Chapter 14
They returned to her little apartment, where Agata was already waiting with a tray of food for them both.
They sat upon pillows before the little table and ate.
There was fresh warm bread, yogurt, a honeycomb, a bunch of green grapes, and hot mint tea.
Nadim and Agata served Azura first, and when she had eaten her fill they finished the bounty that remained.
Then the two women lay down to rest while Nadim sat cross-legged outside of his lady’s quarters.
He could hear the hum of voices coming from the salon at the end of the corridor.
He concentrated hard in the silence and was able to make out the conversation going on.
“She is beautiful,” the first wife, Maysun, said. She did not sound happy.
“Far too beautiful,” the second wife, Shahdi, agreed.
“There is nothing we can do about it.” Maysun spoke again. “Perhaps she will become arrogant and difficult with his favor.”
“It is to be hoped,” Shahdi said. “Remember, we promised we would welcome her. I would not break our promise to the prince.”
“We will welcome her given the opportunity, but first Ali Farid insisted we remain in our quarters. We could not meet her in the baths, and now that old eunuch who has been assigned to her guards her while she sleeps,” Maysun replied.
“The eunuch is an old fool. He will not be of much use to her,” Shahdi said, sounding very pleased.
Nadim grinned to himself in hearing her. Stupid peasant. Daughter of a tribal chief, and so unimportant that the sultan passed you on to a grandson. What do you possibly know, kept here in a country harem?
“The old eunuch once served our prince’s mother,” Maysun told her companion.
“A woman long dead and long forgotten. Wife to a rebellious prince who will meet an unfortunate end one of these days,” Shahdi said. “Praise Allah our prince is a more prudent man.”
“What if she has a child?” Maysun asked.
“Surely she has been rendered sterile, even as we are,” Shahdi replied. “The sultan wants no more rival claimants to his throne. That is why we were made sterile before we were given to our prince.”
“This Azura is a foreigner,” Maysun pointed out. “She is not a slave, and not of our world until now. He loves her, and if he loves her he will want a child of her.”
“Is there no way we can render her as we are?” Shahdi wondered. “Perhaps we should consult Ali Farid in this matter. There must be some poison we could introduce into her food or clothing that would make it impossible for her to bear our prince a child. At least then we should be as equals.”
“Do nothing until I have thought long and hard on it,” Maysun told her companion. “One child would not be so terrible, and it could just as easily be a daughter as a son. It might be nice for us to have a child to raise.”
“You are too softhearted,” Shahdi scolded.
“And you too quick to act,” Maysun replied.
“Until we meet her we can’t really know anything,” Shahdi said.
“Perhaps when she has rested the old eunuch will bring her forth to meet us,” Maysun said. “I think we should now go to the bath mistress, and see what she and her attendants have to say about this new wife our prince has taken.”
Nadim heard the women getting up. He wasn’t certain they wouldn’t first return to their own little apartments, so he lowered his head and feigned sleep as he sat.
But they did not come, going instead directly to the baths.
He was pleased with what he had heard. Now he would be certain to personally prepare or oversee everything that his lady ate.
He would have to warn her servingwoman not to accept any food gifts.
Poisoned candy paste and fruit were favorite weapons among the harem women.
When Azura awoke she was briefly confused as to where she was, but then she remembered. She could not recall ever feeling so relaxed or so clean. And she was hungry. “Agata!” she called, and her servant came. “I am famished. Where is Nadim? He will know what to do about my hunger.”
“I am here, my lady Azura,” the old eunuch said. “Your companion wives will eat shortly. Would you join them or remain here in private?”
“I think, as we are now a family, that I would do best to meet these women,” she answered him.
“A wise decision,” he told her. “They are curious, and a little afraid of your coming. The bath women have sung your praises. I would tell you if you do not know that the lady Maysun and the lady Shahdi are childless. They are not able to bear children. You, I believe, are. Do you wish to give your husband a child? Or would you like me to prepare you a daily draught that will prevent a child from being conceived?”
Azura’s eyes widened with surprise. “No! No!” she cried softly. “I would give Amir a child of our love.”
“Then say nothing of your heart’s desire to either of the other wives. And take no food from their hand,” Nadim warned her. “The harem of a prince can become a house of jealousy, especially if a favored woman can give her husband what others cannot. Do you understand what it is I am saying to you?”
Azura nodded.
“It seems to be the same the world over,” Agata said in her native tongue. “In Florence poison is also a favorite weapon for women.”
“What is it that your woman says?” the eunuch asked Azura.
“That poison is a woman’s means even in our homeland.
Her name is Agata, and she can speak a little of this new language, but it is difficult for her.
It was not for me, although I know I will need to be corrected, and you must do it so I learn to speak properly,” Azura told him.
“If you remember to talk slowly when you address Agata, she will learn eventually.”
“She already understands more than she lets on,” the eunuch said with a small smile. “It is clever of her to feign ignorance. She will hear much that way that will be of use to you, my lady Azura.”
“How can you be so certain of what you say?” Azura asked him.
“I watched her in the baths following the instructions of the attendants quite well while she stumbled over her own speech, making them laugh,” he answered.
“She will have to improve her skills with our language, and I will have to learn yours. Agata and I must work together to keep you safe and happy,” Nadim told Azura.
“We will teach each other,” Agata said, surprising the eunuch, but he chuckled.
“We will do well together, you and I,” he told the servingwoman.
She nodded in agreement.
“Now come, my lady Azura, and I will bring you to the salon, where your companions now await you,” Nadim told her.
The two women followed the eunuch from Azura’s small apartment down the corridor and into the salon. The sun was already setting in the hills behind the Moonlight Serai. It dappled the dark waters of the sea before the palace. Maysun and Shahdi were seated, awaiting Azura’s arrival.
“My ladies, I present to you your prince’s new wife, the lady Azura,” Nadim said.
The younger woman bowed from the waist. “I greet you, my lady Maysun, my lady Shahdi,” she said in careful Turkish.
“Join us,” Maysun invited. The bath women were right. Azura’s skin was flawless. “We welcome you to your new home, Lady Azura.”
“Yes, welcome,” Shahdi echoed, not sounding as if she was entirely sincere.
“You have traveled a long distance to reach us. Our husband was most anxious to find and retrieve you,” Maysun said. She looked to the hovering attendants, and nodded.
Almost immediately they disappeared, then reappeared several moments later with bowls and platters that were set upon the table around which the three women were seated.
There was a roasted shank of lamb carved into small slices set upon a platter, bowls of saffron rice, yogurt, bread, and a large plate of fresh fruits.
Nadim watched as Maysun and Shahdi helped themselves, noting whether they favored one side of a bowl or platter.
They did not. Nonetheless he personally picked the lamb slices for Azura, which he laid upon a piece of flat bread with some yogurt.
He dipped his fingers into the bowl of rice, tasted it, and nodded to her.
“Your eunuch is overcautious,” Maysun said.
“Indeed,” Shahdi snorted. “This is not Istanbul.”
Azura waved Nadim away with a little shake of her head, silently admonishing him.
“He is kind, and takes his position most seriously,” she said in a soft voice.
“I find I am already grateful for his gentle care of me. This world of yours is new to me. I do not mean to offend, but I suspect women’s behavior is much the same in Florence where I was born as it is here at the Moonlight Serai. ” She gave them a little smile.
“We are not a large household. The crime of poisoning could hardly go unchallenged here as it might in a great harem,” Maysun said sharply.
“Your eunuch is foolish to believe we would harm you. Both Shahdi and I were given women. You are a chosen woman. We have both known that eventually our husband would fall in love. I hope for all our sakes that we can get on, Azura.”
“As do I,” came the reply. “I am told you both come from cultures where a man is allowed, if he chooses, to have four wives. You certainly know that the world from which I come grants a man but one wife. Jealousy is an emotion that comes easily to women. Knowing that Amir can take favors from any of us must nonetheless be as difficult for you both as it will be for me. There was a brief time when he was mine alone,” Azura said to them candidly.
“Still, I was raised in a home with several sisters. I am used to the company of women, and am generally peaceable. But understand that if I am attacked, I will retaliate in kind. It is in my nature.”
Shahdi laughed aloud. “You are very outspoken,” she noted. “I may come to like you when I know you, Azura.” How clever she is, Shahdi thought. And strong. We will have a difficult time ridding ourselves of her, should we decide to do so.