The Kadin - Bertrice Small [128]
“I have never really failed you, my lord. I will never.”
They rose together, and Selim saw his son to the door, patting his shoulder as he left Turning away from the departing figure, he sank down amid the cushions to think. He had always been a man to face facts, and the fact was that he was dying. And he knew it How long he had left to live he didn’t know, and his stupid doctors wouldn’t even admit his approaching death. He did know it would not be too many more months before he joined his ancestors in Paradise. With Muslim logic he accepted it yet he was angered He was fifty-one years old and had been sultan such a short time. Turkey needed him! Already he had greatly widened its borders, and once he took Rhodes, he would turn again into Western Europe. There was so much to do, and he was not entirely sure he could trust his oldest son to do it.
Suleiman, Suleiman, he sighed to himself. He was such a handsome boy, gentle and kind; but was he strong enough to take up the reigns of the empire? What choice did he have now? thought Selim. All his older sons were dead; only Hassan, Nureddin, and Kasim remained. Hassan was far too much of a scholar, as his own father, Bajazet, and his half-brother Korkut had been. No scholar made a good sultan. Nureddin had inherited the cruel streaks of both his Turkish and Chinese ancestors. He would never do. At five, Karim was simply too young. His choice must remain with Suleiman, he who since birth had been fated to follow him.
Now his mind turned to the question of Rhodes. It was absurd and intolerable that this little Christian stronghold should exist tucked into its corner of the Mediterranean off his very coast! The year was almost half over, so he would not be able to mount a campaign now. Besides, it would take a great deal of careful planning. Rhodes was virtually impregnable, and the men who defended her were very, very brave. Selim gave credit where credit was due. There was no satisfaction in fighting a cowardly enemy. The knights of Rhodes would give him a good fight, and he looked forward to it
He would stay in Constantinople for a while to put into effect some of the reforms he had worked out long ago but never acted on. Of the six years he had been sultan, he had been away four. Perhaps Suleiman was right How could a man govern an empire and fight at the same time?
He wanted to be near his family for a while longer. He had fathered sixteen children—ten boys and six girls. Now just the four boys and his daughters remained.
Thinking back over his life, he chuckled to himself. It had been good back in those days at the Moonlight Serai. His aunt Refet running the household along with Cyra. Sarina buzzing about the gardens like an angry wasp, and forever berating him for not being able to tell the difference between her precious flowers and the weeds. His grandfather would have liked Sarina. The conqueror was a fine gardener himself.
His mind wandering, he saw the children tumbling like puppies on the lawns. The kadins, their legs showing through their sheer trousers, tossing a bright ball back and forth. He could almost hear their silvery laughter and taste the salt tang of the air from the sea.
How long had they been together? Almost twenty-six years now. He almost wished he could put down the burden of the sultanate and return to those carefree days; but if he had tried to turn back, he would have discovered behind him a vast, bottomless void across which glistened only fragile memories, both bitter and sweet. There was no choice but to go forward.
33
SELIM AGAIN left his capital to go on campaign. Aware that the capture of Rhodes would require special attention, he moved his army to a small peninsula facing the island. His purpose was twofold—to allow him to reconnoiter at his leisure, and hopefully to inflict a certain amount of psychological damage on the islanders, who, seeing the vast army, might not be overly eager to help the Christian defenders.
In Constantinople the kadins