Conn nodded disappointed. Like a child he had wanted to be rea.s.sured that everything would work out perfectly. He had wanted to believe that he was fated for success, that nothing could go wrong, that he and Aidan would have a happily-ever-after as did the hero and the heroine in the children's tales that his mother had told his brothers and himself when they were little boys. "So," he said with as much good nature as he could muster, "you are telling me that I must sit patiently for the next few weeks until the dey, in his wisdom, has agreed to release my ships; and then I must sail on to Istanbul with only the slim belief that I will succeed. I must step into the unknown, Osman, and take my chances."

"Like any other mortal man, brother of my friend Skye," chuckled Osman. "Just like any other mortal."

"Then I shall do it, but for G.o.d's sake, Osman, speak to your friend the dey. If my brothers spend too many more nights being as debauched as I suspect they were last night, they shall be no good to me at all.".

Osman chuckled again. "Fear not, Conn. I have some excellent restoratives that I shall share with them. They will, I promise you, when you sail from the city, be as new men."

"If your women don't kill them with kindness first," laughed Conn.

"They are young yet, Conn."

"They may not be when we leave Algiers, Osman!"

This time Osman laughed. "Trust me," he said. "I have taken care of Robbie all these years, and he is yet vigorous, is he not?"

"I haven't seen him yet this morning," Conn noted.

"You will not see him for several days," said Osman. "Our little friend has a great capacity for loving, and it will take the twins I had for him at least that long to slake his fires."

"G.o.d's nightshirt! This life is absolutely not for me any longer, Osman, although there was a time before I married my Aidan that I would have kept up with the best of them, but no longer. I want to go home to Pearroc Royal with Aidan, and lead the quiet life. I am not the adventurer that I once thought I was."

"Few are despite what they may think." Osman smiled. "You have simply learned earlier than most what you want. That is a blessing, Conn, my friend. A very rare blessing from Allah. Be grateful for it. You are fortunate enough to see your pathway. Many do not."

"The memory of what Aidan and I have shared shines in my heart like a bright beacon, Osman. It is that which lights my way, and makes it possible for me to see where my ultimate goal leads. The twists and turns of the path, however, cannot be seen, can they?"

"Nay, they cannot," came his answer, "but you will surmount them my friend. You will surmount them."

Chapter 13.

Both the sultan valideh, Nur-U-Banu, and the bas kadin, Safiye, as well as Murad, the sultan himself, were taking credit for the sudden marriage of the amba.s.sador from the Khanate of the Crimea, Prince Javid Khan. The prince had married the beautiful slavewoman that the sultan had presented him with just three weeks prior. He had also, it was rumored, legally freed the woman from the bonds of her slavery. It was a love story worthy of the famed tales of Scheherazade, and the gossips of Istanbul made the most of it crediting the woman with such rare and unique beauty that she had bewitched her husband. It was even suggested that she might be a peri or possibly a witch.

It had been a simple ceremony at the local country mosque, attended by the bridegroom, a few of his fellow amba.s.sadors including William Harborne, the unofficial English amba.s.sador whose formal appointment would soon be confirmed, and Sultan Murad. Afterward the gentlemen of the wedding party had made their way back to the prince's palace to partake of a celebration feast. At no time did they even glimpse the bride who remained within the women's quarters overseeing her own small celebration with the sultan's mother, Safiye, and her three women servants.

"You are very fortunate, young woman," said Nur-U-Banu, "to have been made the prince's wife. He must love you very much. I knew that there was something special about you when I first saw you, and decided that you should be my son's gift to Javid Khan."

"Is it true he has freed you legally?" asked Safiye.

Aidan nodded. "He went before a man he called the kadi, and I have the papers safely in that carved sandalwood box you so admired in my bedchamber. I really have much to thank you both for, my friends. My lord Javid is a good man."

"But you do not love him, do you?" said Nur-U-Banu.

"No. I will never love anyone but my beloved Conn," replied Aidan. "I am, I suppose, a one-man woman, but that does not mean I shall not give all my attention and my caring, and my loyalty to my lord Javid, for I will."

Nur-U-Banu nodded. "You are very wise, my child, and who knows that in time you may learn to love the prince, especially if you should be fortunate enough to bear him children. That often changes a woman's heart. You did not, after all, bear your first husband any children."

"Did you love my lord Murad's father?" asked Safiye wickedly, for Sultan Selim II had been a notorious drunk, and weak ruler.

"Not at first," said the sultan valideh looking piercingly at Safiye. "We are not all so lucky as you were, my dear. My Selim was not a lovable man upon first acquaintance. It was only when I took the time to know him that I saw why he was as he was, and so I made the effort to care for him which in return brought me his love. It is harder to work at love, Safiye, but perhaps in the end it is more rewarding."

"Tell me of Sultan Selim," said Aidan, for she was curious about the man about whom Nur-U-Banu spoke with such tender affection.

"He was the son of the great sultan, Suleiman, whom we called the lawgiver, although in the West he was called the magnificent. His grandfather was Selim I, a brilliant general; his great-great-grandsire was Mohammed, the conqueror of Constantinople, now called Istanbul. As you can see, my Selim came from an ill.u.s.trious line. Alas, however, his mother, Khurrem Kadin, was a wicked, wicked woman. He was her first child although she bore Sultan Suleiman two other sons, and a daughter. Sultan Suleiman had another son though by his bas kadin, Gulbehar, and it was this boy, Prince Mustafa, who was his heir. He was in his middle twenties when Khurrem turned his father against him, and had him murdered. His harem and his children were eliminated also. Khurrem then caused the death of her second son, Prince Bajazet, another able young man. Her third son was a cripple, and could not by law inherit due to his deformity. He died, some said, of a broken heart, for he had adored his half-brother, Prince Mustafa, who was always so kind to him, and his brother Bajazet.

"My Selim then became his father's only heir. From his birth his mother had doted upon him, and spoilt him. He was short whereas his brothers were tall. He was plump while they were slender. He was shortsighted whereas they had good vision, and as a youth he was spotty, a fact he later disguised with a beard but even here he was lacking for his beard was a thin and stringy one. In appearance my Selim very much resembled his great-uncle Ahmet, but in personality he was quite like another great-uncle, the scholarly Korkut. He was simply not cut out to be a ruler, a fact which Khurrem refused to acknowledge while she went about ruthlessly removing any possible compet.i.tion to her eldest son.

"The plain truth is that my husband was ruined by his power-seeking mother. He was weak-willed and vacillating. He had no sense of majesty, but what was worse he was more cut out to be a simple man than a great one. His mother wanted it that way for she intended to rule through her son as she already half-ruled through her husband. She died, however, long before Selim inherited his royal mantle, and her inheritance to this empire was a son, unfit to rule; a spoilt, superst.i.tious child in the guise of a man. It was a blessing to this land that his reign was a most mercifully short one, and that my son, Murad, is like his grandfather Suleiman, and his great-grandfather, Selim I, an able ruler.

"And that, Marjallah, is the official story of my husband's life and reign. History already knows him as Selim the Sot, a Muslim who went against his own holy law, and was a drunkard. For me, however, it was a different story. Like Safiye I was little more than a child when I was brought to the Yeni Serai. My parents were Circa.s.sian royalty, and I was sent, like you, as part of a tribute to Sultan Suleiman. I was trained as all girls who enter the harem are trained, and then I was a.s.signed the task of bath attendant to Prince Selim. It was in his bath that he first noticed me. He was recovering from the effects of a night of too much forbidden wine, and it was I who kept changing the cool cloths upon his head.

"At his request I was made a guzdeh, which means I was in his glance. I was given my own little room, and a slave to wait upon me. It was not long before I was called to his bed, escorted there fearful and trembling despite all my instruction from the old women of the harem, When my Selim saw my fright he immediately set about to rea.s.sure me. He was the most gentle and considerate of lovers, and never was he in his cups when he called for me. I did grow to love him. Yes, even before I conceived my son who was my husband's firstborn son although he had fathered several daughters before Murad was born. I was given the t.i.tle of bas kadin upon Murad's birth, and although my dear lord took others to his bed over his short life, I remained his favorite. He was not a bad man whatever history may say of him," she finished.

"It seems to me that you brought Sultan Selim II great happiness, my lady valideh," said Aidan.

Nur-U-Banu smiled, and patted Aidan's hand. "As I hope you will bring happiness to Prince Javid Khan, but you most obviously already have since he has married you this day. This is a fortunate thing for you, my dear Marjallah, for it will give you stature amongst his other wives and women when you return with him to the Crimea someday."

"There are no others, nor children either," said Aidan, and then she told the sultan valideh and Safiye the story of Javid Khan's great tragedy.

Nur-U-Banu nodded when she had finished. "It is indeed a terrible thing for the prince, but it is a wonderful piece of luck for you, Marjallah! He obviously loves you having made you his wife. Now bear him sons, and your fortune is made no matter how large a harem he rebuilds."

"Which you may be a.s.sured he will," said Safiye with a trace of bitterness in her voice.

"What do you care?" snapped Nur-U-Banu to Safiye. "It is your son, Memhet, who is his father's heir. You bore him no other children despite your exclusive hold upon my son all those years. One Ottoman prince was not enough! Besides it is not in the nature of a man to cleave to only one woman. When will you accept that?"

"I will never accept it!" cried Safiye. "Never!"

"Bah! You waste your life in bitterness, my daughter. Do not be a fool. Accept what Allah has given you, and be grateful for it. Do you know how many women would love to be in your position? Memhet, praise Allah, is a strong and healthy boy already looking at the slavegirls with a l.u.s.tful eye. One day you will be in my slippers, Safiye. Love is a good thing, but power is a better one," and Nur-U-Banu laughed.

When the sultan's mother and his favorite departed in the early evening with the sultan, and the other guests, Aidan repeated this conversation to Javid Khan as they lay together upon his couch. He had positioned her between his long legs, her back against his chest, so he might avail himself of her beautiful b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Even now as they spoke he fondled those glorious...o...b.. of milky flesh.

"Yes, they war against each other within the harem walls, it is said. They are two very strong women, but as long as Sultan Murad lives, or his mother, it is she who will rule the women, and her son's heart first above all others."

"Why does Safiye dislike Nur-U-Banu?" Aidan wondered. "She seems like a good woman to me. I like her."

"Do you like Safiye, too?"

"Of course. She is close to my age, and like a friend."

"Good, my jewel. Take no sides between them else you get caught in the crossfire. Safiye Kadin resents the valideh because it is Nur-U-Banu who insisted that her son take other women. For many years he confined his attentions in monogamous fashion to Safiye, but she only produced one child, Prince Memhet. The Ottoman dynasty could not be safe with just one heir, and as time went by it became obvious that Safiye could not produce any more children despite her as yet youthful age.

"Nur-U-Banu and the vizier finally convinced the sultan to favor other women; but when he at last agreed to their pleadings he found that he could not function with anyone but Safiye. It was then discovered by the valideh that Safiye had purchased charms and potions from one of the bazaar women to bind the sultan to her alone."

Aidan was fascinated. "How did the valideh find out?"

"The most famous bazaar woman in all of Istanbul is an old lady by the name of Esther Kira. She is so old that she was the favorite of Sultan Murad's great-grandmother, Cyra Hafise. She began coming to the harem of the sultan when she was just a girl, and she quickly became greatly in demand for the quality of her merchandise was the very best, and her prices more than fair. It is said that she did the legendary Cyra Hafise some great favor, and for that her family has been exempted forever from paying taxes. This allowed them, for they are Jews, to build a great banking house, and it is said that anywhere you may go in the civilized world today there is a Kira banker. There is even one in the Crimea," he laughed. "Actually the old lady keeps coming to the harem with her wares simply to amuse herself for. she does not need the monies, but I digress.

"The bazaar woman who sold Safiye Kadin her charms and potions was a Jewess, and she could not resist bragging amongst the other women of her great service to the bas kadin, a service she said that might very well win her family the same tax exemption as old Esther Kira had won for hers in her youth. Of course this kind of talk was not long in coming to Esther's ears, and she informed the valideh, but at the same time she insisted to Nur-U-Banu that it was the bazaar woman who had initiated the sale of the charm and potions to a distraught Safiye, who she said she was certain would not have acted in such a fashion had not the temptation been placed in her path. That way the wily old woman saved the bas kadin her deserved punishment, and retained the friendship of both these powerful ladies for herself and her family." He chuckled. "As a friend of both Safiye and Nur-U-Banu, I expect you will eventually meet the fabled Esther, but my jewel, I do not want to spend our wedding night telling you tales as a father tells his child," said Javid Khan gently pinching her nipples. "I want to make love to you, my sweet wife, Marjallah. You have brought me much happiness in such a short time, beloved. I never expected to be happy again."

Aidan turned her body so that she might look up into his face. "You have made me happy also, my lord, and I, too, did not think to be content again." Reaching up she caressed his face, and then drawing his head to hers she kissed his mouth in a quick kiss, seeing in his beautiful sky-blue eyes a simple wish that she knew was in her power to grant him; a desire that he didn't even know he revealed. It did not matter, she thought, that she lied to him for the lie was one of the white variety, a harmless thing that would bring him happiness. He could never really know what was in her heart for no man ever really knows the secret heart of a woman. "I love you, my lord Javid," she said softly, and was rewarded by the joy that lit his whole face.

His arms instantly locked about her in a tight embrace, and he almost sobbed, "I love you, too, my jewel! I have from the first, and I feared that you could not love me so great was the love that you bore for your first husband. I thank Allah that he has given me you, my beloved wife, Marjallah!"

"Conn is lost to me," she said honestly, "as are Zoe and Ayesha lost to you. We go on, however, and if we could not love again, my lord, then we should dishonor the memories of those we loved before." I might even, in time, come to believe my own words, she silently decided.

He laid her upon the silken mattress that they shared, and loved her tenderly with both his hands, and his mouth, and his tongue. His delicate, yet sensuous touches sent ripples of sweet fire throughout her whole body; and when at last he believed her ready, he entered her whispering, "Let us make a son this night, my jewel. Let us make a son!"

With a soft cry she received him, and her nails raked wildly down his broad back, but at his words she trembled, which he took for pa.s.sion, and her mind rebelled as she silently prayed, Oh not yet, dear G.o.d! Not yet, for then shall my beloved Conn truly be lost to me! Not yet!

And Javid Khan filled her womb with his potent seed, but Aidan's prayer was answered for she conceived not.

The autumn was warm and fair, and each day when the prince journeyed to the city to take part in the sultan's day as was his duty, Aidan ventured into the gardens to instruct her gardeners. Slowly, and with total patience the ground was cleared of its great overgrowth until the outline of the original beds was quite clear. They found one large fountain and several smaller ones beneath the tangle, and with her husband's permission Aidan sent to Istanbul for workmen to repair the waterworks, and replace the tiles that had been damaged by the neglect of so many years.

Knowing her background, and understanding her more as each day pa.s.sed, Javid Khan gave his wife the unusual freedom to come and go as she pleased; and Aidan, understanding the cultural differences that separated them, realized the deep trust he had in her, and did not abuse that trust. Never did she leave the little palace without informing him beforehand of her destination, or whom she would be seeing. Her trips were usually to either the Yeni Serai to visit with the valideh and Safiye, or to the Great Bazaar to shop for rare plants for her new gardens.

One afternoon in early November Aidan arrived to visit Safiye, and ushered into the bas kadin's apartments she saw that her friend already had a visitor. Seated with Safiye was a small, plump woman with black, black hair and bright black eyes. She was beautifully dressed in crimson brocade tunic dress, and wore magnificent heavy gold earrings and bracelets. Upon her plump fingers was only one ring, but it was a diamond of such incredible size that Aidan could not help but stare for a moment before her manners caught up with her.

"Marjallah! Come and meet Esther Kira," said Safiye.

"Good afternoon, my lady," said Aidan politely, and then in response to Safiye's hand signal, she sat down with them.

"So," said Esther Kira in a voice that belied her years, for she was now eighty-eight, "this is the lady of whom the valideh has spoken so highly. Your lovely hair reminds me of my friend, Cyra Hafise, she of blessed memory. She was a great beauty, my lady Cyra."

"Which I most certainly am not," laughed Aidan. "My father used to say that I was just barely pretty, and then only if I worked at it."

The old woman cackled back her own laughter. "It is a good thing to know one's own shortcomings as well as one's strengths," she answered. "You are, I can tell, an intelligent woman who understands such things, but then if you were not the prince should not have married you. You have given us all something to talk about this rather dull autumn, my lady Marjallah. Istanbul is a city that thrives on gossip. Is that not so, my lady bas kadin?"

"Most a.s.suredly so," said Safiye, and then she said to Aidan, "Have you been on one of your already famous shopping expeditions, dear Marjallah? Ahh now, there is sweet grist for the mills of chatter. Prince Javid Khan actually allows this wife of his the freedom to come and go as she pleases, Esther Kira. Is that not scandalous?"

"I would say that the prince is an intuitive man," remarked the old woman, and Aidan liked her in that moment.

"I cannot find anywhere in all of Istanbul," Aidan complained, "tulip bulbs, and I do so want a spring garden for my lord Javid. My Portuguese have spent these last weeks clearing the ground of all the overgrowth and weeds, and the fountains have been repaired and are operable, the flowerbeds have been raked and prepared, but nowhere can we find bulbs to plant. The merchants in the Great Bazaar claim that you must obtain them in the late spring after the gardens have bloomed. I am so very disappointed."

"Perhaps Esther can obtain the bulbs you need," suggested Safiye, and he looked at the old woman.

Esther Kira smiled. "It is just possible," she said nodding. "It is just possible that I can."

"Oh, if you only could," Aidan wished.

"Esther can always do the impossible, can't you, my old friend?" teased Safiye.

"Just sometimes, my lady bas kadin," and then she smiled at Aidan. "You see, my lady Marjallah, I, too, know my limits, but in this matter of tulip bulbs I am certain that I can be of help."

It was no surprise therefore to Aidan when she received a visit from Es-ther Kira several days later. The elderly lady arrived by her private, and quite luxurious caique, and having been lifted ash.o.r.e by one of her slaves she hurried up to the house, trailed by a large black eunuch clutching an enormous bundle.

Aidan greeted her warmly. "Why did you not tell me that you were coming, Esther Kira? You will think me a bad hostess. Marta! Make tea, and bring cakes." She settled the old lady by a brazier. "It is chilly out on the water," she scolded gently. "You will catch your death."

"You sound like my great-granddaughter Rachael," Esther chuckled. "My daughter, and daughters-in-law long ago gave up fretting over me. Rachael, however, is yet young and determined. She reminds me of myself at that age."

"I have the distinct feeling," said Aidan with a smile, "that you will live so many more years that you will finally fret even Rachael."

"Heh! Heh! Heh!" laughed the old lady, and she nodded quite vigorously. "May it be from your mouth to G.o.d's ear," she said.

Marta and her two daughters brought the refreshments, an earthenware pot with its own brazier in which they brewed the hot and refreshing drink that Javid Khan had taught her was called tea. He had brought from the Crimea two small chests, each containing several foil-wrapped bundles of leaves from which the drink was made. The red lacquered chest held packets of black tea, the green lacquered box held the green tea. It was his favorite beverage, even more than coffee, and he had showed her how to brew it.

Filling a handleless cup with the hot drink Aidan pa.s.sed it to Esther Kira, who sipping at it, smacked her lips appreciatively. Aidan offered her almond cakes, and sticky, sweet Turkish paste candy which she knew from Safiye was Esther's favorite. The old woman settled back to let Esther tell her why she had come. She did not have long to wait.

"I have brought you a goodly selection of tulips including some very rare and unusual specimens from Persia which are not even in the sultan's gardens. They are my gift to you, Lady Marjallah."

"Oh, Esther Kira," protested Aidan, "they must be very valuable, and I cannot let you gift me like that. You must let me pay you!"

"No, no, child! I want to give them to you. For me it is such a little thing, and I did not purchase them for you. They are but extra bulbs from my own gardens, but I really want you to have them for I know how happy they will make you in the spring when they bloom. Your gardens will be a feast for the eyes, and your husband will be pleased. The sultan valideh will come to see them, and you will bring honor on your house. Perhaps someday you can do something for me." She smiled.

"You are so kind," Aidan said, and she felt the tears p.r.i.c.king at her eyelids although she did not know why.

"Are you happy, my child?" asked Esther Kira.

"I am not unhappy," Aidan answered. Then she sighed. "That kind of an answer must sound as if I am avoiding your question, and I am really not. Yes, I am happy in the sense that I am grateful to be the prince's wife. I am only beginning to realize what could have happened to me as a captive. I have had great fortune in this matter."

"But you do not love him," said Esther Kira.

"Not the way I love Conn," she said quietly, instinctively knowing that this wise old woman would not repeat their conversation. It felt good to have someone whom she could trust again. She did not have that feeling with Nur-U-Banu or Safiye although she was glad for their friendship.

Esther Kira nodded. "You are making peace with yourself, my child, and that is a good thing. In my long lifetime I have seen many women who were not born to this world enter into it from the western part of Europe. The ones who were the happiest were the ones who accepted their fates, and then got on with their lives. They were the women, like Safiye, who went on to power. You are young yet, but you will find that pa.s.sion is a fleeting and nebulous commodity. Whatever you left behind is simply that. Behind you now. Did you have children?"

"No. We had not been wed that long."

"Then all you have left behind is a man, and they, you will find, my child, are quite replaceable. As replaceable as they seem to think we are although of course that is not really true." She chuckled wickedly. "Men believe that they run the world, but it is not so, is it? In my youth I remember my dear lady Cyra Hafise, and how she guided her beloved husband, Sultan Selim I, without his ever realizing that she was doing it. When her son inherited his father's throne she again, this time in her role as the sultan valideh, guided him also. She only made one mistake."

"What was that?" Aidan loved the garrulous old lady's reminiscences.

"Sultan Suleiman had but one favorite, Gulbehar, the Rose of Spring. She was a princess from the city of Baghdad. They had one child, a son, but my lady Cyra could not let well enough alone, and tempted her son with a Russian captive, Khurrem, the Laughing One. Khurrem had for Sultan Suleiman the same fascination that a moth has for a flame. He was intrigued by her, consumed by her, he could not get enough of her. It was the end for Gulbehar, and my lady Cyra regretted her meddling to her dying day for her son, the sultan, could not be wooed from Khurrem's side as he had been from Gulbehar's, and he chose no other favorites so in the end the sultan valideh had only exchanged one for the other."

"A situation similar to Nur-U-Banu and Safiye's," noted Aidan.

"Yes," agreed Esther Kira, "and yet not quite. It is true that Safiye held Sultan Murad's undivided attention for many years, but he is an abnormally sensual man, and his mother recognized it. I will not tell you that the valideh's intentions were all n.o.ble, for they were not, but she preferred to see him channel that particular energy in his harem rather than in a destructive fashion such as a useless war. The sultan, however, took his mother's suggestion a little too much to heart. Although he spends his mornings attending to the business of his government, and in the company of creatives and intellectuals; the rest of his time is now devoted to his harem. He is fathering children at an alarming rate. Hardly more than two or three months go by that one of his women does not give birth. It is most obvious now that it was Safiye who grew infertile after Prince Memhet's birth, and not the sultan. Still the bas kadin has no cause for complaint. The sultan loves and honors her above all women but for his mother. You will find as you learn more about the Ottoman sultan that there are four women he respects and admires. Here in Istanbul they are called the four pillars of the empire. One, of course, is Nur-U-Banu, his mother. Another, Safiye. The other two are his full sister, Fahrusha Sultan, and the mystic, Janfeda.

"Janfeda entered the harem during the time of Selim II. She and Nur-U-Banu became close friends, and each promised the other that if she became a favorite she would not forget the other. Of course it was Nur-U-Banu with her golden hair and pink-and-white complexion and her dark eyes whom Selim II noticed. Eventually at Nur-U-Banu's behest he favored Janfeda. Strangely she is more beautiful than the valideh, yet Selim could never see it, but it was just as well. Janfeda has a rare gift of seeing things that other people cannot. Sultan Murad is deeply fond of her, and values her advice."

"Listening to you, Esther Kira, is like being a little girl again, and hearing my mother tell me fairy stories," said Aidan.

"Except," said Esther Kira, "these tales of Arabian Nights that I spin for you are truth. Now, however, dear child, I must leave you if I am to be home in time to light my sabbath candles. I do not feel my years, bur I know I am an old woman when I sit telling tales instead of minding the time." With Marta's help she arose to her feet. "I like you, my lady Marjallah, and I would be your friend. Remember that you may rely upon me." Then escorted by Jinji, who had been beside himself with delight that his mistress had received a visit from the great Esther Kira herself, the old woman departed the prince's palace to return to Istanbul.

"We shall have our spring garden!" Aidan told Javid Khan when he returned from the city that evening, and then she related her visit with Esther Kira.