Chapter 17
When he had caught his breath once more, he wrapped her in his arms and slept.
There were no words necessary between them now.
She awoke several hours later and returned to her own bedchamber, but she did not sleep again, arising even before Agata, hurrying to the baths and then dressing herself quickly so she might be able to see him depart.
When she returned to her chamber to dress, both Nadim and Agata were awaiting her with her garments.
They had chosen one of her favorite colors. Peach.
On the portico of the little palace Prince Amir bade his three wives farewell.
Maysun demanded that Krikor make certain his master was kept warm on the sea voyage.
Shahdi advised him to be cautious dealing with his father and the Knights Hospitaliers.
Azura, however, kissed him tenderly as she gazed into his eyes and said, “Come back to me safely, my dearest lord. Each day we are parted will be like a hundred years for me.”
“Each night I am without you will seem like a thousand years,” he murmured in return. “I love you, beloved. Remember that you have my heart in your keeping.” He kissed her gently. Then he turned abruptly and, with Krikor at his heels, departed.
Standing together, the three women watched as the two men descended to the beach, where a small boat stood ready to take them out to the anchored vessel in their cove.
They saw Amir reach the ship with Krikor and go aboard.
They heard the drum of the slave master who kept time for the galley slaves start to beat, and saw the oars of the prince’s transport begin their rhythmic movement as it pulled away and out of the little harbor.
Then, as if some silent signal had been given, Prince Amir’s three wives began to weep, but just as suddenly broke into laughter at their common behavior.
“What a fine trio we are.” Maysun said with a chuckle. “If we were the sultan’s wives we would have to contend with his always being away conquering some place or other.”
“That is why it is better to have a merchant for a husband, and not a sultan,” Shahdi added.
“Some merchants travel all the time,” Azura said. “I’m glad Amir does not, but I will miss him. He told me he will be gone for several months.”
“We will survive,” Maysun said in practical tones. “We did when he was living in Florence for those few years.”
“Just where is this island of Rhodes?” Shahdi asked. Both she and Maysun had little formal education.
Azura, however, did have education, and she asked Ali Farid to find them a map so she might show her companions where their husband was now going.
* * *
The prince’s ship moved quickly from the Black Sea into the Bosphorus, then into the little Sea of Marmara, reaching Bursa in just a few days’ time.
Captain Mahmud was awaiting Prince Amir.
The sultan’s treasury had delivered the forty-five thousand pieces of gold.
It was counted out before Amir by a treasury official in a small dockside shed, and then the bags were loaded upon his vessel for transport to Rhodes.
They set sail immediately, passing through the Dardanelles and into the Aegean Sea, keeping within sight of the coast at all times.
They sailed past the islands of Lesbos, Khios, Samos, and Kos.
Amir was surprised that his ship traveled without an escort, but Captain Mahmud said that it was thought an armed escort would have drawn unwanted attention to the ship.
It was believed that a ship belonging to Prince Amir’s merchant fleet coming out of Istanbul would not attract much attention.
After all, it was the ships returning from the east that carried the richest goods, not those headed east. Of course, a sharper eye might have noticed the ship riding low with its heavy cargo, but they were not troubled with pirates, for which Amir was grateful.
Shaped like the head of some ancient Spartan spear, the island came into their view at last. It was mountainous terrain, the heights covered in pine and cypress forests.
The lowlands had enough flat land, where vineyards, orchards, and groves of olives were grown. The island’s coast was rocky and difficult, but the harbor at Rhodes, its main city, was deep and navigable.
Over the centuries the island had been occupied and claimed by many cultures.
Byzantium claimed it after the First Crusade, but its tenure came to an end almost two hundred years ago, when the Knights Hospitaliers claimed it for themselves, building a more modern city in the European style and surrounding it with strong walls.
No one had been able to breach those walls, not even Prince Amir’s grandfather Mehmet the Conqueror.
This was the sanctuary the sultan’s brother, Prince Jem, had chosen. Their ship anchored in the harbor.
“I will go ashore, and formally announce your arrival to the Grand Master of the order,” Captain Mahmud said. “Do you speak French, Highness?”
Amir nodded. “I can communicate with the Grand Master in several languages,” he replied. “Say I would like to come ashore today after our time at sea. He will assume I have a delicate constitution.”
Captain Mahmud chuckled. “They are ferocious fighters and fierce sailors, this particular band of knights,” he remarked. “Yes, better to let them think you weak, Highness. ’Tis a clever ploy.”
“See if they will allow you to speak with my father, and tell him I am here. He will understand why, and be annoyed,” Amir told the Janissary.
“When did you last see your father, Highness, if I may be so bold?” the captain asked.
Amir snorted. “I have not seen him since I was ten,” he replied almost bitterly.
“I last saw my father when I was six and the sultan’s forces came from the sea to attack my village.
They killed him and those who opposed them, carrying off the women and children.
I was chosen to be sent to the Prince’s School to be educated and eventually become part of the Janissary corps,” Captain Mahmud responded.
“A father sires you, but life shapes your character, and kismet brings you your good fortune.”
“I cannot disagree,” Amir said. The Janissary captain’s story was not an unusual one.
Many of the children taken, educated, and trained became valued civil servants for the sultan’s government.
Though many were nothing more than simple soldiers, others used their education to advance themselves, gaining both wealth and rank.
Captain Mahmud went ashore, returning a few hours later.
The Grand Master, he said, looked forward to welcoming Prince Amir, who was invited to stay at the great stone castle that was the headquarters of the order.
“I saw your father, Highness,” the captain reported.
“He was surprised that you were here but will be happy to receive you.”
Amir chuckled. “Yes, I will wager he is indeed surprised that I am here. Well, let us go. Krikor! Is my finery suitable enough to impress?” the prince asked his servant.
“You will bring honor to your uncle, my lord,” Krikor answered his master. He had dressed his master this morning in white and gold.
They were rowed ashore, where a small honor guard of horsemen met them, escorting them to the castle. There Prince Amir met the man who was temporarily serving as Grand Master of the Hospitaliers, Henri-Francois Plessis D’Aubusson. The two men greeted each other cordially.
“We are most honored to receive the sultan’s nephew into our midst,” the Grand Master said, bowing. He was a man of medium height with dun-colored hair and eyes. He wore a bright crimson tabard emblazoned with a white cross as an outer garment.
“My master, Sultan Bayezit, is grateful for the generosity you have shown towards his brother, Prince Jem. My uncle wishes there to be only peace between them. The stipend is being off-loaded from my ship now. When you are ready Captain Mahmud will count the coins before you so you may see there is a full measure as promised.”
The Grand Master was impressed. This young prince had great elegance and his manners were without fault.
He was curious, however, and could not refrain from gaining an answer to something that he found odd.
“Why are your eyes blue?” he said, and was then slightly amused to see Prince Amir’s dignity shaken before he recovered himself.
“My mother had blue eyes,” he answered the Grand Master. “She was English.”
“Ah, of course,” the Grand Master replied. “You will take a meal with me, I hope, Highness. But now you will want to see your father. I will take you to him myself. When you return home to Istanbul you will be able to tell Sultan Bayezit that his brother is being housed as befits his position.”
Amir could not help but laugh aloud. Then he said to his startled companion, “My uncle has a forgiving nature where his brother is concerned, my lord. But eventually I suspect my father’s behavior will try the sultan’s patience beyond its limits.
This sultan values loyalty above all else.
Continued defiance on my father’s part is foolish.
We both know he cannot hope to prevail. Nor would Christendom protect Prince Jem did they not think to gain an advantage over the sultan by doing so.
There is no advantage to be had, for while he loves his brother, Sultan Bayezit loves his realm more, which he should.
The sultan is the father over all his people, my lord.
A good father will not betray his children, although the child may betray the father. ”
The Grand Master nodded. Prince Amir had spoken candidly.
“I will remember your words, Highness,” he told the younger man.
Then he brought him without further discussion to the vast apartments where Prince Jem had installed his miniature Oriental court.
“I do not intrude upon your father unless invited,” he said quietly.