraid of Fatima. She had guessed that poisoned
fruit might be offered her by one of the women, and that the
women would know nothing of what was planned. She had
women would know nothing of what was planned. She had
therefore warned Morna that she must prepare al their food
herself, and let no one else touch anything. Yet the ploy had been
so obvious that Eleanor suspected the plot went deeper.
Surely Fatima could not have hoped that Eleanor would eat
the poisoned grape? Especialy since she must know that Karin
would have told her of her own suspicions concerning Fatima.
As she approached, she saw Dinazade about to leave her
mistress’s rooms. When the servant caught sight of Eleanor, she
ran back inside to warn her mistress.
Fatima was waiting as Eleanor entered. Her dark eyes flashed
with temper and her hatred was almost tangible.
‘I did not send for you,’ she said. ‘How dare you come here
without being sent for?’
‘I need no invitation,’ Eleanor replied quietly. ‘We both know
why I have come here, Fatima. You ordered Marisa to bring me
that bowl of fruit. Why? Only some of the fruit was poisoned—
how could you be sure I would eat it?’
‘I do not know of what you speak,’ Fatima said haughtily. ‘I
sent you no fruit. If Marisa says otherwise she lies.’
‘I refused it,’ Eleanor told her, her eyes never leaving the
other woman’s face for an instant. ‘Marisa ate one of the grapes
and the monkey ate another. That poor creature died horribly,
but Marisa is alive and able to tel her story to the lord
Suleiman.’
‘He wil not believe her,’ Fatima said and smiled smugly. ‘He
knows that the other women are jealous and tel lies about me.
Why should I try to kil you? He does not take you to his bed.
Why should I try to kil you? He does not take you to his bed.
You are merely his scribe.’
‘I have used my skils with the Latin to assist my lord,’
Eleanor agreed. ‘But I am soon to be his wife—and when that
happens you wil be a long way from here, Fatima. You are to
be sent back to Algiers.’
‘You lie!’ Fatima’s lovely face was twisted and made ugly by
anger. ‘My lord wil not send me away for your sake. You are
merely a passing fancy. When he is tired of you, he wil want me
again.’
‘If Karin were not il it would already have been done.’
‘No!’ Fatima suddenly snatched up a knife she had been
using to peel a peach and sprang at Eleanor with the blade. ‘I
shal kil you. When you are dead, my lord wil send for me
again.’
Eleanor ducked as the other woman stabbed at her viciously.
She looked about for something with which to protect herself
and caught up a plump cushion, holding it in front of her face.
Fatima’s knife tore through the silk, rendering it useless.
‘Help me!’ Fatima demanded of her servant as Eleanor
continued to duck and weave, avoiding her slashing blade as the
woman lunged at her again and again. ‘Catch her and hold her
while I teach her who is mistress here. I shal destroy her beauty.
My lord wil not want her then.’
‘Do nothing, Dinazade,’ Elizabetta commanded from the
doorway. ‘Put the knife down, Fatima. We have sent for the
eunuchs and they wil punish you if you injure…’
Eleanor had been momentarily distracted by the sound of
Eleanor had been momentarily distracted by the sound of
Elizabetta’s voice. She took her eyes from Fatima, and in that
instant the other woman gave a cry of triumph as her knife struck
home, slashing across Eleanor’s upper arm. Eleanor gave a cry
of pain, stumbled back and fel into Elizabetta’s arms.
‘You have kiled her!’ Marisa cried, helping Elizabetta to
support Eleanor. ‘You tried to poison her and now you have
kiled her!’
‘She attacked me.’ Fatima felt a flicker of fear as she saw
accusation in the faces of the other women. They had massed
together in the doorway and were staring at her in anger and
disgust. ‘She was mad! She came here to kil me. You saw her,
Dinazade! You saw her attack me. I wrested the knife from her
to protect myself from her attack. Tel them! Tel them what you
saw!’
Dinazade stared at her mistress in silence. She had hated and
feared her for years; now at last she saw the way to be revenged
for al the beatings she had suffered at Fatima’s hands. Glancing
over her shoulder, she saw that the eunuchs were pushing their
way past the women.
‘I saw y
ou poison the grape,’ she said clearly. ‘I heard you
order Marisa to take the bowl of fruit to the Englishwoman—and
I saw you take up the knife. It was your intention to kil her. You
wanted her dead because you knew that you had lost the lord
Suleiman’s favour. You knew that she would have you
banished…’
‘You traitor!’ Fatima had lost al control as she screamed and
‘You traitor!’ Fatima had lost al control as she screamed and
flew at the servant. She stabbed her twice in the chest before
Dinazade fel to the floor at her feet, the blood pouring from her
wounds.
A silence had falen over the women. The chief eunuch Hasar
had been kneeling beside Eleanor. He glanced at two others who
had folowed him in and then pointed at Fatima.
‘Take her,’ he said harshly. ‘She is to be imprisoned in the
punishment cels and held there until the lord Suleiman decides
her fate.’
‘No!’ Fatima screamed and struggled as the eunuchs
approached her. Her eyes were wild and she stil held the
bloodied knife that had kiled her servant and wounded Eleanor.
‘Do not touch me or my lord wil have you punished. He wants
only me…only me…’
Even as she screamed the words, one of the eunuchs hit her
at the base of the neck with the side of his hand, and she
colapsed, not dead but rendered unconscious by the disabling
blow. He hoisted her over his shoulder and the women parted to
let him through, some of them spitting at Fatima’s unconscious
face as she was taken away. They had hated her with good
reason, and not one of them was sorry for her. She deserved her
punishment.
‘Dinazade is dead,’ one of the women said. ‘Poor woman,
Fatima kiled her.’
‘Eleanor is alive,’ Elizabetta told them. ‘She fainted from the
pain, but she is alive.’
‘I shal send the physician to her,’ Hasar said. He bent down
‘I shal send the physician to her,’ Hasar said. He bent down
and lifted Eleanor in his arms, the other women fluttering behind
him as he carried her to her room and laid her gently down on
her divan. She was moaning slightly, barely conscious.
‘Take care of her,’ he instructed Elizabetta. ‘The physician
wil come soon. But you may try to staunch the blood in the
meantime.’
‘She must not die,’ Elizabetta said.
‘Pray that Alah grants her life,’ Hasar replied harshly. ‘The
lord Suleiman is at prayer and cannot be disturbed—but should
this woman die, his anger wil not be contained.’
‘We shal care for her,’ Elizabetta promised. ‘She is our
friend. It was only Fatima who hated her.’
‘Others were present when this happened and did nothing to
help her,’ the eunuch replied severely. ‘My master may choose
to punish everyone if she dies. My own life is forfeit. I was told
to protect her with my life, and I have failed.’
Elizabetta looked at Marisa and the others as he went out.
‘We must pray that Eleanor lives—for we may al suffer if she
dies.’
‘If only Anastasia or Karin were here.’
‘We must do what we can,’ Marisa said, looking at her
fearfuly.
‘Leave her to me,’ Morna said, pushing them aside. ‘Bring
me clean water and cloths. I shal be the one to tend her, though
you must al help to watch over her—but only I shal touch her.
My life means little to me. If she dies, I shal take the blame.’
‘I shal help you,’ Elizabetta said.
‘I shal help you,’ Elizabetta said.
‘And I—only tel me what to do,’ Marisa insisted. ‘You
cannot bear al the nursing alone, or al the blame.’
‘I, too, shal help,’ Rosamunde said, coming forward. ‘I was
in the garden while al this was going on and knew nothing until
this moment. Why do you waste time in chatter? Eleanor wil
bleed to death if you do nothing to staunch the wound. Bring
clean cloths and help me. I have seen such wounds before and
know what must be done to stop the bleeding.’
Rosamunde’s manner of calm authority brought instant
response from the others. Elizabetta had been filing a basin with
water, and Morna had produced a shift of clean white cloth,
which she proceeded to tear into strips.
The other women stood just outside the door watching until
Marisa shooed them away.
‘She wil sleep now,’ the physician told Rosamunde as
Eleanor’s eyes closed and he laid her gently back against the
cushions. He glanced at Rosamunde with approval. ‘You did
wel to staunch the wound, lady. But she has lost too much blood
and the wound is deep. She wil need careful nursing if she is not
to die of the putrid infection.’
‘Tel me what I must do,’ Rosamunde begged. ‘She is my
friend. I love her and would not have her die.’
The physician nodded. He had been robbed of his manhood
long years ago, and no longer felt the desires of a natural man—
but even he could appreciate the beauty of his patient. And he
but even he could appreciate the beauty of his patient. And he
had been told that she was the intended bride of the Caliph’s
son.
‘You must keep her drugged for at least two days,’ he
replied. ‘Otherwise she wil not bear the pain. Her bandages
must be changed frequently. And if the fever strikes…’ He
shook his head sorrowfuly. ‘I shal bring you a mixture of herbs
for her to drink, but in that case it wil be as Alah wils it.’
Rosamunde nodded. She knew that the physician had done
his best for Eleanor, repairing the deep slash in her arm skilfuly.
There was no doubt that his work would leave a scar, but that
could not be helped. Al that mattered now was that Eleanor
should live.
Rosamunde wished that Anastasia was with them, for they
sorely needed her skils, but somehow, she and the others must
make Eleanor wel. Rosamunde had not heard Hasar’s warning
herself, but Elizabetta and Marisa had told her that al their lives
might be forfeit if Eleanor died.
Rosamunde had been sent for a few times by the lord
Suleiman during her first year or two in the harem. She had found
him a stern, passionate man, though he had asked her only to
sing for him. She was not sure what he might be capable of if his
anger were aroused.
Everyone said he loved Eleanor. If that were so, he might go
mad with grief if she should die of her wound.
Rosamunde glanced at Elizabetta as she came to take her turn
at sitting beside their patient.
‘Do you think he knows?’ she asked. ‘Do you suppose that
anyone has told the lord Suleiman what has happened to
Eleanor?’
‘I do not know,’ Elizabetta replied. ‘I believe he keeps a vigil
for his sick friend. I do not think anyone would dare to approach
him with such news at this time.’
Rosamunde frowned. ‘I have never said it—but I find him
intimidating. I thank God that I a
m not the one who has to tel
him.’
‘Our lord can be fierce,’ Elizabetta said thoughtfuly. ‘But he
was always kind to me, though he sent for me only a few times
—and not at al once Fatima came, for her dancing pleased him
more than mine. Yet I do not believe that he would punish us al
for something that was not our fault.’
‘A man may do anything when half out of his mind with grief,’
Rosamunde replied. ‘We must pray that Eleanor recovers—for
her sake and our own.
Chapter Ten
‘I thank you for your care of my friend,’ Suleiman said. ‘Your nursing has done what al my wise physicians could not.’ He
smiled at Anastasia. ‘I would grant you any boon that you ask—
including your freedom and a pension to keep you from the need
to return to slavery.’
‘Al I would ask is to be alowed to stay here, my lord. I
would like to serve the lady Eleanor—and to be given freedom
to nurse the sick. I believe there are many within the palace that
would benefit from my help. If there could be a room
somewhere within the palace grounds where I might tend any
who need me…’ She looked at him anxiously. ‘And I must tel
you, my lord, that the poultice the lady Eleanor recommended
was a part of the cure. I have used it before and I know its
healing properties.’
‘You shal have al that you have asked and more,’ Suleiman
promised. ‘I have been aware that too many die for lack of care
—we shal see what can be done to remedy this, lady. From
now on you are no longer bound by the rules of the harem. You
may come and go as you please within the palace—and to the
city with an escort to protect you.’
‘You are generous, my lord.’
Suleiman shook his head. ‘It is I who have much to thank you
for, lady. You may return to the harem if you wish. I hope that
the lady Karin wil be wel enough to resume her duties soon. I
shal send her to you with news I believe you may already have
guessed.’
Anastasia smiled and bowed her head as she left him. He was
staring at his manuscripts through the long-handled glasses he
had adopted for studying when the eunuch approached. At once,
Suleiman realised that something was wrong—the man looked
terrified!
‘Yes, what is it, Hasar?’
The eunuch fel to his knees before him. ‘Forgive me, my
