The Kadin - Bertrice Small [121]
The ladies then withdrew, each wishing Hale and Guzel the traditional blessing, “May you know only joy.” In the anteroom outside, the bridegrooms waited, for they could not enter the wedding chamber of their royal brides until called. An imperial son-in-law had few privileges, and his position was firmly established on the wedding night Hale and Guzel had agreed that in defense of maidenly modesty they would keep their new husbands waiting two hours. So Hussein and Riza waited nervously for a summons from their new wives.
In Cyra’s salon, Firousi wept The other kadins tried to comfort her. “They’re so young,” she sobbed.
“Nonsense,” said Cyra briskly. “You were two years younger on your nuptial night Guzel and Hale have had the good fortune to choose their own husbands, and the young men are already enchanted and enamored of their young brides. They will all be very happy.”
Firousi sniffed. “Do you really think so?”
“Yes! And I think you had also better stop weeping. What scandal there will be at tomorrow’s feast if you appear with red and swollen eyes.”
Later that night, Selim came to Cyra’s apartment. He was happier than he had been in a long time and was feeling expansive and talkative. He was pleased with the wedding, pleased with his daughters, pleased with his sons-in-law, and considering marrying Nilufer off next.
Cyra protested, “My dearest lord, she is but twelve and has not even reached sexual maturity. Surely you will not marry her off for a few more years.”
“She could be married now, but not given to her husband until she matures. There are several men who would be suitable and whom I would like to bind closer to the empire.”
“Never will I allow you to use my daughter as a political pawn! Would you deny her the freedom of choice that you allowed Firousi’s daughters?”
“It was different for the twins. They have been close all their lives and would have suffered terribly if they had been separated. It is for this reason alone that I allowed them to choose whom they would wed.”
“You cannot wed Nilufer to a stranger. She already loves a certain young man, and has since she was a child.”
“How can that be? Whom have you allowed to break the sanctity of my harem to meet secretly with my daughter?”
“No one. They first met when we lived at the Moonlight Serai.”
“But she was just a child then, and aside from her brothers, there were no men allowed in the harem at the Moonlight Serai.”
“You are forgetting young Ibrahim.”
“Nilufer loves Ibrahim? Impossible! She has not seen him since she was seven.”
“I beg to correct you, my love, but she has. You permitted our daughter the freedom of Suleiman’s court, and Ibrahim was a frequent visitor. When you sent our son to govern Magnesia, Ibrahim went with him. Nilufer has been heartbroken and sullen ever since. She loves Ibrahim!”
“It is but a childish fancy. She will get over it.”
“If she is childish, then you will agree that she is too young to be wed,” said Cyra quietly.
Selim threw up his hands. “You have trapped me as neatly as the hunter the hare, beloved. I bow to your wisdom and cleverness.”
She leaned over and kissed him. “And you will consider Ibrahim as a suitor in a few years’ time?”
“Perhaps.”
“You have named Suleiman your heir. Ibrahim is his best friend, and someday—may Allah grant it be many years hence—our son will be sultan. I am sure that he will name Ibrahim his grand vizier. If Suleiman’s sister—his full sister—is wed to his grand vizier, our son’s interests will be well served.”
Selim smiled slowly. “Were you a man, my beloved, I might make you my grand vizier.”
“I am far happier being a woman, your bas-kadin, and the mother of your children.”
He softly stroked her long hair. “Ah, my beloved! If only I had a friend like Ibrahim to serve me. Perhaps I was hasty in dismissing my vizier,