"The queen is never in London during this time of year," said Skye to her disappointed brother. "She spends the summer months on progress visiting other parts of her realm. Her people enjoy seeing her."

He looked disapppointed. "I didn't ever expect to put my foot on the soil of this land, but since I'm here I had at least hoped to get a glimpse of the witch's daughter," Shane said.

Skye looked at Adam and both repressed their laughter. Then Skye said, "Elizabeth Tudor's mother wasn't a witch, Shane. She was simply a rather determined woman as is her daughter."

"Well then," he answered her, "what is there to do in this stinking city?"

"I think ye'd enjoy the bear gardens that Conn mentioned earlier. In the summer there are many outdoor entertainments in and around the city. There are archery contests which I think might be of interest to ye; there are fairs and some of the best inns in the world are here in London. Both Conn and Adam can show ye about during yer stay."

The three O'Malley brothers nodded, and Brian said, "Are there women to be had, Skye? We've heard that London wh.o.r.es are buxom and bonnie."

Adam chuckled. "Aye, our la.s.ses have a reputation for being very friendly, Brian. Of course, 'tis been many a year since I've found it necessary, or even desirable to avail myself of such company." He looked to Conn. "Yer experience is surely more recent than mine."

Conn couldn't help but grin. "Aye," he admitted without any reluctance, "it is, and I'll be glad to steer my big brothers in the right direction. One thing, however, Brian. A good wh.o.r.e is an expensive wh.o.r.e. You must understand that. I'll have no embarra.s.sing haggling about the price particularly after ye've partaken of the merchandise."

"In other words," said Brian dryly, "ye don't want us acting like the country b.u.mpkins ye consider us to be."

Conn never batted an eye. "Aye," he said, and Brian laughed.

The O'Malley brothers set about enjoying the vices of London with a good will. Although Adam and Conn had promised to chaperon them, neither man was much for whoring or drinking, and so they merely pointed the three brothers in the correct direction, and in some cases gave them entry into some of the city's better brothels. Washed and bar-bered, Brian, Shane, and Shamus O'Malley were handsome, presentable men. The gold in their pockets made them even more welcome, and so Skye saw little of them during their stay in London.

Sir Robert Small, Skye's business partner, had arrived from his home, Wren Court, in Devon. He had been away at sea the previous winter when Conn and Aidan had been married, but upon his return he had come to Queens Malvern to see his sister, and had met the bride. He had fully approved of Aidan, and he had said so in no uncertain terms much to the de Mariscos' amus.e.m.e.nt. In stature he was a small man, his ginger-colored hair was fading, but his bright blue eyes were as sharp as they had ever been.

Looking up at Conn he had said, "Well, the queen has once more done well by ye, Conn, my lad. Yer pretty la.s.s is, to my mind, too good for ye, but I can see she loves ye. Re good to her or ye'll answer to me."

Aidan had blushed becomingly, and Robbie's sister, Dame Cecily, had said, "Everyone who has met Aidan has loved her, Robbie."

Robbie was devastated by the news of what had happened to Aidan Next to Skye he was the only one who understood the true seriousness of the problem facing them. Conn was beginning to, but as for his elder brothers, it would just be another rollicking adventure. "How the h.e.l.l are we going to get her out of the sultan's seraglio, Skye?" Robbie demanded one evening just before they sailed. They were seated about the table of Greenwood's family dining room. "Once a woman is incarcerated there, it's impossible to get her out. The Ottoman sultan doesn't ransom slaves. h.e.l.l! All the women in his personal harem are captives! I've never heard of any woman once she entered the sultan's harem getting out unless she is sent as a gift to someone the sultan wants to honor, or unless she dies."

"There has to be a way, Robbie," said Conn. "If Aidan lives to reach Istanbul we have got to find a way to rescue her, and my child."

Robert Small pursed his lips, and his brow furrowed in honest thought. Finally he said, "Well, if there's a way, my lad, I cannot for the life of me think of it now, but before we get to Istanbul we had better know."

"Ye'll need a source of ready credit at yer disposal," said Adam.

"Our bankers here in London are a family of Jews called Kira. They have people, usually their family members, in almost every important city in Europe.' I am certain they must have someone in Istanbul who can aid us," said Skye. "I will send for them to come to Greenwood, and we will talk to them."

A footman was dispatched almost immediately to the city, and to the surprise of everyone Master Eli Kira returned with him that evening. He was a tall spare man with gray locks and serious dark eyes that nonetheless could twinkle with humor on occasion. He was dressed in a long, fur-trimmed gown of black velvet. Upon his head was a flat velvet cap which was generally worn by all professional city gentlemen, and about his neck was a heavy gold chain of the finest workmanship.

"Having seen the ships docked by yer warehouses being prepared for a voyage," he said, "I had to a.s.sume that ye needed to see me before they departed, and I leave myself for France in another day. My brother died in Paris last week, and I must go there to decide which of his twin sons is the more capable of running our business. How may I serve ye, madame?"

"My brother must go to Istanbul, Master Kira, and we need to know if there are any of yer family there from whom we may obtain credit based on our deposits with ye here in London."

"Istanbul? Istanbul, madame, is the center of my family's banking business. Our great-uncle had a small business there many years ago, but it is actually thanks to my aunt, Esther, that our family's business has thrived, and is one of the most important banking houses in the world today. Esther Kira, blessed be her name, still rules the family in Istanbul in this, her eighty-eighth year! Of course, it is her son, Solomon, who is known as the head of the family, but it is really my aunt who controls all. If ye go to Istanbul we can most a.s.suredly be of service to ye."

Skye was curious. "How is it," she asked Eli Kira, "that yer aunt is such a woman of power and means?"

"Aunt Esther and her brother, my father, Joseph, blessed be his memory, were orphaned at an early age. They were raised by an uncle in Istanbul, but as her own father had been a poor younger brother, she had no dowry, and so at the age of twelve she was selling hard-to-find goods to the harem ladies of the rich. She was so successful that her reputation spread, and at the age of sixteen she was allowed entry into the imperial harem. At twenty she met and became close friend of the favorite wife of Sultan Selim, whose son, Suleiman, was to be the next sultan. That lady was the great Cyra Hafise, and her friendship brought incredible fortune to my family. Within the Ottoman Empire we are exempted from paying taxes because of a secret service my aunt rendered to the sultan's family. My aunt named her eldest son, Solomon, after the eldest son of Cyra Hafise, the great ruler, Suleiman the Magnificent. For many years my aunt has not needed to ply her trade among the ladies of the imperial harem, but yet she still does so for I suspect she would be bored sitting in the courtyard of her house telling tales to her great-grandchildren. As she was the friend of the lady Cyra Hafise, so was she friend to Suleiman's favorite, the lady Khurrem and to the favorite of Sultan Selim II, Nur-U-Banu, and to Safiye, who is favorite of the current sultan, Murad III."

Conn felt a p.r.i.c.kle of excitement run up his spine. "Then," he said, "perhaps yer aunt will be able to aid me in a rather delicate problem that faces me when I reach Istanbul."

"Conn," warned Skye nervously. "I do not know if it is wise to burden Master Kira with our problems."

"If I'm to have the help of his aunt I'm going to have to confide in him," said Conn.

"No, my lord," said Eli Kira, "yer sister is correct. Do not confide in me. Since I am not going to be in Istanbul, it is not necessary that I know yer problems there. I will send along with yer letter of credit a letter to my aunt saying that ye can be trusted, and that the family should aid ye if they can without endangering themselves. It is better that I know nothing of yer business. If it is a dangerous business then the fewer people who know the better off ye will be."

The matter settled, Eli Kira took his leave of them. He would see that the necessary information and doc.u.ments be dispatched first thing in the morning. There would be three messengers sent. The first would be a pigeon who would make its way to Paris where its message would be removed, and affixed to another bird who would continue on to the next destination where here it, too, would be replaced by yet another bird and another until the last bird reached Istanbul. The other two messengers would be human. Both would begin their journey by sea, but only the man traveling the southern route through the Mediterranean would go all the way by ship. The other man would go only as far as Hamburg by sea, and from there on he would continue on by horse down through the German states, and into the Ottoman Empire's northernmost reaches and from there on to Istanbul. It was very likely that all three of Eli Kira's messengers would arrive safely in their own time in Istanbul, but three were nonetheless dispatched for safety's sake. There would be no doubt of who Conn O'Malley was when he reached the capital of the Ottoman Empire. The Kiras were totally reliable.

They hadn't seen the three older O'Malley brothers in several days' time, but three days later when they sailed from the pool of London Brian, and Shane, and Shamus were each aboard their own ship as were their loyal crews. It was true that most on that first day were quite the worse for wear, but they were there, and from experience Conn knew that he would rather sail with O'Malley-trained and dependable crews than with any other sailors alive.

Conn had bid his sister and her husband farewell at Greenwood. There had been tears in Skye's blue-green eyes as she had kissed him. He brushed her tears away with his own hand, and said with a wry grin, "The only danger I'm going to be in, Skye, is from seasickness."

She laughed softly. "Ye were always the worst sailor of us all, and ye a son of Dubhdara O'Malley!"

"The old man's seed was obviously running weak when I was conceived, Skye. I received all the charm G.o.d forgot to give my brothers, but a weak stomach in return."

"Take no chances, Conn. Yer no good to Aidan dead, and I know that she is alive. I feel it! Be sure ye give my message to Osman, and tell him I am sorry that I could not come myself, but that I am trying not to struggle against my fate. He will understand." She hugged him hard, kissed him on both cheeks, and said, "G.o.dspeed, my brother, and the Blessed Mother bring ye home with Aidan quickly."

"Don't worry, Skye," he promised her, "I shall return, and with Aidan, I promise ye. It won't be like Niall for I know that is what troubles ye." Hugging her hard he then turned to his brother-in-law, and the two men clasped hands.

"She's said it all," Adam said with a smile, "but then she usually does. G.o.dspeed, lad! Ye'll both be back to us soon, I know it!"

The Greenwood coach took him to the London pool where he was rowed out to Robbie's ship, which was a fairly new vessel that the Devon captain had taken on a shakedown cruise just this winter past. The vessel was called the Bon Adventure, and Robbie was full of praise for her speed and maneuverability. Conn would be sharing the captain's quarters on their voyage out with Robbie.

Looking about the s.p.a.cious cabin Cluny smiled satisfied. "Aye, we'll be comfortable here, m'lord, and 'tis good to feel a deck beneath me feet once again."

Conn said nothing. His stomach seemed to be coping so far, but it did no good to tempt fate. He could feel the motion of the ship as it edged its way among the moored vessels, and swung out into the Thames. "I think I'll go on deck, Cluny," he said. He didn't see Cluny's grin for Cluny knew of the O'Malley shame as Conn's stomach had always been referred to by the people of Innisfana Island. Outside he still felt well with the smell of the river in his nostrils, and secretly hoped that he had really outgrown his embarra.s.sing malaise.

The day was sunny and cool although there was nothing of the autumn to come. A light breeze filled the sails, and the ship moved with a slow and stately gait down the Thames toward the open sea. They pa.s.sed by the Strand and there upon the lush green lawns of Greenwood stood his sister, her husband, and the entire staff waving their final good-byes, and calling G.o.dspeeds and Good Fortune to him and to his fleet of four ships. He waved back to them, his eyes wet with emotion, and he stood watching them until he could no longer see them for the river curved, and they were suddenly gone.

A little farther on they pa.s.sed Greenwich, empty now and silent with the court's absence. It was the queen's favorite place, and he understood why as he viewed it from his vantage aboard ship. He felt a small tightness in his chest remembering that it was here that he had first seen Aidan. It was here that they had been wed, and it was from here that they had departed on their journey home to Aidan's much-loved Pearroc Royal. He wanted his beloved wife! He wanted her back safely again, and he was going to find her no matter what stood in his path. Had he not once told her that theirs was a love for all time? He prayed that she would hold onto that thought wherever she was.

The landscape ahead was flat and he could see Southend on his left. Beyond that Conn knew was Margate, and then that arm of the open sea called the English Channel. Bon Adventure swept out of the Thames with the grace of a dancing maiden and feeling the familiar roll of the seaborne vessel, Conn's heart hammered with the certain knowledge that the greatest adventure he was ever likely to have had finally begun.

PART 3.

THE GIFT FROM THE SEA.

Chapter 10.

The warm autumn air caressed her cheek as the ship carrying Aidan to Istanbul neared the great city of Constantine. Although the vessel upon which she traveled had stopped several times to take on fresh water as it had woven itself through the Greek isles, she had not been allowed the privilege of going ash.o.r.e, and walking about for she was considered too valuable a piece of property to lose to bandits. It had been many weeks since she had put her foot upon firm land, and she was anxious to do so again. Not that her trip had been an uncomfortable one for it hadn't. Indeed everything had been done to ensure her comfort. Still in her entire lifetime she had never felt so confined.

Her every move had been monitored since her purchase by the dey. Her boundaries had been limited in Algiers, and they had certainly been curbed even more aboard this ship which had been her prison since she left Algiers. She had been at the dey's palace for a full week before she had been taken in a closed litter back to the harbor, and put aboard this vessel. Shortly after dawn on her second day in Algiers the door to her room had opened suddenly as she sat up startled, and Meg had reentered the room.

Aidan scrambled to her feet. "Are ye all right, Meg?"

Margaret Browne looked at her friend through somewhat glazed eyes. "I am fine," she said. "Perhaps, tired, but I am fine otherwise."

Aidan had to ask. "Did the dey . . ." she began, but Meg cut her short.

"I am no longer a virgin," Meg said softly. "He is not a young man, Aidan, but he is a.s.suredly a potent one, and he was not unkind."

Aidan took the girl into her arms, and hugged her gently. "If there is anything I can do for ye, or explain to ye, Meg, ye have but to ask. I would have done so last night, but they came so quickly for ye."

"I am fine," the blond girl repeated for a third time, "and I am resigned to spending the rest of my days here with my lord and master. I shall not see Kent ever again in this life. It is not the worst thing that could happen to me, Aidan. I might even have a child. The dey's favorites are still producing children, and a child would mean the world to me. It would be something of my own, my family."

Then Meg had curled up upon the mattress that Aidan had only recently vacated, and fallen asleep. When she awoke late in the day she seemed clearer-headed, and her blue eyes were no longer glazed, but her att.i.tude had not changed. She had made up her mind to accept her captivity, and having done so was now content. "Ye must no longer call me Meg," she said to Aidan later that afternoon. "Meg Browne no longer exists. The dey has said that my name is to be Sadira. It means the Dreamy One, and my lord says I am like a dream come true to him for I have brought back the feelings of his youth."

It was one of the last things that the English girl said to Aidan for shortly afterward the head eunuch came for her to take her to her own apartment, for he said to Aidan pompously, "She has found great favor with her lord and master. May ye do the same with yours." Aidan never saw Meg again.

The young eunuch who had been a.s.signed to her was named Jinji and it was through him that her scant information came. He was a brown-skinned man with cla.s.sical features, liquid dark eyes, and closely cropped black hair. He was far different looking than anyone Aidan had ever known but she thought him quite handsome. He had been gelded when he had been only three years old, he told her proudly, for the operation that took away his complete manhood was very dangerous, and over half the boys subjected to it died of it. Nevertheless it had rendered him twice as valuable as he would have been by merely having his seed sack removed. Then Jinji went on to show Aidan the beautifully carved tube through which he pa.s.sed his water. It had been a gift from his former master who had been forced to sell him when he had come upon hard times.

Aidan was astounded, and she had to refrain from laughing for the whole situation was simply ludicrous. Barely less than a year ago she had been Lord Bliss' sheltered daughter. She had thought that her stay at court before her marriage to Conn had opened her eyes to the world, but now she was finding that there were many things that she didn't know, had not even dreamed of, had never even imagined existed. Oh, what wonderful tales she would have to tell when she returned home again, she thought, for she would not give up the hope of going back to England.

"We leave for Istanbul in the morning," Jinji told her on the morning of her sixth day in Algiers, "and I am to go with you!" He was very excited for he had in effect received a promotion within the ranks of his hierarchy.

"What of the star chart that the famous astrologer, Osman, was doing to see if I was to be a fortuitous gift for the sultan?" she demanded of him.

"Oh," Jinji said offhandedly, "it has been done, and Osman will be here this very afternoon to interpret it to you so you may understand your fate more clearly."

"Am I to greet him as I am," she said, "or have the promised clothes finally been made for me? Surely I am not to go to the sultan as I am?"

"Patience, copper-haired woman," he counseled her. "Your new garments will arrive this very day, even before the great Osman has left his house."

"How many times must I tell you that my name is Aidan, Jinji?" They conversed in French which was the only language that they knew in common.

"That name is what you are called in your old world, but when you reach Istanbul you will be named by the sultan or his agha kislar. It is a waste of my time to learn a name you will not use when you are to be given a new name shortly," and nothing she could do would convince him otherwise.

When Osman arrived that afternoon Aidan greeted him garbed in a caftan of peac.o.c.k-blue silk, which was one of her favorite colors. The sleeves of the garment were embroidered with four-inch bands of gold thread, tiny seed pearls, and crystal beads. There was a matching band about the hem of the caftan and about the rounded neckline before it opened to plunge between her lovely b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Upon her feet she wore heel-less sandals of gold kid. Jinji was a skilled hairdresser among other things, and he had brushed Aidan's heavy hair back from her face, and woven it with gold ribbons and pearls into a long, sleek braid which hung down her neck.

"How lovely you look, my child," he greeted her, and plumped himself comfortably amongst the cushions. Looking at Jinji who was busying himself in the hopes of hearing what Osman had to say, the astrologer said, "Get thee gone, eunuch, and do not bother to listen at the door. What I have to say is for this lady alone, and I will know if you have disobeyed me."

Jinji reluctantly bowed to Osman, and hurriedly left the room. With someone else he might have ignored the warning, and placed his ear to the door, but the astrologer was known to have a second sight, and the eunuch would take no chances at turning away the good luck that had so recently begun to shine upon him.

Aidan looked anxiously at Osman. "Jinji says we are to leave tomorrow, Master Osman. Am I indeed to go to Istanbul? Will I not return to England?"

"You are indeed to go to Istanbul, my child, but do not fear for I see in your chart no prolonged contact with Sultan Murad."

"What a pity I must go there at all," Aidan remarked lightly, "if I am not to stay there."

"I did not say that, my child. I said that you would not become involved deeply with the sultan, but there is someone else I see entering your life, a man, not your husband, but someone who will nonetheless have a strong hold upon you. For a time you will have no choice but to yield to this man, but beware him for he is the scorpion, and the scorpion can force the lioness to his will. I am not certain that you can overcome him. There is confusion in your chart, and something else I do not understand. There is rebirth."

"What does it mean, Master Osman? Do you see Conn in my chart?"

"Yes, the Gemini is indeed there, but in the end, my child, it is you who must overcome your barriers. Your fate is in your hands, and yours alone. Others can only be of aid to you, but in the end you must gain the final victory."

"Victory over what?" she asked him.

"I do not know, my child, but perhaps it is yourself."

"Master Osman, you frighten me, and I looked to you for rea.s.surance."

"My child," he said, and leaning across the small round table that separated them he patted her head, "the greatest truth I can tell you is that there is only one person in this world upon whom you may rely with complete confidence, and that person is yourself. You hold your fate in the palm of your hand. The stars can only tell so much, but each choice we face offers us two paths which we may follow. The path we walk determines our course. You have been very sheltered in your lifetime to not know that."

"Yes," she answered him, "I have been most sheltered." For a few minutes they sat in companionable silence, and then Aidan asked, "Have you sent word to my sister-in-law, Master Osman?"

"I have," he told her.

"Then Conn will come for me. Wherever I am he will find me, and we will be reunited."

"You must hold that thought, my child," Osman told her. "Remember what I have said. You are the helmsman of your fate, and you alone."

She had relived that conversation over a hundred times in the days that had followed, but now as she focused her silvery eyes upon the domes and spires of the city of Istanbul she was afraid. From the sea she found the city a strange and beautiful place, yet it was foreign to her, and she wondered what fate it held for her.

"My lady." Jinji was at her elbow.

"Yes?"

"My lady, you must come with me to your quarters so I may prepare you to go ash.o.r.e."

Without another word Aidan turned and followed the young eunuch back to her cabin. The ship upon which they had traveled was a large commercial galley that the dey had hired to transport his tribute to his master. Its chief power was the wind that filled its sails, but it also carried a crew of oarsmen to row should it be necessary, though it had not been this trip. These oarsmen were not slaves, but rather sailors who earned their living on the rowing bench, and the owner of the galley preferred them to slaves for they worked of their own free will, and therefore there was no chance of his losing a cargo through rebellion.

The entire ship had been booked by the dey to transport his gifts to his master. Below, and carefully secured, were a full dozen perfect Arabian mares and a magnificent golden Arabian stallion. There were also two pairs of lion-hunting dogs from south of the great desert, and two pairs of long-haired salukis, the graceful and swift hunting dogs of the Arabs. There was a marvelous clock from France made of pure gold, and inlaid with precious stones that the dey had commissioned for the sultan whose hobbies were painting and clockmaking. There was a saddle tooled of the best moroccon leather with a matching bridle for the stallion. The bridle had a solid gold bit, and was decorated with semiprecious stones. The saddle was worked with gold leaf, and the stirrups, like the bit, were of pure gold. There were a full hundred healthy, strong young male slaves, all Portuguese; two perfectly matched pigeon's-blood rubies the size of small lemons; three identical female dwarfs; a pair of black panthers; a bag of perfectly matched pink pearls each one the size of a cherry; and Aidan. A full dozen gifts in all.

Aidan had grown quite used to the comfortable and beautiful garments that were worn by the upper-cla.s.s Turkish woman. These consisted of baggy trousers which were tight at the ankle, a sheer blouse over which was worn a slash-skirted dress with long sleeves and a low-cut neckline beneath which the delicate fabric of the blouse showed, and tied about her hips a lovely embroidered shawl. Jinji had told Aidan that when she found favor with the sultan she would probably be given gifts of jeweled belts that she would wear instead. Now as they prepared to leave the ship Jinji helped his mistress into a garment that he called a feridje. It was made of pale lavender silk lined with pale mauve silk, and it covered her from her head to her feet. Carefully Jinji fastened a veil across the bridge of her nose successfully m.u.f.fling Aidan to all who might dare to gaze upon a chosen woman. Only her eyes were visible to the bold.

She could hear upon the deck the sounds of the sailors making the galley fast to the dock; the thump of the gangway as it was lowered from the ship's deck to the land. Jinji tugged at her sleeve.

"Come, my lady. You are to be the first ash.o.r.e before the animals and the dwarfs. There will be a litter from the palace awaiting you on the sh.o.r.e."

Taking a final look about the cabin which had been her shelter these last few weeks, Aidan followed Jinji from the room, and back out onto the deck. There she found the captain awaiting them. He bowed low to her.

"My lady," he said in accented French, "I hope your voyage has been a comfortable one, and that you will remember us kindly."

"Thank you," she replied. "It has been most pleasant." Pleasant, she thought, considering that I am entering slavery.

"May Allah guard you, and guide you along your path," the captain said, and then he moved away to direct the unloading of the horses.

"Look! Look! Did I not tell you?" Jinji exclaimed excitedly. "There is an imperial litter upon the dock!" He helped Aidan down the gangway, and hurried her over to it. There were four bearers seated on the ground awaiting their pa.s.senger, and a rather bored-looking eunuch who arose to his feet at their approach.